margosha
Member
Hi!
I'm new to the forum and to tortoise motherhood, and would really appreciate some advice about temps and humidity. I recently got a 6 month old RT baby (he's so tiny!). I have heard that babies need higher humidity and temps, and I've been struggling to maintain that.
His enclosure currently is a 50 gal tank that I closed off the top to with some plexiglass. I use Eco Earth coco fiber for his substrate and I keep it packed in and damp, although I'm still not certain just HOW damp it should be because I know it shouldn't be wet. With that being said, the ambient humidity is only around 50% on the cooler end and 35-40% under the basking light. This is according to an Accurite thermometer/hygrometer that I keep as close to the substrate as possible.
The temps on the hot side hover around 90 and under the basking light are 95-100 degrees. They gradient down to about 75 on the cool end. He also has a humid hide that's heated by a thermostat controlled CHE (the CHE also helps with the ambient temps because it's pretty cold in my house... and in Cleveland!). At night I leave the CHE on and the temps stay around 73-75 degrees.
So I guess my questions are:
• Is the humidity too low for a Russian baby?
• Are the nighttime temps to low?
• How damp can the substrate be?
I've read @Tom 's care guide (like 50 times haha) and the other RT baby guide here. They were super helpful, and I have implemented everything that was suggested. I'm just worried the temps and humidity are too low for a baby and would love some input. Thanks!
I'm new to the forum and to tortoise motherhood, and would really appreciate some advice about temps and humidity. I recently got a 6 month old RT baby (he's so tiny!). I have heard that babies need higher humidity and temps, and I've been struggling to maintain that.
His enclosure currently is a 50 gal tank that I closed off the top to with some plexiglass. I use Eco Earth coco fiber for his substrate and I keep it packed in and damp, although I'm still not certain just HOW damp it should be because I know it shouldn't be wet. With that being said, the ambient humidity is only around 50% on the cooler end and 35-40% under the basking light. This is according to an Accurite thermometer/hygrometer that I keep as close to the substrate as possible.
The temps on the hot side hover around 90 and under the basking light are 95-100 degrees. They gradient down to about 75 on the cool end. He also has a humid hide that's heated by a thermostat controlled CHE (the CHE also helps with the ambient temps because it's pretty cold in my house... and in Cleveland!). At night I leave the CHE on and the temps stay around 73-75 degrees.
So I guess my questions are:
• Is the humidity too low for a Russian baby?
• Are the nighttime temps to low?
• How damp can the substrate be?
I've read @Tom 's care guide (like 50 times haha) and the other RT baby guide here. They were super helpful, and I have implemented everything that was suggested. I'm just worried the temps and humidity are too low for a baby and would love some input. Thanks!