This humidity thing has me perplexed. It has now dropped to 72 and stayed there. There is plenty of water on the substrate where if I add any more there will be standing water. When I do open the lid quick to grab her or the bowls out I have noticed that the humidity drops instantly and drastically almost by 10 degrees and then hasn’t come back up. What am I missing?
New red foot need help with enclosure
- Thread starter HLG
- Start date
mojo_1
Well-Known Member
They will drop a lot when you open it. For a quicker recovery in my enclosure I spray the plastic plants with a spray bottle. Remind me what you are using for temp and humidity sensors? This is what my enclosure does
I’m using a bio dude
I have a bio dude
I have a bio dude meter. It has one probe that measures both the humidity and temperature. I put the probe close to her hide since that’s where she spends most of her time. I honestly don’t remember what brand for the thermostat. I got it off of Amazon.
I can spray the walls to give it a quick boost. I’d like to get some real plants in her enclosure too.
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mojo_1
Well-Known Member
Maybe you need to adjust the CHE's
Do you mean the temperature or placement?
mojo_1
Well-Known Member
Placement. I don't know where they are in terms of distance from the tortoise. If they are too high it will take longer to recover when you open enclosure.
Right now it is on top of the cage. I tried to hang it in the enclosure but I felt like it was very close but I do have the thermostat now.
I did notice that I did have standing water so I rotated the substrate which of course has bumped up the humidity
mojo_1
Well-Known Member
Ok, yes standing water will hurt the humidity. So keep rotating that as the top section drys out. Make sure the CHE's are roughly 16" from top of shell height and there's no chimney effect from the housing you have them in. Also use a hand held temp gun to spot check temps directly below CHE's to insure it's not getting too hot.
Alex and the Redfoot
Well-Known Member
I think, humidity rises slowly because temperature rises as well (enclosures heats quicker, than water evaporates from substrate). If it's back to normal in 30-60 minutes (or about half an hour after temperature is back to normal) - I think there is no reason to worry.
Humidity is way up and she is one happy tortoise. She has been out and about eating and just hanging out. Even caught her in her water dish just soaking for a little bit. Mostly she is always hiding so I think humidity has been the factor. I will measure the distance and adjust accordingly. Can you explain what you mean by chimney effect
mojo_1
Well-Known Member
If you have the CHE's in a heat lamp dome on the outside of the enclosure the heat will escape through the holes in the top of the dome
Oh ok i understand. My lamp does have this but I think I can switch my ambient light dome to be on top. It doesn’t have holes. Otherwise can tin foil help?
mojo_1
Well-Known Member
Yes you can cover it with tin foil
I think it’s starting to come together. I covered the holes on the dome. I did spot check right under the Che and it’s coming back around 95 which I know is too hot so I think I just need to move the probe for the thermostat a little to help control the temp. If she gets too hot she will move to the other side of the tank correct? That side is at the correct temp. I saw her just hanging out just a little off of being under the Che but I’m assuming she will move if it’s too hot.
Also I’m just wondering what are the correct enclosure measurements as she grows ?
mojo_1
Well-Known Member
Yes she will move. Up to 2 years 4x2x2, after that go as big as you can
By chance can you tell me where you got your enclosure? When I move her into a big one I want it to be an enclosed one
mojo_1
Well-Known Member
I would do it soon as you can. My enclosure is from Animal plastics.
Thank you! As of now I think we finally got the enclosure thing situated. Her temp and humidity has stayed up and I checked her uvb through the mesh and got that correct. I have noticed she is coming out more and eating waaaayyy better. Thank you guys so much for all the help. I would have been lost without all the great things you taught me.
I was wondering how did you do your lights in your enclosure? I checked out the enclosures on the website of animal plastic. I could switch to a heat panel instead of a CHE but how do you do your uvb light and make sure it’s the right distance
