Lately is has been suggested that high humidity, moisture and hydration is a "band-aid" for some other husbandry problem. Similarly, it has been suggested the very high moisture levels are "balancing" out some other husbandry deficiency. I strongly disagree, based on decades of personal observation with several species, conversations with top pros, and the experiences of many people right here on the forum. I would like the proponents of these theories to tell me where and what the deficiency is in my husbandry.
The following describes my general husbandry practices for the last two decades. Please let me know where improvement is needed. Since the 80's I've been keeping Ctenosaurs, Cyclura, Green Iguanas and of course tortoises, so I've been a student of herbivorous diets for a long time. My torts have always had a varied diet based on a variety leafy greens from the grocery store, weeds, grass and home grown foods like cactus, hibiscus, mulberry and roses. Most of them were fed "a big pile daily" with the exception of my current adult sulcatas who were fed lightly and had many days skipped. They are now 43 and 48 pounds for my 12 year old males and 33 pounds for my 10 year old female. All my other torts were a more "normal" size for their age. They've all always had large outdoor pens for sunshine, exercise and natural grazing here in the CA sunshine and they are in their outdoor pens almost daily year round. I sometimes have to skip a week or two in the winter due to cold weather and rain. They've all had large indoor enclosures with UV lighting. I used to use the "reptile" tubes, but switched to MVBs when they hit the scene, 10 years ago. I've always used Rep-cal around twice a week and periodically offered cuttle bones, even though they are mostly ignored by my torts. Some had water bowls, some didn't. I usually soaked two or three times a week. More for babies, less for juvies and adults. For all of that time I used either some sort of dry pellet or sani-chips as a substrate. The tops of the enclosures were alway left open and the hides were dry.
All of my torts pyramided. ALL of them. 100%. Since implementing the "wet" routine (damp substrate, high humidity, shell spraying several times daily, daily soaks and water sprayed on the food) Not ONE single tort out of 42 has shown any signs of pyramiding.
My view is this: The "wet" routine is not a band aid. It is not a way to "balance" something else out. It is an important element of baby tortoise husbandry that was completely missing from my repertoire for most of my tortoise keeping life. Lately, it has also been proposed that there MIGHT be some unknown side effect from hydrating our tortoise babies and using humidity to keep them from drying out and chronically dehydrating. Anyone care to explain what possible mystery side effects could be there? As a student of biology, I studied kidney and liver anatomy and physiology extensively (even got A's on the tests) and I can't ever remember hearing or reading that lots of hydration was a bad thing, or that dehydration is somehow a good thing. Here's the thing: I soak them every day, but that doesn't mean they are drinking. They just have the opportunity to drink whether they want it or not. All the humidity (which despite my best efforts is only around 50% in the room and 70-80% in the covered tort enclosures) just keeps them from dehydrating in between drinks as rapidly. I'm not forcing them to drink or tubing it down to their stomachs. I'm just giving them every opportunity to get, and stay, as hydrated as they want.
Looking forward to learning something new here.
The following describes my general husbandry practices for the last two decades. Please let me know where improvement is needed. Since the 80's I've been keeping Ctenosaurs, Cyclura, Green Iguanas and of course tortoises, so I've been a student of herbivorous diets for a long time. My torts have always had a varied diet based on a variety leafy greens from the grocery store, weeds, grass and home grown foods like cactus, hibiscus, mulberry and roses. Most of them were fed "a big pile daily" with the exception of my current adult sulcatas who were fed lightly and had many days skipped. They are now 43 and 48 pounds for my 12 year old males and 33 pounds for my 10 year old female. All my other torts were a more "normal" size for their age. They've all always had large outdoor pens for sunshine, exercise and natural grazing here in the CA sunshine and they are in their outdoor pens almost daily year round. I sometimes have to skip a week or two in the winter due to cold weather and rain. They've all had large indoor enclosures with UV lighting. I used to use the "reptile" tubes, but switched to MVBs when they hit the scene, 10 years ago. I've always used Rep-cal around twice a week and periodically offered cuttle bones, even though they are mostly ignored by my torts. Some had water bowls, some didn't. I usually soaked two or three times a week. More for babies, less for juvies and adults. For all of that time I used either some sort of dry pellet or sani-chips as a substrate. The tops of the enclosures were alway left open and the hides were dry.
All of my torts pyramided. ALL of them. 100%. Since implementing the "wet" routine (damp substrate, high humidity, shell spraying several times daily, daily soaks and water sprayed on the food) Not ONE single tort out of 42 has shown any signs of pyramiding.
My view is this: The "wet" routine is not a band aid. It is not a way to "balance" something else out. It is an important element of baby tortoise husbandry that was completely missing from my repertoire for most of my tortoise keeping life. Lately, it has also been proposed that there MIGHT be some unknown side effect from hydrating our tortoise babies and using humidity to keep them from drying out and chronically dehydrating. Anyone care to explain what possible mystery side effects could be there? As a student of biology, I studied kidney and liver anatomy and physiology extensively (even got A's on the tests) and I can't ever remember hearing or reading that lots of hydration was a bad thing, or that dehydration is somehow a good thing. Here's the thing: I soak them every day, but that doesn't mean they are drinking. They just have the opportunity to drink whether they want it or not. All the humidity (which despite my best efforts is only around 50% in the room and 70-80% in the covered tort enclosures) just keeps them from dehydrating in between drinks as rapidly. I'm not forcing them to drink or tubing it down to their stomachs. I'm just giving them every opportunity to get, and stay, as hydrated as they want.
Looking forward to learning something new here.
