Humidity

[cpl1307]

I must be driving you crazy, but thanks to this forum my enclosure is transformed for the better. Through the day my humidity in my just under 3ft vivarium is sitting at 50-60. Seems to be higher down the cool end, but there's 2 hides and he spends his time in the hot end hide. Temps are fine, but so many people say for a 1 year old Horsefield it should be sitting around 50 and so many say 80. I'm confused 😕. If its 80, does the whole Viv need to be 80 or 50, or 1 end higher than the other aswell. What's the correct humidity and where should it be focused. Everywhere or just hot end or cool end. It's confusing the heck out of me. I'm sorry if you don't understand what I'm trying to say. I'm finding it hard to explain

 

[cpl1307]

Also the humidity goes higher at night on its own

 

[wellington]

80 is more for hatchlings upto around 2 or 3. It can be lower for adults.
Also keep in mind when reading different things to pay attention to the species they are talking about. So many people forget to realize people are responding to a specific species and not always tortoises in general. Always be sure the info you are taking in is for your species.

 

[cpl1307]

And should that be the whole vivarium sitting around 80 24hrs a day. It's was the horsefield information I was reading that said 50-60. Does it need to be more humid up the hot end. Its just that I've got 3 detectors. 1 at each end and 1 in the middle and it's always much more humid down the cool end

 

[wellington]

The cooler end will always read lower humidity.
For an adult yours is fine
For a hatchling it's much more important to keep it steady and higher and that's why a closed chamber is the way to house hatchlings, it keeps both temps and humidity stable all over.

 

[Tom]

I must be driving you crazy, but thanks to this forum my enclosure is transformed for the better. Through the day my humidity in my just under 3ft vivarium is sitting at 50-60. Seems to be higher down the cool end, but there's 2 hides and he spends his time in the hot end hide. Temps are fine, but so many people say for a 1 year old Horsefield it should be sitting around 50 and so many say 80. I'm confused 😕. If its 80, does the whole Viv need to be 80 or 50, or 1 end higher than the other aswell. What's the correct humidity and where should it be focused. Everywhere or just hot end or cool end. It's confusing the heck out of me. I'm sorry if you don't understand what I'm trying to say. I'm finding it hard to explain

Here is the concept: Russian tortoises come from an arid region. Low humidity most of the time. Adults walking around foraging, fighting, mating, etc... are well equipped to handle the dryness and survive it. Babies, on the other hand, are not. Babies, of any species of tortoise, hide all day down in thick underbrush, in root balls of plants, and in areas where the temperatures extremes are more moderate, and humidity is much higher. If babies walked around out in the open like the adults do, they would be eaten by one of many predators, or they would quickly desiccate and die of dehydration.

So many of the websites offer advice on how to care for a given species with no differentiation between housing a hatchling or housing an adult. This is a MAJOR problem for baby tortoises.

So what should YOU do about this? House your baby with higher humidity and warmer temps than what is necessary to keep an adult alive. Soak more often, offer multiple humid hides, keep the substrate damp, cover the top of the enclosure (or use a closed chamber) to hold in heat and humidity.

Humidity relates to temperature. As the temperature cools it is normal for the relative humidity percentage to go up. Humidity can also rise when our electrically generated heating devices are off at night and not drying everything up.

 

[cpl1307]

Here is the concept: Russian tortoises come from an arid region. Low humidity most of the time. Adults walking around foraging, fighting, mating, etc... are well equipped to handle the dryness and survive it. Babies, on the other hand, are not. Babies, of any species of tortoise, hide all day down in thick underbrush, in root balls of plants, and in areas where the temperatures extremes are more moderate, and humidity is much higher. If babies walked around out in the open like the adults do, they would be eaten by one of many predators, or they would quickly desiccate and die of dehydration.

So many of the websites offer advice on how to care for a given species with no differentiation between housing a hatchling or housing an adult. This is a MAJOR problem for baby tortoises.

So what should YOU do about this? House your baby with higher humidity and warmer temps than what is necessary to keep an adult alive. Soak more often, offer multiple humid hides, keep the substrate damp, cover the top of the enclosure (or use a closed chamber) to hold in heat and humidity.

Humidity relates to temperature. As the temperature cools it is normal for the relative humidity percentage to go up. Humidity can also rise when our electrically generated heating devices are off at night and not drying everything up.

Perfectly explained! So basically try to mimic that environment every day. I was worried he was hiding all the time because how is he get uvb or uva if he hides all day, but I suppose they do that in the wild like you said to avoid being eaten. He only comes out to eat and then hides again all day

 

[cpl1307]

Here is the concept: Russian tortoises come from an arid region. Low humidity most of the time. Adults walking around foraging, fighting, mating, etc... are well equipped to handle the dryness and survive it. Babies, on the other hand, are not. Babies, of any species of tortoise, hide all day down in thick underbrush, in root balls of plants, and in areas where the temperatures extremes are more moderate, and humidity is much higher. If babies walked around out in the open like the adults do, they would be eaten by one of many predators, or they would quickly desiccate and die of dehydration.

So many of the websites offer advice on how to care for a given species with no differentiation between housing a hatchling or housing an adult. This is a MAJOR problem for baby tortoises.

So what should YOU do about this? House your baby with higher humidity and warmer temps than what is necessary to keep an adult alive. Soak more often, offer multiple humid hides, keep the substrate damp, cover the top of the enclosure (or use a closed chamber) to hold in heat and humidity.

Humidity relates to temperature. As the temperature cools it is normal for the relative humidity percentage to go up. Humidity can also rise when our electrically generated heating devices are off at night and not drying everything up.

Perfectly explained! So basically try to mimic that environment every day. I was worried he was hiding all the time because how is he get uvb or uva if he hides all day, but I suppose they do that in the wild like you said to avoid being eaten. He only comes out to eat and then hides again all day

The cooler end will always read lower humidity.
For an adult yours is fine
For a hatchling it's much more important to keep it steady and higher and that's why a closed chamber is the way to house hatchlings, it keeps both temps and humidity stable all over.

My cooler end is always higher humidity and vise versa. He eats and then hides all day and I worry where is he getting his uvb and uva from if he only comes out to eat. Maybe as time goes on he may come out a bit more. I changed all his tank substrate and took your advice and removed a lot of things in there to free up room and I think maybe he feels like he is in a new vivarium. He has 2 hides, but chooses to go in thd hide down by his basking bulb. With the lower humidity

 

[cpl1307]

Perfectly explained! So basically try to mimic that environment every day. I was worried he was hiding all the time because how is he get uvb or uva if he hides all day, but I suppose they do that in the wild like you said to avoid being eaten. He only comes out to eat and then hides again all day

It's a vivarium so least i don't after cover it up. I spray the substrate which is repti bark

 

[Tom]

It's a vivarium so least i don't after cover it up. I spray the substrate which is repti bark

Spraying the substrate is ineffective. Dump water on the substrate to get it and keep it properly damp. How much water and how often varies tremendously from one enclosure to the next. You must go by "feel". You want it lightly damp, but not sopping wet.

I usually dump wipe out and rinse my water bowl into the substrate daily, as long as there is no feces in it. In some enclosures I do this every day (open top), and in others I do it once a week or one a month(closed chambers), as needed. If the substrate is already wet, I don't do this. If the substrate is bone dry, I will do this and also add more water.

 

[cpl1307]

Spraying the substrate is ineffective. Dump water on the substrate to get it and keep it properly damp. How much water and how often varies tremendously from one enclosure to the next. You must go by "feel". You want it lightly damp, but not sopping wet.

I usually dump wipe out and rinse my water bowl into the substrate daily, as long as there is no feces in it. In some enclosures I do this every day (open top), and in others I do it once a week or one a month(closed chambers), as needed. If the substrate is already wet, I don't do this. If the substrate is bone dry, I will do this and also add more water.

I was worried that if I pour water in, then I'm going to rot the vivarium even though spraying is doing the same thing, but making more work. I will do what you have just said. I'm usually pretty good at catching feces fast 😉 before contaminating the water. He walks onto my hand in the water for a good scrubbing with a soft toothbrush and does it straight into my hand, so I can't miss!! Then he will go back in the water!!

 

[Tom]

I was worried that if I pour water in, then I'm going to rot the vivarium...

This is why you need an enclosure made out of something that doesn't rot when damp, like expanded PVC.

 

[cpl1307]

This is why you need an enclosure made out of something that doesn't rot when damp, like expanded PVC.

I'm just going to pour it in like you said. If it rots I will have to buy something made with expanded PVC. I'm going to have him for a long time, so if this just holds out, I will get him a stronger, longer lasting enclosure