Temp/humidity question

[Oldbro]

The photo here is where I have 12 pound Bob now. 3x8 foot set up with radiant heat.
He’ll stay here for the Chicago winter then out side for summer. What temp and humidity level should I keep it at. Should the hide end of the unit be warmer or cooler than the open side? I have the floor at 88 degrees, I can make hide end cooler if its better for him. When he was smaller he seemed to move his hide off of the areas that had the heating pads under it.
Thanks all.

 

[Len B]

The photo here is where I have 12 pound Bob now. 3x8 foot set up with radiant heat.
He’ll stay here for the Chicago winter then out side for summer. What temp and humidity level should I keep it at. Should the hide end of the unit be warmer or cooler than the open side? I have the floor at 88 degrees, I can make hide end cooler if its better for him. When he was smaller he seemed to move his hide off of the areas that had the heating pads under it.
Thanks all.

88F might be a little high for the floor temperature of the whole enclosure. All of my sulcatas live outside all year and I try to set their floor temps close to 80F in each of their houses with the air temps a little higher. Humidity is a big problem for me, right now in their 5 house's the humidity ranges from 20 to 25 percent. And this happens every winter. What I do to counteract the low humidity is feed high moisture foods along with the more beneficial food items. I only have 1 tortoise that drinks regularly from a water bowl all the rest are hit and miss. A few days ago I started feeding them their winter diet which consist of rehydrated weeds, grass and leaves that I dried earlier along with some store bought items after the weather got cold and could no longer feed fresh harvested food items. Also moistened mazuri will help hydrate them internally. I've been doing this for years and don't have problems with pyramiding. Bob is a good looking tortoise, keep up the good work.