Humidity keeps dropping

[Giddy]

The humidity in my terrarium keeps dropping to a few percent under the room humidity. For example; room humidity is 53%, terrarium humidity is 48%. That is not to bad yet, but what if te room humidity drops to 35%? Witch it does in the wintertime....

I already covered 90% of the ventilation on the top of the terrarium. Should I allso cover some or all of the ventilation on the lower-front? (see picture below)




I have three lampfixtures, right a 13W Sun Glow, in the middle a 100W CHE and left a Blue Moon LED 0,5W.
I keep the ambient temperature between 78 and 82 F.
There is a heatmat at 91 F on the left.
The ambient temp is regulated by the CHE.
I have a large waterbowl in the middle (approx) under the CHE.
I have Aspen as substrate.
I'll have to spray daily to keep the humidity above 50%.

How do I keep the humidity up? Cover the lower-front ventilation or raise the room humidity with a humidifier or both?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[Cowtipper]

The CHE is drying up your humidity. I use them too, but that's what they do. Try keeping some sphagnum moss in a bowl and wet it down, see how that works for you; add more if you need to. You could also try and cover the open ventilation holes too, the less there are, the less humidity will escape.

[Eric Alan]

Aren't you worried about the snakes burning themselves on either the bulbs or the dome fixtures hanging inside the enclosure? It looks like an accident waiting to happen to me.

[Giddy]

Aren't you worried about the snakes burning themselves on either the bulbs or the dome fixtures hanging inside the enclosure? It looks like an accident waiting to happen to me.

It looks dangerous, I agree, but it ain't . The dome's get a bit warmer than 90 degrees but they are comfortable to hold. I can hold them without getting burned. The CHE is surrounded with a metal wire cage, so are the undersides of the domes. So I'm not that worried.

[Giddy]

The CHE is drying up your humidity. I use them too, but that's what they do. Try keeping some sphagnum moss in a bowl and wet it down, see how that works for you; add more if you need to. You could also try and cover the open ventilation holes too, the less there are, the less humidity will escape.

I'll give it a try. Thanks!

[Eric Alan]

It looks dangerous, I agree, but it ain't . The dome's get a bit warmer than 90 degrees but they are comfortable to hold. I can hold them without getting burned. The CHE is surrounded with a metal wire cage, so are the undersides of the domes. So I'm not that worried.

Do you know what temperature they are (besides a bit warmer than 90 degrees)? I can certainly hold things in my hand comfortably that I wouldn't want my snakes coming into contact with on a regular basis.

[frostysBP]

Do you know what temperature they are (besides a bit warmer than 90 degrees)? I can certainly hold things in my hand comfortably that I wouldn't want my snakes coming into contact with on a regular basis.

He is right you know. have you measured with heat gun bet its way over the 110 mark in spots. My 100 watt ceramic made basking spot up to 110 8 inches away for my tegu. change your bedding to cyprees or exo earth imo way better for that type of setup.

[Giddy]

Do you know what temperature they are (besides a bit warmer than 90 degrees)? I can certainly hold things in my hand comfortably that I wouldn't want my snakes coming into contact with on a regular basis.

Yes, I measured the temperature and it got up to 106 F. I think because it is a 13W power saving bulb. I'm talking about the lampfixture here of course with the dome.

The CHE is in it's own cage (see photo below). I hope this eases your mind.

[Giddy]

He is right you know. have you measured with heat gun bet its way over the 110 mark in spots. My 100 watt ceramic made basking spot up to 110 8 inches away for my tegu. change your bedding to cyprees or exo earth imo way better for that type of setup.

I've changed a few things;

- I changed the substrate: Was Aspen, is now Cypress mulch.
- I changed the CHE: Was 100 watt, is now 60 watt.

The humidity is now around 60% and steady (+/- 2%). The Cyprus was damp when I got it, but I haven't misted for 3 whole days now.


So thanks for the advice FrostysBP!

[PitOnTheProwl]

You evidently have never seen or smelled a cooked snake.
FYI they dont clean off of the ceramic at all.

Yes I have seen it happen in a couple pet stores that had their enclosures set up the same way.

Also, I can hold a heat rock in my hand all day but I wouldnt have one in my house.