quick question

[eclipse5161]

what would the recomended humidity be for a young sulcata?

it has been staying between 47-52% if it needs to be higher, how would i go about raising it? im still working out the kinks with my set up. slow going since my fiance lost her job last week. trying to support her and our daughter on my tiny paychecks isnt fun. however i got better substrate. top soil with no additives, mixed with some play sand.

im still working on the temps. Currently it is at 89 degrees on the warm side and 78 on the cool side. should be able to correct that this weekend with a heat emitter bulb. every sunny day i take the tort outside to wander around and eat grass while i play with my baby girl. it is eating well and is very active. it has been a very welcomed addition to our household. our 2 year old daughter will sit in her little chair in front of his tank and just watch it for hours. giving me and her momma a much needed quite time. lol

 

[Maggie Cummings]

quick answer...70 to 80%. Cover the hot side with aluminum foil and pour water over the substrate. You also could put moss in the hide and keep that damp, or put a wet sponge in the hide...where she/he can't eat it. Some nail it to the top of the hide...

 

[chadk]

A glass tank usually isn't ideal, but doable if you set it up right and start making plans for a nice tort table when it gets a little bigger.

Organic soil is fine. Don't use too much sand. Better to error on too little in my opinion. Should be able to grab a handful and clump it up - not dripping wet and not falling apart in a cloud of dust... If you keep this moist by pouring a cup or more of water onto it weekly or as needed, your humidty needs should be met. Near the warm end, i'd offer a hide that offers a nice dark safe spot to dig and sleep. In my indoor tort talbes, I put a CHE 24x7 above a slate tile hide that offers just enough room to crawl under, then has 4-5 inches of moist substrate to dig into. They sleep there and get their humidity needs me (along some soakings in their tub). The UVB is also provided so the basking spot on top of the tile is where they will go to bask in the day, and the warm moist hide is where they go at night or during naps. I don't care what the humidity is like while they are out walking around grazing on the various things I've planted and getting exercise.

 

[eclipse5161]

A glass tank usually isn't ideal, but doable if you set it up right and start making plans for a nice tort table when it gets a little bigger.

Organic soil is fine. Don't use too much sand. Better to error on too little in my opinion. Should be able to grab a handful and clump it up - not dripping wet and not falling apart in a cloud of dust... If you keep this moist by pouring a cup or more of water onto it weekly or as needed, your humidty needs should be met. Near the warm end, i'd offer a hide that offers a nice dark safe spot to dig and sleep. In my indoor tort talbes, I put a CHE 24x7 above a slate tile hide that offers just enough room to crawl under, then has 4-5 inches of moist substrate to dig into. They sleep there and get their humidity needs me (along some soakings in their tub). The UVB is also provided so the basking spot on top of the tile is where they will go to bask in the day, and the warm moist hide is where they go at night or during naps. I don't care what the humidity is like while they are out walking around grazing on the various things I've planted and getting exercise.

i hardly used any sand at all. so basically what your saying is as long as the hide spot in the warm end has a high humidity it doesnt really matter what the humidity is in the enclosure it self?

 

[chadk]

That is my opinion on the matter. Others may not agree. You need to be sure they actually use the spot to dig down and sleep\nap. If they never use it and spend all their time walking around the dry areas and basking under the heat lamp, they may never get enough humidity. But if you set it up as I've described, I'm willing to bet they will love it - dark, secure, warm, moist diggable substrate. It will dry out a little on the surface, but if they dig down a little, it will still be moist. Check often to be sure the bottom layers are moist and add water as needed (I use a cup or bucket - a spray bottle usually doesn't do it).

 

[eclipse5161]

That is my opinion on the matter. Others may not agree. You need to be sure they actually use the spot to dig down and sleep\nap. If they never use it and spend all their time walking around the dry areas and basking under the heat lamp, they may never get enough humidity. But if you set it up as I've described, I'm willing to bet they will love it - dark, secure, warm, moist diggable substrate. It will dry out a little on the surface, but if they dig down a little, it will still be moist. Check often to be sure the bottom layers are moist and add water as needed (I use a cup or bucket - a spray bottle usually doesn't do it).

can i see a pic of it? if you have one available

 

[tortoisenerd]

I don't think the percentage matters as much as if the substrate is moist (but not wet), and all other conditions are correct. Also keep a very close eye on shell growth. You can always take more drastic measures later like a humidifier, but usually covering part of the enclosure and using a moist substrate can keep a rather high level of humidity. Doesn't sound like too much of a temperature gradient (low could be cooler and high could be warmer). Care to share more of your set up? Doesn't sound like you are doing too bad actually on humidity. Beware this could drop in winter with heat. I'd think 80% would be closer to dripping wet. Other people also like to have moderate humidity, and one of the warmer hides have high humidity. With a warm hide that the tort likes to spend a lot of time in, this can be a potential solution (doesn't work for everyone though, including me!).

Congrats on the new addition!

 

[chadk]

can i see a pic of it? if you have one available

http://www.iherp.com/Public/Animals/AnimalPhotoGallery.aspx?AnimalID=20308

Let me know if you can or can't see the pics on this link. It may be hard to see, but the plastic bin added to the tort's enclosure is filled with organic soil mixed with a little play sand. I keep in moist and have built up some slate tile hides above the soil to act at the warm side humid hide. Thunder sleeps and naps under there. In the winter I have a CHE above the tile 24x7. This gives him a warm hide and also a warmer basking spot when on top of the tile. I feed up there as well and noticed him spending more time up there than under the UVB, so I moved the UVB over the tile as well. Now he eats there, naps and basks there, and goes under to sleep at night. He spends quite a bit of time cruising around the enclosure, climbing up things, nomming on the plants growing in there, and getting exercise. Now I have him outdoors for the summer.

 

[katesgoey]

I could see all of the great photos. You made a very amusing and creative tort town. I personally would remove a tile or two so the sully can burrow down if it wants to, but that's just me and I have only Leopard torts which don't burrow - so for what that is worth. I also saw the photos of your lovely sully and russian (do you keep them together in tort town?). Many keepers do not mix species because each has pathogens that can make the other sick and their set ups and requirements vary. Just something you'll see repeated on several threads on this forum so I thought I'd mention it. Your tortoises are gorgeous ...have fun with them

 

[chadk]

They were together for the quick photo shoot...

The entire plastic sweater bin is 4-6 inches of loose substrate for digging\burrowing. The tiles and log are placed above as a hide - but the entire plastic bin is accessible. Thunder LOVES sleeping there. And he LOVES being able to climb down and explore the rest of the place daily. The flat stones in the rest of the enclosure provide solid footing for walking around, but room between for plants to grow. I have water at both ends.

My russian loves burrowing even more than my Sullie. I have his area set up similarly with a hide above the loose substrate for a nice dark humid hide. You can see his enclosure made out of black plastic bin on my iherp page as well.
He is out and about much less than my sullie and spends quite a bit of time burried completely. Even now, in his outdoor pen, he's burried most of the time. My sullie doesn't burrow as much, mainly just uses the humid hides to sleep and nap with little digging.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

OMG! That's cute...when can Bob and I move in? You might have to make it somewhat bigger...:shy:

 

[tortoisenerd]

Wow that's a lot of slate! Very cute though. I remember this picture from before because of the castle.