Humidity level

[HighFiv3]

Hello everyone
Highfiv3 here

I just added premium reptibark to my sulcata enclosure humidity is rising but i see it stays in the 44 in the open side of the enclosure near his cave its in the 50 i added pictures
I do believe it should be from 50-70 humidity might be wrong please to comment on that haha but can i add plants to his enclosure near the open part to balance humidity?
Also i will be adding his ceramic heat emitter with a controlled thermostat
Im from California thank you to all have a nice day

 

[Tim Carlisle]

I think you need to cover the top somehow to keep the humidity from escaping. That will go a long way towards increasing and stabilizing your humidity. How deep is your substrate?

 

[HighFiv3]

I think you need to cover the top somehow to keep the humidity from escaping. That will go a long way towards increasing and stabilizing your humidity. How deep is your substrate?

for this enclosure my substrate is about 1in

 

[Tim Carlisle]

for this enclosure my substrate is about 1in

Might want to make it deeper: about 4" or so. That will help retain the moisture longer and not dry out as quickly. Be sure to keep it a bit damp!

 

[HighFiv3]

Might want to make it deeper: about 4" or so. That will help retain the moisture longer and not dry out as quickly. Be sure to keep it a bit damp!

 

[HighFiv3]

Okay will do thanks , i do have coconut fiber on the bottom should i do pure repti bark

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Okay will do , i have coconut fiber under should i just do pure repti bark

I've only done the orchid bark (100%), but I don't see any problem with mixing them if that's what you prefer to do.

 

[HighFiv3]

I've only done the orchid bark (100%), but I don't see any problem with mixing them if that's what you prefer to do.

Okay i will do the 4 inch and see how that goes , just need to find a way to keep humidity in since this enclosure has to open areas though adding plants would help

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Okay i will do the 4 inch and see how that goes , just need to find a way to keep humidity in since this enclosure has to open areas though adding plants would help

Plants are good! But covering the ventilation areas is going to be the most effective plan. Any idea what you want to plant yet?

 

[Tom]

There is no way to maintain heat and humidity with an open top. You'll end up with pyramiding and slow growth that way.

Humidity needs to be over 80% all the time. This species hatches into the rainy season in the wild and benefit from heat and humidity.

Give this a read through for the correct housing and care info:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

More info here too:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

Questions are welcome.

 

[HighFiv3]

Plants are good! But covering the ventilation areas is going to be the most effective plan. Any idea what you want to plant yet?

As of what i red plants that are good areca palm , spider plant & prayer plant ive read these are also best for humidity thoughts?

 

[Tim Carlisle]

While I only have a passing familiarity with transpiration, I have no idea how much they will contribute to humidity. I'll let others chime in with that regard.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

This thread covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc), correct levels, importance of a closed chamber for younger tortoises(only way to maintain the humidity you need), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out! If going with a greenhouse, the lower the ceiling height, whilst still allowing for recommended bulb height, the better! But I’ll add some more ideas below for closed chambers, I think a bunch of the cover options will work for the set up you have

Leopard/sulcata starter

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information below on how I’d personally tackle an indoor starter set up for a leopard/sulcata until they’re bigger. Hopefully it helps give people some ideas!” I know it looks like a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes different closed chamber options, some work better than others

Visual inspiration

Hi guys! I’ve had some lovely messages complimenting me on my care sheets I made for all the visuals they include! That makes me so happy because as a visual learner myself, that was my goal🥰 I’ve recently had some requests for some more visual inspiration for set ups that can house babies/...

tortoiseforum.org

Perhaps this idea in particular will help?


Lastly, this one here is probably most important to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they come in useful!