# Ball Pythons > BP Husbandry > Advanced BP Husbandry >  Keeping Humidity Levels Up in a Snake Room

## bigballs

so in my snake room, without any extra help, the humidity will remain a constant 36 percent.  yes it does suck but with regular misting and weekly substrate moistening i can easily keep the levels above the standard 50-60 percent for balls.  so in this advanced husbandry section i am expecting to read some very advanced techniques for keeping humidity up in an entire snake room and would also like to hear how using a humidifier has worked out for all you humidifier users out there! :Very Happy:

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## Freakie_frog

I live in the south so my RH% is 45-50 on a clear day and 60-80% on a stormy day so I don't have to use anything to help with the humidity.

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## bigballs

well maybe i'll just move down south then... :Wink:

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## Spaniard

Using a humidifier is a great way to increase humidity but is very much dependant upon the size of the room you are trying to raise.  A smaller room will do much better than a larger room when it comes to raising humidity effectively.  The Barkers state that there isn't an ideal humidity range for bps; rather we should strive to attain the lowest humidity levels while still ensuring perfect sheds in our snakes.

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## littleindiangirl

We have a humidifier... works well, except we had a tangle with mold for a while.  :Mad:

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## bigballs

> We have a humidifier... works well, except we had a tangle with mold for a while.


how did you deal with that situation?

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## littleindiangirl

Luckily, it was on the baseboard. So I scrubbed the hell out of it with bleach, and since then we've managed to get the perfect %. We keep the heat at 80, and the humidifier at 50% with misting it works well.

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## FIREball

http://www.hydrofogger.com/

Hooks to water supply and runs off a humidistat, have a regular size and minifogger depending on room size.

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## td30

> http://www.hydrofogger.com/
> 
> Hooks to water supply and runs off a humidistat, have a regular size and minifogger depending on room size.


Wow...minifogger $299  :Surprised:  Seemed cool til I saw that.

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## bigballs

ya that thing looks serious!  so i guess i have to choose between moving down south or using a humidifier...

thanks guys!

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## starmom

> ya that thing looks serious!  so i guess i have to choose between moving down south or using a humidifier...
> 
> thanks guys!


Either way, ya can't lose!!

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## JoshJP7

I use a humidifier for my snake room and it works awesome... It was like 100$ and works wonders. I have it set at like 54ish and it keeps my humidity between 60-65 in my tubs and 55-60 in my custom build cages... Overall Ive had perfect sheds everytime and Ive never misted.

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## daniel1983

Why are you concerned with the humidity of the room?Unless your snakes are free room in the room, the room conditions really mean little.What matters are the conditions inside the enclosure. 

In nature, there is never a constant humidity or temperature. Wide ranges of conditions exist. The ideal for a captive reptile is to provide the same wide range of conditions. 

For example... 

Even though outside humidity is at 30% and the temperature is 95 deg., I can flip over a rock to find condensation(higher humidity) and a cooler tempature . This is one of the reasons why you find alot of animals when 'flipping' things in the wild. Objects layed on the ground outside provide a great range of TEMPERATURE and HUMIDITY. The reptiles know how to find the conditions that they need.

Now take this approach to enclosures. 

In my enclosures, I provide 4 "zones". Warm/dry, Warm/damp, Cool/dry, Cool/damp. My animals have the choice to get in the conditions that they desire. I do not make them have a certain temperature by raising the room temp or room humidity. If a reptile needs humidity, it goes into a humid area within the enclosure. If it doesn't need the humidity, it does not go. Pretty simple.

For snakes, this array of conditions is easily provided with the addition of humid hides to the enclosures. Simple solution for the lack of available higher humidity that does not create an overall damp environment that can lead to mold and other nasties that can harm your animals.

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## kojack8389

I keep Kojack's water bowl in his cage almost directly under the heating lamp and have the top covered with tin foil. I have two air holes the tin foil but I cover them with towels, it keeps the humidity perfect between 65-75 %. Before I thought of that I kept a moist towel on top of one of the logs with the heat lamp above that. Pretty amateur I guess you could say but it worked  :Smile:

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## West Coast Jungle

I live in practically desert conditions and humidity can be a problem. I used to run a humidifier continually but if left unchecked it can get too humid and i ran into a mold problem. 

Now I run a humidifier controled by a humidistat made by Ranco.
http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/in...2=259&cid3=-99

I figuered I use one in my greenhouse connected to a misting system why not use one in the snake room connected to a humidifier. Well it works perfectly and I have never seen a RI or bad shed since. I also realized in the winter when the forced air heating kicked in the snake room would get blasted with hot dry air and my humidity would drop dramatically and thats when a bad shed or RI would follow(not cold temps). I wondered why only a snake at the very top of rack would have problems and that was because they were closest to the air vents and got the most hot dry air.

I keep the room at about 45-50% humidity its been smooth sailing since. I also closed the heater vents and control the room with a t-stat and a oil filled heater.

Some may think the humidistat is pricey but it is alot cheaper then a vet visit.

For those who live in humid areas it is not a problem, maybe just in winter depending on what kind of heating system you have.

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## Tosha_Mc

> I keep Kojack's water bowl in his cage almost directly under the heating lamp and have the top covered with tin foil.


You don't want to do that -- first off the evaporation from the water bowl directly into the heat lamp can short out the lamp and cause an electrical fire. Second - warming the water invites harmful bacteria into your snakes environment/drinking water. Get rid of the heat lamp and use a UTH with a covered top and you'll retain your heat and moisture.

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## littleindiangirl

> I live in practically desert conditions and humidity can be a problem. I used to run a humidifier continually but if left unchecked it can get too humid and i ran into a mold problem. 
> 
> Now I run a humidifier controled by a humidistat made by Ranco.
> http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com/in...2=259&cid3=-99
> 
> I figuered I use one in my greenhouse connected to a misting system why not use one in the snake room connected to a humidifier. Well it works perfectly and I have never seen a RI or bad shed since. I also realized in the winter when the forced air heating kicked in the snake room would get blasted with hot dry air and my humidity would drop dramatically and thats when a bad shed or RI would follow(not cold temps). I wondered why only a snake at the very top of rack would have problems and that was because they were closest to the air vents and got the most hot dry air.
> 
> I keep the room at about 45-50% humidity its been smooth sailing since. I also closed the heater vents and control the room with a t-stat and a oil filled heater.
> 
> ...


Thats just about exactly as we do it, except the humidifier has its own hygrometer control.

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## kojack8389

> You don't want to do that -- first off the evaporation from the water bowl directly into the heat lamp can short out the lamp and cause an electrical fire. Second - warming the water invites harmful bacteria into your snakes environment/drinking water. Get rid of the heat lamp and use a UTH with a covered top and you'll retain your heat and moisture.


Really?? What is a UTH? Thanks for letting me know

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## SnakieMom

UTH is short for Under Tank Heater. Usually a sticky heat pad that affixes to the bottom of your tank/tub, providing belly heat.
Best used when you can allow some space under the enclosure 
for airflow. (to prevent heat surges, and possibly a serious hot spot, or even a small fire) Also best used with some sort of thermostat, again, to prevent hot spots, and most importantly,
burning your snakie.  :Smile:

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## bigballs

> Either way, ya can't lose!!


you got that right!

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## bigballs

daniel i understand that the environment inside whatever you keep your animals in is whats important but in my snake room, the environment inside the enclosures is affected by the room environment so the room environment means a little bit more than "little" in my situation.

i have no problem with keeping humidity levels proper inside my racks or enclosures.  im only looking for suggestions on keeping the room humidity up so that it affects the environment inside the enclosures and tubs in a positive way.

thanks for the lesson though. :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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