humidity?s

[Quickone4u]

Ok,here's the deal. I've got a 20gal. long aquarium setup with 2 UTHs (1warm side,1cool side), a 60 watt CHE, thermostat, and thermometer/hydrometer digital guages. I'm using aspen substrate about 1-2 inches deep and have my warm side staying around 92 and cool side around 82-84 with ambient air around 82-84 also. I've insulated 3 sides of my tank and done the aluminum foil screen wrap setup. I have my CHE sitting towards the warm side but where it is also slightly over the water bowl(which is a pretty good size) to help aid in raising the humidity. My problem is that my humidity is still hanging around the mid to high 40% range. Averaging around 46-48. Because of this I have added some moss to the top of each hide and have had to spray it at least once a day to get it into the lower to mid 50% range. Does anybody have any advice or suggestions as to other things I could do to help increase my humidity? Also what really is the ideal range to be in, I know everybody says around 50-60% but will it hurt my BP if it dips to the high 40% occasionally? or to stay in the low 50%s? Any advice on how to improve the situation would be much appreciated!

P.S. I know removing the CHE would help my humidity% but I can't see how I could keep my ambient air temps in the proper range without it!

[mrshawt]

Humidifier in the room.
Oil filled heater in the room so you don't have to use the CHE.

[Quickone4u]

Yeh,I was thinking about using my humidifier, I just don't want to have to use it constantly if there is a way I can avoid it. Also,I'd really prefer not to use the heater if possible because this is actually my bedroom. Thank you for such a quick response, any other ideas? I think I will break the humidifier out tonight for a while though in the mean time.

[eMonk]

you can try using a larger water bowl & placing it under your bulb on the warm side.

[Quickone4u]

Yeh, my water bowl is already under the CHE for the most part. The water bowl I'm using is already a pretty good size but I guess I can look around to see what else is out there. Any other tips or tricks for this stuff?

[Argentra]

Sorry, all I can truly say is to get rid of that CHE. It's sucking the tank dry.

Ambient temps can be in the high 70s without trouble as long as the cool and warm sides are right, so unless your room is kept at 69 (and if so, you should use the heater or move the snakes ) you should be alright without the bulb.

I had the same troubles when I started out. I had a CHE because I thought the ambients needed to be higher, but my humidity NEVER stayed above 40% no matter what I tried. When I removed that bulb things stabilized and haven't looked back since (unless we have a particularly dry day up here, then I just have to mist the greenery).

Good luck!

[Quickone4u]

My entire house is kept at about 70 so, what do you think? I'm willing to give it a try, I just don't want it to get to cool for my bp. What would be the coolest temp I can constantly keep my ambient air temps at safely? I'll also try closing off the air vents in my room to see if that will help some, hopefully! If not, I guess I'll just have to suck it up and make sure I keep the humidity up by daily misting of the moss and possible use of my room humidifier.

[Argentra]

Well, my apartment is kept at 71 throughout the winter (and I use a space heater at night) and my snakes are just fine. I wouldn't ever let it get lower than that, though. In summer, it's usually about 78 with fans running.

Closing the AC vent to that room and using a rotating fan for yourself (that doesn't hit the snake cages) is also a great option for summer!

Let us know what happens.

[Quickone4u]

Thanks, I beleive I'm going to try some different substrate and close at least one of my vents off for good measure. We'll see how things go from there and I will keep you posted on how it goes and what changes do what. I appreciate all the replies and help very much. As of right now, with a daily misting of the moss, my humidity is hanging around the low 50% range. I would like to improve that if only slightly, just to make myself feel better

[mrshawt]

If you like aesthetics, go for Repti bark. It's about the same cost as aspen, but it holds moisture so much better. You probably won't even need to mist with this.

Or newspaper...if you like hobo snakes.