Hi guys, just wanted to run couple things by you- fellow RF keepers. Shellie is 2 yrs old, measuring 8" and weighing in little over 3lbs. The indoor enclosure has only been used as enclosed nighttime bed (daytime outside in a big Tortoise Garden) where I had well established bio-substrate which had never smelled bad... well couple months ago I had to dump it all out into my tort garden due to it getting soggy all of the sudden after almost 2 yrs of being in perfect balance. I thought maybe my daughter was spilling too much water in water changes or running fogger too much, I emptied the fogger reservoir thinking that was a problem with kids getting kick out of it. It didn't have to be used at all with humidity always lil above 80%. Well, new substrate is just coco coir and reptibark, no earth worms, no rolly-pollies, no soil centipedes, no tiny snails... and it didn't take long for it to start getting soggy again! On one side! The side of the cave. I think she has started peeing there. I know torts are gross and pee and poo in their "bed" to keep humid, but why would she do this with over 80% ambient humidity??? 1) is it adolescent type of behavior? 2) is she even "adolescent" at 2 yrs of age??? 3) or may it be related to increased amt. of time spent outdoors and coming to "bed" only at night? Humidity of the cave in that tank is 87-87% so higher than the outdoors, why would she want to make it more humid? What do you guys think? What's your experience? When does a RF start the "coming of age" process?
