Humidity Won't Hold

[FelicityExotics]

Hey all, it's been a while since my last update, but Durda is doing great! He gets soaked every day for 30 minutes, I have four pans and 3 little pots of grass growing for him that I rotate as needed, I recently started growing clover and hibiscus for him, and he enjoys the flowers we grow in our backyard as treats. I take him out 3-4 times a week for sun time. (Don't worry, my grandpa and I checked the list of safe plants and made sure they were the same ones in our yard. On that note, I discovered that my "clover" in my yard wasn't clover at all, but oxalis. So it's a good thing I never fed him any of it!)

My problem is that his closed chamber won't hold humidity.

It's 5'x3', basking 100°, warm side between 90°-97°, the cold side between 80°-85°. He has a humid hide on the cold side (a terracotta pot mostly buried with a bunch of sphagnum moss in it) and a bunch of sphagnum moss in his pot hide opposite the basking spot on the warm side. This is where he has built his "burrow" and likes to sleep.

I keep the substrate (50/50 coco-coir and reptisoil on top of regular old dirt from my grandpas garden) wet my watering it every day when I water my plants, and I mist it every about three times a day to keep the top layer somewhat moist. With all of this, the humidity only gets up to about 44%, and doesn't stay that way for very long!

What do I do?

 

[Sterant]

Can you post a picture of the enclosure. Is the chamber completely closed off - or close to it? If it is then I would say you simply need a lot more water in it. I literally dump a gallon or two or warm water in my closed chambers every couple weeks. I use orchid bark for my young tortoises.

 

[FelicityExotics]

I'll see if I can get a good photo. It's close to it, unfortunately. It has three separate lids: one with the two heat fixtures, my grandpa and I cut holes just smaller than the lamps and drilled the lamps onto the top. It's a little warped so there's a tiny corner that isn't flush. The second is plexiglass so I can see in, it fits perfectly flush. The third is actually two pieces because we ran out of material. It's very warped and is where we're planning on fitting in the UVB light, it's not there yet (which is why I take him out for sun time.)

 

[FelicityExotics]

Pictures!
1. The "heating" lid
2. The corner that isn't flush.
3. The plexiglass lid.
4. The very warped lid.
5. Bonus picture of Durda in his basking spot.
6. Closeup of Durda in his basking spot.
7. Durdas burrow

 

[xMario]

Pictures!
1. The "heating" lid
2. The corner that isn't flush.
3. The plexiglass lid.
4. The very warped lid.
5. Bonus picture of Durda in his basking spot.
6. Closeup of Durda in his basking spot.
7. Durdas burrow

I would Build a cover with more height so u can place the lamps inside the enclosure and not on top I think ur system right now pushes all the humidity out at the openings of ur lights [emoji217]

 

[FelicityExotics]

That was my original plan actually! But my grandma wouldn't allow the box to sit any higher, so my grandpa and I had to do it the way in the photos. Do you think adding two more screws in each lamp and making them tighter against the panel would help?

 

[xMario]

That was my original plan actually! But my grandma wouldn't allow the box to sit any higher, so my grandpa and I had to do it the way in the photos. Do you think adding two more screws in each lamp and making them tighter against the panel would help?

I think the problem than would be that u closed the heat exit for ur lamps and they could maybe burn out but if u have no other possibility try it [emoji16]

 

[Sterant]

I also think you just need to add a lot more water to the enclosure. Dump a gallon of warm water in there and see what the humidity does. If you need to add more, then add more.

 

[Pure Tortoise Power]

Are you able to buy a humidifier? I've been using one and it's proven to me that it's effective at keeping the humidity up. Does your tank have a lot of ventilation? Too much can cause a greater rate of loss of humidity. If you can, try to place a few pots of your plants in the tank, they can help maintain the humidity as well.

 

[FelicityExotics]

I dumped some warm water in, it worked...but now I have these little patches of white fuzz that I think is mold. I went in an scooped out all the patches I could find but it keeps coming back. Is it dangerous or should I just leave it?

 

[Sterant]

I dumped some warm water in, it worked...but now I have these little patches of white fuzz that I think is mold. I went in an scooped out all the patches I could find but it keeps coming back. Is it dangerous or should I just leave it?

Its probably growing on scraps of left over food. I find that it doesn't last long. Just clean it up when you see it and soon you won't see it anymore. Pay close attention to clean up old food - that helps.

 

[e-roth]

Hey all, it's been a while since my last update, but Durda is doing great! He gets soaked every day for 30 minutes, I have four pans and 3 little pots of grass growing for him that I rotate as needed, I recently started growing clover and hibiscus for him, and he enjoys the flowers we grow in our backyard as treats. I take him out 3-4 times a week for sun time. (Don't worry, my grandpa and I checked the list of safe plants and made sure they were the same ones in our yard. On that note, I discovered that my "clover" in my yard wasn't clover at all, but oxalis. So it's a good thing I never fed him any of it!)

My problem is that his closed chamber won't hold humidity.

It's 5'x3', basking 100°, warm side between 90°-97°, the cold side between 80°-85°. He has a humid hide on the cold side (a terracotta pot mostly buried with a bunch of sphagnum moss in it) and a bunch of sphagnum moss in his pot hide opposite the basking spot on the warm side. This is where he has built his "burrow" and likes to sleep.

I keep the substrate (50/50 coco-coir and reptisoil on top of regular old dirt from my grandpas garden) wet my watering it every day when I water my plants, and I mist it every about three times a day to keep the top layer somewhat moist. With all of this, the humidity only gets up to about 44%, and doesn't stay that way for very long!

What do I do?

My guess is that you don't have to do anything. Half of the enclosure has higher access to humidity because of the soil type you are using and the hide with sphagnum moss. One half should be very low humidity for a sulcatta and other desert varieties. With that said, how you measure humidity is important. Use a humidity probe on the soil surface and slightly pressed into the surface, especially near the plants and in the hide. Don't measure the humidity higher in the enclosure than his head height and preferably at the soil level. Torts will thermo regulate and do the same for humidity levels. If humidity too high, then you will have respiratory problems

 

[Pure Tortoise Power]

My guess is that you don't have to do anything. Half of the enclosure has higher access to humidity because of the soil type you are using and the hide with sphagnum moss. One half should be very low humidity for a sulcatta and other desert varieties. With that said, how you measure humidity is important. Use a humidity probe on the soil surface and slightly pressed into the surface, especially near the plants and in the hide. Don't measure the humidity higher in the enclosure than his head height and preferably at the soil level. Torts will thermo regulate and do the same for humidity levels. If humidity too high, then you will have respiratory problems

There are experienced people here who keeps sulcata under 80 to 100% humidity and have no respiratory problems at all. This may not imply to other tortoise species though. Also, the entire enclosure humidity should be maintained at the percentage mentioned above. Your way of measuring humidity is ideal.

 

[Pure Tortoise Power]

I dumped some warm water in, it worked...but now I have these little patches of white fuzz that I think is mold. I went in an scooped out all the patches I could find but it keeps coming back. Is it dangerous or should I just leave it?

Try to keep the soil not to moist, and yes, food remains can cause the growth of fungi. Keep taking out all fungi whenever you see them appearing. If this keeps going for a few more days, the best thing to do is replace all the soil and clean the enclosure thoroughly.

 

[Pure Tortoise Power]

Also remember to clean out all the food remains every night

 

[FelicityExotics]

Thank you all so much! I'll keep cleaning it out, if it persists I'll replace the substrate (which my grandma won't be happy about as she thinks I'm "doing too much for just a tortoise."). I have a temp and humidity probe on the warm size taped to the wall with the probes at Durda's head height.

 

[Tom]

My guess is that you don't have to do anything. Half of the enclosure has higher access to humidity because of the soil type you are using and the hide with sphagnum moss. One half should be very low humidity for a sulcatta and other desert varieties. With that said, how you measure humidity is important. Use a humidity probe on the soil surface and slightly pressed into the surface, especially near the plants and in the hide. Don't measure the humidity higher in the enclosure than his head height and preferably at the soil level. Torts will thermo regulate and do the same for humidity levels. If humidity too high, then you will have respiratory problems

This is old, out-dated and incorrect info. Please don't spread it around anymore. We've been combating this problem for nearly a decade here, but its a tough road trying to undo 30 years of incorrect assumption about how they live in the wild.

Sulcatas hatch at the start of the rainy season. Its actually rain that makes them dig out of their nests after hatching. Conditions during this 3-4 months of every years are hot, wet, rainy, and very humid. Like south Florida humid.

They are NOT a desert species. They live in forest edge and grassland areas. It takes a lot of annual rainfall to maintain grasslands and forests. Think about it.

What about the other 8-9 months of the year? Yes, it is an arid environment, but this species spends 95% of its life in warm, humid underground burrows in the wild. They don't walk around topside all day every day like they do here in the states or elsewhere in captivity.

Still not convinced? Spend some time here on the forum. We have 10 years of evidence from tortoises keepers all over the world to prove the assertions I'm making here. Give this old thread a read through for more explanation: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/the-end-of-pyramiding.15137/

Your questions and conversation is welcome. I don't want to shut you down, but I do want to shut down the old wrong info. That bad info has been killing baby tortoises for far too long.

 

[Tom]

Hey all, it's been a while since my last update, but Durda is doing great! He gets soaked every day for 30 minutes, I have four pans and 3 little pots of grass growing for him that I rotate as needed, I recently started growing clover and hibiscus for him, and he enjoys the flowers we grow in our backyard as treats. I take him out 3-4 times a week for sun time. (Don't worry, my grandpa and I checked the list of safe plants and made sure they were the same ones in our yard. On that note, I discovered that my "clover" in my yard wasn't clover at all, but oxalis. So it's a good thing I never fed him any of it!)

My problem is that his closed chamber won't hold humidity.

It's 5'x3', basking 100°, warm side between 90°-97°, the cold side between 80°-85°. He has a humid hide on the cold side (a terracotta pot mostly buried with a bunch of sphagnum moss in it) and a bunch of sphagnum moss in his pot hide opposite the basking spot on the warm side. This is where he has built his "burrow" and likes to sleep.

I keep the substrate (50/50 coco-coir and reptisoil on top of regular old dirt from my grandpas garden) wet my watering it every day when I water my plants, and I mist it every about three times a day to keep the top layer somewhat moist. With all of this, the humidity only gets up to about 44%, and doesn't stay that way for very long!

What do I do?

Here are the problems that I see:

• Having the lights outside the enclosure creates a chimney effect. As the warm air inside the enclosure rises up and out through the portals for the heat lamps and the gaps in the top of the enclosure, it pulls colder, dry room air into the enclosure.
• The substrate you are using doesn't do enough to inhibit the growth of microbes. Keeping it warm and damp creates a nutrient rich place for all sorts of fungi, molds and bacteria to grow. This is why we recommend orchid bark, coco coir, or cypress mulch. Each of these has properties that inhibit the growth of microbes, so you can maintain a warm, damp environment with out the fuzzy stuff growing.
• They eat the moss and it can cause an impaction. You don't need it and it doesn't do anything for your tortoise. I'd remove it before it causes a problem.

Its GREAT that you are growing your own food and using safe weeds from outside to feed him!

 

[Yvonne G]

Pictures!
1. The "heating" lid
2. The corner that isn't flush.
3. The plexiglass lid.
4. The very warped lid.
5. Bonus picture of Durda in his basking spot.
6. Closeup of Durda in his basking spot.
7. Durdas burrow

View attachment 268235 View attachment 268236 View attachment 268237 View attachment 268238 View attachment 268239 View attachment 268240 View attachment 268241

Adding a bunch of potted plants in there would go a long way towards helping maintain some humidity. I would also add a layer of small bark over the top of your existing substrate.

 

[Yvonne G]

I dumped some warm water in, it worked...but now I have these little patches of white fuzz that I think is mold. I went in an scooped out all the patches I could find but it keeps coming back. Is it dangerous or should I just leave it?

Mold grows on dead and dying debris. You just need to keep the old food and poop picked up.