Humidity Question

[Scawtey]

Hello everyone!

So this question is about my 1 year old Sulcata, Otto.

Right now I have him in a 35 gallon rubbermaid, with a 102 degree basking spot, 90 degree hot side and 70 degree cool side. He has coconut fiber substrate about 3 inches high in the tub.

My humidity gauge is at 60 which some places say is normal, but I'd like to know the ideal humidity for a Sulcata his age and maybe some help on reaching that desired level. Thanks!

 

[Tom]

For one his age a 35 is WAYYYYY too small. I start brand new hatchlings in a minimum of 40 gallons, but I'm actually using a 4x4' enclosure for hatchlings right now.

At a year old humidity is much less critical. I would let things be a little drier and offer a humid hide and a shallow water bowl. I think 70 is too cool with a damp substrate in that sort of enclosure. You run a risk of making him sick.

How big is he and what is your night temp?

 

[Scawtey]

He is about 3.25 inches long. I will upload his picture in a second. I have to keep him inside for now because I don't have the resources to put him outside with my dogs and stuff yet. What gallon size rubbermaid should I get then? I can go and get a bigger at walmart.

---

Here is a picture of him in his current enclosure. I can make a trip to walmart tomorrow and get him a bigger container, just let me know what size I need to get please.

 

[Urtle]

I would up his humidity more. 70-75% should be right but please be sure its NOT cold and humid.

 

[Scawtey]

I will try to up it more. I'm having issues with the temps, they seem to be going all over the place. His Hot end will go from like 95-83 and his cold side usually stays right at 70. My CHE is in the mail and on it's way here now.

 

[Urtle]

I will try to up it more. I'm having issues with the temps, they seem to be going all over the place. His Hot end will go from like 95-83 and his cold side usually stays right at 70. My CHE is in the mail and on it's way here now.

That's Great! I think the problem here is your enclosure has an open lid. If you want to maintain proper temps. you will have to find a way to cover the top of the tank around the spot lamp so there is little air flow. This way the heat and humidity will be trapped inside rather than flowing out easily.

 

[Scawtey]

Alright. I'm going to cut the original lid to the rubbermaid container tomorrow to fit on. I'm going to walmart tomorrow and going to get the largest rubbermaid that I can find there. Would a 55gallon be sufficient for his size and age?

 

[Urtle]

Alright. I'm going to cut the original lid to the rubbermaid container tomorrow to fit on. I'm going to walmart tomorrow and going to get the largest rubbermaid that I can find there. Would a 55gallon be sufficient for his size and age?

If you want to be more efficient I would recommend you to look online and try to find a glass aquarium 40 gallon min. but bigger is better.

Plastic could be dangerous especially with heat.

 

[Scawtey]

That is very true. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Tom]

That tub looks bigger than 35. What are the approximate dimensions? I would wait to up your humidity until your CHE arrives and you get those temps set. You don't want high humidity at 70 degrees. It needs to be around 80 all the time.

 

[Scawtey]

Alright thanks Tom. Also, after browsing the enclosure threads, I think tomorrow I will start building my own out of wood for him, I can fit a 30"W x 60"L in my room. I'll probably use those dimensions to build it, fill it with coconut substrate and work from there. The dimensions on his current enclosure is 20"W x 40"L

 

[Tom]

20x40 is not so bad for a little one. 30x60 will be much better and last a while. Since you are building from scratch, check out the "Closed Chamber" thread in the helpful threads. I find these to be superior in every way to an open topped enclosure.

 

[Scawtey]

Thank you! I'll be working on it tomorrow and hopefully complete it through the weekend. I just really wanna raise this little guy right, my girlfriend got him from a pet store, and he already has a little pyramiding at 1 year.

I have a pen outside, I've been trying to give him 2-3 hours of grazing time then as well.

 

[Dizisdalife]

When I got my sulcata he was about 8 months old and had started to pyramid. I found this forum and began to increase the humidity. That is when I found that covering the top of the enclosure really helped to keep the humidity up. It also held in the heat so I added a thermostat to keep the ambient temp stable. Especially important at night. Several months later I built a simple outdoor pen using cinder blocks and covered it with wire mesh to keep the dogs (and hawks) out. He was about 4 inches long then. For the next year he stayed outside for about 8 hours a day. At night I brought him back inside to his warm and humid enclosure to sleep. Now he is almost 12 inches long and although the original pyramiding is still there, it is hardly noticeable. As soon as I got the humidity up in his inside enclosure, and begin to soak him everyday the new shell growth came in smooth. I had placed his water dish near the basking spot and he would lay in the water, or at the edge of the water and bask for hours every day. Even though I had the humidity as high as I could get it in his inside enclosure I still had a humid hide for him to go into. He would sleep in this hide every night. His outdoor pen also had humid hides for him to use. The increased humidity and soakings really helped stop the pyramiding, but I think that the sunshine and exercise he got from being outside improved the overall health of the his shell and the tortoise in general. It seems to me that they really thrive outdoors.

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

Hello everyone!

So this question is about my 1 year old Sulcata, Otto.

Right now I have him in a 35 gallon rubbermaid, with a 102 degree basking spot, 90 degree hot side and 70 degree cool side. He has coconut fiber substrate about 3 inches high in the tub.

My humidity gauge is at 60 which some places say is normal, but I'd like to know the ideal humidity for a Sulcata his age and maybe some help on reaching that desired level. Thanks!

They really don't need humidity he'll be fine without it. Russians on the other hand that's another story, but if your really concerned take a spray bottle fill it with warm water and spray the sides 4 times a week.

 

[Urtle]

When I got my sulcata he was about 8 months old and had started to pyramid. I found this forum and began to increase the humidity. That is when I found that covering the top of the enclosure really helped to keep the humidity up. It also held in the heat so I added a thermostat to keep the ambient temp stable. Especially important at night. Several months later I built a simple outdoor pen using cinder blocks and covered it with wire mesh to keep the dogs (and hawks) out. He was about 4 inches long then. For the next year he stayed outside for about 8 hours a day. At night I brought him back inside to his warm and humid enclosure to sleep. Now he is almost 12 inches long and although the original pyramiding is still there, it is hardly noticeable. As soon as I got the humidity up in his inside enclosure, and begin to soak him everyday the new shell growth came in smooth. I had placed his water dish near the basking spot and he would lay in the water, or at the edge of the water and bask for hours every day. Even though I had the humidity as high as I could get it in his inside enclosure I still had a humid hide for him to go into. He would sleep in this hide every night. His outdoor pen also had humid hides for him to use. The increased humidity and soakings really helped stop the pyramiding, but I think that the sunshine and exercise he got from being outside improved the overall health of the his shell and the tortoise in general. It seems to me that they really thrive outdoors.

That's a good looking tortoise!

 

[Yvonne G]

They really don't need humidity he'll be fine without it. Russians on the other hand that's another story, but if your really concerned take a spray bottle fill it with warm water and spray the sides 4 times a week.

Hi TortoiseBoy1999:

This is the "old school" way of thinking. Sulcatas DO need humidity. This is what helps them to grow smoothly.

I've noticed that you have replied to several other folks' threads, but you haven't made one of your own. Won't you take a few moments to start a new thread in the "introductions" section and tell us a bit about yourself?

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

Hi TortoiseBoy1999:

This is the "old school" way of thinking. Sulcatas DO need humidity. This is what helps them to grow smoothly.

I've noticed that you have replied to several other folks' threads, but you haven't made one of your own. Won't you take a few moments to start a new thread in the "introductions" section and tell us a bit about yourself?

To be honest I REALLY don't know how. Could you tell me?

 

[Yvonne G]

Up at the top of the screen, click on "forums."

Scroll down to "introductions" and click on that. Its the first selection.

Over on the right side of the screen click on "new topic."

Under "thread subject," enter something like "Hi, new here," or "hello" or something like that, then tab down to the big white space and type in your message. We'd like to know what to call you, appx. where in the world you are, what types of tortoise you keep and whatever else you'd like to share with us.

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

To be honest I REALLY don't know how. Could you tell me?

How do I make a thread