Suggestions for humidity?

[DAC8671]

How can I keep Ralph's outside dogloo humid? The door has plastic strips on it. The bedding is timothy hay.

Currently he comes inside at night for warmth. It was not a good situation keeping him in the garage as his dogloo was too warm with garage temps too cold. He wouldn't ever come out.

Now that I've been bringing him in, he's gotten his wonderful personality back. (Plus the higher temps and sunnier days outside does wonders )

When he goes back outside, I want to make sure his temps are doing okay.

What should the humidity be? How will I sustain that? (I've never worried about humidty prior)
What should his basking temp be?
What should his cool area be?
What should his night time temp be?

I don't have a basking light for him outside, as he flops out in the sun and basks for a few hours each day. He has access to plenty of shade, if he needs to be cool.

I have a 75w red light for his dogloo at night. I have a 150w basking light for inside.

Inside temps: night has been 80
mornings under the basking light have been 95-100
cool side has been 75
Don't have something to check the humidity.
Have not been using UVB inside because he's in the sun 80-90% of the day.


I apologize in advance for asking these questions. I know it has been posted on the thread, but my brain turns to mush when I am trying to look for something and can't find it. Then I get distracted and forget to look for what I was originally looking for.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I don't know if any other Sulcata keepers agree with this, but for my outside bigger tortoise, I don't follow any of those rules. If he's outside under the sun and he is either drinking outside or you are soaking him, I don't think humidity is too important. I don't worry about temps, or any of that stuff. I mean I wouldn't let him get cold, but for Bob, I just let him be a tortoise...he basks under a hot light and lives in a shed. He recently learned how to drink out of a big bowl...
I wouldn't try to make the dogloo humid at all...

 

[DAC8671]

Thanks!

I'm okay with no UVB light since he's in the sun so much, right? What about overcast days? Should he still have it if it's overcast for a day or two? I know that if it's longer than a few days, he should have it. But in San Diego it's mostly sunny (with the exeption of the past few weeks).

We are still in the process of building him a "patio" for his dogloo that has a covered shelter. When that's done we will be hanging a basking light and a UVB light for the "questionable" days. But for right now, like I said, we don't have a basking light outside....no need.

 

[Yvonne G]

You have to bear in mind that Maggie lives in Corvallis, OR, where there is ALWAYS moisture in the air. I think the humidity part of the pyramiding problem is geared more towards smaller tortoises, because my Dudley, at 100 plus pounds isn't provided any humidity either. He has a small insulated shed with a rubber mat on the floor, a night light and a pig blanket. He poops and pees in there, but I clean it up daily, so I'm sure it doesn't add anything to the air in there. He was pretty badly pyramided when I got him, but the growth for the past 10 years or so has been pretty smooth. No extra humidity, lots of exercise and no grocery store food, only grazing.

So, IN MY OPINION, a tortoise that is living in an indoor habitat is the tortoise that needs the humid hide.

Yvonne

 

[Maggie Cummings]

You have to bear in mind that Maggie lives in Corvallis, OR, where there is ALWAYS moisture in the air. I think the humidity part of the pyramiding problem is geared more towards smaller tortoises, because my Dudley, at 100 plus pounds isn't provided any humidity either. He has a small insulated shed with a rubber mat on the floor, a night light and a pig blanket. He poops and pees in there, but I clean it up daily, so I'm sure it doesn't add anything to the air in there. He was pretty badly pyramided when I got him, but the growth for the past 10 years or so has been pretty smooth. No extra humidity, lots of exercise and no grocery store food, only grazing.

So, IN MY OPINION, a tortoise that is living in an indoor habitat is the tortoise that needs the humid hide.

Yvonne

Isn't that what I just said??? But if I lived in SoCal without any rain my advice would still be the same. I think the 4 basic rules for preventing pyramiding should hold only for small young tortoises who live in the house under hot baking lights. Ralph lives in San Diego without any humidity in the air and my advice would and is still the same. For him living mostly outside I wouldn't be overly concerned with making humidity, my only concern with him would be keeping him warm at night in his dogloo...

---

You have to bear in mind that Maggie lives in Corvallis, OR, where there is ALWAYS moisture in the air. I think the humidity part of the pyramiding problem is geared more towards smaller tortoises, because my Dudley, at 100 plus pounds isn't provided any humidity either. He has a small insulated shed with a rubber mat on the floor, a night light and a pig blanket. He poops and pees in there, but I clean it up daily, so I'm sure it doesn't add anything to the air in there. He was pretty badly pyramided when I got him, but the growth for the past 10 years or so has been pretty smooth. No extra humidity, lots of exercise and no grocery store food, only grazing.

So, IN MY OPINION, a tortoise that is living in an indoor habitat is the tortoise that needs the humid hide.

Yvonne

AND...Bob has to live in that shed for 7 months every year and I still am not concerned about making humidity...