Humidity issues.

[O.S.]

Long time reader, first time poster....

I have a male BP, roughly a year old. Problem is my humidity. The tank is in my room, and in the summer gets very hot, and stay fairly warm in the winter. I made the tank myself out of plexi-glass to reduce weight. its 4 feet long, foot and a half wide and high. I mist the tank, but nothing. i use two water dishes, nothing, and i restrict the flow of air by covering one lid with a towel. still, nothing seems to help. because of this O has had two poor shed cycles requiring numerous soakings, which he despises. Any tips will help. thanks for your time.

[dr del]

Hi,

Is it possible to see pictures of the tank/lid to see how much ventilation it has?

In a glass tank then almost all of the lid can be covered to help with humidity - usually the space around any light bulb holder is more than enough to keep the airflow needed.

I'm also wondering how you are controlling the heat in your tank and what you mean when you say it gets very hot?


dr del

[nevohraalnavnoj]

Also, are you measuring humidity with a digital gauge? The round ones that stick on are pretty inaccurate.

JonV

[O.S.]

Yeah the round one that sticks on...didnt know they were an issue. thats probably what i need then. the lids are thin wood, maybe 2 inches wide around the lid, with mesh for the majority of it. the right lid is covered with a towel constantly. the light is supported by two 2.25lb weights to absorb heat and keep the lid on tight....yet i have two straps with a 900lb capacity over both lids just keep the parents happy, seeing as how one day i showed up with a tank and a snake.
i have a feeling its the surface area of the water dish, but my attempts at adding more dishes didnt help that much.
thanks again.

[sneakerpro]

It would definitely be good to post some pics to give us a better idea of what you're working with.

It seems to me that if you made your tank out of plexiglass you could make a couple of nice lids with very small ventilation/lamp holes to retain humidity.

Lamps and CHEs really suck the humidity out of a tank.

What kind of substrate are you using?

[O.S.]

Whatever that repti-bark stuff is. It works great until a few days after i replace it. It dries out so much, but again, my room gets dry, so i think i just have a few factors that together are making it difficult to keep it humid. I'll get some pictures up in a bit.

[O.S.]

Excuse my inability to follow instructions....pics of the tank and lid:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...9/img_0186.jpg
http://www.ball-pythons.net/gallery/...9/img_0188.jpg

Thanks for the help

[dalvers63]

If you can, I'd get rid of the wood lid and make yourself one out of plexiglass.

I made the below one to fit on a 45G tall tank, divided in the middle so I could house a pair of carpet pythons. You can get all of the hardware at the plastic store and once you add in latches, you can get rid of the weights and straps as there is NO way a snake can open one of these as long as you put the pins back in.

[O.S.]

wow that is a very nice setup. Any chance you could list for me what i would need....and would is still be alright to let the light sit on the lid flush like that?

[dalvers63]

wow that is a very nice setup. Any chance you could list for me what i would need....and would is still be alright to let the light sit on the lid flush like that?

There are holes cut in the plexi for the lights with screen between the light and the tank. There are a couple more pictures in my Gallery if you want to check them out. It might help explain more!

I measured the top of my tank, using the inside rim dimensions. Since yours is a plexi box, you might need to measure from the outside edge to outside edge so that your "lid" sits on the top of the sides.

Since I wanted mine to open on two sides, I put a center divider in (scrap piece of Plexi that went from one side of the lid to the other. I then had two pieces cut, one for each side, and had them cut a round hole in each side. I also asked for a "ring" of plexi that was about 1/2" diameter bigger than the hole they cut. This allowed me to cut a piece of fiberglass screen and sandwich it between the ring and the lid. I then drilled a couple holes around the ring and wired the lights to it. I also drilled some air holes (1/4") on the top, I think there are 8 per side. You can adjust this to regulate humidity.

All told, we spent about $30 for the top and then had to put it together.

2 pieces 1/4" plexi cut to fit the top w/ hole cut for light
1 ring 1/2" larger than the hole cut in the top
6 hinges (you could also use one piano style hinge)
1 scrap piece of plexi, 1" wide x 1/4" thick to attach hinges
4 "L" shaped hasps and latches ( you may need more, depending on how you want to secure the cage)
2 square handles
4 small cotter pins
plastic glue (you can get this at the plexiglass store)

They guys we went to, TAP Plastics, were quite knowledgeable and very helpful. If you have a plexiglass type store in your city, just go in and tell them what you're trying to do and they will happily help you out