Too much humidity?

Reptilian Feline

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Does a tort know to avoid spots that are too hot? He sometimes fall asleep in his water dish, so having the CHE above that makes that a bit of a less worry, but still... if he falls asleep under a hot CHE he might get cooked!
 

Kasia

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Yes, he will know if one spot is too hot. If he spends too much time in the basking area it's a hint that the rest of the enclosure is too cold for him. But it still surprises me how hot is too hot in consideration of the human scale.
 

Reptilian Feline

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He went and hid under the bridge so I moved him back under the basking light so he could walk some more. This time he decided to fall asleep under the light. Go figure! The temp at that spot is 34 C.
 

Kasia

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That's OK, mine sleeps under the basking every now and then, after some time he moves to a cooler spot. Part of their nature:)
 

Tom

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I would stop messing with him and stop moving him around and stop making the soak water so deep. He should not have to swim in the soak water.

Only your thermometer can answer your heating and CHE questions. If one isn't heating the enclosure evenly, then add another and spread it out. Control them with a thermostat and they should not get too hot.

If this tank is only 40cm and you need more height then buy or build something that suits your needs. Given the condensation in your little enclosure, I think you will have a tought time trying to heat and humidify something with an open top.

What type of basking lamp have you got there? What type of bulb and what wattage? Spot or flood or something else?
 

Kasia

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It's not an open top, she has a lid on it with holes just for light fixtures.
 

Reptilian Feline

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The basking light is a solar flood 60W.

The glass enclosure will have a closed top, but I'd like to know where to place the CHEs before I build it. I wish I could get one of those heat panels, they sound perfect for larger enclosures. The CHE I have now is a 50W.

Swimming was for exercise.

Darn it! If he doesn't walk his gut won't work, and if his gut don't work he won't eat, and if he doesn't eat, he won't walk!

The temp is up to 38C under the basking light. When is it too hot, really?
 

Kasia

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If he has the space that is in ambient temperature to retreat to that's still OK...that is the reason why Tom suggest a bigger enclosure. To make sure that he can regulate himself by walking around in and out from a higher temperature/basking area.
Basking area should be just a small part of his enclosure.
 
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Reptilian Feline

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If he has the space that is in ambient temperature to retreat to that's still OK...that is the reason why Tom suggest a bigger enclosure. To make sure that he can regulate himself by walking around in and out from a higher temperature/basking area.
Basking area should be just a small part of his enclosure.
I know. I have even created a burrow for him, but his fav spot to hide in is under the bridge, but that's OK since the UVB reaches there as well.

I wish that room temp (25C or so) was enough as ambient temp for him. Keeping the closed chamber hotter without it getting too hot or too cold is really really hard. Right now I'm using a thermometer with a probe to measure on the ground. The IR-mini temp gun didn't show as high a temp when checking his shell so I'm a bit confused. I think I need a new battery for the temp gun... don't know how long it had been sitting in a warehouse before it ended up on the shelf and I bought it. It does have trouble keeping itself on. I don't know if I can compare the measurements from the probe and the IR?

To be honest, I have a sinking feeling that in a week or two I'll be messaging the breeder and asking him if he has any other underweight yearlings to dump on me, or if the rest has died already.

Someone mentioned in another thread here that if they weigh around 30 gram and are over a year old, it's too late for them?
What is the recommended size for a yearling?
 

Martin Martinussen

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Go get a EU pallet with side and floor plate..
Put pool liner in the bottom and some bricks or stones to hold it up the sides..
Google one of these.. NO clue what they are called in Sweden.
https://www.google.dk/search?q=mist...XRQKHV-YBNwQ_AUICSgB&biw=412&bih=652&dpr=2.63

Or something like it..
In my enclosure I can easy keep 75% + humiditiy without spraying every day.. and have heating set to 26C at night and it get around 29C in the day when the basking spot gets warm. It's right under 33-34C
But raised 10cm so they can bask at around 30C also if they want..
 

Tom

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http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/ernie.136677/
Story with a happy ending...
Don't give up on him, your his best chance... but I do understand were your coming from and that I would be very pissed...
As Mark or Tom mentioned he has some growth lines...I wouldn't crossed him out just yet.

My strategy with any of these babies is do do everything I can to offer ideal conditions, good food and good hydration, and hope for the best. Some make it and some don't. There is really no way to predict which way it will go, so I just try with all of them.
 

Reptilian Feline

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He seems to be OK with the higher temps and the basking light back on. His eyes don't look puffy, and I found him hiding under the bridge today and when I watered the enclosure he moved to another spot. I'll leave him be, and just give him a good soak tonight and see if he wants to eat afterwards.

Martin - I've seen those here as well, and have been thinking about it. The problem is that they have no bottom, so that needs to be fitted at first, and I have plenty of material at home to custom build an enclosure that fits our crazily small house with its odd floor plan. Besides - IKEA makes a 130 litre box with lid that makes a good enclosure as well, and Biltema (if they are available in Denmark as well) makes one that is 145 litre, but that one cost more than the IKEA one.

I'm usually pretty good at caring for my pets, Medusa for example is doing relly well, and he doesn't conform to any standards on turtle keeping when it comes to feeding him. After reading so many posts on hatchling falure, pyramiding, and the exact temp and care of leopard torts, I am confused and worried like nothing else, trying to follow my gut and still following the "rules" of good leo keeping. I'm sorry if I get things mixed up, or handle my little one too much, or the box is still too small for a growing healthy one. I don't know if he IS healthy. He is nice, he isn't shy, he seems to "like me", I want him soooo much to be healthy and live. I guess I overdo things.
 

Reptilian Feline

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Small update. Yesterday with the heat high he changed places in the enclosure on several occations. He slept most of the time.

I've pulled down the flood light a little, because the coldest spot was over +32 C.
I'll set a different timer on the UVB tube so it isn't on as much. Watering the plants and refilling his water bowl made him change spot again.

I soaked him using my leftover weed smoothy. He didn't like the weeds, but the soak was good. His eyes don't look puffy and he opened them quickly. After the soak I placed him at his food, and I saw him eat.

Looks like more heat, better ventilation, and watering the plants are working. Fingers crossed!
 

Kasia

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Loads of people are crossing so he should be fine in no time:)
 

Reptilian Feline

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Failure. He is gone. Don't know if there could have been anything I could have done. Maybe if I had.... no.... doesn't matter. 6cm, 30 gram, over a year old... he was gone before I got him... just managed to live long enough to get my hopes up. I don't know what the breeder will say about this. I have been away at Wacken Open Air. My hubby took care of the little one, but never got a chance to do it, becuse the little one had been gone a while... rigor, smell and flies and woodlice doing their job. Not a fun thing to be told when you're away, It wouldn't have mattered if I had been home, I would have found him dead as well, just maybe a few hours sooner. I guess he passed a few hours after I left, early last wednesday.

I want to thank everyone for their help!
 

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