Humidity Help??

[Shoyle]

Hi! I've had my ball python for several weeks, and the humidity in the cage used to be fine. Recently, it's been staying in the forties and I can't get it up to fifty. I have cypress mulch substrate with a UTH and a 50 watt red bulb. I cover part of the screen top on my terrarium with a cloth, and I have a small room humidifier near the cage which doesn't seem to help much. Can anyone help or give advice to raise the humidity?

[WmHrbst]

A larger sized water dish will help. Anytime you're using a heat lamp, it will battle against the humidity.

[dkatz4]

Make sure the top is well covered, you don't need a ton of ventilation – I have heard, although I have not tried myself, that a damp towel is a really excellent option for covering the screen top because it adds and retains humidity as well as being a pretty good heat insulator but since it is permeable it still allows some airflow.
I should also mention that when I was having major humidity issues it turned out the biggest source of my problem was a really really bad hydrometer. I don't know if you already have a good one but if you are using one of those trashy little analog dial's from the pet store (as I was) there's really no telling where your humidity actually is.

[cchardwick]

Personally I don't like cypress mulch, aspen, or newspaper. I've switched to a coconut husk substrate like Reptichip and it has done wonders. It soaks up the water like a sponge. With cypress you can flood the cage and the cypress wont really suck up the water like coconut husk will. There was actually a Reptichip sales guy hanging around on this forum and mentioned that he would send people a free block of it to try, not sure if he is still around or willing to send you a block but I'd search around the forum and try to contact him.

[blue roses]

I also have had humidity problems, and i solved it by getting a zoomed reptifogger and set it on a timer to go off every 6 hrs. I am also thinking of mixing coconut in with my cypress mulch , because i also heard its great for helping the humidity issues. i live in an extremely dry house and in winter its brutal even for people, but the fogger seems to help a lot.

[Coluber42]

You can also try using aluminum foil instead of the damp cloth. It's both less permeable and also you can get it closer to the lamp. Basically, cover the entire screen with it and cut a hole where the lamp goes. Then if the weather changes and your humidity is getting too high, make other holes in the foil which you can cover or uncover as needed. Also, put the water bowl under the lamp.
Another thing you can try is to add a second water bowl with a damp sponge or a washcloth or handful of moss sitting in it. The cloth/moss/whatever will wick up the water in the bowl and stay damp, while increasing the amount of evaporation compared to just the surface of the water in a bowl.

[Yzmasmom]

We are having the same issue now that fall is here and we set up a small humidifier next to Yzmas tank and keep her room door cracked. It's like a sauna in there now, lol. Her temps are great and her humidity stays between 57% and 65%.

[Shoyle]

Thanks for all the advice! Also, what hygrometer do you all use? I have the cheap one from the pet store and I want to get a real one that will work well.

[Jeanne]

I use a cool mist humidifier, mist piped into cage w a tube. Buy the tear drop style, go to lowes or home depot and get clear tubing tht tightly fits into the cone top of the humifier.. Put on a timer to run several times a day. The type You can get for fish tanks, can set multiple run times a day. Wrks like a champ. And I live in DRY Arizona.

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[Yzmasmom]

I believe mine is a Reptile One Hygrometer. We got it recently, but it's worked really well so far.