humidity importance?

[Scythe]

I have heard a lot of mixed opinions on ball python humidity.
Some people say that humidity is extremely important and if it's too low or high your snake will run into many health issues.
And yet there are many breeders out there who don't add any humidity to bins other than the evaporation from water bowls.

Recently in an attempt to avoid RI's, I stopped misting my ball pythons daily and only really do it when they are in shed.

what are your thoughts on this?

[LynnGunn]

Honestly, if you just monitor your BP's sheds and make sure they shed in one piece you should be fine. There are many opinions as to what their humidity should be so just find what works for your snakes.

[cchardwick]

I'm not sure you can get the humidity too high as long as they are on a solid substrate and not sitting in a puddle. Here in Colorado our humidify is super low, we have a desert like climate. I tried keeping my snakes on dry substrate, you can instantly tell if they are too dry, they pull their body in and they don't look round, they look rather blocky. And most times they will go off feed altogether if the humidity is too low. I like to really soak the Retichip and let it slowly dry out until the top is dry and there is humidity underneath. Then I'll remove the snake and spray it while mixing it up and give it a good soak and start over again. I think humidity is extremely important, as long as it's not too dry you should be OK. I've seen pro breeders have shed problems even at 60%, I'd probably keep it higher than that as much as possible and bump it up to close to 100% during a shed.

[Coluber42]

It's something you should care about, but not something that is an imminent crisis like excessively hot or cold temperatures. If you're having trouble maintaining humidity levels (whether too high or too low), you can afford to experiment with adding or covering air holes or screen, adding a larger water bowl or placing the water under lights or over the uth, adding a humid hide or damp objects or misting or changing substrates or whatever other methods of adding or removing humidity.

It does matter to the health and well being of the animal, but as long as you make a reasonable effort to correct it, nothing dire is going to happen in the mean time.

[EL-Ziggy]

I believe we sometimes over emphasize humidity requirements and that hydration is what counts most. As long as a snake has access to fresh water ambient humidity should suffice. I don't mist cages or provide humid hides for any of my 8 snakes anymore. My ambient humidity has ranged from 35% in the winter to 65% on some summer days and I haven't had a bad shed or RI.