Humidity under CHE

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farber2028

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Just curious to see if anybody has some ideas as to how to keep the humidity up directly under a CHE. Out of sheer curiosity I stuck a humidity gauge underneath mine today and it read 15% or so, which is exactly where my Greek likes to hang out.
 

Levi the Leopard

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I have high humidity (80-99%) even under my CHE but it's on a thermostat in a closed chamber.

Not sure if that works for a Greek.

Not sure how I would achieve these same results without a closed chamber either..

Heather
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LLLReptile

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Damp moss underneath, and try to create a hide or similar enclosed area as Heather suggested. Using moss as the substrate under a half log or cave can work for baby tortoises that are small enough to fit, but larger tortoises may need a custom hiding spot.

You'll have to add water regularly, but the moisture evaporating from the moss is what keeps the humidity up.

Good luck!

-Jen
 

farber2028

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I do have an open top enclosure. The humidity is pretty much 40-50% everywhere else except for under the lamp. I don't think it's a huge concern but I was just curious. She is healthy and happy as far as I know. No signs of dehydration by any means. Eats more than she can handle sometimes. :) She does get to come out of her enclosure and go outside/walk around inside quite a bit. I'm also putting plans together to build her an outdoor enclosure but I've got to piece it together. So like I said I'm not super concerned with it, I just try to gather as much information as I can so I am prepared :)


LLLReptile said:
Damp moss underneath, and try to create a hide or similar enclosed area as Heather suggested. Using moss as the substrate under a half log or cave can work for baby tortoises that are small enough to fit, but larger tortoises may need a custom hiding spot.

You'll have to add water regularly, but the moisture evaporating from the moss is what keeps the humidity up.

Good luck!

-Jen


Would sphagnum moss underneath her hide work ok? I'd just dig out a hole in the bark and refill if it with the moss if that was the case.
 

Levi the Leopard

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Sphagnum moss is perfect.

In the past I have used that in the hides. Just make sure to re wet it as needed. I simply poured a cup of water into the hide every other day or so.

Heather
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GBtortoises

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Depending upon the substrate and moisture content of the rest of the enclosure you may wish to allow the area that they're basking under to remain dry. While a certain level of ambient humidity and substrate moisture is beneficial to Greeks and other species they should also have an area, which would generally be under a basking source, to completely dry off. Constant moisture can be a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus. They need to be able to frequently be completely dry and under heat too.
 

farber2028

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The rest of her enclosure is usually right around where she needs the humidity to be. I guess I shouldn't be too concerned with it then. :)
 

Tom

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This is pretty normal. I agree with GB. I don't mind a drier area directly under the bulb. I use big flat rocks for this purpose in fact. Just makes sure you also have a humid hide elsewhere in the enclosure and a shallow water bowl for drinking or self soaking.
 

Balboa

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Disclaimers...
late to the thread, sorry
don't keep greeks, and no expert in general... BUT

This is exactly the trouble/danger with tort tables, and why we have everyone preaching for closed chambers. It just comes down to thermo dynamics, no amount of tort keeping dogma can get around natural laws.

Like the guys said, allowing a tort to dry out is good, but you need to be careful if your tort is spending most of their time under the lamp as you stated, that being the case my opinion would be you need to raise ambient temps and humidity.
 
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