Overly humid? Indoor redfoot enclosure taking on water!

AmandaTX

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Hi all! This forum has been a wonderful source of information for my husband I before and after bringing home our redfoot youngster in December. Pablo (or Pablina...time will tell on sex) is eating everything offered like a small slow horse, pooping like a champ, and seems to be doing great. Until spring, which in Houston means March-ish, Pablo is living in a re-purposed 55 gallon aquarium indoors. He's got a CHE heater on a thermostat set for 85 degrees and heat stays around 82 in the "cold" part of the tank. Humidity ranges from 85-90%, with it normally staying in the high range. Pablo will be moving outdoors once the temperatures outside stabilize a bit, in a screened top wooden enclosure.

My question for the experts: is it normal to have excessive water collect in the tank? I'm talking standing water! There is a base layer of 1 inch coconut fiber covered by another 2 inches of cypress mulch in bottom. I'm getting water standing in the depressions in the bedding, wonderfully stinky water visible from above. I've been periodically bailing the tank and removing old coco fiber (which has been great for starting seedlings for the yard). Pablo seems unperturbed by his swamp and makes a few trips to his favorite wallow daily. In the beginning, we were adding water to the tank daily to up humidity, but after taping up some gaps the humidity is staying high. We haven't added water to the substrate directly in over a month, it's just evaporation from his terra cotta water dish.

We're first time tortoise owners and I've been religiously checking for shell fungus and rot, but so far he seems fine. Should I be worried? Just continue periodically draining the swamp?
 

Blackdog1714

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Redfoots love water so maybe add a small dish for him to wallow in so you can change it. As far as the build up Coco Choir is awesome at holding water so maybe go a few days at time without adding any new water and just mist lightly. I can imagine Pablo is getting a little large for the tank so here's hoping for an early spring. Keep up the checks for fungus and don't forget to add photos
 

AmandaTX

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Redfoots love water so maybe add a small dish for him to wallow in so you can change it. As far as the build up Coco Choir is awesome at holding water so maybe go a few days at time without adding any new water and just mist lightly. I can imagine Pablo is getting a little large for the tank so here's hoping for an early spring. Keep up the checks for fungus and don't forget to add photos

That's just it, we're NOT adding water aside from his dish that is changed daily. We haven't added any in since mid January. He's soaked daily in a small bucket and that water is not poured into the tank. His "drinking water" dish is not poured or tipped over into the substrate either.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Change your substrate and don't add much water this time. I have the same problem. After a few months it gets pretty saturated and I just change it to dry substrate.
 

AmandaTX

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Here are some pics of our setup. When I weed the flowerbeds I bring in some edible decor for him, switched out weekly or whenever he munches one down too much. I'm sticking to the few weeds I can identify safely!

See the one pic of my hand in the substrate- the water is up to my first knuckle. Please excuse the weird reflection of our living room off the glass! Also, humidity reading is low in this pic as I had him out soaking right before and the lid was open awhile.

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Toddrickfl1

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Good to know this happens to others! I will swap out his lower layer this weekend, make it deeper, and see how things go.
I've found that you really don't need to add any water to your substrate with a good closed chamber. The moisture in the mulch when I buy it is enough to keep the humidity at 80-90%.
 

ZEROPILOT

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You'll need to do a little tweaking to get high humidity without dripping wet.
I use Orchid bark several inches deep.
In the meantime you may notice (may not?) a fungal issue with your Redfoot.
I'd be proactive and go ahead and buy a cheap tube of athletes foot cream to treat it. Just in case.
Shell fungus is common with Redfoot in enclosures that are too wet. Its not a serious issue if it happens and it's easy to treat.
 

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AmandaTX

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You'll need to do a little tweaking to get high humidity without dripping wet.
I use Orchid bark several inches deep.
In the meantime you may notice (may not?) a fungal issue with your Redfoot.
I'd be proactive and go ahead and buy a cheap tube of athletes foot cream to treat it. Just in case.
Shell fungus is common with Redfoot in enclosures that are too wet. Its not a serious issue if it happens and it's easy to treat.
I'll check my local stores for the orchid bark, might be a cheaper alternative to the pet store package cypress I've been buying.
And that tube of foot cream is already standing by. I've read enough of your posts Zeropilot to see the need!
 

Quadro

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Here are some pics of our setup. When I weed the flowerbeds I bring in some edible decor for him, switched out weekly or whenever he munches one down too much. I'm sticking to the few weeds I can identify safely!

See the one pic of my hand in the substrate- the water is up to my first knuckle. Please excuse the weird reflection of our living room off the glass! Also, humidity reading is low in this pic as I had him out soaking right before and the lid was open awhile.

View attachment 286969View attachment 286970View attachment 286971View attachment 286972View attachment 286973
Nice set up ! also if that’s a clamp lamp my phone won’t let me enlarge pic I would find another way of hanging it they do better hanging straight up and down vs. at an angle which is what I think happened with my red foots eyes ?and clamps have been known to fail and be a fire hazard ?
 

Yvonne G

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Here are some pics of our setup. When I weed the flowerbeds I bring in some edible decor for him, switched out weekly or whenever he munches one down too much. I'm sticking to the few weeds I can identify safely!

See the one pic of my hand in the substrate- the water is up to my first knuckle. Please excuse the weird reflection of our living room off the glass! Also, humidity reading is low in this pic as I had him out soaking right before and the lid was open awhile.

View attachment 286969View attachment 286970View attachment 286971View attachment 286972View attachment 286973
That's why I like plastic. Mine have a drain hole at one end with a neoprene tube going into a bucket under the table. I s'pose you could have someone who knows how to drill glass without breaking it to drill a drain for you.
 

DJ Kirk

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I'll check my local stores for the orchid bark, might be a cheaper alternative to the pet store package cypress I've been buying.
And that tube of foot cream is already standing by. I've read enough of your posts Zeropilot to see the need!

I get my mulch at Home Depot. Fairly cheap.
 

Tom

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Just open the top and un-tape those cracks and let it air out a bit until the substrate dries out enough. I've had this happen too. I just increase ventilation until it dries out to where I want it.
 

AmandaTX

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Nice set up ! also if that’s a clamp lamp my phone won’t let me enlarge pic I would find another way of hanging it they do better hanging straight up and down vs. at an angle which is what I think happened with my red foots eyes ?and clamps have been known to fail and be a fire hazard ?
It is a clamp lamp, but the clamp part is not in use, it's wired to a cross beam at the fitting. I didn't trust the clamp!
 

ZEROPILOT

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Just open the top and un-tape those cracks and let it air out a bit until the substrate dries out enough. I've had this happen too. I just increase ventilation until it dries out to where I want it.
I no longer use a closed chamber. Because I no longer have tortoises inside.
But when I used one, the lid had hinges and I'd prop the lid open a bit whenever the humidity cause condensation to form.
You'll have to work on the ventilation a bit.
A closed chamber doesn't do well if it is 100% sealed always.
 
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