Aspen vs. Cypress

[Azriel01]

Well I'm still kind of new to this and I had a couple questions. I just finished reading the McCurley book and of course when you don't know ignorance can be bliss but now that i know all i do is worry about my little girl. I have a 3-4 month old Spider BP very pretty. But i have her on aspen and in a screen top cage, her first shed with me was very slow came off in chunks and stuck to her that i had to peel it off. Now I have heard that the cypress helps to keep the humidity levels higher but i also herd it could have parasites and other stuff. I just want some pro's opinion. Also would it be wise to swap out the screen top for a plastic one to help manage the temp and humidity?

Any info would be greatly appreciated

[starmom]

It would help to cover 3/4 the screen top with foil or a sheet of plexiglass. You might also put some damp sphagnum moss into the cage

More details about the tank would help, ie. how you are heating it, size, how you measure the temps and humidity, etc.

[scales owner]

Well I'm still kind of new to this and I had a couple questions. I just finished reading the McCurley book and of course when you don't know ignorance can be bliss but now that i know all i do is worry about my little girl. I have a 3-4 month old Spider BP very pretty. But i have her on aspen and in a screen top cage, her first shed with me was very slow came off in chunks and stuck to her that i had to peel it off. Now I have heard that the cypress helps to keep the humidity levels higher but i also herd it could have parasites and other stuff. I just want some pro's opinion. Also would it be wise to swap out the screen top for a plastic one to help manage the temp and humidity?

Any info would be greatly appreciated

U can either bake or freeze the Cypress to kill the wood mites. I have foil on mine but getting ready to do Plexiglass!!! hope this helps.-Ray

[Azriel01]

Its a big tank not to sure about gal size but i know its 36"Wx18"Dx12"H I have two lights just to have day/light cycle they are very low heat i think like 15W. I have on one side a big UTH to cover just about 1' of the side, and the other has nothing. She has one hide now in the warm, she had two but grew the other out (in the process of getting a bigger one). i was thinking of just replacing the screen with Plexiglas? Does that seem like overkill or should i do it?

[Slim]

I wouldn't cover the entire enclosure with plexi. Only cover enough to get your humidity right. You still need some air flow in the tank. I know humidity in a glass enclosure can be a real headache, I use a glass tank as well. You also might want to get a laser temp gun to check the temps on the tank floor. My UTH uas spiking up some hot spots and I would have never known without the temp gun.