Humidity Solution

[jackmeggers]

Hi all just a quick question. Has anyone had success with humidifiers/water fountains in their redfoots enclosure? are they safe if they drink from them? I've got a soaking pool of course, but just in case they did drink from it. Are there toxins or chemicals or is it straight vapor? Something like this: Humidifier/Water Fountain I would partially submerge it in the back corner. Thanks

 

[mike taylor]

I don't know about the water fountain . I use a humidifier in my garage to keep humidity up . You can also add grass and clover seed like this I found at tractor supply . Just any plant or seed you add needs to be organic .

 

[jackmeggers]

I am just setting up the enclosure for a Redfoot I'm adopting. We planted our Greeks enclosure and they are just about to bloom and the Greek is starting to notice them. I've also been researching like crazy. I was just thinking if they were safe then that would be both pretty and a great source of humidity without over drenching the substrate. Would you be apt to put something like that in your redfoot's enclosure? Thank you for the link!

 

[mike taylor]

I would not put it in one of my enclosures . Not because they will not work just because the cleaning would be a daily nightmare . I change water everyday once in the morning and once in the evening . I have to many to have to clean things like that . If you only have one tortoise then I say go for it . Just clean it daily .

 

[jackmeggers]

Yea I will just have the one (for now muahaha!). Cleaning doesn't bother me, I count it as quality time with the tortoise. But it is something I hadn't thought of. I kinda want a triangular one because I am OCD and would like it to fit snuggly in the corner. My main concern was the health risks. Thank you

 

[pfara]

I agree with mike. I have enough to clean and would rather keep things simple. Keeping water under the substrate, heavy planting, and having CHEs over water dishes seem to keep the humidity pretty high. But then again, I have heat ropes, spray from time to time, and have the whole enclosure covered with a dropcloth. Also, humidifiers and fountains are just one more thing to plug in and add to the electric bill.

 

[jackmeggers]

Good point on the electric bill. I keep hearing about foggers and such and I'm assuming this little guy I'm adopting will need some extra humidity for a little while. or should I ease him into it? Pfara knows who I'm talking about

 

[pfara]

Good point on the electric bill. I keep hearing about foggers and such and I'm assuming this little guy I'm adopting will need some extra humidity for a little while. or should I ease him into it? Pfara knows who I'm talking about

Lol.. hi Honestly, extra humidity or not I'd just say keep it above 70% (above 80 is better). Know that preventing pyramiding is way easier than stopping what has already transpired. It'll be a while until you see new flat growth. Don't get discouraged and keep the humidity high and consistent. And as always, don't let it get cold with all that humidity.

 

[jackmeggers]

I'm not too worried about additional pyramiding, and though I would never purposely try to pyramid a tortoise I think the little one looks beautiful with the ones it has. Thanks for all the help, I'll post pictures as soon as I have everything set up.

 

[northernturtleman]

You are right about the time it takes to see a difference in pyramiding. this dose pose a question though, what are the "go to" plants to add to add to a tortoise table that is a good food source as well as being able to humidify the table? Or are there plants that are meant just to add humidity and not to be consumed? I am sure there has already been discussion on this so a link would be sufficient.

 

[Mgridgaway]

I use an ultrasonic humidifier with some success. I've rigged a medical breathing hose to the humidifier spout and then pipe the mist directly into the cage.

 

[jackmeggers]

I was thinking of using a humidifier with pvc pipe designs saw online, but I haven't been able to find the right kind of humidifier to attach the pipe to.

 

[jackmeggers]

I don't have any pictures, because fog doesn't photograph well and I hadn't had time to break out my DSLR, but I added some major humidity to Itzl's enclosure this week. I found one of the huge (2 gal) frog shaped humidifiers by crane at a thrift store for $6.25 then bought some tubing for another $7 and voila!! Humidity up the wazooh! She loves it and so do the cat grass seeds which have begun sprouting like crazy and are already up to 2 inches easily. I haven't heard her wheezing once since we added it. I think she is very happy between that and her discovery of the ever tasty mushrooms Big Grin I have a happy Red foot on my hands and that makes me a happy momma.