Humid Hides - All the time, or only during shed?

[Snake Judy]

I was wondering about this in another thread and thought it deserved its own. I'm curious about whether most of you provide a humid hide to your snakes at all times, or if you only use them during a shed. And what is your reasoning?

Also, is your humid hide a separate third hide, besides the standard hot and cool ones, or do you take steps to increase humidity in the hides already present?

In termite mounds, the ever-popular hideouts of wild python regius, relative humidity is maintained at upwards of 80 or 90 percent. I don't know how much time the snakes spend deep within the inner tunnels of the mound, but makes me think that it might be beneficial to have a humid hide available in the enclosure at all times. Thoughts?

[That_One_New_Guy]

I keep a"humid" hide 24/7 I used quotes as I have the hide dug out so that there is room for the damp coconut substrate to be the bottom. I only keep the cool side hide humid and she goes in there when she needs it. But for the most part she stays in her hot hide. My humidity in my tank is 45-55% and with this method I got a beautiful nice shed just yesterday

[scalrtn]

I'm using a humid hide all the time as well (though I'll probably remove it when the humidity gets real high this summer where I live). I've got a layer of cypress mulch on the bottom, covered with moist sphagnum moss. Percy crawled in there just prior to his shed last week and it was perfect. He's in there now as I type.

[tbowman]

No humid hides here. When a snake goes into shed, I'll just spill some of the water bowl onto the floor (Heard this from Tracy Barker).

My humidity is always relatively high (60-75%) and I've noticed no ill-effects.

[Snake Judy]

Can anyone else give any input on this?