humidity?

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rachamelia

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hey guys... I was wondering if any of you could give me some advice on how to add humidity to my tortoise's enclosure? She's approximately 9 month old, I have her in a 20 gallon aquarium with a screen lid. I have both a heat lamp in a UV be light on her and I take her outside in the sun. However her shell shows some pyramading ( I think it started before I ever got her) and I would like to do whatever I could to help smooth her down. I read somewhere that if you use the spray bottle in addition to our heat lamp being on her and spray down the walls of the enclosure with water that that will help add humidity... is there any truth to that? Thank you in advance for your help!!!! :)

ps - I am in the searching process to updating her enclosure...currently looking for a 40 gallon long tank :)
 

wellington

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Cover at least half of her enclosure and yes, spraying the sides etc will deff help and bring up humidity. Also, she does deff need a larger enclosure . Make sure also that with the higher humidity the temp doesn't go below 80. Cold and humid gets them sick. Hot and humid won't.
 

rachamelia

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wellington said:
Cover at least half of her enclosure and yes, spraying the sides etc will deff help and bring up humidity. Also, she does deff need a larger enclosure . Make sure also that with the higher humidity the temp doesn't go below 80. Cold and humid gets them sick. Hot and humid won't.

Yes, she's getting a larger one. Not that she's out growing it yet. And I actually checked with her vet and the local CCHS (herp society) and they all ok'd the 20 gallon for a while.

What do I use to only cover half of her tank?
 

Tom

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Your vet and CCHS is wrong 20 is way too small for a nine month old sulcata. Forty is too small too. I start hatchlings in anything from 40-100. I'm talking brand new babies. By 9 months they are in a 4x8' indoors and something even bigger outdoors. 15x30' or 30x30'.

Click the links in my signature for more sulcata info, including how to house them and add humidity.

Daily soaks, more humidity, a humid hide, and shell spraying should help smooth out your baby, but she also needs a much larger enclosure with some room to move.
 

rachamelia

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Tom said:
Your vet and CCHS is wrong 20 is way too small for a nine month old sulcata. Forty is too small too. I start hatchlings in anything from 40-100. I'm talking brand new babies. By 9 months they are in a 4x8' indoors and something even bigger outdoors. 15x30' or 30x30'.

Click the links in my signature for more sulcata info, including how to house them and add humidity.

Daily soaks, more humidity, a humid hide, and shell spraying should help smooth out your baby, but she also needs a much larger enclosure with some room to move.

Thanks but I'm going to stay with the professionals advice on tanks.
 

Dizisdalife

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I wasn't able to get a sufficient temperature gradient in a 20 gallon aquarium to accommodate my 9 month old. There was really no place for him to escape the heat, or there was no place to have a true basking spot. Just not enough space. It was at about that age that I began leaving him outside in a 12' x 20' pen (weather permitting). I continued to use the aquarium for a night time enclosure for another year. To keep the humidity as high as possible I covered the entire top and let the heat lamps (CHE's) hang below the lid. I did spray the walls of the aquarium a lot, and the tortoise's shell. The temperature inside the aquarium was controlled by a thermostat so that the night time temp stayed between 80-85F.

Sulcata tortoises need a lot of exercise to grow healthy. It is important for their digestive system to get the necessary exercise. I can't see how they can get that in a 20, or even a 40 gallon aquarium.

I have taken my tortoise to a Vet that specializes in reptiles. I respect his abilities. I have an appointment to see the Vet this morning. If I would have followed his advice (published on his website) about how to raise hatchlings my tortoise would be severely pyramided right now.

So, my advice to you is to follow the advice of the members of this forum (or another that you trust) and use your Vet for the things that they know how to do. The members of this forum have raised hundreds of sulcatas from hatchlings to adults, and continue to do so. They have learned a lot of things that work, and plenty that don't. When it comes to raising healthy tortoises there just isn't a better resource available to you.
 

lovelyrosepetal

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Honestly, not to be rude, but Tom is an expert. He has worked with Sulcatas for over 20 years. I have three sulcatas that are going on three months and they are in a 50 gallon tote, that is roughly 4'x3' and they are outgrowing theirs. Are you sure you have a sulcata. Chacos look a lot like Sulcatas but are much smaller. If yours is 9 months and you feel like a 20 gallon tank is appropriate, than your Sulcata is really small or you might have a Chaco. I would post pictures of your tortoise and its enclosure and a pic of your tortoise in the enclosure. I know you are new to all of this, as am I and so many others, but if you are not open to suggestions from experts, than why do you ask? Tom knows everything there is to know about Sulcatas. I would not necessarily ask him advice about Aldabras, I would ask Aldabraman, but when it comes to Sulcatas I know that I am getting the best advice there is from Tom. He raises the most perfect babies and has so many beautiful tortoises. If you look up some of his threads, you will see that I am not exaggerating. He is always testing out his theories until he perfects his hypothesis. You can't go wrong with listening to Tom. Also, Sulcatas are the third largest tortoise in the world, they need space to be happy and thriving. Good luck with your tortoise. Read as much as you can and learn from the experts. :)
 

LestatHIM

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lovelyrosepetal said:
Honestly, not to be rude, but Tom is an expert. He has worked with Sulcatas for over 20 years. I have three sulcatas that are going on three months and they are in a 50 gallon tote, that is roughly 4'x3' and they are outgrowing theirs. Are you sure you have a sulcata. Chacos look a lot like Sulcatas but are much smaller. If yours is 9 months and you feel like a 20 gallon tank is appropriate, than your Sulcata is really small or you might have a Chaco. I would post pictures of your tortoise and its enclosure and a pic of your tortoise in the enclosure. I know you are new to all of this, as am I and so many others, but if you are not open to suggestions from experts, than why do you ask? Tom knows everything there is to know about Sulcatas. I would not necessarily ask him advice about Aldabras, I would ask Aldabraman, but when it comes to Sulcatas I know that I am getting the best advice there is from Tom. He raises the most perfect babies and has so many beautiful tortoises. If you look up some of his threads, you will see that I am not exaggerating. He is always testing out his theories until he perfects his hypothesis. You can't go wrong with listening to Tom. Also, Sulcatas are the third largest tortoise in the world, they need space to be happy and thriving. Good luck with your tortoise. Read as much as you can and learn from the experts. :)

Completely agree with this statement. Had I not used Tom's threads I would have a pyramided Sulcata at this point. Best advice I have ever gotten on a forum.
 

Q'sTortie

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I second with LestatHIM. Mine had pyramiding and after I found Toms info I've been following it to a tee and I've finally started to see new smooth growth.
 

ra94131

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rachamelia said:
Tom said:
Your vet and CCHS is wrong 20 is way too small for a nine month old sulcata. Forty is too small too. I start hatchlings in anything from 40-100. I'm talking brand new babies. By 9 months they are in a 4x8' indoors and something even bigger outdoors. 15x30' or 30x30'.

Click the links in my signature for more sulcata info, including how to house them and add humidity.

Daily soaks, more humidity, a humid hide, and shell spraying should help smooth out your baby, but she also needs a much larger enclosure with some room to move.

Thanks but I'm going to stay with the professionals advice on tanks.

It is ironic that you would say that to Tom. I've yet to find publicly available information as well researched and put into practice as what Tom offers. Most vet and/or pet store knowledge of Sulcatas is out of date or just plain wrong.
 

Tom

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Oh good lord people! You are making my head swell. I do NOT know everything about sulcatas. In fact, I wish I knew a heck of a lot more.

Rachamelia, I felt the same way you did 20 years ago when I started with sulcatas. Please don't take offense to any of this. It's just that vets are only human. There is no class in vet school for how to raise tortoises or what size enclosures they need. I am privileged to call many exotic vets my friends and when they get a tortoise client in with a problem that they don't have experience with THEY call ME. I'm not trying to brag, I'm just trying to explain that the only way to know some of these things is to raise 100's of them over many years, which I have done and most vets have not. I don't tell people what meds to use or how to dose them. I don't perform surgery. Likewise, my vet friends that know me don't tell people how to solve dog behavioral problems. They refer them to me. Many times vets leave the exam room and go to the back and look up info in a textbook or online. I have witnessed this many times. Its people like some of the more experienced forum members here that write those books sometimes. Vets are usually great generalists. They know a lot about a lot of stuff. Tortoise fanatics are often specialists. We know a lot of stuff about ONE thing.

While I appreciate everyone's confidence in me, I am only human and the only reason I know some of the things I know is because I did it wrong in the past. It is my many past mistakes that have made me a little bit wiser now. You came here and asked for some help and I offered some. It is okay with me if you wish to take the advice of people with less experience with me, because you believe in their title. I think in time you will realize that was a mistake. From my point of view, I just want to try to help. Nothing I can do if the help is refused.

Oh, and by the way, I'm a professional too. I get paid to train and handle animals, including tortoises, every day.
 

bogart20

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I agree nine months is way too old for a small tank like that. Listen to what people are telling you on here your vet doesn't own any tortoises, everybody here does. And they do well with them. They are the real professionals on tortoise care. Your vet jus checks him if he's sick. Don't ignore their advice or ur tort is gonna be an unhappy tort and that will be bad for both of you.
As far as humidity goes hsve thought about a fogger or humidifier?


Tom isn't the only one we all know a bit about it and just because Tom has more experience (well atleast more then me) he's just trying to help. I saw nothing rude about it. Why post a question that your gonna be pissed off when someone doesn't agree with you?
I would have told u 20 gallons is way too small too, does that make me rude?
If your asking a question u obviously don't kno what to do and your not getting the answers you need elsewhere.
That was good advice from everybody.
 

schmodygirl

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I would love to visit with Tom in person some day. He is a wealth of knowledge.
 

Yvonne G

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It has been my experience that veterinarians are very knowledgeable about sickness and injuries to tortoises, but don't have any actual husbandry knowledge. Even some vets who keep tortoises are sometimes lacking in the up-to-date husbandry knowledge. In my opinion, its always good to listen to folks who have first hand experience with keeping the tortoises, people like those on this forum. Tom isn't the only experienced member here, but he has been raising baby sulcatas for a long enough time that what he says can be listened to and tried. If it doesn't work for you, then fine, but at least you had an open mind and gave it a try.
 
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