Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what should the humidity be at in my turtle table? i am a little concerned that my hatchling is dehydrated despite me giving him baths 3 times a week for 15 minutes. he is passing urates which i am being told is normal. the urates are chalky in texture though and i have read that that might have to do with dehydration. i also read that it can lead to bladder stones which i don't want to happen. he is eating and is pooping regulary. should i be concerned? he is about 3 -4 inches. also, the top of his head looks to be dry and i guess you would say "flakey". Is this normal? i can send pics if you need to see. i don't know how to post them onto here though.

In nature, these guys are found in a very hot and very dry area of Africa where temperatures rise above 100 degrees. Some areas receive no rain for many years at a time. They usually get all the hydration they need from the roughage they are eating. They love it hot and dry with little to no humidity. I usually would only soak mine once a week when she was a hatchling. You want to be careful concerning humidity. I have heard alot of reports of hatchlings being kept in glass tanks, where the humidity can get high if water is introduced, getting some pretty nasty resparitory infectinons. As for the "dry" scales on the nose, mine look like that sometimes. It has never effected their overall health. I have noticed my torts getting them after being moved inside from their outdoor yard during winter months which I think is from rubbing the tank trying to find a way out!! As long as he his chowing down and his feces looks ok, I wouldn't be too concerned.

thank you. i made an appointment for the vet today to play on the safe side. it can't hurt, i guess, to get him checked out. the only water in the table is a small water dish for him to drink from. the table is 3 sides wood one side glass. can this be causing a problem?

I think that is a great idea. I work at a Vet hospital that has a herp vet and if I get concerned about someone here in my collection, I don't hesitate to take them in. Peace of mind is a wonderful thing! Your enclosure sounds fine to me. Its the all glass aquariums that can usually cause the problems. And owners not knowing any better .... the little guys love to lay in water even though its not good for them in excess. Some owners go with it, and place large containers of water in these glass tanks. That increases the humidity and causes problems.

thanks again. i will let you know what happens at the vet. i made sure that it was a vet that knew this species of tortoise now i just hope he gives me nothing but good news.

Don't forget they burrow underground in the wild too & the humidity is higher under there.
I went on a search to see if I could find info on exactly what the humidity should be in an enclosure.. couldn't find a darn thing but I'm with both of you on seeing a vet.
I never hesitate to see a vet either if I see anything at all that raises a red flag for me.
I'm a huge believer in wellness check ups too. There is never any thing wrong with having a check up with a good vet.
I can't wait to hear what you have to say when you get back from the vet.
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PHRatz

thanks so much for taking the time to research the humidity level. i have an early morning appointment with the vet tomorrow so i will post the update when i get back.

In my experience, hatchlings should be kept in much higher humidity than adults. Please please check out Sulcata Station on the web. They have an excellent article on "Hatchling Failure Syndrome". I lost two hatchlings to this I believe. The next two that I had were raised in a much more humid environement, and they have thrived and grown to healthy juvies. Good luck!

Shawnon

Shawnon,
I'm so sorry for you that you've lost two of them to that syndrome.

http://www.sulcstatn.addr.com/hatchfail.html

there's the URL to the article & it DOES state exactly what the humidity level should be. Thank you so much for bringing this up!
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PHRatz

thanks for posting this link. i did not read this when i went to sulcata station. i will begin to do just what they tell you to do. i do have one last question though. my hatchling always sleeps on the warmer side of the table. he barely ever goes in his hide box, which is on the cooler side, and i find this to be strange. the cooler side is always 65 to 70 degrees. is this something i should be concerned about?

>>i do have one last question though. my hatchling always sleeps on the warmer side of the table. he barely ever goes in his hide box, which is on the cooler side, and i find this to be strange. the cooler side is always 65 to 70 degrees. is this something i should be concerned about?

I wouldn't think so. You have a warm side & a cool side & that's what you need so the way I see it, it's up to them to decide which side to use. As long as they're healthy then it's nothing to worry about.
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PHRatz

i did read that at sulcata station and that's what made me make the first posting. how do i get the humidity up if thats the case and at what level should it be? remember, i am soaking my hatchling 3 times a week. is this good enoug?

>>i did read that at sulcata station and that's what made me make the first posting. how do i get the humidity up if thats the case and at what level should it be? remember, i am soaking my hatchling 3 times a week. is this good enoug?

That article did say humidity should be 60-75%. What type of enclosure do you have? Does it have a top or is it open? If you have a top on it you can spritz it once or twice a day to keep humidity up. I have hermit crabs with a screen top & another enclosure with a pac-man frog in it. I put a humidity gages in the tanks & then I covered the screen tops with folded up old sheets so I can move them around to raise or lower the humidity levels as I need to.

If the tortoise enclosure doesn't have a top you could use a humidifier in the room to raise it for the whole room if need be.
I would say you could put a humid hide box in the enclosure which is easy to do by just using a plastic box with some clean wet sphagnum moss inside the box. The trick to that is getting them to use the humid hide box!! I tried that with my lizard, he won't get in it! LOL I spritz him instead.
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PHRatz