Humidity?

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Lilyloveslettuse

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Hi everybody!-
In Lily's cage it is hard to get humidity. So everyday after my shower there is a bunch of humidity in the bathroom. I put her in her cage and set it on the bathroom counter. Is that okay or is it bad from them for some reason?



Thank you!
 

mainey34

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I would try to remedy the problem.why are you having problems with humidity? I would think it may cause an issue. If you are giving warm humid then going to dry, cold? Or do you have lights on at all times and temp at proper levels?
 

Levi the Leopard

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I often have my leopards soaking in their tubs on the bathroom counter during my morning shower. Not bad for them at all.

However, this shouldn't be your only means of providing humidity for a sulcata.

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griefold

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I finally got my enclosure over 80% on a regular basis by putting a piece of plexiglass over the top of the tub. This may sound cliche, but it really matters. Also, anyone help with this one please. My tort has a discolored spot in his/ her shell when I touched it, it seemed soft to the touch. Is this something that I need to run to the vet for, or is it something that I can do by pushing more calcium heavy greens on it. I do not want to o.d. the poor little thing on powder.
 

HerbsMommy

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I got a great temperature and humidity reader for $10 at my local per store, I recommend getting one for sure. I also keep a spray bottle of water next to herbs pen and spray a few times a day since the heat lamps dry it out quickly
 

Tom

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griefold said:
My tort has a discolored spot in his/ her shell when I touched it, it seemed soft to the touch. Is this something that I need to run to the vet for, or is it something that I can do by pushing more calcium heavy greens on it. I do not want to o.d. the poor little thing on powder.

Etiquette dictates that you start your own thread for an off topic question.

When you do, please tell us the age, size and species.
 

griefold

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Team Gomberg said:
Does your tort get sunlight? Regular time outside? Artificial UV lighting indoors?

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At least 30 minutes each day, more on the weekends when I am home with it. Also I do not have UV light indoors yet, trying to find the right type to use with him/her. I am looking for suggestions about that, I am afraid from what I have been hearing.
 

Lilyloveslettuse

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Her bed- cage is a rabbit cage with the caged part on top so humidity escapes the holes. She has UVB and heat in there. After she gets humidity from the shower I put her in a plastic pool pen (at Bi mart for $15) It has a animal safe heating pad and UVB lights.
 

Levi the Leopard

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Lilyloveslettuse said:
Hi everybody!-
In Lily's cage it is hard to get humidity.

Lilyloveslettuse said:
Her bed- cage is a rabbit cage

After she gets humidity from the shower I put her in a plastic pool pen

It has a animal safe heating pad and UVB lights.

It would be impossible to hold high humidity in the rabbit cage unless the entire room was humid.

A rabbit cage and kiddie pool are less than ideal for indoor enclosures for a sulcata. Many of us would love to help you in creating a much more suitable enclosure for your shelled buddy :)

Is the heat mat your only source of heat in the kiddie pool/ rabbit cage? A UV light is great but there should also be a light/heat source. Not too many find a heat mat to be suitable for a small sully. Once you have a big guy living outside there are heat pads/ pig blankets you can use but you aren't there yet.

Like I answered before, the shower time in the bathroom is fine.. but hopefully you can get her full time environment set up like it should be. Lily would thank you for it if she could :) :)
 

griefold

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I bought a plastic tub from my local home depot and it is working out fine. It is a 54 gallon tub with about 2 inches of coco coir for substrate, then I use a 100 watt heat/ UVA bulb for a hot spot for basking. I am working on getting a CHE now. To get the humidity up to where it belongs I went to a regular hardware store and had a sheet of plexi-glass cut to fit the top of the tub. This is what is keeping my humidity up where it belongs. Just remember to brace the light up so it does not touch the plastic since it will melt. All in all, less than $100 for the total set up so far.
 

Lilyloveslettuse

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Grandma here...How long do the sulcatas need the extreme humidity? (years) In the rabbit cage there is about 4 in. deep of dirt/potting soil that we keep real moist for digging and humidity and have a heat lamp plus UVB in it. She mainly stays in that in the evening, at night and early morning now. When Jess leaves for school she puts her in the swimming pool that has more room (the rabbit pen is 3 1/2 ft. long - 18 in. wide) with a hard cover pet safe heating pad and a UVB light. There is washable rug like fabric over the bottom of the pool (like you see in some reptile stores). Lily really like the heat pad! She takes her outside for an hour or so in the porti-pen after school so that she can graze and get some natural light and then after she eats her dinner salad of weeds and greens from grandma's garden :) she goes right to bed after digging a nice sleeping hole in the dirt of the rabbit pen. :) Jess gives her a soak in the bathroom while she takes her shower each morning and sometimes again in the afternoon if it's been hot and dry.
 

griefold

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Everyone is mentioning UVB bulbs, but I cannot seem to find many options around my town and I am overwhelmed by the web sites that pop up while I am looking. Any suggestions and how about the ones at the regular stores like the hardware store.
 

Levi the Leopard

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Tom said:
Etiquette dictates that you start your own thread for an off topic question.

griefold said:
Everyone is mentioning UVB bulbs, but I cannot seem to find many options around my town and I am overwhelmed by the web sites that pop up while I am looking. Any suggestions and how about the ones at the regular stores like the hardware store.

again, Please be polite to lilyloveslettuce and start your own thread. We would love to help you but don't want to be rude to the OP. :)


Grandma, Sulcatas are usually raised in an environment that mimics the hot, humid and rainy African season until they reach about 8" or 10". When raised hot and humid from the start that can be in as little as 2 years. When raised in dry conditions a sulcata can take many years to reach that size. I just read about a 4yr old that was only 4".
Your current set up is far from a mimic of the African conditions. With your current husbandry you can expect a slow growing and pyramided sulcata. It wont kill your tortoise but it isn't optimal conditions for her to thrive in.
I do not have my own sulcata to compare to but my friend has many and I share this with you based on his experience.

Now, I DO have leopards which start out with the same care as a sully. I can tell you first hand that raising them with proper heat sources, humidity levels, outdoors time, diet etc. makes for a fantastic, healthy specimen!

Just curious, have you read the thread called The End of Pyramiding? It's long but a fantastic read. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-15137.html
 

Lilyloveslettuse

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Thank you Heather! We just got Lily in May and she had almost no humidity from her previous owner besides a bath every couple days so she has some pyramiding and is small for her age. She didn't have a good diet either. We love Lily and want her to be as healthy as possible so will find ways to do better with the humidity problem! :)
 

Levi the Leopard

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Hydration is so important. Keep water available 24/7 and soak her often while you work things out :)

We know you love her ;)
 
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