"Bowserland"

[drgnfly2265]

Here are a couple of pictures of Bowser's area. I call it "Bowserland". I had to rearange a couple of things. And since the last time I posted pics of his area, he has an extra light for some extra lighting.

Enjoy

This pic shows the whole area. You can see the extra light that was added on the right hand side.

Another angle of his area...

This is the right side. I ended up moving his water over here. I had everything on the left hand side, so he didn't walk around on the right too often. Now he walks around the whole area a lot getting great exercise and keeping him busy.

And here is the left side. He had his hide next to the heat lamp. When he gets tired, he doesn't have to walk very far to find it. Before I moved it there I would find him in a corner sleeping if I didn't place him in his hide.

Thanks

____________________________________________________________

Jamie

1 Sulcata (Bowser)
1 Shih tzu (Suki)

www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise

 

[Crazy1]

Jamie, bowsers area looks nice. I have to ask the tiny little dish is that his treat dish? Looks like he is getting his exercise now for sure. Thanks for sharing.

 

[drgnfly2265]

Jamie, bowsers area looks nice. I have to ask the tiny little dish is that his treat dish? Looks like he is getting his exercise now for sure. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you

It used to be his old water dish (he used to fit inside it). And yep, it is now his treat dish. I don't want to get rid of it. So many memories of how small he was being able to lay inside it. *sniff*, they grow up so fast, lol. Now when he crawls on it he covers the whole thing.

____________________________________________________________

Jamie

1 Sulcata (Bowser)
1 Shih tzu (Suki)

www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise

 

[Crazy1]

Jamie I also noticed he seems to have a little bit of pyramiding and with all that hay how do you keep his humidity up?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

It looks like a great place to live, BUT with hay as a substrate you cannot create the humidity necessary to prevent pyramiding. He needs about 80% humidity at substrate level...the rest looks great

 

[drgnfly2265]

I am trying to find a way to make a "humid hide". I remember seeing a picture in here somewhere where the tort can walk into and it could be the humid area.

I was also wondering, since I live in Florida, and Florida is naturally really humid (I can just walk outside in the morning and start sweeting) does that help him with the humidity thing? (P.S. his area is on a porch)

Or I was maybe wondering if I should get a spray bottle and mist the inside of his hide and it would keep it humid in there.


What do you all think???

____________________________________________________________

Jamie

1 Sulcata (Bowser)
1 Shih tzu (Suki)

http://www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise

 

[Crazy1]

I don't think misting is going to make much of an impact. You may want to try drilling a couple of holes in the top of his hide and afix a sponge that you can keep damp in there that should raise the humidity you can also place sphargnam (sp?) moss inside his hide and keep it damp.
Another thought is to take half of his enclosure and place dirt or coconut fiber and sand (70/30% mixture) and then keep that damp you can do this by dividing his enclosure with something (board or brick) and just placing it on one side that way he has a choice of where he wants to be (excellent microclimate) then just pour a glass of water on it when it is drying out and stir it up. The lights and heat will dry out the top layer but the underneath will stay damp. These are just some thoughts. Hope it helps.

 

[drgnfly2265]

I don't think misting is going to make much of an impact. You may want to try drilling a couple of holes in the top of his hide and afix a sponge that you can keep damp in there that should raise the humidity you can also place sphargnam (sp?) moss inside his hide and keep it damp.
Another thought is to take half of his enclosure and place dirt or coconut fiber and sand (70/30% mixture) and then keep that damp you can do this by dividing his enclosure with something (board or brick) and just placing it on one side that way he has a choice of where he wants to be (excellent microclimate) then just pour a glass of water on it when it is drying out and stir it up. The lights and heat will dry out the top layer but the underneath will stay damp. These are just some thoughts. Hope it helps.

Can I glue the sponge inside on the roof? If so, what is a safe glue?

____________________________________________________________

Jamie

1 Sulcata (Bowser)
1 Shih tzu (Suki)

www.myspace.com/bowsertortoise

 

[Crazy1]

Yes I glued one of mine with a hot glue gun. Worked fine.

 

[tortoisenerd]

You can also drill a hole and use a plastic twist tie for the sponge. I also agree to try a moist substrate. Most tortoise do not spend enough time in the hide, nor does the sponge create enough humidity (you have to get it moist daily or more), to make a huge difference, especially for a Sulcata which is so prone to pyramiding in the first place.

What about more hides and cage furnishings? Fake plants are great, and you can make all sorts of things from scrap cardboard like tunnels and toys. The more you break up the lone of sight the better. Doe she like climbing? Even making a hill in the middle could be fun (your walls look to short to do it on the side).

I guess that you have air conditioning running in your house (dries out the air)? What is the ambient humidity in the house? Remember it will be even less in the enclosure with the lights, so you also want to measure that at his substrate level. How long have you had Bowser? I can't tell from the pictures, but is his growth coming in smooth?

I love Boswerland! Great size. Is Bowser going to live outside soon? He's getting big!

 

[bsr8129]

how big is that?