Moisture an issue?

beanersmysav · 08-05-04, 12:02 PM

Sorry if I'm seeming to have a ton too many questions but as it pertains to dirt I don't know jack, and I've been trying to find me answers surfing the net through various search engines and just find way too many varied answers which is a headache and a half.

I've have the new dirt substrate in my Bosc's cage and he does love it I can tell by how much a pleasure he'd been to handle. He never squirms to much and doesn't mind getting picked up but without fail if you hold him for an excess period of time over a 1/2 hr or so he used to get a little squirmy and id hold him untill he was done then put him back after he was relaxed again, but yesterday I held him for an hour and he just laid their on my lap relaxed.

Note: He still hasn't been digging much except for in his hide and even then he just digs where he lays his head, but he is obviously more comfortable as I'm sure you all knew anyways.

But my question is, this morning I woke up and there was alot of moisture and dew on the front side of the tank, and I read online in a couple of places that moisture can be a serious issue resulting in respritory infection etc. However the humidity in the cage is still in the 40's range which from my gathering of care sheets is an ok range and it's where I've had it for 2 years now. So is the moisture going to be an issue or is it a normal thing you all notice.

Notes: Basking spot 105 degrees - Under his hide log which is under the basking spot is 90 degrees - Cool ends 80 - and in the front where the moisture is it's 80.

V.hb · 08-05-04, 12:14 PM

Don't worry about asking questions, its good that you are.

Savannahs dont nessecarily benefit from excess moisture. You've gotta aim to have the substrate dry, and sandier on the top while moist in the center. Easily accomplished by a hotter basking spot. around 125+ is good for a savannah. Ambient should be high 70's to low 80's. As ive been recently informed, relying on commercial hygrometers that cost under 500$ are pretty innaccurate, so dont read much into those.

A trick i've found works is you break up the soil when moistening it, much like you would gardening. Then in the end flatten it, and test. You have to do ALOT of trial and error to get something your savannah will use, they can be picky buggers when it comes to digging. best of luck to ya, and if you have anymore q's post away!

beanersmysav · 08-05-04, 12:56 PM

Thanks for the info happy to know you guys dont get annoyed by all these question. But I acctually did get a perfect mixture of sand and soil. I rotitilled 3 gradens this year but only used 2, and the third sits far from the others and as far as I got was rotitilling it never used any chems, furts., etc. and I even turned it before digging it because I didn't want to put any unwanted insects in their if I could help it.

Also I was just in his (Beaners) room and the moisture has gone away in the front could this just be an early morning thing? like dew? Secondly he dug a nice burrow that leads under his bath tub/water dish but he wasn't in it he was laying in the basking spot covered in dirt

Also about the temp. It's 105 at the site of the basking spot towards the top it's much warmer, but should I crank it anyways to get the heat that much at the surface?

V.hb · 08-05-04, 06:23 PM

Your sav will go where hes comfortable going. You just have to give him choices, then learn from what he does. Monitors are very intelligent and know what they want. I wouldn't worry much about unwanted insects unless you've used some kind of pesticide.

105 is too low if thats the surface temperature. You can construct a stack out of thin plywood (multi level) so he can choose which level he'd like to goto. I think Asphyxia on this website has a photo of a stack in his gallery.

You can have it up to 140 on the top and it'l go down slightly every level. Depends on your enclosure.