Maintaining Humidity

[purpleroan]

Hey everyone. So, I was hoping you could provide me with advice regarding maintaining humidity. Currently my bp is in a plastic tub, and I have to mist is 3+ times a day to keep it humid or it naturally drops to the low thirties (%), such as overnight. While I usually have the time to mist often, I imagine it can't be good to have such fluctuations, and it would be nice to not have to worry as much about it. Also, when I first mist, it sometimes jumps into the 60s/70s, which I would think is just as bad as it being too low. My snake seems totally healthy but I don't want to risk anything. I looked into automatic humidifiers but I couldn't find one that seemed reliable and had good reviews. So, is adding moss my best option? Should I let it be natural levels and just add a humidity box? Is there a humidifier you guys could recommend? Let me know! I use newspaper as a substrate.

[Cheesenugget]

If you are using tubs, you should have zero issues with humidity. I keep my bp, king snake and Children python in tubs. I have holes on the lid and a few on the sides. The bp and python's humidity is at 60-70% without any effort. My king snake has about 50% which is my room humidity (Florida) by removing the water bowl half the week and airing out her tub once or twice a day when I take her out to explore.

Are you sure your humidifier meter is working? Use another one to confirm. You don't want to mist in a tub as it is less ventilated than a glass tank, risking the growth of mold. You should not need to mist at all using tubs.

If for some odd reason your humidity is that low, or you need to up the humidity, you can cover some of the holes with tape or cloth, make a humid box using a plastic container filled with moss or papertowels, and change substrate to soil or cypress mulch. Using a higher side tub helps trap the humidity better too but not by much.

Once your humidity is at 50-60%, let it be unless your snake is going into shed. Constant high humidity plus wet environment can cause health problems for your snake and encourage mold, which is a nightmare to save your animal from. I use a humidifier for my blue tongue skink (Merauke) and that is only because he is in a 4 foot, low glass tank using basking lights.

[MD_Pythons]

Your choice in substrate hinders you, I´ve had success with cypress mulch. Humidity in the 60s isn't too bad.

[tttaylorrr]

Your choice in substrate hinders you, I´ve had success with cypress mulch. Humidity in the 60s isn't too bad.

agreed. freshly broken-up Reptichip keeps the humidity in my T8 at 70%+ for almost a week before it starts coming down, and hangs in the 60s. this has never caused Yellow any problems as he has adequate heat and ventilation.

[Phillydubs]

agreed. freshly broken-up Reptichip keeps the humidity in my T8 at 70%+ for almost a week before it starts coming down, and hangs in the 60s. this has never caused Yellow any problems as he has adequate heat and ventilation.

How wet would you say it gets to achieve this or what’s your method ?

as you know I’m switching to a similar set up as yours and this is the main reason

[tttaylorrr]

How wet would you say it gets to achieve this or what’s your method ?

as you know I’m switching to a similar set up as yours and this is the main reason

do you mean method of breaking down the Reptichip? i follow JKR's method of breaking it down.

it's not sopping/dripping wet by any means, but damp. if you give one of the coco chunks a squeeze you'll see just how much moisture the coconut can hold.

[purpleroan]

Thanks for the quick replies! I suppose it is very possible the hygrometer isn't working. It also reads temperature and that usually matches up with my gun, thermostat, and another thermometer, but I will have to pick up another and see if I get a different reading. I did think it was odd how hard it was to maintain in a tub. I'll also look into a different substrate, I have been using paper since its easy to clean, reduces any ingestion risk, and I work for a newspaper so it is readily available lol. However, if mulch or reptichip would be better I'll look into it.

[bcr229]

I also use paper in my tubs and rarely have humidity issues. I find that if they're in the correct range the cool side of the tub will have a light coating of condensation on it but the warm side will not.

[kthoms104]

I had this same exact problem just a while ago w/ newspaper substrate and a tub set up. Here's what I did:

Your water bowl is your #1 main water source, which will somewhat keep the humidity up. I added another water source by taking a small dish, and placing a sopping wet sponge into it, then putting the dish into the middle of the terrarium. I also covered up some of the holes on top of the tank with tape, but left enough open to let the snake breathe.
Now, I only have to mist the tank maybe once a day, with humidity staying in the 70s for over 8 hours! Whenever I open up the tank, to replace some of the humidity lost, I mist the top of the snake's cold-side hide as well as the sponge in the dish. It works perfectly for me

Hope this helped!

[Zincubus]

Orchid bark is fabulous for holding humidity plus or looks great , easy to spot clean and it makes your snakes look simply amazing!


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