Female RF peeing in her hide

[Pearly]

Hi Guys, my Shellie is 2 yrs old and recently started peeing up storm inside and at the entrance to her night hide where she always sleeps. I know this is normal behavior for them to raise humidity in their sleep chamber, but Shellie's ambient humidity inside that hide has always been in low 90's %. She just turned 2, measures 8" and weighing in few oz over 3 lbs, very active and curious, eating machine with healthy skin/scales and shell hard as a rock. She had NEVER peed/pooped inside of her bedtime quarters. All that had always been done either outside or during daily bath. She still does go outside and in her bath but also manages to soak the substrate on that side of the tank, like... sitting in WET SOGGY substrate inside her hide where she always sleeps. Worried about shell rot I have already replaced it twice and it didn't take her long to soak the new one. @ZEROPILOT, @Anyfoot, @Yvonne G, @ MPRC, @allegraf, @pfara (wish there was a look up feature here for user names, I can never remember them) I have never dealt with anything other than baby tort. Isn't my Shellie too young to be displaying "coming of age" behaviors? I don't think this is sign of physical illness it just looks too consistent, much like a behavior pattern. Or... do they get diabetes or antidiuteric hormone problems???? She does drink water daily like she's always done but not to the excess! Not anymore than Tucker and he is just same as always (pee/poo outside and in bath). Btw Shellie only sleeps in that tank at night, I bring her in after all day outside in the big tortoise garden. Can someone tell me what approximate age of RF puberty is. Again, I think she's way too young for that, but then again I don't have a clue. Should I worry about Shellie? What's your experience with juvenile RF female like that? Can you point me to any resources where i could read/educate/prep myself for what's likely to come? Please?....

 

[xirxes]

There was a post almost verbatim to this less than a month ago.

Probable wet micro climate needs, either humidity, humidity with temp combo or even substrate chemistry requirements driving the moisture modification.

Is it quite a bit more physically wet and humid in the garden? If so this may be a preference issue and not to be avoided.

After resetting substrate did you attempt to set in a moist spaghnum moss lump in sleeping quarters to see if she slept solely under this area vs drier side? That could give some clue.

In that the urination is specifically targeted and not random, most likely not an incontinance/internal health issue, as you supposed.

I'll defer to the pros for coming of age, but there is no readily available info on the web on this matter that I have run into over 100+ hours of research.

 

[Pearly]

There was a post almost verbatim to this less than a month ago.

Probable wet micro climate needs, either humidity, humidity with temp combo or even substrate chemistry requirements driving the moisture modification.

Is it quite a bit more physically wet and humid in the garden? If so this may be a preference issue and not to be avoided.

After resetting substrate did you attempt to set in a moist spaghnum moss lump in sleeping quarters to see if she slept solely under this area vs drier side? That could give some clue.

In that the urination is specifically targeted and not random, most likely not an incontinance/internal health issue, as you supposed.

I'll defer to the pros for coming of age, but there is no readily available info on the web on this matter that I have run into over 100+ hours of research.

Thanks for the quick reply and I wasn't suggesting incontinence/inappropriate elimination behavior. She seems very strong and healthy in the outside and her appetite and otherwise behavior suggest no ill health on the inside that I could tell just by observing. And yes, she clearly is trying to make her sleeping quarters WET! This came on fairly suddenly following really no environmental changes other then spending more time in the garden, which is heavily planted with 2 big wading pools in different parts of the garden, one of them in pretty heavy shade. On a hot Texas day I run a mister there so the humidity the stays up. I know that bcs the soil under the plants stays moist. You may have a good point there, she maybe overcompensating for the overall reduction in humidity in a 24 hr period being used to kept in 80-95% at all times now she endures warm temps and being forced to seek different places to hide trying to escape from the sun traveling from E to W side.