How do I keep the humidity up? My Ball Python Sparky is living like a desert snake...

[snaysler]

Hi folks,

New to the forum, here. New to being a reptile owner. Always dreamed of owning one, my parents never let me have pets. Finally got a degree and a job as a Software Engineer, my own place, and I bought a ball python a month and a half ago. Named him Sparky. All was well. For the first couple weeks, I didn't use a heat lamp and the humidity would be around 40% on a good day. Then I started using the lamp. That lamp causes the humidity to drop to around 20% for most of the day, and it's not even that strong a lamp. If I'm home, I'm constantly misting with a squirt bottle thing and that helps for all of 20 minutes (up to maybe 65% humidity) before it's bone dry again. I work full time so I can't always be there with a squirt bottle. I tried soaking a towel in water and covering the majority of the top of the terrarium with it, and this helped the humidity stay up for a little longer, but mostly minimal effect. Plus I had to keep soaking the towel a couple times a day. So I went to PetSmart (where I bought him) and bought an automatic mister. The machine was a loud intermittent squirt gun. No matter how much I adjusted the nozzles provided, all they did was shoot a stream of water in a general direction. This was causing a line of soaked substrate to appear on the terrarium floor, but did nothing for the humidity.

I just don't see how I can keep the humidity up in this terrarium. I want Sparky to be happy and have happy sheds. I mean water vapor floats upward right? So it just goes right up out the top of the terrarium as soon as it's humid. My room is pretty dry, too (but I don't want to have a humidifier in there, I sweat too much at night lol). What should I do?

[Kira]

Try putting in a bigger water dish and place it directly below the heat lamp. Also you can make humid hides by placing damp moss inside the hides. Keep us updated!

[Dumdum333]

what substrate are you using? I also use a heat lamp, and the only substrate that works for me is orchid bark or repti-bark, which keeps the humidity really really well.

[chakup]

Bigger water dish, blocking as much as can or order a t8

[The Weavers]

We keep a sheet of plexiglass over 3/4 of the aquarium top - to cover the screen and beneath that we keep a few damp paper towels. We also keep a large water dish beneath the lamp as well. Our humidity stays between 50 and 60% all the time.

We have one aquarium that we don't have plexi glass for yet so we have taken a piece of card board and wrapped it in aluminum foil...and still put the wet paper towels beneath the cardboard and that works just as well.

Good luck!

[Kira]

Coco husk substrate can help with the humidity as well.

[ReptileChaos]

I used to use a heat lamp as well. It was a pain to control the humidity. Have you tried an undertank heater? Also, try adding moss to your tank and keeping it moist.

[melcvt00]

Covering the screen (I use heavy duty foil) and leaving just enough cut out for the lamp to sit on is HUGE for keeping in humidity, as well as not using aspen. Make sure a hide rock is right under the heat bulb, and get some Sphagnum Moss to soak and put on top. Plan to resoak it daily.

I have temp issues, so 3 sides are covered in Reflectix.

Make sure you are using something digital to measure temps and humidity, and really, I judge my humidity on the warm side - the hot side is always going to be super low because of the heat bulb.

[BR8080]

Also, try adding moss to your tank and keeping it moist.

Silly question but how long is that moss good for before it goes "bad" or just keep adding water when it starts to dry out?

[tttaylorrr]

Silly question but how long is that moss good for before it goes "bad" or just keep adding water when it starts to dry out?

bacteria is probably the main concern with reusing. i re-wet moss clumps maybe 3 times then discard.