New member

[JenandSheldon]

Hi,
My name is Jen and my baby Sulcata is Sheldon. He's approx 5mo's old. We reside in the Central Texas Hill Country. I was a turtle freak when I was young. Every time anyone in my family saw a turtle on the road they brought it to me. Plus we are animal lovers! So it made since to me to add this wonderful creature to our family. However I am new to desert tortoises but I think we've got off to a great start. I am here for education and advise when needed and to share great tortoise stories and pics!

Sheldon is a healthy 3.2 grams has a nice looking healthy shell and is a good eater and he's quite active.

I have him in a 29gallon short glass aquarium with a heating pad underneath, heat lamp and a UVB bulb. Also he has a log shelter, water dish appropriate for soaking which he seems to enjoy. My question though is about humidity and temp. Currently we are at 80-82 degrees and humidity at 20 percent. We do have a cool side and a warm side. A far as food I feed him spring mix, squash and zucchini which he loves.

My ???'s is am I doing okay??? Do I need to adjust anything?? What about the temp and humidity. I keep reading contradictory statements on humidity levels.

Looking forward to your responses! Nice to be here! Tanks everyone!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Jen, and welcome to the Forum!

Everything sounds ok except for the humidity. In the wild, sulcata babies hatch during the monsoon season when the ground is very wet and there is an abundance of grass and plants. In order for your new baby to grow a smooth shell, he needs much more humidity than 20%.

 

[JenandSheldon]

Thanks for the input Yvonne. How do I increase the humidity? Should I mist the substrate? I use the Zillow coconut". I have the water dish on the cool end.... Should I move it into the warm area? Would that help? What should the percentage of humidity be at? Thanks again!! Jen

 

[Yvonne G]

Misting usually doesn't do much good because it evaporates too fast. Pour a whole bunch of water over the substrate and mix it up with your hand. Then you either cover or partially cover the habitat. I don't worry about percentages, but if memory serves, I believe Tom says 80%...but read some of his threads at the top of the Sulcata section and it will tell you for sure.

 

[JenandSheldon]

THANK YOU!! humidity is climbing. I had a feeling it was too low. I feel better now. So I glad I joined the Tortoise Forum. = ). Thanks again Yvonne!

 

[mainey34]

Hello and welcome...yes, humidity is important..it needs to be 80% and above...do you have any pics?