Tort_nube
Member
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2015
- Messages
- 62
I am a fairly new owner of a hatchling sulcata tortoise I've had her for around 2 weeks now and continue to make daily changes to keep humidity as high as possible inside the enclosure and I feed her a variety of foods and let her outside for supervised play time at least once everyday. I have read and am well aware of how fragile hatchling sulcatas can be so I am doing everything in my power to prevent any possible illness or injury to my tortoise. Today I'm making this thread because I am curious about how tortoises contract respiratory problems. I've read it can happen when the turtle becomes cold and wet is this true? Though I am making sure the enclosure is warm and humid at all times, how else can a tortoise develop a respiratory infection? I had a chameleon awhile back, yes I understand a chameleon and tortoise are completely different animals and probably should never be compared but unfortunately that chameleon died of a respiratory infection. I never forgot that and how I found afterwards why it happened. I had one large exo terra glass tank which doesn't give chameleons enough airflow because now it is well known chameleons do better in screen enclosures that allow plenty of airflow but as a result make it much harder to attain proper humidity. The reason I included this story is because I'm worried about airflow in the enclosure! Can lack of airflow cause respiratory infections as well? I have made my tortoise habitat as closed off as possible so my humidity stays high. Yes there is room on the sides and above the lamp for heat to escape and to allow some air circulation I am just worried if this closed up humid environment could cause health issues. Thank you.
