increasing humidity

alright i'm trying to get the tank i have my python in to be perfect for it and i have a couple questions. i got an acu-rite thermometer and hygrometer today and its reading about 95 on hot side and 85 and cool side which i think is correct but the humidity is about 40% which i know is to low. i have a screen top on it so i know that is letting to much humidity out of it. what can i do to prevent this and boost the humidity?

and also i am using a light that is keeping the tank as warm as it is and when i turn it off at night the temperature drops to about 85 on hot side and 80 on cool. am i correct that the temperature is suppose to stay the same during the night as during the day? should i get a CHE to fix this issue?

It's kind of hard to answer without knowing a few things. Do you have a UTH? Where exactly is the thermometer probe that is giving you the hot side reading? Do you have a thermostat?

With the lamp, the hot side is a little hot. Without it, it's a little too cool. Night drops are unnecessary, but not bad. Covering the top, or at least most of it should take care of the humidity. There's a how-to on it using foil tape, but I have no idea where right now. It's not exactly complicated. You can also use plexiglass or plastic wrap. Also get a squirt bottle and spray a fine mist of water on the inside walls of the glass. Try not to get the substrate damp as it could mold or rot. Some suggest covering with a wet towel, but I'm not fond of that one. It eventually dries out, most of it's humidity will rise, it can grow bacteria/mold and smell.

Here is how I did the aluminum foil for my tank tops. I measured across the screen and cut some cardboard panels and wrapped each one in aluminum foil. That way I could add or remove the panels depending on how much I needed to raise or lower the humidity.

http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/.../ztank0051.jpg

This is what it looked like with all of the panels inserted and about a 2 inch gap for ventilation.

http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/.../ztank0053.jpg

I only needed the lamp occasionally in the winter for supplemental heat, so I would remove a couple of the panels and put a couple of strips of foil on there as a buffer zone so the lamp wasn't too close to the cardboard.

http://i1019.photobucket.com/albums/.../ztank0060.jpg

Whenever the snake was going into shed, I would remove some of the panels and keep a wet towel laying on top to keep the humidity higher.

There are several ways to do it. This just worked for me. Hope it helps...

I am using an UTH but no thermostat. I ran the prob wire under the substrate and it comes up next to the hide on the hot side.

So i guess i should switch to a CHE?

And thanks for the pics and idea Vypyrz. I think i might check to see if i could find some sort of plexiglass or plastic cover for the top of the tank but if i can't i will definately do what you did.

I control my tanks humidity with a wet/damp towel. The more humidity you want the wetter the towel and the more I spread it. I usually depend on the room temps for ambient. If it gets too cool (especially when a/c is on) I will turn the lamp on for a while but it does suck the humidity out & you need to compensate with the wet towel.

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Originally Posted by chris4554

I am using an UTH but no thermostat. I ran the prob wire under the substrate and it comes up next to the hide on the hot side.

So i guess i should switch to a CHE?

And thanks for the pics and idea Vypyrz. I think i might check to see if i could find some sort of plexiglass or plastic cover for the top of the tank but if i can't i will definately do what you did.

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Put the probe itself under the substrate against the glass. That's the place of which you want to know the temperature. Your temperatures may actually be too hot. Without a thermostat, they probably are because UTHs can normally reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Sometimes 140. Making this switch could reveal that you don't really don't need the lamp, and that alone might solve the humidity problem.

I just throw in dampened sea sponges during shed cycles, my humidity is constantly in the low 50's anyway being in south Fl

I moved the probe to where you said and its reading 95.5 degrees. The cool side is at 80 though. That is without the lamp on now too. Any suggestions?

The temp actually went down a couple more degrees its 93.3 and 79 now

Those seem proper. The 95.5 is too high. I'd keep an eye on it. Those pads can have heat spikes.