Too humid?

[Vegasarah]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to say that Squirt is doing wonderful as far as I can tell. Eats like a tank and is always cruising around his enclosure. If anyone remembers, I got him last year in March and he had really bad pyramiding as a baby. After keeping him in a 'closed chamber', he has doubled in size at least and his rough start are only little nubs on top of his smooth growing shell

I recently moved him into a Christmas tree storage box. He has one red heat bulb and a UVB bulb, both contained inside of the box. The temperature at basking is 101, and it never gets cooler than 82 at any place in his enclosure.

My humidity (I think because of my peat moss substrate) is never lower than 97%. My humidity gauge usually is maxed out at 100%. He gets 'fresh air' twice a day when I feed him. He has a humid hide with spanugum moss, but it's laughable because his whole thing is a humid hide. He sleeps in it every night regardless, though.

Is there such thing as too humid? He has no RI problems or anything like that. His eyes are bright and clear and he runs around his enclosure a lot. Jumps on his food like he's never been fed before lol. I think my temps being so high might be part of my success. But I could drill some holes for vents in the top if anyone thinks that such a high humidity could be harmful.

Thanks for reading, hope to get some replies soon! (I'll post pictures later tonight if I remember. I can't wait for you guys to see how big and smooth he is.)

 

[Dizisdalife]

I don't have the answer to your question about too much humidity. I do remember seeing Squirt when you first got him. I am looking forward to see the updated pictures.

 

[AZtortMom]

Yay! I'm so happy Squirt is doing great! I too remember when you first got him can't wait to see pics! Unfortunately, I don't have enough turtle experience to tell you if there is too much humidity in his habitat :/

 

[wellington]

Although 80% humidity is all that is really recommended, I have not ever heard that high is bad. Just as long as the enclosure substrate is not soupy/watery, but damp.

 

[Vegasarah]

The substrate is just damp, it's really deep, so the under part is soaked. But the top couple inches is pretty dry from the lights.

I love the picture of him next to his old dish, really gives you an idea how much he has grown in the last 6 months!

Here's some pictures of how little he was when I first got him and what he looks like now. Sorry they are a little blurry, my phone takes bad pictures haha.

 

[wellington]

Then, yes your enclosure dampness sounds good. He really has grown. So cute. It won't be long and you will have to add another box to the one you just got lol. Hopefully the warm weather will be around before he outgrows it and he can spend the days outside. Keep doing what your doing, he's looking good.

 

[sibi]

Nice job. With that much humidity, I'm wondering why he has signs of pyramiding? As a hatchling, I received my babies from a person who not only was surprised that these hatchlings came out of the ground, but had no idea how to take care of them. So, when I got them at 1 month old, their shells looked a bit dried. Subsequently, they, to this date, have slight pyramiding at 15 months old despite all my attempts to correct the problem. I was just wondering about your baby's beginning.

 

[Vegasarah]

This thread is locked now, but this is the first day I got him and a little bit about his beginnings: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-43597.html

I'm guessing he was about 4 months old when I got him, and I've had him for like 8 month now? I can say that keeping them VERY hot and VERY wet and feeding them twice a day has been my success. I try and get the basking temp to like 105 or a few more degrees and never let the cool end go below 82. This temperature seems high, but if it was too hot then he would avoid it. On the contrary, he seeks it out and spends a lot of time there. I think this in turn helps him really full digest his food all the way, and makes him hungry for more. It keeps his energy up so he's always walking or digging or something in this 100% humidity environment. This of course is just the way I have found success, I'm no expert

Edit: The pyramiding you are seeing is because he was kept bone dry with no access to water for 4-5 months, and that takes a lot to come back from. If you look closer down to his new growth, it's coming in a lot smoother. I hope that in a few years those top scutes will just be little numbs!

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Then, yes your enclosure dampness sounds good. He really has grown. So cute. It won't be long and you will have to add another box to the one you just got lol. Hopefully the warm weather will be around before he outgrows it and he can spend the days outside. Keep doing what your doing, he's looking good.

I can't wait to move him outside during the day. Even then, I'm thinking that I am going to actually do a really large humid heated hide inside the outdoor enclosure. Going to try and get the humidity in there to like 90% and might even feed him in there so he will still spend lots of time in there. I think that once a baby gets a bad start, they are always going to be a little more susceptible to pyramiding. At least that's what I've seen from other threads on here. I'll probably keep him inside for most of the time, even in the summer for half the day even though he could probably live outside full time next year. I'll build a larger enclosure or like you said, add another box to the one I have so that he can live inside comfortably. I really want to see if prolonging that exposure to extreme humidity will make him grow super smooth and keep him healthy. Kind of like a little experiment, that way if other people have the same problems I can help them and tell them what worked for me.

 

[sibi]

I read the beginnings of your precious baby, and I must say that you are doing a fantastic job. I'm glad that you didn't return him. Think of what he would have gone through. I, too, have a sully who looks like your baby when you got him, only mine is 3 years old and just weighted in at 8 oz! Of course, mine is a "special" baby. Best to you with your tort.

Nice job. With that much humidity, I'm wondering why he has signs of pyramiding? As a hatchling, I received my babies from a person who not only was surprised that these hatchlings came out of the ground, but had no idea how to take care of them. So, when I got them at 1 month old, their shells looked a bit dried. Subsequently, they, to this date, have slight pyramiding at 15 months old despite all my attempts to correct the problem. I was just wondering about your baby's beginning.

 

[Vegasarah]

I read the beginnings of your precious baby, and I must say that you are doing a fantastic job. I'm glad that you didn't return him. Think of what he would have gone through. I, too, have a sully who looks like your baby when you got him, only mine is 3 years old and just weighted in at 8 oz! Of course, mine is a "special" baby. Best to you with your tort.

I'm glad that you are trying to help your little guy! I know I made the right choice by not returning him, he has been such a joy in my life. I'm glad he's growing so well and that he is happy and healthy! Good luck with your special baby.