Best ways to maintain humidity?

[**Carol**]

Hi Everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the best way to keep the humidity level fairly high and fairly stable in an open top tort table? The vet said that too low humidity can contribute towards MBD so i'm trying to keep it quite high in Reggies enclosure. I spray the soil maybe twice a day and rake it in but then when I come home or by the time I go to bed it's bone dry again due to the heat. Any (relatively inexpensive) ideas are welcome.
Cheers

[gregnobes]

i put gravel on the bottom of the table then top soil and play sand and orchid bark on top i find as long as u keep water in the gravel it keeps the humidity very high

[Balboa]

Cover it

Such is the nature of open top tables. I've seen everything from plexiglass sheets, tents to tin foil used to try and trap a little humidity in.

Others have tried heating the substrate with soil heating cables or the like. Nothing real hot, but just enough to encourage evaporation, then keeping the substrate moist most of the time. At least this way the water vapor goes past the tortoise as it makes its way skyward.

Really the easiest thing would be to get a humidifier and a portable heater and heat and humidify the whole room. Just don't go crazy, high humidity is hard on homes, and I'm guessing you don't really want it all that high for a Hermann's, just not super dry as tends to happen in tables.

[Alan1]

Remember that in the wild it also dries out in the heat and then a bit of dampness may return at night so spraying every day or every second day would be okay I reckon. I have a £3 pressure sprayer from Asda that holds 3 litres, much better than those trigger misting bottles for house plants which have you standing there all day.

I'm not entirely sure about the connection with MBD but certainly with pyramiding when torts are young. There may be a connection with lack of humidity and MBD in association with lack of D3 and calcium

[yuna1971]

I tend to go round (widely) the basking spot with a little water from a kiddy watering can. I do this every night and also water the plant I have in there.
If I need more impact - I will then up the water dishes. Perhaps increasing to 2 rather than just the one. I soon see a difference in humidity.
I DO keep the actual basking spot dry...but just a wide circle of a little water (which moistens the soil) around the area. (I love the smell .....xx)

[yuna1971]

I have asked this question before....but if you have a hydrometer, what percentage should the humidity be, ideally for a med, or other species.?? Realising that they have different requirements..

[yuna1971]

Super Dave....? Where are you.. Do you know the answer?

[Alan1]

I'm thinking, does having a lot of plants in the room produce higher levels of humidity? I kind of think I read that somewhere but I'm not 100% sure

[yuna1971]

Thanks Super Al !!!

[Kirkie]

Spraying will only dampen the first few millimetres of soil and it'll evaporate quickly. The best solution is to have a very deep substrate and use a watering can rather than a mister. Couple of times a week. Leave some dry areas, give the tortoise a choice.

Rach,

Its so variable there isn't a number. My indoor tables (which aren't acually in the centrally heated house) are usually between 30-60% depending on the weather. During rain it gets to 70-75%. My tables are open to the vaguries of the weather, I even get a wind chill factor

In the summer, as Alan has pointed out, hot days go from 10-15% during the hottest part up to 40-50% when the suns off.