When one provides some humidity for our precious little ones, is it better to spray the tort. himself and a small area of substrate...... or should we spray a larger area of substrate but careful not to saturate it because of shell rot etc..  Not too sure about this one and I have nt been able to find any info as yet...???   I'm giving Toto baths  (I'm still not sure whether he's trying to get out or whether he's just improving his breast stroke )  ha ha ha....  AND ... is it still beneficial to spray them in a warm environment indoors during Winter as often as we would do during the Summer ??    Just another small brain teaser !!!      love from Toto's Mum.  xx

Just found page 6 .... HERMAAN CARE SHEET ...... Humidity..   Must have missed this section last time.   Good good good.     No soggy substrates for Toto..  xx

Hi Marlyn, I normally do my poop scoop, remove my water and feeding dishes at an evening. Once these have all been removed I spray the substrate using one of those cheap water containers for hair or garden use filled with water. Once sprayed I aggitate the soil and by morning it all is fresh and ready to go. By doing this at night my lights have cooled down and I avoid the risk of them blowing with the  sprayed water. In the summer I will have a full water spray at the ready as they do love to be sprayed when in their bathes, I assume it is like a warm rain fall.

HTH

Elaine

I pour water on the substrate every two or three days (whenever it is dried out again) and stir it up really well, so that it is thoroughly mixed through. I use enough water to just barely dampen the soil when it is mixed in (so it's not wet), and I do this in the warm half of the enclosure. I have a horsfield, and they don't do cool and damp, so that's why I only do it in the warm half. It has the added benefit of making the soil firmer and it holds together better when she digs in. After I dampen the soil, I sprinkle a really thin layer of dry sand/soil from the other half of the enclosure on top of the dampened bit, so that she never actually sits on damp soil unless she chooses to dig into it.

Nina

Nina

Thank you ladies,   This is roughly what I thought we had to do ..dampen just some of ithe soil at any one time so little tort can get off the damp soil if necessary.   After all, we would n't like walking on damp soil with bare feet would we ??  Or would we ??   Whatever turns you on I guess !!   Oooh this is such fun.  Toto is providing me with some many smiles during the day.  His antics never cease to amaze me. I'm going to have to make the sides of  his playground a bit higher soon.  He is a very active little Toto.    Thanks for your help as usual.  love Marilyn. xx 

I prefer to add quite a bit of water, it quickly soaks into the substrate which is mainly soil.  But I just do this every few days, and not on the whole area.  This makes part of the habitat more humid as the water gradually evaporates from the surface of the soil.  Then when it seems very dry again, after a few days, I add more water. 

  I also like to use a bunch of sphagnum moss which I lightly dampen and place over the part of the table where some water has been added. The torts do like to hide out in the moss.

I just make sure they've got other places to hide as well so they aren't forced into the more humid part. 

I find at night when the lamps go out, the humidity rises in the slightly more moist place.  This is because the temp is falling and its just what I want as the humidity, according to some people, is more important when they are sleeping.