Issues with heat and humidity?

tylrhadn111

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Hello everyone. I was planning on starting the construction of my Hermann's tortoise's tortoise table but I had to main concerns. The first one is with heat. How would I keep it warm enough while also giving her the micro climates that she needs to thrive in. I live in the basement and sometimes it can get cold down here. (The abnormally cold winter here isn't helping with warm either.) So, this is one thing that I'm really nervous about because i would think that this big wooden box would be cold in every spot besides directly under the basking lights. The second thing, I haven't read enough about to fully understand it, is humidity. I know torts need humidity but why? What does it do for them? How much do they need and how should I be adding this humidity to their enclosure. I've had humidity explained to me before in a nutshell but I feel like it will take someone really breaking it down in order for me to fully grasp the concept. Thank you for reading this lengthy post and I'll appreciate any responses that are given.
 

Tom

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This is GREAT! You are totally "getting it" now. Many people never seem to grasp the concepts that you are beginning to see now.

If the room that your tortoise will live in does not have heat and humidity that are reasonably close to what your tortoise needs, a large open table makes no sense for all the reasons you just described. It makes much more sense to "close" off a smaller portion of that air and just control THAT air, hence the "Closed Chamber": http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-32333.html Now in that thread I am making a hot humid tropical paradise for THAT species, but the point is that having a large closed chamber makes it easy to create, control, and maintain whatever temps and humidity a person could want. It would be easy to have more "moderate" humidity in there, and there is no reason you can't have a thermal gradient and cooler nights for Mediterranean species. There is no satisfactory way (in my opinion) to maintain correct temps and conditions in a cold basement in an open table. A closed chamber solves all those problems.

Humidity: The two primary things it does are slow the rate of water loss through respiration, and therefore slow the rate of dehydration, and it keeps the shell keratin more pliable so that proper bone growth can occur under the keratin. Pyramiding prevention basically. What level of humidity is needed varies by species. How high it ought to be, how to provide it, and how to set up the enclosure for humidity is a subject of much debate. For Mediterranean species, I prefer to keep the humidity moderate (50-60%), but offer a humid hide and damp substrate to dig into. I also soak my tortoises more than some people to keep them hydrated. These details are more critical for a small growing baby than for a full size adult.

I hope this helps. Please ask for more clarification, if needed, and keep those questions coming.
 

gtc

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Yes, what Tom said. You solve both the cold and humidity problems if you go for a closed chamber. The heat from your basking lamp will spread out though your enclosure instead of just keeping a small area hot.

Use 2 digital thermometers+hygrometers to monitor the temps and humidity at basking area and on the cool side.

How cold does it get at night?
 

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