Tub Humidity... arg

Hey Guys,

I can't get the humidity right in my racks :\. I keep poking holes but its barely affecting it. Here's a couple pictures of my tubs.. The holes are like this on both ends of the bin and the sides have another 10 holes.. The humidity never goes bellow 75% and usually sits between 80 - 85%. Im afraid to poke more holes - when winter comes the humidity is going to drop a lot in my apartment and I know it'll affect it.. arg

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file.../9/8/bins2.jpg

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file.../9/8/bins1.jpg


I don't know what else to do. I had them on paper instead of cyprus but they didn't like it and I would find them all on top of something in their bin so that they didn't have to touch it. I don't know what to do :\ any ideas?

Yikes, that is a lot of holes. I would go with newspaper but if you don't want to do that then try aspen bedding and make sure the water dishes can not spill. I would grab an extra set of bins for the winter before the lot changes. BTW, those humidity gauges are not that accurate. I would say if there is not condensation on the bins that the snakes are okay regardless of what the gauge says. Maybe try a different gauge?

The first comment is the digital humidiy instruments are crude at best you might test this one to see if it is reading correctly. google 'salt test for hygrometers' pick one it is very simple. The second question is what is the humidity in the room? If your room is sitting at 80% you will not get it below that anyway.

humidity is not too much of an issue really 60 is an average for one region og the natural range other areas are higher and some lower. Hell areas of the sahara it is averaging 40% my point is high humidity isn't generally too much to worry about. High humidity and low air flow is but you don't have that issue Mr. Swiss Cheese (LOL) :D. Just keep the tubs clean as bacteria grows well in moist warm places you might up the 'full cleans' to at least once a month (don't forget the top surface the 'cover' of each shelf) You might think on doing it a bit more. use your nose if it smells anything other than clean it is time to clean. Also before you replace the cyprus (or is it meluccia?) leave it out for a few days on a try in the sun to dry.

This is what I have to do for the high humidity down here

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...ishrack3-1.jpg

upper and lower hole placement for proper airflow

Have you tried running a fan in the room??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ladybugzcrunch

Yikes, that is a lot of holes. I would go with newspaper but if you don't want to do that then try aspen bedding and make sure the water dishes can not spill. I would grab an extra set of bins for the winter before the lot changes. BTW, those humidity gauges are not that accurate. I would say if there is not condensation on the bins that the snakes are okay regardless of what the gauge says. Maybe try a different gauge?

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Thanks!

Yeah there's no condensation now, but there was when I only had four holes on each side of the bin lol. The hygrometer was reading 99% at one point! I went out and bought another gauge and left the whole thing in one of their bins and it reads the same +/- 3 or 4 percentage points. I was thinking about grabbing another set of bins. I currently have 5 snakes in my rack so maybe I'll just leave 5 as winter bins and "summerize" the other five to accomidate the humidity I get in summer! Thanks for the suggestions!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

The first comment is the digital humidiy instruments are crude at best you might test this one to see if it is reading correctly. google 'salt test for hygrometers' pick one it is very simple. The second question is what is the humidity in the room? If your room is sitting at 80% you will not get it below that anyway.

humidity is not too much of an issue really 60 is an average for one region og the natural range other areas are higher and some lower. Hell areas of the sahara it is averaging 40% my point is high humidity isn't generally too much to worry about. High humidity and low air flow is but you don't have that issue Mr. Swiss Cheese (LOL) :D. Just keep the tubs clean as bacteria grows well in moist warm places you might up the 'full cleans' to at least once a month (don't forget the top surface the 'cover' of each shelf) You might think on doing it a bit more. use your nose if it smells anything other than clean it is time to clean. Also before you replace the cyprus (or is it meluccia?) leave it out for a few days on a try in the sun to dry.

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Great suggestion! Thanks I'm gonna look up that salt test and give it a shot! And I never thought about drying out the substrate first. I'm gonna do that next time I change them. I've been changing their bins way too often - just because I was trying to sort out the humidity issues. I was just worried about scale rot and RI's LOL. They've been through a lot with their previous owners and I don't want to add illness to it.

Cheers!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by llovelace

This is what I have to do for the high humidity down here

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u...ishrack3-1.jpg

upper and lower hole placement for proper airflow

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WOW!! LOL those bins are hole hoarders!! That makes me feel a lot better though thank you for your post :)

The humidity in my apartment sits between 55 and 70% during the summer - My relationship with my glass wall is a love/hate one lol. Damn greenhouse effects going on in my living room :P

Yes I have a fan running 24/7 in the room where I keep my bin. I also run a dehumidifier but I have to leave the window open or the humidity in the room climbs to 70% or so. I don't think the dehumidifier is doing much :\ hmf

Thanks to everyone who responded!