Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Before we knew how much there was to taking care of turtles, we brought home 2 Red Eared Sliders for our kids from Florida. When we realized they were sick, it was too late and we were horribly sad to realize how much we hadn't been told and didn't even know to look for...
Now we are reading and reading and I have to say I'm completely paranoid!!!! I am SO scared to do what I have been reading here - humidity hidey caves and even slightly damp bedding.... how do you know how much is enough and that it won't give him respiratory illness?!
We had a layer of topsoil below turtle bark bedding. The first morning I went to take him out of his hole for breakfast, he was cold and stiff and barely moving. Naturally I was quite concerned! After a few minutes in his heat lamp he was eating and doing well. Now we only have the layer of bark - this morning he was still cold. But I'm afraid of respiratory sickness.

First, I will remind you of something you already know: reptiles are cold-blooded, and depend on the temperature of their environment. They are active when warm, and slow when cold.

A reptile living in a temperate region will experience changes in temperatures from day to night and will slow down at night.

So when your tortoise is slow in the morning, that's only natural.

Have you checked the temps with reliable thermometer? Don't go by the house thermostat - it only tells you the temp where the thermostat is. I use a digital thermometer with a probe that I got from Radio Shack. Not too expensive.

Your tort, if healthy, should be able to tolerate temps into the 60s without problems. Then he will come out in the morning and warm up and move around. Even my animals who stay indoors with overnight temps in the mid 70s are sluggish in the morning. And my russian torts that stay outside with temps in the mid 40s at night wake up and get going the next day when the sun comes out.

As for humidity - create areas with different levels of humidity and let him decided where he wants to be. The area under the heat lamp will have to be dry, of course, but make one region of the enclosure a little damp and the rest of it dry. Put one little hide box in the damp area and one in the dry. Damp = a little moisture, not standing water, just a couple squirts of water from a spray bottle every day or so. Maybe put a little moss in the damp hide area to hold the moisture.

Make sure you have a shallow water bowl (a jar lid works well) so he can drink if he wants to. Make sure he has the appropriate basking area with a temp of around 85-90 or so. Check that with the thermometer.

Then let him be. You don't have to monitor the temps every moment. You don't have to worry about the exact level of humidity - just don't create a mudbath in his enclosure and leave part of the area dry.

You can use the red bulb idea I posted below if you want to keep him warmer at night.

Good food reasonable temps humid areas dry areas water bowl = OK tortoise.