i cant keep my humidity up!! help!

[kizzy]

Ive been having a really hard time keeping the humidity levels in my tank above 60. I think it may have something to do with the fact that the cage lid is made of bars, and theres nothing to hold any humidity or heat in. I even have half of it covered with a peice of glass I have sitting on top to try to trap some heat in, but just now, I went to the tank and the humidity was sitting at 40!

I have been spraying the cage twice a day, maybe even 3, but I am having some issues here! Suggestions?

[onedroplet]

try covering with a towel instead of glass. get some sphagnum moss put it in a sandwich size container and add hot water let the moss absorb the water. drain and add more hot water (not hot enough that it would cause injury and put over the warm side of the enclosure

[RestlessRobie]

A larger water dish and 3/4 covered with plexi helped us a bunch. We also swithced to Eco Earth substrate you gould give that a try. Pics of the setup would be a big help

[kitedemon]

humid hide. it will be 60-70% in side that is all you really need.

[Argentra]

1- glass does NOT hold heat, which is why tanks should be insulated

2- towels are not really recommended as they breed bacteria and mold when kept moist all the time.

The best solutions for humidity and heat retention in tanks is to insulate the back and sides, and treat the screen top with either plexiglass (as Rob said) or the foil treatment. I use the foil and my humidity has always been perfect for years even when living in Denver CO (dry air in summer).

[piedplus]

I use inexpensive, unglazed plant pots, you know, the orange ones. Put one (or just a piece of one) in the enclosure and mist it daily.

[Jeo123]

Also, you're not using a heat lamp are you? Those things suck out humidity like you wouldn't believe. Turning mine on for a day drops my humidity from 70% to 35-40%

[Evenstar]

Could someone please explain how to insulate the sides and back of the tank? I know how to cover it (i.e. with construction paper, etc) but I'm not sure how to go about actually insulating it. Would you use cut pieces of styrofoam??? Thanks in advance...

[kitedemon]

Insulation will not effect humidity much. It does go a long way to helping with ambient temps. Personally I use ridged foam insulation. It is available in many thicknesses but there is a 1/2 inch one that does not have link together edges I like for this tanks it isn't expensive and at 1/2 inch not too bad to cut and is enough insulation that it makes a big difference. I just cut it to size and tape it into a 3 sides box and place the tank on it (bottom back sides) the top needs something and the front you want to see into. But it will not alter humidity.

1- glass does NOT hold heat, which is why tanks should be insulated

glass holds heat better than most plastics. Thermal mass basically not completely but for the most part work by how heavy something is glass is heavy and once warm does not give it up quickly. Slow to heat slow to cool.

if you are not interested in humid hides a side turned tank can also work well it is much more work than hides however.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...arium-Solution

[kitedemon]

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sorry old pic. This is the insulation I mentioned on my rack, so you can see it.