Tortoise enclosure/humid hide

[trevorthetorty]

hello! i’m a first time owner of four 1y/o sulcata tortoises, and i would like to know what i should further improve on their enclosure (see attached photo). i only keep my sulcatas in their enclosure at night and on rainy days, to keep them warm and away from predators; they are kept free outdoors during the day. i’m living in the Philippines so humidity isn’t really an issue (usually ranges from 75-90%), i also don’t mist water regularly to my substrate (reptibark), only at times when humidity drops to 61%. The only issue I have is the rainy season, where it might be too cold for my sulcatas (26-29C at night) which is why I added a CHE on the right side of their covered enclosure (enclosure temp is now at 31C at night). I also added 4 hides under this covered area of the enclosure (see pic). I’m just worried that since the improvised hides are made of aluminum (heat conductor) and are under this covered enclosure where the CHE is, that it may get too hot for them, though i noticed that two tortoises are already inside these hides. I was also debating if i should add a damp tropical moss inside their hides, but eventually removed them and just placed it on top of their hides since i noticed they were eating the moss. I also soak them every other day, not every day since I was told not to because their sulcata got a runny nose when soaking everyday in Philippine weather, and also I don't think they need to be soaked everyday since they always go to their water dish.

Can you pls give more advice on what i should do and improve on?

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

-The entire enclosure needs to stay over 26-27C at night. During the day, they need a basking area, either from sunshine or from an incandescent flood bulb, where they can warm up to around 36-37C. Not the whole enclosure at 37C, just a basking area. Outdoors, there should be shade and sunny areas. Indoors, the whole enclosure should warm up each day to 30-33C, and also have the basking area.

-Humidity should always be over 80%. Misting doesn't do anything other than cause evaporative cooling. Keep the substrate damp by dumping water into as needed.

-Soaking every other day is fine for tortoises of this size. Babies should be soaked daily. Runny noses are caused by cold temps, not by soaking. Soak water must be kept warm the entire time.

-IMPORTANT!: Remove that ramped water bowl ASAP. It those are great for snakes and lizards, but tortoises can easily flip over and drown in them.

-Moss is not recommended because they eat it, and you discovered this on your own. It can cause them to become impacted. Skip the moss. Just wet the substrate under the hides. Also, those hides are not humid hides. The open ends let all the humidity out.

-Your enclosure is barren. It needs some furniture. Clip grape vine or mulberry branches. Or hibiscus branches. The tortoises can hide amongst the foliage and nibble on it too. Replace these branches as needed as they wilt. Large rocks and logs are good too.

Start here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

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Then read this one:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

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Questions are welcome!

 

[trevorthetorty]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

-The entire enclosure needs to stay over 26-27C at night. During the day, they need a basking area, either from sunshine or from an incandescent flood bulb, where they can warm up to around 36-37C. Not the whole enclosure at 37C, just a basking area. Outdoors, there should be shade and sunny areas. Indoors, the whole enclosure should warm up each day to 30-33C, and also have the basking area.

-Humidity should always be over 80%. Misting doesn't do anything other than cause evaporative cooling. Keep the substrate damp by dumping water into as needed.

-Soaking every other day is fine for tortoises of this size. Babies should be soaked daily. Runny noses are caused by cold temps, not by soaking. Soak water must be kept warm the entire time.

-IMPORTANT!: Remove that ramped water bowl ASAP. It those are great for snakes and lizards, but tortoises can easily flip over and drown in them.

-Moss is not recommended because they eat it, and you discovered this on your own. It can cause them to become impacted. Skip the moss. Just wet the substrate under the hides. Also, those hides are not humid hides. The open ends let all the humidity out.

-Your enclosure is barren. It needs some furniture. Clip grape vine or mulberry branches. Or hibiscus branches. The tortoises can hide amongst the foliage and nibble on it too. Replace these branches as needed as they wilt. Large rocks and logs are good too.

Start here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Then read this one:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome!

thank you!! also, since i keep them outside on our garden during day time, i would like to ask how to increase the humidity? we have lots of plants but during the day, humidity is at 61-69%. i allow them to roam free outside cause i noticed that they keep on scratching the walls at their enclosure and i don’t want them to feel trapped or stressed. they seem so much happier outside but my only problem is i can’t control the humidity at our garden and i can’t really enclose it. i also added a temporary fence since they keep on going under the plants and it’s harder to monitor them (i saw one tortoise flipped upside down for wandering too much under the plants, hence the need for a fence)

a water dish is also available for them under the shaded area of the garden

 

[trevorthetorty]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

-The entire enclosure needs to stay over 26-27C at night. During the day, they need a basking area, either from sunshine or from an incandescent flood bulb, where they can warm up to around 36-37C. Not the whole enclosure at 37C, just a basking area. Outdoors, there should be shade and sunny areas. Indoors, the whole enclosure should warm up each day to 30-33C, and also have the basking area.

-Humidity should always be over 80%. Misting doesn't do anything other than cause evaporative cooling. Keep the substrate damp by dumping water into as needed.

-Soaking every other day is fine for tortoises of this size. Babies should be soaked daily. Runny noses are caused by cold temps, not by soaking. Soak water must be kept warm the entire time.

-IMPORTANT!: Remove that ramped water bowl ASAP. It those are great for snakes and lizards, but tortoises can easily flip over and drown in them.

-Moss is not recommended because they eat it, and you discovered this on your own. It can cause them to become impacted. Skip the moss. Just wet the substrate under the hides. Also, those hides are not humid hides. The open ends let all the humidity out.

-Your enclosure is barren. It needs some furniture. Clip grape vine or mulberry branches. Or hibiscus branches. The tortoises can hide amongst the foliage and nibble on it too. Replace these branches as needed as they wilt. Large rocks and logs are good too.

Start here:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Then read this one:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome!

also, any recommendations for a good improv humid hide?

 

[Tom]

also, any recommendations for a good improv humid hide?

Fences to contain them are good, but the fence needs to be opaque so they can't see through it. Use wood or cinderblocks or corrugated roofing panels.

You can run sprinklers or misters during hot weather, but there is really no way to control the humidity outdoors. That is one reason why large indoor closed chambers are recommended for housing this species until they grow too large to be indoors.

Also, be sure to ID all of those plans and make sure that none of them are toxic to tortoises. They can and will eat the wrong things if given the chance.

 

[Tom]

also, any recommendations for a good improv humid hide?

I forgot to answer this question! Yes. I like to use black plastic dishwashing tubs from Walmart. I'm sure they have something similar where you are. Flip it upside down and cut out a door hole with scissors just large enough for the tortoise. Wet the substrate under it, and BOOM! Humid hide.

 

[trevorthetorty]

okay thank you!!