humidity and heat?

ehopkins12 · #1 (**permalink**) 04-19-2010, 10:51 AM

Hi there! I was curious as what the common way to hold in humidity and heat is? I was thinking it was some sort of solid top and maybe a heat pad i'm not seeing in these pictures. Not sure though, how do you hold in humidity and heat?

Grimm · #2 (**permalink**) 04-19-2010, 11:22 AM

For humidity it is important to have your enclosure farily air tight. So that means no screen tops or doors. However it is good to have some way to adjust the humidity if need be. If it isnt humid enough, use a fogger, and ultrasonic humidifier, or have a water feature. If it is too humid (not usually the case for tropical vivs) you can add a ventillation hole, and/or a small computer fan.

For heat it will be different for seperate enclosures. Sometimes the heat from the lights will be enough to keep it high enough throughout the day. And sometimes an extra heat strip will be needed. It all really depends on what the inhabitant requires also. If the background isnt large enough to absorb and "hold" heat throughout the night the temperature of the enclosure may drop too low. Its all about testing and experimenting. Sometimes all it takes is moving the lighting closer or farther away from the top (in my case thats all I needed to lower the temps)

ehopkins12 · #3 (**permalink**) 04-19-2010, 11:24 AM

I should probably be more specific. My first project is going to be a 10 gallon horizontal. A redfoot tortoise is going to be living in it so it needs to be quite humid and hot. I think im going to model it somewhat after this:

Not a lot of plant-life (he'll mow it all down anyway), I just want some moss and maybe whatever else is growing out of the wall. (ID of that plant would be nice) So how do i retain a really good amount of heat and humidity?

ehopkins12 · #4 (**permalink**) 04-19-2010, 11:33 AM

That sounds good. Where can i get heat strip lights for a decent price?

Grimm · #5 (**permalink**) 04-19-2010, 11:35 AM

Im pretty sure that is just Riccia moss on the ground, and Java moss on the wall. It may all get trampelled by your tortoise anyways so I wouldnt expect it to grow as well as in that tank. That tank is directed towards housing Dart frogs I assume.

For high heat and humidity use a 4 sided aquarium with no doors, then add a glass top, followed by good lighting. Then test this setup for a few days, if it isnt hot enough you can add a heating strip to the bottom glass. Also you could think about an automatic misting system if you really wanted to keep that humidity near 90-100%, they are about 100$ though.