I need new substrate

[heh1987]

I have been using aspen bedding, but I am having a dreadful time keeping my humidity up so I wanted to try eco earth by zoo med because I heard it was great stuff. The problem is petsmart and petco dont carry in store its only online. they had a few other products there that looked similar and the lady at the pet store said they were the same, but I don't know how I feel about her answer. Can anyone help me with this.

also I'm new to the forum. my name is hannah. hello to all

[dr del]

Hi hannah,

If you tell us what kind of enclosure you have (with pics if possible ) there might actually be something we can recommend to help with the humidity that would let you keep the substrate you have at the moment.

Just another possible option.


dr del

[Southernshooter]

I am using repti bark now and it works real well, I used to use the dirt that comes compressed bricks but I had a hard time keeping i from getting moldy. Also like Dr Del said if we have more info we might be able to help you keep the aspen by using other techniques

[heh1987]

right now she is in a 10 gal glass aquarium with a screen top (hence the humidity problem) I have half of it covered with some plastic wrap. I am using a 75 watt blulb. She is shedding right now so I have been trying to be really attentive to my humidity levels. I put a humidity box for her to go in with some moss. I also have some moss around the cage. I mist pretty heavily several times a day. I did have a water bowel under her lamp but its out right now so that I can fit in her humidity hide. (she still has her regular water bowel in though) I don't really like the way her tank is setup right now, but she will be moving to a new home in about two weeks so I'm just trying to get by for now.

I have in fluker's two in one thermometer/ hydrometer. has anyone had any experience with these. It seems to work great, but I find myself questioning the accuracy. sometimes the humidity drops down to nothing. I know its winter, but I can't see it getting that low

also I was reading the tips about using foil and I am going to try this out as soon as i get some foil

[redstormlax12]

Get a temp gun from reptilebasics.com. They are perfect for getting your temps perfect. It reads the exact temperature in less than a second. As for your fluker's two in one, its probably the worst thing you could have to read your temps. I would go out and get a digital thermomter with the probe. As for it reading almost nothing for humidity it could be possible. The humidity in my room gets down to 10% at times and could be lower further from the cages. But i keep a 60% in the cages. I would HIGHLY reccommend you go to your wal-mart or ace hardware or something and buy a rubbermaid tub. A 12 quart is great for a BP up to about 170 grams. You can just solder holes in the lid of the actual container. It holds humidity and heat much better than a glass aqaurium. You can also heat the tub with a human heating pad. Preferably one with the built in thermostat so you dont have to have it always on full power. This is all just a temporary fix until you can either get a custom enclosure or if you want to keep your bp in a tank, then get a UTH. Ultratherm UTH's from reptilebasics are some of the best out there. You then need a thermostat to control it. Thermostats do get pricey but you coudl get a zoo med repti temp one. But with thermostats you get what you pay for. I just ordered a herpstat II from spyder robotics for my two 4x2x1 cages and my leo rack. Herpstats are pretty much the best out there. Having the lamp is killing the humidity, so get a tub and a heat pad ASAP. Until that fix you can get a damp towel and drape it over the enclosure. This should really help the humidity. Your humidity hide should help drastically though if your bp will go in it. My bp just shed and spent about 3-4 days in his humidity hide. The shed was perfect when it came off. So make sure the moss is moist all the time and maybe put him in it at one point.

Hope this helps, Goodluck.

[dr del]

Hi,

Yep the foil trick works very well.

Changing over to just using UTH's instead of the bulb will also help a lot if you can do it by insulating the tank or similar methods.

What bit of the flukers digital reads humidity? I know, in the past, we have recommended people use the acurite weatherstation but forgot to mention it is the base unit that reads the humidity only to find out they sat that putside the enclosure and couldn't understand why anything they did inside the tank seemed to help.


dr del

[heh1987]

what about a thermometer with a probe? I once saw a guy who had a thermometer with two probes one for the hot side and one for the warm side. I would love this if it works well, but I don't know where to find one. does anyone know where I can get one. I looked at that accu weather machine thing. is there anything else I can use this looks kind of expensive. what else will do humidity accurately?

[dr del]

Hi,

Well if you're kind of handy you could try this.

And the acurite is only about $12-$15.

A lot of people put the base unit on the cool end at ground level or slightly above then move the probe around the various locations to setup the tank then fix it in one place to monitor for changes at a glance.


dr del

[BabysMomma]

Welcome to the forum, Hannah!

If this is your only reptile you can keep it in a tank no problem, it's nice to look at even if the snake is hiding most of the time. Besides, mine is a bit adventurous and when I'm lucky enough to catch him roaming around at night he seems to love wrapping around a bit of branch I put in there.

You can probably get a Zoo Med under tank heater at your local pet store, just make sure you get either a thermostat (the ReptiTemp 500r is a good one for one enclosure) or a dimmer (like a lamp dimmer, should be ten bucks at the hardware store). This will give your snake the belly heat they need to digest without sucking humidity like a lamp does.

[BPelizabeth]

I have mine in glass as well.....but I have to say....I am switching to a rack soon. (very excited). Anyways.....like someone else said...cover the mesh with aluminum foil, you can move the water dish to the hot side...and I just switched to Eco Earth today and so far I Love it....humidity is up and all is working well. Best thing...I did not have to soak a brick...AMEN!!

The babies all seem to love their new substrate...they were out and about checking it all out. Going in their hides and re-arranging. In fact my goofey headed one...went into her hide and then burrowed her head under it and came out from underneath....(just her head mind you) the rest of her body was in the hide. It was so funny!!