Humidity

[Walter21]

What should the humidity be in a Russian tortoises indoor enclosure? I have soil as a substrate and it is completely dried out now so I am getting readings in the 20s. Is that too low?

 

[Tom]

Ideally, I like ambient humidity to be 50-60% for adults, and I also offer humid hides that are 80-100%.

20s is much too low. I'd soak your tortoise every other day for a couple of weeks to make sure he is well hydrated and not forming any stones due to the dryness.

 

[Walter21]

Ideally, I like ambient humidity to be 50-60% for adults, and I also offer humid hides that are 80-100%.

20s is much too low. I'd soak your tortoise every other day for a couple of weeks to make sure he is well hydrated and not forming any stones due to the dryness.

I do soak him everyday or every other day. How do I increase the humidity? When ever I spray the soil with water it just evaporates and doesn’t change the humidity.

 

[Destben]

I do soak him everyday or every other day. How do I increase the humidity? When ever I spray the soil with water it just evaporates and doesn’t change the humidity.

I got a repti fogger from the pet store and it seems to work well. But I still wet my soil and spray everything down a couple times a day though so I don’t have the fog machine up to high.

 

[Destben]

 

[Tom]

I do soak him everyday or every other day. How do I increase the humidity? When ever I spray the soil with water it just evaporates and doesn’t change the humidity.

You have to prevent the humidity from escaping your enclosure. Close in the top. The best way s to buy or build a closed chamber. It is easy to maintain whatever heat and humidity you desire in a closed chamber. In an open topped enclosure your enclosure air freely mixes with the cooler, drier room air.

 

[Destben]

You have to prevent the humidity from escaping your enclosure. Close in the top. The best way s to buy or build a closed chamber. It is easy to maintain whatever heat and humidity you desire in a closed chamber. In an open topped enclosure your enclosure air freely mixes with the cooler, drier room air.

I thought the closed chamber was mentioned already that’s why I didn’t mention it. But yes Tom is right the closed chamber is the best solution. The repti fogger is just an extra that I use along with it in my set up.

 

[Walter21]

You have to prevent the humidity from escaping your enclosure. Close in the top. The best way s to buy or build a closed chamber. It is easy to maintain whatever heat and humidity you desire in a closed chamber. In an open topped enclosure your enclosure air freely mixes with the cooler, drier room air.

But I have read that the uva and uvb rays get distorted when they shine through a glass or mesh top. I have a mesh top but do not use it for that reason.

 

[Destben]

But I have read that the uva and uvb rays get distorted when they shine through a glass or mesh top. I have a mesh top but do not use it for that reason.

My UVB bulb is inside my closed chamber

 

[Tom]

But I have read that the uva and uvb rays get distorted when they shine through a glass or mesh top. I have a mesh top but do not use it for that reason.

Screen tops do filter out some of the UV, and depending on the type of bulb you have, mounting it on top of the screen might be too high to give any UV benefit too. I've heard the number 40% tossed around as the amount of UV filtered out, but I'm sure that number will vary with several factors. Further, screen tops don't hold in heat or humidity at all.