new guy here,trouble with keeping Humidity stable

[01z28]

hello everyone.

I just got a normal bp that my wife bought me. she surprised me and just brought home a snake. (a female) she knew I wanted one and was with me when I was looking at them last week.

well she comes home with a "tank kit" and a snake. of course I was really happy. but then it hit me that I need to set-up the tank fast. I got a pretty good set-up going for the short notice I had.

I can't seem to keep the humidity stable at all. without spraying the enclosure every few hours. I don;t want to get things to wet, however she started shedding last night. looks like almost all of it came off over night. I'm worried about during the week when were at work. I don;t know if I'm providing to much heat,not enough water, if my water dish is to big. it seems to stay at 50-60 all the time. once I spray the tank it will jump up to about 80 then slowly come back down. it is a glass tank with a screen top. I went and bought a couple pieces of plexiglass and tinfoil tape to seal up the edges around the plexiglass. I have 2 digital thermometer's mounted to the glass above my under tank heaters. one is on a zoo med repti temp control. that one is at about 87* and the other that is not on a control is at 97* or so. I have a split gauge in the middle of the tank mounted on the glass about half way up that reads temp and humidity. it a dial set up but....thats were I'm getting my humidity reading from. the digital gauges have humidity readings on them, however since there mounted to the glass under a carpet and peat moss mix I don;t know if I can trust what they read. it never goes over 45 even right after I mist the tank still says 45% when the other will reach well over 75%.

well any help would be great. also I can post a pic if need be.

thanks
matt

[addsdad]

Check out this care sheet. It should help. Welcome to the world of ball pythons. Warning: It can become an obsession.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

[Noek]

if you can include pics, that would be helpful.

a few things to get humidity up is to place the water dish over the uth.....use a small container and put some soggy paper towels in it in the enclosure...consider switching to a tub enclosure

those are just a few tips, the care sheet explains in more detail

[bigballs]

k i kinda have no idea what you just said but if youre having trouble keeping humidity up then cover up 2/3rds of your screen lid with saran wrap. that will help keep the moisture in the air inside the tank. youre temps are a little high. if youre using a heat lamp on the hot side then just lift it up a little until the thermometer reads 92-94 for a hot side. your cool side should be 82. also to measure temps youre going to want to place the probe of the thermometer on the floor of the tank so that you can get the temps you want where the snake is going to be.

[01z28]

I moved the water bowl over the hotter of the two uth's. once the night light came on (blue) the humidity went up. so I think that my day light is in fact to close to the top of the screen.

so I should place the probe above the carpet and under the moss. do I have to worry about the snake messing with the probe?

[01z28]

ok here's some pics, I'm going to go get some black construction paper and put it on the sides and back of the tank.

http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/.../61270it's kinda bright right now because of the x-mas tree. but that only comes one for 3-4 hours a night.

[Sparky1]

I am a lil confused if you are running two UTH with one on each side you should not even need an over head heat source unless your room is really cold. Since i noticed both of your temps are to warm i would remove the light. Your probe should be place were the snake will be, not under anything. The temp you care about is the surface temp of the substrate since that is were the snake will spend its life.

[01z28]

ok I will move the probes to the substrate, and give that a try.

the light on top in the picture is actually the night light. it does give off a bit off heat but not that much. I can try and move it up a bit and see how that affects things.

thanks for the help so far. my house is always 75* weather the heats on or the a/c is on it's 75*.

[mischevious21]

Check out this care sheet. It should help. Welcome to the world of ball pythons. Warning: It can become an obsession.

He's not kidding- it happens quick too. lol. Be prepared. And as for humidity, I just sprey mine alot.. But I think I will soon be investing in a humidifier soon, as it seems easier. Good luck with your new addition!! (it probably wont be your last!)

[Noek]

yeah if you don't need it, definitely get rid of the heat lamp.