Humidity Headaches !! :(( (any tips?)

[lilith14]

I just moved into a new place, which I'm thrilled about, but did not anticipate how DRY it is. My ball's hygrometer read 10/15/20% those first few hours. I got a humidifier, which has kinda helped me but has not helped my innocent ball, which is no good because I worry about her a lot more than I worry about me.

Some info... she's a 2.5 yr old BEL. I've got coconut husk substrate, low 80s on cool and mid 90s on high (UTH-style heater). She's never been sick, and she shed once in the new place. Even though she completed it, the skin was in multiple pieces, and her butt skin lingered on for a few days, which never happened in her previous sheds. She also hasn't eaten in the couple months we've moved, although I've had her since she was a baby and it seems every year she's determined to make life hell for me as she fasts through the winter so it is kind of expected behaviour (?). But I am also concerned she is unhappy because of the humidity.

Currently I have a wet towel on the top of her cage. I've also tried misting. The humidity goes up to 60% for a few hours and then it spirals down to 10% again. My work sometimes takes me away for 16 hour days, or at times I have to be out of town for a few days at a time, which was never ever an issue before, but now I worry so much when I'm not at home. Every time I see the hygrometer read 10-20% I lose a patch of my hair.

Any humidity tips? I haven't heard anything exceptional about automated habitat misters, but is that a solution? I can provide other info if needed.

Thank you... x

[tttaylorrr]

to help us help you we need to know the enclosure: how are you measuring humidity? is it mesh top? if so, for mine i have saran wrap covering the entire top with two slits cut into it; this has helped me immensely. how big and where is your water dish? a large water dish on the hot side helps.

[Medduussa]

I have a 40 gallon tank with a screen lid that is AWFUL at keeping humidity as well. What I do is a good misting while sifting the substrate with my hands once in the morning and once at night. This has helped quite a bit for me. Also I do have a small humidifier in my apartment that helps as well! Since it is winter and the humidity is so low. Keeping the bathroom door open while having a hot bath or shower, put cans of water over your vents in your house, etc could help with general humidity within your household.


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[Paty]

I had a similar issue but also with the heat. 2/3 of the top was mesh and the other 1/3 a solid glass that is permanently attached to the tank. That's how they sold this one. I researched and after figuring some things out, I cut cardboard pieces into the right sizes and covered them in Tin foil so that the shinier side faves out and the duller side faces the cardboard. I put these pieces on the mesh just. I cut them so that I have shorter pieces so that I can put the heat lamps on the mesh but not on the cardboard/foil pieces. This way heat AND humidity stays in the tank. I lift them and waft fresh air in every day so it doesn't get too stuffy in there. The pieces made a huge difference. Less heat is wasted radiating out of the tank and the heat gets reflected back down instead of leaving through the mesh. Humidity stayed up because the top isn't open to let the moisture out. If i feel like it gets too humid, I take one piece off for a while. The smaller you make them, the more flexible you will be in terms of finding the perfect coverage. Arran wrap works too but it won't reflect any heat back down if you don't have issues with the heat. My tank is a bit over 100gal so I had a lot of trouble keeping either one constant until I had those things.


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[CALM Pythons]

You have to cover that screen like tttaylorrr. I use cardboard on 3 sides of glass (outside the tank for insulation) and Tin Foil over the top. Some use a wet towel over the top but when i tried that before the towel smelled like nasty clothes left in the washer within 24 hrs.

[Mexecutioner]

If it is a mesh top them I've herd tinfoil works well to cover the full top then have two gaps for your heating lamps I've got a wooden vivarium and my humidity was always dropping to 35% if I didn't missed it down about 4 or 5 times a day untill I got some moss to but under its hides and also under its water bowl now I only have to re soak the moss every 4 days and my humidity is always between 55% and 70% I'd try to use moss as this has helped me out so much and with you not been home for a few days at a time if you soak the moss before you leave your home it should be good till you get back

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[Coluber42]

If covering the screen still doesn't do enough, or you can't cover enough of it because of lamps or whatever, you need to add more water to the cage in some form that will let it evaporate over the course of the day. Misting doesn't work for more than a little while for two reason: All the moisture introduced that way is in small droplets all over the place, and it all evaporates at once causing a spike in humidity that then escapes the cage with nothing left to keep evaporating; and it's actually just not that much total water anyway. Picture watering a plant with a spray bottle. If it's a large-ish plant, you're going to be pumping that handle for a *long* time.

But you can add a larger water bowl, positioned over/under a heat source for more evaporation. Or you can add other things that can hold a lot of moisture and release it slowly, such as a large bowl full of damp moss. For that matter, live plants are great because the soil holds a lot of moisture and releases it slowly, and you replace it when you water the plant. And the leaves release moisture too. Something like spider plant or pothos vines is safe for your snake and will provide the snake with some cover, and they're sturdy enough to not die from being sat on.

You can also make a humid hide, that you keep a handful of damp moss in.

[Paty]

I have sphagnum moss throughout the entire enclosure (in clusters).

On the cold side I have a large wide dog bowl for him to soak in.

I also added a ceramic cereal bowl on the warm side where the UTH is.

For the one on the warm side, I moved the substrate so that the bottom of the bowl sits directly on the glass that has the UTH under it. That one is smaller but evaporates at a much higher rate than the one on the cold side.

Some days that alone isn't enough in which case I spray or soak the moss clusters.

All that on top of having the mesh covered with tinfoil covered cardboards that only don't cover the parts where the lamp is.

I used to also have a ceramic lamp but it broke, causing a shortage and the entire room was shut off for a day so I don't think I'll replace the ceramic one. My tank is 60" long and 25" tall so I know the trouble of keeping temp and humidity too well.

For insulation in general I have 3 sides covered in 1"-2" thick foam. And a sheet of foam under the UTH so the heat doesn't get lost to what's under the tank.

These steps have helped tremendously however.


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[SnakeFather]

the coconut husk can dry so i suggest taking everything out except the husk, push all the husk to one side, add some water to make it thick and moist but not muddy and soupy or too wet, move it around and break it up and put everything back( i do this bi-weekly or sometimes weekly, depends on how long i run my heater) . if its in a tank then another thing you can do is if you have a netted top, cover about 2/3 with saran wrap with room for the bulb. it's winter and my room gets extremely dry but with these tips i only ever have to mist twice a week and it keeps my humidity near to top 50s lowish 60s