Hercules and Hazels tortoise table doesn't have much if any humidity. They have a hide and I try to keep it damp in there but it doesn't seem to help..it dries up too fast. The table doesn't have a top and that's probably why there's no humidity. How can I get it humid in there fairly easy? I mist them every time I check on them which is at least 4 times a day. I soak them about every other day. The substrate that's in there is cypress mulch. How do you keep your table humid? Thanks!
How to have humidity in a tort table?
- Thread starter HollyH8
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You can't. That's why I recommend against tortoise tables for hatchlings and babies.
The only way to do it would be to humidify the entire room.
The only way to do it would be to humidify the entire room.
I couldn't get the humidity up until I covered the enclosure, including the lights and heating elements. I first tried making a top out of cardboard but it didn't seem to hold in the humidity. Plastic worked best with some foil to protect it from the lights.
if you have the money, install a cover with plexiglass. make sure oxygen can still flow through. you don't want to fully seal up the thing. or if you're broke like me, use plastic wrap. just make sure it isn't accessible to the torts as they can choke on it. covering just half the table can increase humidity a ton. at least it did for mine.
Take a water dish, completely bury it under the humid hide, and then "fill" the dish with water. This will cause the mulch to rot out and require replacement somewhat frequently, but can be used to raise the substrate humidity. If you also want to raise the humidity in the air, other posters have got it nailed, humidify the room or cover the table.
I use to have a sponge attached to the inside of the top of the hide to increase the humidity. Not my original idea. Someone on the forum mentioned it in a thread I was reading on this forum. It did seem to work. Also, I put an extra water dish in the enclosure to add humidity. Not sure it helped, but my tort loved to sit in it and bask for hours. He did that until he could no longer fit in the dish.
This was taken in Jan 2011
This one is from June 2011
This was taken in Jan 2011
This one is from June 2011
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Sooo... I'm gonna throw in my two cents.. As I've been playing with different things and getting ideas and inspiration from Tom... I understand you have a table, but if there was some way you can make the sides of your table taller, then get some of the coconut dusty stuff (cocoair?) and before putting it under your substrate, drench it in water (it will be a mud consistency)... This will raise your humidity levels. I dump a large glass of water in my substrate once a week or so, and also have an appetizer plate for their water "bowl". And covering it up helps, i don't have a lid for my enclosure, but used foil to cover 3/4 of the enclosure (because my lighting is unconventional, I can't cover the whole thing)... I'm sure it makes a difference, but I can't see it...?
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I want to try the sponge on the hide box roof thing but I'm scared Franklin might try to eat it. I've also heard that a damp clump of moss works well too. He's a little over a yr so I'm hoping humidity isn't quite an issue at this point.
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I doubt he eats it and if he does it will just bit a tiny tiny bit to see what it is and then he will probably never eat it again 
unless you've just got a Sulcata that loves the way a good sponge tastes
unless you've just got a Sulcata that loves the way a good sponge tastes
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Dizisdalife said:
Dizisdalife- I copied you and put a shallow bowl thing like this under my tort's basking lamp and he does the same thing. Love it!
Something I did back in the day when I had a tortoise table is I cut a whole in the floor of the table, just big enough so I could fit the bottom portion of a plastic shoe box through, and the lip of the box would rest on the floor of the table...does that make sense? Then I would fill the dirt with soil, and put another smaller plastic shoebox on top upside down like your standard humid hide.
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