So i'm preparing for a sulcata hatchling that we will be getting in a few weeks. I have just finished setting up the enclosure, and testing the lights. My question is how do i keep humidity up at night. The enclosure is very small because she will be very small and i want it to grow with her. The total dimensions are 12"Wx12"Hx43"L. Being so small I was hoping it would be easier to trap heat and humidity, but without the day light on it plummets. I have a 75 watt exo terra night bulb and a 100 watt powersun bulb. I went with powersun because of the size of the enclosure, and because the trex had warnings about it being super strong, so I figured maybe for Christmas when we get a bigger enclosure we will go with that one.
Anyway i'm using eco earth and topsoil (turns out i'm allergic to cypress mulch go figure) i have plenty of live plants, and frog moss (although maybe I should add more). the room temperature is 80 degrees, and the cool end of the enclosure reads 77 degrees and 77% humidity with no light. With the night light (which is at the other end of the enclosure) it raises to 78 only after about 15 minutes. With the powersun and night light it is now 79 degrees with 88% humidity. 10 minutes ago I misted everything and the humidity raised to 90%. However when I turn off the MVB the temperature in the warm side goes down to 85 degrees but the temps in the cool side stay the same. Is there a problem if the cool side stays around 78 but the humidity fluctuates? The warm side also doesn't seem to be staying as warm as I expected. Under the bulb is great, but even 2 inches away from that spot the soil is frigid. It reads 85 degrees but i dont buy that. I am going to get an analog hygrometer so i can move it around and test to be sure, but the enclosure doesn't seem to be warm enough or humid enough. What should i do to raise the humidity in the entire enclosure?
I have 5 hides set up 2 of them have moss in them one is a natural burrow, and the other 2 are under bridges with a little bit of coir/topsoil mix. 3 of them are in the warm side. the mvb is 15 inches away from the substrate right now, i can only lower it 3 more inches, but i don't relish burning myself on the lamp when i reach my arm in the enclosure, and the temperatures are perfect in the basking spot so i didn't want to lower the lamp. should I add another layer of substrate? would it stay moist longer or hold heat on the surface better? i can add sphagnum moss to the hides, but that doesn't do anything for the rest of the enclosure. also my frog moss dried out really quickly within 5 hours i had to spray it. should i water it instead? I dont want to start a mold hatchery, but i can't think of any other way to raise the humidity.
By the way the enclosure is 2 small storage boxes put together; long and narrow. my lamp is only on one end of the enclosure, I don't like wires, and its so small that if i had 3 lamps i wouldn't be able to see into the enclosure. is there any small (like triple x small) lamp that i could clamp to the cool end to raise the temperature a bit?
I'm worried because this is a trial run on a comfortable day. we usually have extremely humid summers, and recently the room temps have been around 87 (so i'm guessing the cool end would be 85), but come fall and winter I dont want our tortoise to freeze.
sorry for the long book, but any advice you could give would be great.
dragnikla said:
So i'm preparing for a sulcata hatchling that we will be getting in a few weeks. I have just finished setting up the enclosure, and testing the lights. My question is how do i keep humidity up at night. The enclosure is very small because she will be very small and i want it to grow with her. The total dimensions are 12"Wx12"Hx43"L. Being so small I was hoping it would be easier to trap heat and humidity, but without the day light on it plummets. I have a 75 watt exo terra night bulb and a 100 watt powersun bulb. I went with powersun because of the size of the enclosure, and because the trex had warnings about it being super strong, so I figured maybe for Christmas when we get a bigger enclosure we will go with that one.
Anyway i'm using eco earth and topsoil (turns out i'm allergic to cypress mulch go figure) i have plenty of live plants, and frog moss (although maybe I should add more). the room temperature is 80 degrees, and the cool end of the enclosure reads 77 degrees and 77% humidity with no light. With the night light (which is at the other end of the enclosure) it raises to 78 only after about 15 minutes. With the powersun and night light it is now 79 degrees with 88% humidity. 10 minutes ago I misted everything and the humidity raised to 90%. However when I turn off the MVB the temperature in the warm side goes down to 85 degrees but the temps in the cool side stay the same. Is there a problem if the cool side stays around 78 but the humidity fluctuates? The warm side also doesn't seem to be staying as warm as I expected. Under the bulb is great, but even 2 inches away from that spot the soil is frigid. It reads 85 degrees but i dont buy that. I am going to get an analog hygrometer so i can move it around and test to be sure, but the enclosure doesn't seem to be warm enough or humid enough. What should i do to raise the humidity in the entire enclosure?
I have 5 hides set up 2 of them have moss in them one is a natural burrow, and the other 2 are under bridges with a little bit of coir/topsoil mix. 3 of them are in the warm side. the mvb is 15 inches away from the substrate right now, i can only lower it 3 more inches, but i don't relish burning myself on the lamp when i reach my arm in the enclosure, and the temperatures are perfect in the basking spot so i didn't want to lower the lamp. should I add another layer of substrate? would it stay moist longer or hold heat on the surface better? i can add sphagnum moss to the hides, but that doesn't do anything for the rest of the enclosure. also my frog moss dried out really quickly within 5 hours i had to spray it. should i water it instead? I dont want to start a mold hatchery, but i can't think of any other way to raise the humidity.
By the way the enclosure is 2 small storage boxes put together; long and narrow. my lamp is only on one end of the enclosure, I don't like wires, and its so small that if i had 3 lamps i wouldn't be able to see into the enclosure. is there any small (like triple x small) lamp that i could clamp to the cool end to raise the temperature a bit?
I'm worried because this is a trial run on a comfortable day. we usually have extremely humid summers, and recently the room temps have been around 87 (so i'm guessing the cool end would be 85), but come fall and winter I dont want our tortoise to freeze.
sorry for the long book, but any advice you could give would be great.
sorry about the crazy font