AmandaTX
New Member
Hi all! This forum has been a wonderful source of information for my husband I before and after bringing home our redfoot youngster in December. Pablo (or Pablina...time will tell on sex) is eating everything offered like a small slow horse, pooping like a champ, and seems to be doing great. Until spring, which in Houston means March-ish, Pablo is living in a re-purposed 55 gallon aquarium indoors. He's got a CHE heater on a thermostat set for 85 degrees and heat stays around 82 in the "cold" part of the tank. Humidity ranges from 85-90%, with it normally staying in the high range. Pablo will be moving outdoors once the temperatures outside stabilize a bit, in a screened top wooden enclosure.
My question for the experts: is it normal to have excessive water collect in the tank? I'm talking standing water! There is a base layer of 1 inch coconut fiber covered by another 2 inches of cypress mulch in bottom. I'm getting water standing in the depressions in the bedding, wonderfully stinky water visible from above. I've been periodically bailing the tank and removing old coco fiber (which has been great for starting seedlings for the yard). Pablo seems unperturbed by his swamp and makes a few trips to his favorite wallow daily. In the beginning, we were adding water to the tank daily to up humidity, but after taping up some gaps the humidity is staying high. We haven't added water to the substrate directly in over a month, it's just evaporation from his terra cotta water dish.
We're first time tortoise owners and I've been religiously checking for shell fungus and rot, but so far he seems fine. Should I be worried? Just continue periodically draining the swamp?
My question for the experts: is it normal to have excessive water collect in the tank? I'm talking standing water! There is a base layer of 1 inch coconut fiber covered by another 2 inches of cypress mulch in bottom. I'm getting water standing in the depressions in the bedding, wonderfully stinky water visible from above. I've been periodically bailing the tank and removing old coco fiber (which has been great for starting seedlings for the yard). Pablo seems unperturbed by his swamp and makes a few trips to his favorite wallow daily. In the beginning, we were adding water to the tank daily to up humidity, but after taping up some gaps the humidity is staying high. We haven't added water to the substrate directly in over a month, it's just evaporation from his terra cotta water dish.
We're first time tortoise owners and I've been religiously checking for shell fungus and rot, but so far he seems fine. Should I be worried? Just continue periodically draining the swamp?