- Joined
- Apr 14, 2010
- Messages
- 43
I recently p.m.ed Tom about humity and leopard torties and this was my answer that I am going to follow step by step. I wanted to post so all could see and gain from his experience. Thanks again Tom!!!! So great to have you and the others here to help me out. I am not only new to Leopards but the whole tortie world itself. So any help is greatly appriciated.
For a while I was telling everyone everywhere to keep them humid to prevent pyramiding. I stopped because (I'm being very specific in how I word this) some people, in some areas, had trouble with upper respiratory tract infections some of the time. I don't know why this is yet. I think that the problem occurs when it is damp AND cold at the same time. So as long as they are kept warm round the clock, 75-80, I highly doubt you will ever see a problem. If you live in South Florida or Louisiana, you might want to be careful. If you live in Phoenix or the SoCal desert then there is no such thing as too humid.
Now most people I know have had no problem with keeping them humid and giving them a humid hide box. Richard Fife, THE authority on this matter keeps his with humidity and a humid hide box. When I get my next ones, I will keep them very humid.
Here's the thing. Up until 2007, no one had even heard of keeping them humid. To this day most reptile people still haven't. TFO is on the leading edge of this breakthrough and I give credit for it to Richard Fife. Prior to that the mantra was keep all desert species (leopards, sulcatas, CDTs) very dry, on a dry substrate or they will get an URTI. This is totally wrong, but ALL of us learned this over the last 2 or 3 decades and some don't want to realize we were wrong and move on. You don't have desert conditions down in a burrow or buried in a plants root ball, and that's where babies hang out.
When they are bigger, dry is fine and less risky for the ones that live outdoors where you might experience a cold spell. Those first couple of years, indoors, are the critical time. If you keep them dry, they WILL pyramid. I've done it so my times it makes me ill to think about it. I quit Leopards because of it. I have not had a Leopard since before I learned about the humidity thing in 2007. I've got some coming soon, but I actually have not raised a Leopard with humidity yet. That's my main reason for withholding comment. Sulcatas yes, Leopards, not yet. Richard Fife has raised hundreds of them with humidity and so have his customers over the last few years and he has had ZERO problems with URTIs. I'm telling you that I would keep them humid and watch out for nose bubbles or wheezing. If you see these signs, just switch them to a dry enclosure for a few days and, Voila! Problem goes away. Worse case a trip to the vet for some medicine.
Here's another option that is gaining ground in my mind. Keep them on a relatively dry substrate with a humid hide box or two AND pick them up and MIST them twice a day. Just wet down the shell until its dripping and put them back in their enclosure. This is a new thing from Richard and he believes that this alone will prevent pyramiding. Terry K. does this with his redfoots too. I've been doing this with my hatchling sulcatas and Daisy, my 3 year old sulcata. Richard is doing this on his hatchling leopards and likes the results so far.
Good luck and keep me posted on what you choose and how it works out for you. I am still, and always will be, learning too. Feel free to post these things on the forum with or without my name. I don't mind either way. I'd like everyone to have the benefit of these discussions.
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Scooter, Bert, Delores, Daisy, Tulee, Tuck, Trey and Millie.
For a while I was telling everyone everywhere to keep them humid to prevent pyramiding. I stopped because (I'm being very specific in how I word this) some people, in some areas, had trouble with upper respiratory tract infections some of the time. I don't know why this is yet. I think that the problem occurs when it is damp AND cold at the same time. So as long as they are kept warm round the clock, 75-80, I highly doubt you will ever see a problem. If you live in South Florida or Louisiana, you might want to be careful. If you live in Phoenix or the SoCal desert then there is no such thing as too humid.
Now most people I know have had no problem with keeping them humid and giving them a humid hide box. Richard Fife, THE authority on this matter keeps his with humidity and a humid hide box. When I get my next ones, I will keep them very humid.
Here's the thing. Up until 2007, no one had even heard of keeping them humid. To this day most reptile people still haven't. TFO is on the leading edge of this breakthrough and I give credit for it to Richard Fife. Prior to that the mantra was keep all desert species (leopards, sulcatas, CDTs) very dry, on a dry substrate or they will get an URTI. This is totally wrong, but ALL of us learned this over the last 2 or 3 decades and some don't want to realize we were wrong and move on. You don't have desert conditions down in a burrow or buried in a plants root ball, and that's where babies hang out.
When they are bigger, dry is fine and less risky for the ones that live outdoors where you might experience a cold spell. Those first couple of years, indoors, are the critical time. If you keep them dry, they WILL pyramid. I've done it so my times it makes me ill to think about it. I quit Leopards because of it. I have not had a Leopard since before I learned about the humidity thing in 2007. I've got some coming soon, but I actually have not raised a Leopard with humidity yet. That's my main reason for withholding comment. Sulcatas yes, Leopards, not yet. Richard Fife has raised hundreds of them with humidity and so have his customers over the last few years and he has had ZERO problems with URTIs. I'm telling you that I would keep them humid and watch out for nose bubbles or wheezing. If you see these signs, just switch them to a dry enclosure for a few days and, Voila! Problem goes away. Worse case a trip to the vet for some medicine.
Here's another option that is gaining ground in my mind. Keep them on a relatively dry substrate with a humid hide box or two AND pick them up and MIST them twice a day. Just wet down the shell until its dripping and put them back in their enclosure. This is a new thing from Richard and he believes that this alone will prevent pyramiding. Terry K. does this with his redfoots too. I've been doing this with my hatchling sulcatas and Daisy, my 3 year old sulcata. Richard is doing this on his hatchling leopards and likes the results so far.
Good luck and keep me posted on what you choose and how it works out for you. I am still, and always will be, learning too. Feel free to post these things on the forum with or without my name. I don't mind either way. I'd like everyone to have the benefit of these discussions.
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Scooter, Bert, Delores, Daisy, Tulee, Tuck, Trey and Millie.