Humidity providing questions

[MakAttak]

short background - I have a baby Sulcata tortoise named King Benny that I have had for a month now. He is houses in a regular store bought "tortoise house" that is also houses in a extra large wire dog crate to provide him with extra protection from my cats. We live in a very small apartment that doesn't even have a patio/balcony of any sort (irrelevant at the moment but still worth mentioning I guess).

I know that humidity is a huge necessity for him however I am in need of some helpful tips in regards to this subject. I have a few questions about this.

1) I need some recommendations on a good (or a few) warm humidifier, but I need it to be one that would either be safe (not too hot for him and safe to leave slightly unattended as it would run as night when I am sleeping). But this humidifier would also need to be compatible to work with a hose from the unit to his hide box. I have tried 2 different but regular - made for humans - humidifiers that I tried attaching hoses to to see if it would work but they didn't and the hoses just held in all of the humid air and heat.

2) Once I do find the right humidifier and have it set up - with humity pouring into the hide box I worry about it causing issues with the ceramic heat emitter bulb that I have set up for him currently. I imagine the moisture from the humidity might cause issues with the bulb and fixture. Currently since I don't actually have a humidifier set up I have detached the actual wood door/lid to the hide box side of the "tortoise house" so that the heat emitter bulb can provide night time heat to King Benny. (I can take pics and try to post them if that doesn't make sense). I was actually even planning on putting up some clear acrylic walls on all side of the dog crate to help keep the heat and humidity in better for him but again I'm concerned that the moisture from the humidity will cause issues with not only his night heat lamp but also the fixtures to his day heat lamps as well since even while they're turned off they are still hanging over his enclosure.

3) Do I need to have both on him at the same time - the humidifier (once I find the right one that will work) AND the ceramic heat emitter bulb? If yes then what are some suggestions to set this all up so it works properly and safely.

I could certainly use some advice for anything in regards to this topic.

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings and welcome to the Forum. All kinds of great info under the how to raise a young Sully, from proper lighting, substrate, heating, humidity, etc. You might want to check other pics of enclosures, it’s so much easier to maintain heat and humidity levels. Your current setup, I think, is just hard to maintain heat, humidity, moisture, etc.

Try and upload some pix of your Sully and enclosure. Make sure you are doing your daily soakings!

Good luck.

 

[Tom]

Using a humidifier is equivalent to bailing out a leaky boat to keep from sinking. Put the bailing bucket down and just plug the leak.

A humidifier is not the answer. Creating a warm humid environment is the answer. Buy or build a closed chamber. It will make your life easier and your tortoises life better. I recommend these: http://www.apcages.com/home/terrestrial/terrestrial.htm The T-13 might last a year or two depending on how fast your baby grows. You'll need something bigger after that.

In any case, set your CHE(s) to run on a thermostat. Then, when temps are where they should be, it ail remain off. When temps drop too low, they will kick on to keep things warm.


Here is all the sulcata info:
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/