still not humid enough

[heyprettyrave]

yeah that could work, it would take a whole lot of work to cut it though...

 

[moswen]

you might just need a new humidifier if it's that bad. the humidifier in my tortoise room creates steam on the windows after a few hours, i can't even see out the window bc there's so much water on it. i have to turn it down, and i can walk into the room and feel the heat and moisture difference.

i can also see the steam coming out of mine, and i have to be careful about how close i get to the steam, i nearly burnt my lower back while bending over too close to it and attending to torotises with skin exposed. it was shockingly painful.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Cutting it would be a lot of work and it may or may not make the difference you're trying to get.

I say, don't worry about cutting it at first. Just make a new lid. It sounds like the one you have now is starting to warp. Make the lid so that it sits lower into the enclosure. Hmmm, this is going to be next to impossible to explain what I mean exactly. Make it so that it is recessed into the enclosure but has a lip that still sits flush with the edges the old lid sat on. Kinda like this

http://imagethumbnails.milo.com/004/229/142/290/4229522_2134142_290.jpg

Let me know if that makes any sense. This way it still reduces the enclosed air but you won't need to saw the enclosure in half to check and see if this would work for you.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Dang it all, it erased my post.

Cutting it would be a pain and there's no guarantee that it would work as well as you want and once it's cut it's cut. There is no going back.

So, don't cut the enclosure, just get a new lid. Sounds like the old one is warping and may need to be replaced. It's hard to explain without talking to you one on one and showing you what I mean, but a lid that would dip down into the enclosure. It would have a lip that still sat on the edges where the old lid sat, but instead of being a flat piece of wood it would dip down however much into the enclosure. In this way it would reduce the amount of enclosed air and you can try it and see if it makes the difference you're looking for. Here's a picture link that kinda shows the shape that I'm talking about:
http://imagethumbnails.milo.com/004/229/142/290/4229522_2134142_290.jpg

Another option would be to install a misting system but in effect that's not too different from the humidifier you already have in there.

 

[Millerlite]

Your soil looks dry, you probably can add more substrate make it deep, like 8inches then make it moist all the way through the soil. That will help a lot.

 

[Mogyorokrem]

Alright, this is Peanutbutter. Looks like I've been banned for trying to post a link...

Anyhow, don't cut the top off your enclosure just yet. Sounds like you need to replace the lid, so why not make one that recesses in the middle. That way you decrease the amount of air in the enclosure. You'd need something that could sit flush on the edges where the old lid sat, but then immediately dip back down. Here's a picture of what I mean kinda:

http://milo.com/17-gallon-tote-wrecessed-lid-textured-bottom

I don't think that exactly, but more or less that shape. Lip at the top with a dip in the middle. Let me know if I didn't explain that well enough. This is the third time I've typed this up so hopefully I didn't skip anything important.

 

[Balboa]

Hmmm,
Yes the substrate looks a touch dry Rave, I see what looks like totally dry strands of spag moss. It could be that your substrate is sucking it all up. In my enclosure the substrate is always moist without me ever having to water it. Obviously, we want to try and avoid having it mucky wet, but that's a tough fight.

The humidifier SHOULD be capable of humidifying that enclosure, sure its big, but its not HUGE. If it is working you should be able to feel the warmth coming up out of it, like holding your hand over a boiling pot.

In your initial pics post on your new enclosure you mention the side window being part plex and part screen for ventilation. I can't really tell in the pics how much of what it is, it may need to be closed up more.

Also it can take some time to build up humidity.

what are the temps like? you may need more heat to get it there. (it requires more energy to maintain warm humid air than warm dry air)

 

[Millerlite]

yeah what i found is to have deep substrate and keep pouring water in it, and mixing it till its moist, almost like muddy, its a messy process but once the lights and heat is on, it will dry a little but stay moist, it will keep your humidity up at like 70-80 percent. the deeper the substrate ( i used coco fiber mixed with soil) the easier it will be to keep it moist. When the top layer starts getting really dry and "dusty" looking just turn the soil should be moist right under that layers, then just add water when necessary, sometimes you have to return the soil to get it moist again.

 

[heyprettyrave]

okay, i am going to try to add more soil tonight, and ill put some water in it as well. yeah the soil now isn't watery at all, because i wanted to avoid it being too muddy/messy. but i'm going to go buy more plants, raise up the dirt levels and see what happens! ill post photos too

unfortunately i'm having to go through a lot of trial and error

---

and i have the window covered by a towel in that picture, i found that it keeps it more humid in there

 

[Millerlite]

Lol, Trial and Error is what its all about. I been through so many indoor and outdoor enclosures. Problem with people like us. We seem to never think its good enough for our tortoises... ha

 

[Balboa]

Yup, it really never is good enough. I don't think the current enclosure was finished before I was already planning the next one.

I'm still fiddling with it. Recently I added another timer. The way I built mine, the humidifier is in place to humidify the incoming, fresh air and ran non-stop. The substrate always seemed too dang wet. Now I have it set up so during the day the humidifier and fans run on a 15 minute on, 15 minute off cycle. Seems to be working well so far. Constant tweaking.

 

[heyprettyrave]

so i poured water into the dirt, so it was really wet and put a top dry layer on the top of that. i also bought a waterfall (hoping to bring up humidity levels) at ground level the humidity is at 70% and at a higher level it reads about 45%

im running out of ideas, and contemplating just buying another humidifier for the other side of the terrarium

 

[Tom]

Lol, Trial and Error is what its all about. I been through so many indoor and outdoor enclosures. Problem with people like us. We seem to never think its good enough for our tortoises... ha

Ha! Tell me about it!

 

[Madkins007]

I forget- is there anything heating the soil, especially from underneath? If the wet soil is cooler than the rest of the tank, you won't get the humidity you want. Lay your hand on it and hold it there a bit- is it pleasantly warm and moist, cool and clammy, or cold and wet? Obviously we want to aim for the first one.

I use heating cables like these and love them- http://www.bigappleherp.com/Big-Apple-Flexible-Heat-Ropes, but you do want to use a good thermostat with them.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

I forget- is there anything heating the soil, especially from underneath? If the wet soil is cooler than the rest of the tank, you won't get the humidity you want. Lay your hand on it and hold it there a bit- is it pleasantly warm and moist, cool and clammy, or cold and wet? Obviously we want to aim for the first one.

I use heating cables like these and love them- http://www.bigappleherp.com/Big-Apple-Flexible-Heat-Ropes, but you do want to use a good thermostat with them.

I second that about the heating cables. Love them. I've got a hydor Hydrokable that I'm using and it's working great. I bought a plug-in light dimmer thing from Home Depot that allows me to adjust temperatures manually. It's not as nice as the ones that adjust automatically based on what a little probe says, but it does a good job. I just monitor the temps myself.

This is basically it.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...D27X-_-100478442&locStoreNum=4403&marketID=76

 

[heyprettyrave]

how would i do that? and are you sure it would bring up the humidity?

 

[PeanutbuttER]

It's actually really easy to set up. The video on bigappleherp explains how to set it up. After that, get the controller and set it how you like.

I'm surprised with how well its worked out for me. It definitely can't do anything to hurt the humidity for ya Worth a shot in my mind.

 

[heyprettyrave]

thanks, we actually screwed down the top last night, and it is helping soo much

 

[Madkins007]

The formula for humidity is water + energy. Your substrate is wet, so now we need energy. Overhead heating does not penetrate the soil too much (IR goes a bit deeper than other forms, but still not too much), so you have basically a puddle in the soil under the warm layer.

If you heat this puddle, either with cables, or pads underneath, or some heat system under the tank, etc., then you'll get humidity from that- and the humid air will also be gently warmed- bonus!

The concern about making the place air tight is that it will start to smell, develop mold and mildew, etc. I like having a decent air flow, even if it means I have to work harder for heat and humidity.

You should see the Tortarium right now. Walls of polycarbonate (a tougher form of plexiglass) right near some slightly drafty windows in a cool living room where I usualy wear a sweater or shoulder shawl. A small CHE, a low wattage MVB, and the heat cables on timers and thermostats in a 48x20 tank that is about 80-90% covered, and my biggest problem is OVERHEATING! I can get ranges from 96 to 68 easily in there (measured with a digital IR thermometer, which lets me 'shoot' temps even from inside hides.)

I give MOST of the credit to the heating cables that burn off over 50 oz of water a day easily.

 

[heyprettyrave]

wow, im still not sure i want to do heating under the enclosure yet. but i do have a simple question, for the heat/humidity gaudges..... should i be reading the one in the dirt or the one thats up on the wall? because the one in the dirt, is perfect and where it needs to be, the one in the air, is not. ???