Ryan over at Southern Reptiles

AntM

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Over the weekend we added 3 Radiated hatchlings to the family! They are about a month and a half, and as rambunctious as they get. So active and feeding like little monsters. We picked them up from Ryan at @Southernreptiles He was awesome and very helpful giving me a thorough walk through since I’m still very new to tortoise keeping. If he’s got something you want I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him. I look forward to watching these little dudes grow and thrive with his help and the help of this awesome forum.
 

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Krista S

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Over the weekend we added 3 Radiated hatchlings to the family! They are about a month and a half, and as rambunctious as they get. So active and feeding like little monsters. We picked them up from Ryan at @Southernreptiles He was awesome and very helpful giving me a thorough walk through since I’m still very new to tortoise keeping. If he’s got something you want I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him. I look forward to watching these little dudes grow and thrive with his help and the help of this awesome forum.
What gorgeous babies!! Congratulations!
 

AntM

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Hey @Tom, thanks for the feed back. Everything I’ve read says around 80-85% humidity, is that what you recommend as well?

I am in Miami, humidity down here has been around 75-85% consistently and temps in their table is around 80-82 in the cool side and 85-90 on the warmer side.

I’ve read over @Sterant captive radiated maintenance post a few times. But any advice is much appreciated. Want to give them the best possible life as I can.
 
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Tom

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Hey @Tom, thanks for the feed back. Everything I’ve read says around 80-85% humidity, is that what you recommend as well?

I am in Miami, humidity down here has been around 75-85% consistently and temps in their table is around 80-82 in the cool side and 85-90 on the warmer side.

I’ve read over @Sterant captive radiated maintenance post a few times. But any advice is much appreciated. Want to give them the best possible life as I can.
Ambient humidity in your area usually runs much higher then the ambient humidity inside the enclosure with lights and heating. This is true even in tropical countries.

I've recently seen this side-by-side in south FL. One group in open tubs and the other group in large closed chamber. The open tub ones were all pyramiding and growing a little slower Than their siblings in the closed chambers.
 

AntM

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Tom you have any pictures of some of your closed chamber enclosures? I searched up an older post by you in 2011 but the pictures weren’t there anymore :/

Also, in a closed chamber how do you manage airflow?

I put two humidity readers in the tortoise box just for peace of mind originally, I’m new to all this so I don’t know how reliable those are. It’s a basic Zoo Med one. But the reading have stayed in between 70-80% humidity. I haven’t had to use any heat lamps thankfully, the temps at night haven’t dropped lower then 78 degrees. During the day they’ve been what I said above.
 

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Dial type humidity gages are very unreliable. The Zoomed digital gage is pretty cheap as well. Accurite humidity gages are much more reliable and only cost about $10. Govee makes a wifi enabled logger that a few people have said work well.

Are you just keeping this box with the three Radiated outside then? I haven't seen any side by side experiments like Tom has, but a few Radiated have been advertised on FaunaClassifieds recently where the ad boasted "raised outside in the south Florida sun" and they had pyramiding. If it were me, I would follow Sterant care sheet to the letter, using a closed chamber, 85% humidity, soaking daily for 2-3 years to ensure a smooth Radiated.
 

AntM

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I’ll look into the Accurite and Govee gauges for sure then. And for now yes, I have these three and three red foots(both separate boxes). I planned on making them a bigger table after they hit a year to last them till they could move to the 40’x30’ enclosures they’ll live in. My wife has allowed me to use the back part of our back yard lol! We planted a wall basically of trees and plants separating the front of the backyard which she deems hers ? but I still have about 6,000 sq ft to work with.

Ill have to check out Toms closed chamber enclosures. I’ve also read Sterants care sheet many times and have planned to mimic everything for the most part figuring the temp and humidity where I am was fine(humidity here now on my weather app is saying 93%, so thought if it was a bit lower in the box it would be ok). Also south Florida is a big area lol I’m down south in Miami where temps are much higher then even a couple hours north still considered south Florida. Dropping to 75 now and through the night cause of the rain
 

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AntM

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Sterant says for hatchlings he drops night temps to 70 degrees. On that end I’m not worried especially here during summer.

but I will definitely get a better humidity ready and keep a close on it.
 

TeamZissou

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The humidity on a weather app is measured at a station miles away. What you need to measure is the humidity in the enclosure. A single room can have several "micro climates" where the humidity can vary greatly. Minimizing variations in humidity is most easily accomplished with a closed chamber. There are several photos besides Tom's 2011 post. Sterant's post has photos as well I believe. Here's some photos of Tom's in the Sulcata care sheet:


If you do not want to construct one yourself, they can be purchased from https://apcages.com/

Getting air into the enclosure isn't critical. They are not truly sealed; gaps exist around the doors and for holes for cords. Air is also exchanged when you open the door to feed, change water etc.

I'm sure they'd survive and grow outside, but what we tend to shoot for here on the forum is 100% optimal. To me, it's so much nicer to see a perfectly smooth tortoise, especially with Radiated. Having a smooth Radiated will more than likely increase the resale value in the future should you need to part with them, though many I see for sale have quite high prices despite being significantly pyramided.
 

AntM

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Thanks for those links! I’ll definitely give that care sheet a read through as well. Also ordering one of the better humidity gauges as we speak.

How would one of those close chamber enclosures fair outside? That’s the only road block I’m seeing in my case, as I’m not keeping them inside the house(not worth the headache with the wife ?). I do have a good size 20’x25’ shed/work area, but there is no ac or heater in there.
 

TeamZissou

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Thanks for those links! I’ll definitely give that care sheet a read through as well. Also ordering one of the better humidity gauges as we speak.

How would one of those close chamber enclosures fair outside? That’s the only road block I’m seeing in my case, as I’m not keeping them inside the house(not worth the headache with the wife ?). I do have a good size 20’x25’ shed/work area, but there is no ac or heater in there.

Hard to say. It would depend how stable the temperature is in the shed. You might be able to mainly use it as a tool to hold the humidity stable for the tortoises without much temp control. Since Radiated hatchlings don't need a basking lamp, you could probably just get some high quality 6500k LEDs to put in there for lighting, and maybe later (if needed) use a CHE or RHP on a thermostat to keep the temp where you want it. You could either run a T5 HO UVB bulb a couple hours midday, or get them outside for some natural sun reliably a few times per week.
 

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Tom

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Babies need to be raised indoors. Species doesn't matter and climate doesn't matter. I've had this discussion with several people from South FL, and the ones that decided to listen could not believe the difference. Outdoors is great for older larger ones, but babies do better inside. I've personally done several side-by-side experiments with clutch mates as well as observing the results of many other keepers.

The area I mentioned is about an hour from Naples. West Coast near the gulf.

There is some useful info in that care sheet, but radiata don't seem to need basking lamps. When mine start giving me babies (any day now...) I intend to start and raise the babies without basking lamps.

Here is a more current closed chamber thread. Ventilation is not a problem.
 

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@TeamZissou

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0872X4H4J/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

Is this the Govee hydrometer you’re talking about? Or do you recommend the Accurite

I have mainly used the Accurite, but the Govee has been recommended by several people here (Including KristaS), and it can be good if you want the bluetooth capability. SensorPush temperature and humidity sensors are also supposed to be quite accurate. Not all sensors on the market are created equal, though. I had an InkBird sensor that wasn't any good. It fluctuated a lot to unrealistic levels.
 

AntM

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@Krista S they got here early this morning ? I’ll keep a close eye on it and make sure everything looks good. First 10 hours the numbers look good.
 

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AntM

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This is on the cool side. Going to order two more to have in warm side. I moved them back and forth every two hours and numbers did go up even more on “hotter” side.
 

Krista S

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I’m glad to hear you’re liking them so far! I’ve got one on the cool side, one in the middle and one on the warm side in my enclosure. For my size of enclosure it seems to be enough. I also use a temp gun too though.
 

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