Just Need Some Advice (Preventive Thinking)

Nmcgowan

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So, a little while back I posted my first thread here about my new baby leo named Molly. I was seeking some general enclosure advice and such. I received plenty of helpful replies which I was very grateful for. Since then I have made some large changes to Molly's habitat based on the replies I received here and the advice given to me by my local exotic veterinarian (and also my boss who has had Leo's for the past 8 years.).

I'll start off by saying that I did have to take Molly to the vet because she had started to get nose bubbles. The Vet looked at her and since the mucus was clear he wasn't too worried about it (I was fearing RNS). I showed him the pics of her new tank and he said it was likely a humidity problem. At this time I was purely using Eco-Earth for substrate and he also told me to try doing a half repti-bark and half newspaper bottom (as seen in the pic). He fears using straight coco coir or eco-earth because it is constantly wet and this can breed nasties which could lead her to being sick.

Since trying this method the humidity has dropped in her tank to around 30% daily ( I know it needs to be between 40%-60% with 50% being the ideal. The tank I have her in is a 40 gallon breeder that did not come with any type of lid. I added the reptile fountain in the hopes that the added water circulation would add to the humidity. It isn't. I know that I can run over to lowes and have a piece of plexi-glass cut to fit the tank but then I run into the issue that the plexi-glass is cutting out the UVB rays from her mercury vapor bulb. I was also thinking of picking up a Reptile Fogger. Today, I added coco-coir to her log hide, which is where she sleeps in the hopes of making this area more humid.

I guess the big question here is how can I make this tank enclosed without cutting out her UVB? I do not want my baby to start pyramiding and I will say she is definitely going through her growing period. (White around the scutes).

Additional info:
She gets something different to eat every day: colalrd greens, raddichio, spring mix, endive, I try to mix these things with the pellets but she avoids the pellets if she can.
I mix in calcium powder to her food at least once a week.
With this new setup and the vets advice I clean out the tank every wednesday. The vet gave me Maxima which is a sterilizer which is meant to be safe for all exotics. I use this to soak her bowls, toys, rocks, and fountain when I'm cleaning the tank.
At night I use a ceramic heat emitter to heat the tank. the tanks warm side sits at around 85 - 95 degree F, the cooler side (newspaper side) sides at around 80. 20160322_195852.jpg

Sorry this is so long, I just want to add as much info as possible. I do want people to understand that I realize a glass tank is not the best home for a tortoise. Within the next year, my fiance and I will being moving into an actual house (Hurray!) and I have already made plans for an outside habitat for when she gets larger. I hope the pic and all info here is helpful, I would have posted a pic of her but she is currently sleeping in her newly cocoed hide. Thanks guys, I look forward to hearing from you.

Edit: forgot to add that the saran wrap you are seeing on the tank is my attempt at keeping sime humidity in. :) Its semi successful but still not where she needs to be.
 

Yvonne G

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There's just no way to have a humid environment with newspaper on the floor of the habitat. You need moist substrate. When you moisten those chip, the newspaper is going to grow mold. Remove the newspaper, add more substrate (about 3 or 4 inches) and really wet it down. When you have a wet substrate it is very important to keep the temperature up. You want it 80 to 85F all the time for babies. Also, you'll need to cover the whole top, not just a portion.

(and your glass tank is just fine. I use them all the time. They're much easier to keep warm and humid than an open-topped table)
 

Nmcgowan

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There's just no way to have a humid environment with newspaper on the floor of the habitat. You need moist substrate. When you moisten those chip, the newspaper is going to grow mold. Remove the newspaper, add more substrate (about 3 or 4 inches) and really wet it down. When you have a wet substrate it is very important to keep the temperature up. You want it 80 to 85F all the time for babies. Also, you'll need to cover the whole top, not just a portion.

(and your glass tank is just fine. I use them all the time. They're much easier to keep warm and humid than an open-topped table)
Thank you Yvonne! I was considering removing the newspaper from the get-go and switching back to full substrate (full bark). My only thing now is trying to figure out how to enclose the habitat without cutting the UVB rays.
 

Yvonne G

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You must have two threads going because I just wrote about covering the aquarium. Go ahead with the Saran wrap up to the light, then change over to aluminum foil, going up over the bell of the light.
 

Yvonne G

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Ooops, nevermind. There are two of you posting right now with the same problem.
 

Nmcgowan

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Ooops, nevermind. There are two of you posting right now with the same problem.
Haha, I was just so confused. I was like oh what did I do! (I'm usually good with tech but I don;t post on forums often. You have truly helped me tonight Yvonne. I never even thought about using the tin foil around the light!!! Thank you so much!!
 

Levi the Leopard

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Humidity didn't cause the issue...low temps with humidity probably did.

I'd suggest you go back to the damp substrate, cover the lid however you can, BUT make sure your temps don't drop below 80F

I achieved the 80F minimum temps by using a CHE plugged into a thermostat. Set it and forget it. Well worth it IMO.
 

Nmcgowan

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Humidity didn't cause the issue...low temps with humidity probably did.

I'd suggest you go back to the damp substrate, cover the lid however you can, BUT make sure your temps don't drop below 80F

I achieved the 80F minimum temps by using a CHE plugged into a thermostat. Set it and forget it. Well worth it IMO.
I think I mentioned in my opening post that all my temps are 80 and above. I currently have a thermostat for my leopard gecko and I am considering getting one for Molly as well to be on the safe side. To be specific, the Vet believed that the lack of humidity in the habitat was causing her to over produce mucus to make up for it. Since adding the reptile bark and the fountain I haven't seen the bubbles in 3 weeks. :D At this point I'm just more concerned about pyramiding. I have her all wrapped up now using the advice that Yvonne gave me and the tank is already up to 50% humidity. :<3:
 
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