Question to those with sand/soil substrate

[Skeetzy]

I'm having an issue keeping my sand soil mixture(approx 1-3 ratio of sand to soil) moist enough to hold a burrow. It seems to dry out fairly easy. Just about a week or two ago I noticed that almost his whole cage, aside from where his hibernation burrow is, was very dry. So I took the afternoon to rotate the soil and add water, getting it back to its original glory.

Well I mist the entire cage down about every other day(it brings the humidity up to about 85 on the cool side, if I do it two days in a row it sky rockets). I also have a humidifier set up that keeps the cage at a consistent 55-65% on the hot side, and 70-80(85 when misted) on the cool side. Night time the whole cages hovers 70-75. I thought this would be good enough to keep the soil in the right shape, but clearly not.

Should I be adding water periodically on top of the misting? I feel like the misting doesn't really get past the top layer. How do those of you with the sand/soil maintain their substrate? Also how often do you change it? I plan on swapping it out as soon as my little guy wakes up from hibernation, but how often should I while he's actually active?

Thanks ahead!

 

[james.w]

What type of cage are you using, wood or glass? Screen top?

 

[Skeetzy]

Wood, standard adult enclosure setup. No openings, except has a few vents, just enough to keep condensation from building on the glass door. Got a good 8" deep substrate covering a good part of the cage, and a few inches everywhere else.

 

[james.w]

A few inches of substrate won't hold moisture very well. The 8" should do ok unless that is on the basking side where the higher temps are. This is why 12"+ is recommended throughout the enclosure.

 

[Skeetzy]

The few inches I figured wouldn't hold much. But that's the hot side, and the lowest I've seen it get was 50% when I forgot to add water one morning. Other than that it's a minimum of 55. The 8"(probably more like 10) side is the cool side that has a CHE, which is programmed to stay 80*. But it can't really heat the whole enclosure over 75-77 by itself at night, and around 78 during the day.

That's why it somewhat confuses me. In one corner where his burrow is, the bottom like 5-6" stays perfect. Above that, and for pretty much the rest of his cage, it gets almost dusty. I know dust is no good for them, so I stay on top of it to keep it from going that far, even though he doesn't come out.

Thanks for the help so far! Merry Christmas.

 

[james.w]

What are you measuring the humidity with? CHEs are very bad when it comes to humidity, they dry everything out. What are the ambient temps in the room where the enclosure is?

 

[Skeetzy]

On each side of the enclosure, a $10 digital walmart unit that shows current temp and humidity. But, my zoomed hygrotherm is set to display current relative humidity in the cage, and it's always between 60-65. I've been meaning to grab something else to test the accuracy of the walmart units, anything you can direct me towards?

I keep my room rather cold, which is why the CHE is there. I keep it anywhere from 65-68, sometimes at night if I keep the door shut, the cage will bump the room temp up a few degrees.

But now that I think about it, there may be no need at all for the CHE, which is where I think you're headed. They can handle a drop to let's say 60* at night right? Just in case my room ever gets a little chiller than usual.

 

[james.w]

I would get rid of the CHE. The basking bulb should keep the cool side temps where they need to be. The walmart digital stuff is pretty good, that is what I used, accurite is the brand correct? You could test them against each other by switching their locations and see what readings you get.

 

[Skeetzy]

Hahah I edited my post as you posted, predicting exactly what you said. Yes they are Acurite's. Wonderful little units. Display temp and humidity nice and big, with the high and low for the day. I just swapped their spots. Give them a little to adjust.

The CHE is definitely not needed during the day, considering the only time I've noticed it was on, is when I open the door and am in the cage for a few minutes. So you're right as far as basking bulb doing its job.

 

[Skeetzy]

Hahah I edited my post as you posted, predicting exactly what you said. Yes they are Acurite's. Wonderful little units. Display temp and humidity nice and big, with the high and low for the day. I just swapped their spots. Give them a little to adjust.

The CHE is definitely not needed during the day, considering the only time I've noticed it was on, is when I open the door and am in the cage for a few minutes. So you're right as far as basking bulb doing its job.

 

[james.w]

Can you add more substrate?

 

[Skeetzy]

I don't see why not, except I have a big like 2'+ driftwood log that I like to keep on the bottom, so he can't burrow under it. And if I raise the substrate, it'll get closer to the light, raising the basking temp too high, meaning I'd have to get a smaller bulb. Which in turn would lower the ambient temp if I'm thinking right. Not sure if a lower wattage bulb would thoroughly heat the cage.

The only area of the cage that has the low amount of substrate is by the basking spot. I'll attach a picture to show once I'm done misting.

---

Tried catching it with the humidifier on.

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

Seal off the air vents, the opening and closing of the doors for water/food/socialization will be enough air rotation.
Also, a good leaf litter on top helps hold humidity. You can chose to bake the leaves to clean them or just do a bio-active substrate and not bake them.

 

[Skeetzy]

It was sealed off for the first month. My humidity was through the roof. Constant layer of condensation on the glass, walls were sweating, and the humidifier never ran once. Humidity was around 80 hot side and 95 cool side for a bit. Tried rotating the soil around to dry it up. Only thing that got it to drop was the vents. Which I installed two first, then 3, then 4, and the magic number was 5. They have very small openings, so they don't let much air through.

James pretty much solved it. More substrate or bust. My little guy is burrowed, so really just gotta keep his corner moist. Which fortunately is the only area that stays moist. Once he's awake, I plan on changing it out completely to a fresh batch. I will probably rework the heating situation to suit the closer basking spot and such. Until then, I'll try to see if I can get a good misting/adding water schedule going.

Leaf litter is a good idea. I'll probably grab some outside next chance I can.

 

[laurarfl]

I wanted to add a random comment. I checked on my little guy the other day and he was really dehydrated. I didn't realize the humidity had fallen with the recent cooler weather and running the heater. And since he has been asleep, I haven't done much to his enclosure. I woke him up and he drank heartily. Not that I think everyone would be as forgetful, but I thought of your little one that has been hibernating and figured I'd mention it.

 

[Skeetzy]

I checked on him when I was moving and moistening all the soil. He didn't do as much as peak to see why there was light this time. Just kept hidden the whole time. Maybe on my next day off ill try to get a bath in on him, or offer some water.

Thanks though!

 

[Little Wise Owl]

My soil becomes very dry easily as well. I mist every day and use a watering can (like for plants) with warm water to remoisten all the substrate once a week.

 

[Skeetzy]

Watering can! Brilliant, yet so obvious idea. Though, I've never as much as picked one up, so that's probably why I didn't think of it. Thank you so much, that's exactly what I need.

 

[Little Wise Owl]

I saw a member on another forum doing it for their Savannah Monitor enclosure and thought it was brilliant as well. haha