Humidity for pancakes.

[Joe S]

I am looking into the specifics for keeping a healthy pancake hatchling with a smooth shell. Is the same method applied to pancakes as sulcatas and leopards? I mean the 80% humidity and 80 degrees ambient temps? If there is a proper care thread or sheet I would love to see it as I am finding a handful of differing opinions on proper care from the internet. Thanks everyone.

 

[Tom]

I have seen many dry raised pancakes and they pyramid just like leopards and sulcatas. Conversely, we have several members here on the forum raising them with humidity and it works great on them too.

I bought 5 hatchling pancakes for a buddy a few years ago, and some of them had already started pyramiding. They were started with "moderate" "natural" hydration and humidity and spent most of their early days outside in "natural" enclosures. The result was significant pyramiding and stunted growth. My buddy set them up in a humid closed chamber, started soaking daily, gave them a humid hide, and while they were little limited their outside time to a couple hours a few times a week for UV. The result was a slow cessation of the pyramiding and they resumed growing again. They are now about 3 years old and thriving. There current set up is an indoor/outdoor set up and they are doing great.

I don't know how big of a sample size you need to feel "comfortable" with a method, but I am convinced. If ever I get my own pancake herd, they will be started warm, humid and hydrated.

 

[Joe S]

Thank you Tom. I was hoping the humid choice was correct for them, but wanted to make sure so I would not start them off catastrophically wrong.

It seems the humid method really does work well for some species. I assume the humid chamber is a temporary enclosure to get them growing correctly while young for the first few years. Similar to leopards.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Tom]

Thank you Tom. I was hoping the humid choice was correct for them, but wanted to make sure so I would not start them off catastrophically wrong.

It seems the humid method really does work well for some species. I assume the humid chamber is a temporary enclosure to get them growing correctly while young for the first few years. Similar to leopards.

Thanks for the input.

Yes. Its very important for hatchlings and more moderate parameters work fine for adults.

I just read a care sheet for radiata from Bill Zovickian and he soaks his babies every day for the first four years. Not the same species, but I find the concept interesting.

 

[Joe S]

I find it curious, but it seems like a logical practice. Hydration is always important, assuming you do it wisely (water levels, temps, ect) I see no harm coming from it.

 

[Tom]

Me neither, but some people certainly like to argue about it...

 

[FLINTUS]

I have observed very smooth grown radiata and aladabras in Mauritius-ranging from hatchlings to adults, and for this purpose I am just talking about the CB ones. They were kept on a sand based substrate, with what might be considered humid rocky, planted up areas at the back. They also had large pools of water to sit in. I have photos to back this up from a number of places where they were kept the same way.
There were also a few other species which I did not get photos of which were kept in a similar way. For instance, one of them were a group of Leopard two year old CBs. They were raised on a dry substrate WITHOUT pyramiding. It is definitely possible to raise leopards smooth in dryish conditions. There are quite a lot of pictures on the web about this.

 

[Joe S]

I am sure it's possible to raise hatchlings smooth with out the hot and humid method. Good to see those methods coming around as well. Documentation is always a plus, as you said. I figure as long as I have a healthy animal I am alright with it. A smooth shell is a plus as well

 

[Yvonne G]

They raise smooth tortoises without humidity in Arizona too, a place where one might think they would certainly need the spray-til-they-drip method. Until we truly understand why they pyramid, I'll keep doing what I know causes them to grow smoothly...that is, hot and humid.

 

[Chef]

What methods do you all use to keep your enclosures humid? Right now I just keep the substrate moist. I plan on building an enclosure with a humid hide box though with an aerator in a jar of water to keep the box humid, and then continue to use wet substrate.

 

[FLINTUS]

I do not deny that the hot & humid method works(for certain species), just saying it is possible to make it work in drier conditions.