Humidifier and red foot types

[dada625]

Hi friends, i'm from China, i bought a red foot baby a week ago, there is no tortoise forum in China(It is illegal to keep tortoises unless have a license, i just got my license), so i find this forum, there are many experts. I have some questions for my RF baby:
1. Humidity: i live in mid-north of China, is semi-arid climate, humidity is 20-40% a whole year, i use a litte tank(85cm x 50cm x 50cm) to keep the humidity 70%-80%, is nearly airtight, whenever i open the roof, humidity drop. And this tank is too small(picture 1), so i prepare a corner in my room(2.5m x 1m x 2m, picture 2), i can make a enclosure, the problem is difficult to make the enclosure airtight, so difficult to keep the humidify, im going to use a humidifier, but someone told me, humidifier can cause pneumonia. I have no idea, is humidifier safe? And im going to put some live plant in enclosure, which plant is safe for RF?
2. Red foot types and age: i wonder my RF baby type and age, 'he' looks like Suriname(plastron is nearly all yellow picture 3 and 4), but im not sure,.'He' is 6.5cm and 55 grammes, someone can give me some ideas?

 

[mojo_1]

Welcome to the forum. Humidifier is a no go. You will also want to change the water and food dish to terracotta saucers and sink them into the substrate so the tortoise can walk right in. If you build a enclosure you can use a pop up greenhouse tent over the top to keep heat and humidity inside. For temps and humidity you want mid 80's so 84°F is ideal temperature all the time. Humidity at minimum needs to be above 80%at all times.
For lightning you can use a flood light bulb led 5500K to 6500K on a 12 hour timer. Use a long T5 tube style UV light on a 4 hour timer from noon to 4pm. And a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat controller for heat. To keep humidity up you can pour some water in the corners of the enclosure to dampen the under bark and leave the top bark dry. Also if you can build it big enough for it to last a few years I would go with a 8'x4' enclosure. If not a 4'x4' will do for awhile.

 

[dada625]

Welcome to the forum. Humidifier is a no go. You will also want to change the water and food dish to terracotta saucers and sink them into the substrate so the tortoise can walk right in. If you build a enclosure you can use a pop up greenhouse tent over the top to keep heat and humidity inside. For temps and humidity you want mid 80's so 84°F is ideal temperature all the time. Humidity at minimum needs to be above 80%at all times.
For lightning you can use a flood light bulb led 5500K to 6500K on a 12 hour timer. Use a long T5 tube style UV light on a 4 hour timer from noon to 4pm. And a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat controller for heat. To keep humidity up you can pour some water in the corners of the enclosure to dampen the under bark and leave the top bark dry. Also if you can build it big enough for it to last a few years I would go with a 8'x4' enclosure. If not a 4'x4' will do for awhile.

Thank you for your advices, i will not use humidifier, greenhouse tent is a good idea. i have the floor heating systems in my room, so even in winter the temps is above 76-80°F. If i put the enclosure near the window(picture 2), still need a UVB light?

 

[mojo_1]

Thank you for your advices, i will not use humidifier, greenhouse tent is a good idea. i have the floor heating systems in my room, so even in winter the temps is above 76-80°F. If i put the enclosure near the window(picture 2), still need a UVB light?

Yes, because UVB does not transfer through window glass. Also redfoot tortoises get their heat from above not below. The ground needs to be not heated so it can dig down into the substrate to regulate their temperature. And a direct heat source will help keep humidity up in the enclosure.

 

[dada625]

Yes, because UVB does not transfer through window glass. Also redfoot tortoises get their heat from above not below. The ground needs to be not heated so it can dig down into the substrate to regulate their temperature. And a direct heat source will help keep humidity up in the enclosure.

OK, got it, thank you!

 

[COmtnLady]

Welcome to the Forum! This place has the best and most up-to-date info to help your tortoise thrive.

Discuss ideas here before you buy things you may not need.

Also, your baby should have a soak everyday. Older/adult tortoises can go longer without a soak, but the little ones need it for hydration. Place your tortoise into a tub of warm water that is as deep as the where the upper and lower shell come together, for twenty minutes or a half hour. Watch it closely as the water will become cold very easily and it is important to keep it warm.

If your substrate was deeper, it would hold the moisture better and your humidity wouldn't fluctuate as much. Usually about 3 inches/8 cm of coco coir (moistened and hand patted-down across the entire bottom of the vivarium) then covered with another two or three inches/5 to 8 cm of orchid bark on top (that is dry). Pour water into corners so that the bark top layer stays dry. 80-90 % humidity with 85F/29 to 32C, all the time, do not have it be colder at night or any other time. Definitely have a closed top on it to hold the heat and humidity inside.

UVB doesn't come through glass, so it is important that your tortoise have a UVB tube light for strong bone development.

Food should be lots of green leaves with some fruit (60-70 % greens, 30-40% fruits and vegetables. Also add a tiny pinch of calcium powder two or three time per week.

Read through this, it has a lot of good info, and then ask questions.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Your water dishes are bad. They are slippery when wet, and small. A terracotta saucer recessed into the substrate ensures your tortoise wont become trapped in the dish and possibly drown. Tortoises like to walk into their water and food dishes, its important that they can easily leave them, and not get tipped over when trying to climb over an edge.

Yours looks like it could be a cherry head, but lets ask what others here think it may be.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Thank you for your advices, i will not use humidifier, greenhouse tent is a good idea. i have the floor heating systems in my room, so even in winter the temps is above 76-80°F. If i put the enclosure near the window(picture 2), still need a UVB light?

Hello and welcome!
No UVB passes through the glasses and plastics (except some special "UV-open" plastics). Some UVA will pass through (tortoises see it as one of the basic colors). Keeping enclosure by the window can result in temperatures inside rising quickly - it's something to watch for.

As you have warm floors - you can lift the enclosure of the floor - e.g. on castors or just wooden planks. This should create enough air flow to avoid overheating the enclosure.

The diet recommendation above is correct, however some animal protein should be added to diet - invertebrates (preferably black fly soldier larva or small dubia roaches nymphs, but mealworms and waxworms are acceptable), once in a while hard-boiled egg or boiled chicken breast piece. Also mushrooms (e.g. white mushrooms from grocery store) is a good addition.

As of the plants to put in the enclosure - pothos, spider plants, hosta, prayer plant, boston fern are safe. If they were bought from the shop - they should be repotted in safe organic soil (rinse plant roots while repotting). Safer to put plants propagated from new grown vines/sprouts.

I'm not sure if your Redfoot is a pure Surinamese. There were a lot of crossbreeding between races, selection for more colorful redfooteds and so on.

 

[dada625]

Welcome to the Forum! This place has the best and most up-to-date info to help your tortoise thrive.

Discuss ideas here before you buy things you may not need.

Also, your baby should have a soak everyday. Older/adult tortoises can go longer without a soak, but the little ones need it for hydration. Place your tortoise into a tub of warm water that is as deep as the where the upper and lower shell come together, for twenty minutes or a half hour. Watch it closely as the water will become cold very easily and it is important to keep it warm.

If your substrate was deeper, it would hold the moisture better and your humidity wouldn't fluctuate as much. Usually about 3 inches/8 cm of coco coir (moistened and hand patted-down across the entire bottom of the vivarium) then covered with another two or three inches/5 to 8 cm of orchid bark on top (that is dry). Pour water into corners so that the bark top layer stays dry. 80-90 % humidity with 85F/29 to 32C, all the time, do not have it be colder at night or any other time. Definitely have a closed top on it to hold the heat and humidity inside.

UVB doesn't come through glass, so it is important that your tortoise have a UVB tube light for strong bone development.

Food should be lots of green leaves with some fruit (60-70 % greens, 30-40% fruits and vegetables. Also add a tiny pinch of calcium powder two or three time per week.

Read through this, it has a lot of good info, and then ask questions.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Your water dishes are bad. They are slippery when wet, and small. A terracotta saucer recessed into the substrate ensures your tortoise wont become trapped in the dish and possibly drown. Tortoises like to walk into their water and food dishes, its important that they can easily leave them, and not get tipped over when trying to climb over an edge.

Yours looks like it could be a cherry head, but lets ask what others here think it may be.

Thanks for your advices! I'am going to put more orchid bark to make the humidity stable and order a terracotta dishes. I had read the INFO FOR NEW PEOPLE, this post help me a lot.

 

[dada625]

Hello and welcome!
No UVB passes through the glasses and plastics (except some special "UV-open" plastics). Some UVA will pass through (tortoises see it as one of the basic colors). Keeping enclosure by the window can result in temperatures inside rising quickly - it's something to watch for.

As you have warm floors - you can lift the enclosure of the floor - e.g. on castors or just wooden planks. This should create enough air flow to avoid overheating the enclosure.

The diet recommendation above is correct, however some animal protein should be added to diet - invertebrates (preferably black fly soldier larva or small dubia roaches nymphs, but mealworms and waxworms are acceptable), once in a while hard-boiled egg or boiled chicken breast piece. Also mushrooms (e.g. white mushrooms from grocery store) is a good addition.

As of the plants to put in the enclosure - pothos, spider plants, hosta, prayer plant, boston fern are safe. If they were bought from the shop - they should be repotted in safe organic soil (rinse plant roots while repotting). Safer to put plants propagated from new grown vines/sprouts.

I'm not sure if your Redfoot is a pure Surinamese. There were a lot of crossbreeding between races, selection for more colorful redfooteds and so on.

You are right, in winter, direct sunlight comes in and the temperatures rising quickly. Boston fern is a good choice for me. Your advice is helpful,, thank you!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

You are right, in winter, direct sunlight comes in and the temperatures rising quickly. Boston fern is a good choice for me. Your advice is helpful,, thank you!

Please keep us updated on his enclosure progress and ask questions if any!

One thing to point out:
Try to get UVB T5 lamp made by Arcadia or ZooMed. They are expensive compared to others but have top quality and lifespan. Some of the T5 lamps made in China (like ReptiZoo or Giangarden) can be unsafe for animals. That's probably the only piece of equipment where I wouldn't recommend to seek cheaper alternatives.

 

[dada625]

Please keep us updated on his enclosure progress and ask questions if any!

One thing to point out:
Try to get UVB T5 lamp made by Arcadia or ZooMed. They are expensive compared to others but have top quality and lifespan. Some of the T5 lamps made in China (like ReptiZoo or Giangarden) can be unsafe for animals. That's probably the only piece of equipment where I wouldn't recommend to seek cheaper alternatives.

I have a EXO-TERRA(seems like a reliable brand but i'm not sure) uvb bulb. For ZooMed, i can only find bulb, not lamp, and i cant find Arcadia product here.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I have a EXO-TERRA(seems like a reliable brand but i'm not sure) uvb bulb. For ZooMed, i can only find bulb, not lamp, and i cant find Arcadia product here.

On your photo there are two lamps:
1. Basking lamp. It looks like ExoTerra Intense Basking Spot. These lamps aren't good for tortoises because of the narrow intense beam desiccating their shell. As you have a redfoot, you can just replace this bulb with a LED bulb to provide ambient light in the enclosure. Redfoots don't bask a lot and do fine without a basking lamp.
2. UVB coiled bulb. These bulbs a tricky to use: it's not easy to achieve balance between safe and sufficient UV levels (it varies a lot depending on reflector and even small height variation). That's the example of flourescent tube lamp and fixture: https://zoomed.com/reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood/ As far as I know, ExoTerra don't make T5 HO lamps, only T8 lamps with weak output and don't sell fixtures for them.

The third lamp socket on your photo is empty - you can install a ceramic heat emitter there. Connect it to a thermostat and it will maintain ambient temperature in the terrarium day and night. Redfoots need more or less stable temperature range 80-88F (82-86F is better).

 

[Maggie3fan]

Do you have a balconey? Do you have a place where you can have your baby in a box of any type and he can get sun for an hour or so a couple of times a week? I also keep a Redfoot...she is in a 6 foot by 2.5 foot tort table covered with a greenhouse; her ambient temp pretty much stays about 85 degrees with 85 to 90% humidity. I use a CHE at both ends, using the window across the room for ambient light. There is no light in her greenhouse; but she gets sun outside several times a week. She gets her uv from a good and varied diet daily. I realize space is a problem for you...and looking thru your window shows a grand example of space or lack of same. I simply cannot imagine living in those tall buildings... here is a glance thru my window...
That's Layla swimming...I realize you don't have that option...
But can you put your baby in a box and take it out side for a bit? Doing that a few times a week and good diet can make up for no UVB lighting. Here is Layla eating a mushroom...
Things are very different for you I understand but I also know you have great stores, so go tort food shopping...and instead of worrying about an expensive light...buy lots of healthy food for that baby...add more substrate too..
here's Layla's dinner

here is her greenhouse

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I would add to Maggie's post above:
1. Yes, redfoots can get some D3 and D2 vitamins (needed to absorb calcium) from their diet.
2. Redfoots still need some UVB, because dietary D3 and D2 are not sufficient.
3. Sunlight is the best UVB source. 1-2 hours a week is usually enough (if UV index in weather forecast is 3-4 at this time and it's warm enough).
4. They can store some D3 in fat cells, so a break of 1-2 months in a year isn't critical.
5. When you have a UVB lamp you don't rely on weather's mercy.

 

[dada625]

I would add to Maggie's post above:
1. Yes, redfoots can get some D3 and D2 vitamins (needed to absorb calcium) from their diet.
2. Redfoots still need some UVB, because dietary D3 and D2 are not sufficient.
3. Sunlight is the best UVB source. 1-2 hours a week is usually enough (if UV index in weather forecast is 3-4 at this time and it's warm enough).
4. They can store some D3 in fat cells, so a break of 1-2 months in a year isn't critical.
5. When you have a UVB lamp you don't rely on weather's mercy.

You are right, his shell is a little bit dry, i'm going to remove the basking lamp.
Reptiles pet is rare here, the only uvb lamp i can buy is ZooMed T8, not t5, i dont have many choices. There are chinese brands make T5 uvb, but is cheap, i dont know it works.
I can take him out to get sunlight, but only in summer, so i need to solve the uvb before the fall, perhaps i'm going to buy a uvb tester to test if my uvb lamp is good or not.

 

[dada625]

Do you have a balconey? Do you have a place where you can have your baby in a box of any type and he can get sun for an hour or so a couple of times a week? I also keep a Redfoot...she is in a 6 foot by 2.5 foot tort table covered with a greenhouse; her ambient temp pretty much stays about 85 degrees with 85 to 90% humidity. I use a CHE at both ends, using the window across the room for ambient light. There is no light in her greenhouse; but she gets sun outside several times a week. She gets her uv from a good and varied diet daily. I realize space is a problem for you...and looking thru your window shows a grand example of space or lack of same. I simply cannot imagine living in those tall buildings... here is a glance thru my window...View attachment 372940
That's Layla swimming...I realize you don't have that option...
But can you put your baby in a box and take it out side for a bit? Doing that a few times a week and good diet can make up for no UVB lighting. Here is Layla eating a mushroom...View attachment 372941
Things are very different for you I understand but I also know you have great stores, so go tort food shopping...and instead of worrying about an expensive light...buy lots of healthy food for that baby...add more substrate too..
here's Layla's dinnerView attachment 372942
View attachment 372943
here is her greenhouseView attachment 372944

Your redfoot is so cute and beautiful! I do have balconey, and i can take him get the sunlight in the summer. I live in urban aera, and high population density. Maybe i could let him swim in my bathtub. lol

 

[mojo_1]

You are right, his shell is a little bit dry, i'm going to remove the basking lamp.
Reptiles pet is rare here, the only uvb lamp i can buy is ZooMed T8, not t5, i dont have many choices. There are chinese brands make T5 uvb, but is cheap, i dont know it works.
I can take him out to get sunlight, but only in summer, so i need to solve the uvb before the fall, perhaps i'm going to buy a uvb tester to test if my uvb lamp is good or not.

They store up the D3 when you take them outside in the afternoons. If you do this till the temperature gets too cold for him to be outside he should be fine over winter without the UV light. If you can't find one. You can also get a UVB meter for checking the intensity of the Chinese T5 bulb if you go with that.

Solarmeter® Model 6.5R Reptile UV Index Meter

Solarmeter instruments are compact, handheld, and durable with simple single-button operation and NIST traceable accuracy. Model 6.5R has spectral response erythemally weighted to match vitamin d3 synthesis in reptiles.

www.solarmeter.com

 

[mojo_1]

This is my enclosure for Mojo. Just to give you more ideas to make your own enclosure. I will say he enjoys his tunnels I made him.

 

[COmtnLady]

You are right, his shell is a little bit dry, i'm going to remove the basking lamp.
Reptiles pet is rare here, the only uvb lamp i can buy is ZooMed T8, not t5, i dont have many choices. There are chinese brands make T5 uvb, but is cheap, i dont know it works.
I can take him out to get sunlight, but only in summer, so i need to solve the uvb before the fall, perhaps i'm going to buy a uvb tester to test if my uvb lamp is good or not.

A UVB tester is a good thing to have! As the bulbs wear out the amount emitted drops, so having a tester will assure you how much is available.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

You are right, his shell is a little bit dry, i'm going to remove the basking lamp.
Reptiles pet is rare here, the only uvb lamp i can buy is ZooMed T8, not t5, i dont have many choices. There are chinese brands make T5 uvb, but is cheap, i dont know it works.
I can take him out to get sunlight, but only in summer, so i need to solve the uvb before the fall, perhaps i'm going to buy a uvb tester to test if my uvb lamp is good or not.

ZooMed T8 lamp with a reflector can work too. T8 lamps output is approximately a half of what T5 lamps have. With a correct distance a T8 10% (or 10.0 in case of ZooMed) lamp can be used.