Unfortunately that 60% is all you're going to get unless you completely enclose the habitat. :/
Are your tortoises constantly I'm motion? Before I made all these changes he napped for several hours in under the light and heat. Now he's hiding in his hide for the first time since I've gotten him.I don't measure any of that stuff. I go by how the tortoises are acting. If they're eating and wandering around I know they're warm enough. If the substrate is damp and there's water in their waterer, it's humid enough. But this is what experience does for you. Until you get a better feel for what's going on in there, use all the tools you can to measure and test and whatever.
How did you get the humidity so high in the hide?View attachment 110938
Give it sometime you will figure it out, I only cover half of mine with plexiglass and the rest is open for the lights and heater. My humidity stays over 80% all the time and it's around 98% in the hide. My temps are all ways over 80 and the basking area is over 100.
I don't have access to sphagnum moss at this time. But I'll move my hide to the heated end.View attachment 110940
Keep it extra damp under it with Sphagnum moss inside and I also keep it on top of the hide and keep it under the heat end.
Does anybody know how many months/years he needs to be in this environment?
Thank you for answering my question. I'll keep a close eye on his size.This is usually more of a "size" thing. At this small size he'll spend most of the day here and 1-2hrs outside on "good weather" days. As he grows in size he'd gradually spend more and more time outside. By the time he's 6" you'll have him outside most of the day and inside the humid chambers at night. By 8"-10" you can move him outside full time but even still, his bed chambers will be at least moderately humid.
Mines big so he lives outside 24/7 in a heated house just like the one above.This is an inexpensive humid chamber I put together for juvenile Leopards (housed the same as sulcatas).
It's a 50something gallon tote I bought at Walmart for $17.
$10 worth of Coco coir substrate, rocks from my yard and a $4 terra cotta water dish. I have a 100watt CHE on thermostat set to 80F in one hood and a regular 60watt household bulb (incandescent) run on a 12hour on/off timer in the other hood.
CHE cost $15, the hoods or domes were less than $20 combined, the thermostat was $30, the timer less than $5 and the house bulb like $1..maybe. The digital probe thermometer was cheap too but it's old and I can't remember the cost. My digital hydrometer/thermometer recorded 24hr highs and lows and cost me $9 at walmart. The fake plants I occasionally used in the corner were from the Dollar Store.
This chamber kept perfect temps and perfect humidity. Basking spot near 100F, never cooler than 80F and always 90%+RH. I almost NEVER had to add water.
Because of their size, they didn't live in here full time. A smaller baby sure could though... But by the time I used this, they had outgrown the "baby chamber" and lived all day outside in a planted enclosure. They basically just ate dinner and slept in this. Ok, and spent the occasional cold SoCal days in here, too. But hey, it worked just great and the price was right
This is where they spent their days...
Then they spent their days here getting used to the heated house
and then eventually after moving outside and getting full reign of the yard, my only remaining Leopard is sleeping in this...still with moderate 60-70% RH and temps of 77F-80F
You'll have plenty of time to learn about the heated houses.... but for now I hope this helps give you cheap chamber ideas and something to look forward to as your little sullie grows!