Help! humidity for a baby russian tortoise.

[Mrs. Farris]

two weeks ago I purchased a baby russian tortoise. I have a 2x2 ft. glass tank w/ a sliding screen lid. I have the proper uv/heat light, which sits on one corner of the tank, with an area to bask, as well as to lay in the shade. On the other end I have a cooler stone cave-thingy (lol) as well as a shallow stone pool w/ a ramp up one side. And of course the food goes over on the cool side too. I have a temp/humidity monitor and I am pretty sure that my temps are good, its about 90-95 right under the lamp and probably around 70-80 in the cool area (hard to get it much cooler than that, I live in southern California). But the I haven't been able to get the humidity sensor to work right so I don't know what my humidity should be. Now I have a russian tortoise, and they tend to live in very dry climates (afghanistan) so i'm not sure if humidity is even really an issue. I have a misting bottle and I use it about two times a day, but I feel like that might be too much? I honestly have no idea, the reptile place told me to do it once every two days but it just seems to get so dry in there with the lamp and everything... I appreciate you reading this long post and I look forward to hearing your advice. Thanks

 

[Tom]

Good question. Most people don't make a distinction between what babies of a species need and what adults of a species need. Babies need humidity! Even (or maybe especially) the "desert" species. I would spray the tort and they enclosure 3-4 times a day and pour water into the substrate, as needed, to keep it damp. Wait. What are you using for substrate? Did the pet store sell you some rabbit pellets or something dry? It should be orchid bark, cypress mulch, coco coir (like "Bed-a-Beast") or plain soil with no additives. Good luck finding plain soil with no additives. Here's a thread I started about this very subject. Its about sulcatas, but I would house a russian the same way. I don't have any russians right now, but I've had them in the past, and my buddy has a group of them, so I'm not completely ignorant.
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-The-End-Of-Pyramiding

Here's a thread on the thermometer I found at my Lowes here in SoCal:
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Wireless-Remote-Thermometer

Here's a thread on some good substrate I found, also at Lowes:
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Substrate--13520

Here's a thread on outdoor set ups for sunning. VERY IMPORTANT!
http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Cheap-Easy-Simple-Sunning-Enclosure

To any regular members reading this reply: Can you tell I love the new "favorites" section?

Good Luck with this one too.

 

[Mrs. Farris]

I was lucky in the sense that I got my baby from a Reptile specialty store where they are very knowledgeable, so they did recommend the orchid bark, that is what I use. I will start spraying it down more and wet the bark as well. Thanks for your advice!!!

 

[cknfrmr]

I mist my sulcata baby and substrate several times a day with mister bottle and my hand would wear out from spraying so i bought a brand new never used pump sprayer and it works perfect for the encloser just as a fyi.