Humidity for a baby greek.

[Mjdeisher]

I'm going to be purchasing a baby Ibera in the next few weeks and I'm getting everything built for the little guy starting tomorrow. I've read a good humidity is 30-45%, is that correct? The enclosure will be 2x4. Im thinking about using a MVB for light/heat. So with that said, what's a good substrate to keep the humidity that low? Oh, also, do I want calcium with d3 or without for a hatchling?

 

[GBtortoises]

Too some extent it depends upon the subspecies of the Greek tortoise that you are keeping. It's important to know the subspecies to be able to determine that geographic area that your Greek tortoise is from. This is important to know the type of climate the subspecies is evolved to survive in. There are three general regions that Greek subspecies are found in: North Africa, The Middle East and the Northern Mediterranean (including Eastern Europe). The climates and seasons of these three regions differ. Most currently available wild caught Greeks and any captive born offspring are from the Middle East and the Northern Mediterranean. Most young Greeks from these regions do best in an ambient humidity of about 50-65% and in the case of Northern Mediterranean Ibera, even a bit higher at 70%. The substrate should be mildly moist. Not wet. MVB lights produce a lot of very localized heat along with the UVB rays. This forces a baby tortoise to lay directly under the light to absorb any beneficial UV rays. Babies have a very small body mass and can dehydrate rapidly. I believe a better set up for baby tortoises is to use a standard incandcent bulb (40-60watt) for heat and localized light in combination with a fluorescent UV tube to provide overall lighting and UV in the enclosure.

 

[Mjdeisher]

That is exactly the answer I needed! Thank you!