Humidity Troubles

Okay, so, before I set up the lights and everything, the humidity was fine. By fine, I mean 45-56%, which is pretty good, in my opinion. When I set up the lights, it dropped- by a lot. I thought, no problem, I'll just use aluminum foil to cover most of the screen top, that'll do it!

Nope. Didn't do anything. Well, it helped raise it from 17% to 20%, but that's really not good enough, is it? To keep it in the range of 30-37%, I have to mist his cage almost every hour. I can tell he doesn't like being woken up by the screen top opening, for me to spray his cage. :/ I looked around the forums a bit, and if I missed something and this is a dumb question, I'm sorry. It's just, I have no way to help him shed other than soaking... I dunno, every few hours, and I know Azazel would not like that.

So, um, anyone here have any suggestions? I'd really like to keep the cage humid enough for him to be comfortable. :)

What substrate are you using?
You could also use these

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^^^ If you are in the US

http://homeathome.homehardware.ca/en...l27/R-I3838812
^^^ If you are in Canada

I would suggest using de-mineralized Reverse Osmosis water in these. No scale will build up on the tank or humidified.

X2 Raven01 question: What substrate are you using? I have found Eco-Earth to be a good solution to humidity solution with glass enclosures.

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Originally Posted by martin82531

X2 Raven01 question: What substrate are you using? I have found Eco-Earth to be a good solution to humidity solution with glass enclosures.

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Yep. I have a glass tank and it keeps around 75-85% with a 75% screen cover, eco earth, and misting reallly well when the eco earth dries out. I even have a heat lamp and it stays that high. Sometimes I remove one of the top pieces to let some humidity out because after misting it'll get to 90% for a bit.

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Originally Posted by Marrissa

Yep. I have a glass tank and it keeps around 75-85% with a 75% screen cover, eco earth, and misting reallly well when the eco earth dries out. I even have a heat lamp and it stays that high. Sometimes I remove one of the top pieces to let some humidity out because after misting it'll get to 90% for a bit.

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Your humidity should only be that high during shed...otherwise around 50-60% is plenty.

To the OP, change your substrate from whatever you're using to eco earth, coconut husk, or cypress mulch. Mist twice a day and place a second water bowl over the heat lamp (wash and change daily to prevent bacterial growth). You can always just make a humid hide with damp sphagnum moss and that will keep the humidity in the hide up to a comfortable level.

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

Your humidity should only be that high during shed...otherwise around 50-60% is plenty.

To the OP, change your substrate from whatever you're using to eco earth, coconut husk, or cypress mulch. Mist twice a day and place a second water bowl over the heat lamp (wash and change daily to prevent bacterial growth). You can always just make a humid hide with damp sphagnum moss and that will keep the humidity in the hide up to a comfortable level.

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That's why I take part of the covering off after I spray. Covering is mainly for heat to keep it around 82 ambient. If I take the covering off the temp drops. If I don't use eco earth I don't have the humidity. There seems to be a big range in what people use for their humidities. My understanding is as long as there is airflow 60%-85% is just fine. I've seen quite a few different thread here and other places with a big range of humidities that work for people. :)

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Originally Posted by Marrissa

That's why I take part of the covering off after I spray. Covering is mainly for heat to keep it around 82 ambient. If I take the covering off the temp drops. If I don't use eco earth I don't have the humidity. There seems to be a big range in what people use for their humidities. My understanding is as long as there is airflow 60%-85% is just fine. I've seen quite a few different thread here and other places with a big range of humidities that work for people. :)

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The thing I would worry about with such a high humidity all the time is that it promotes bacterial growth and it keeps the substrate damp which can lead you to issues like scale rot.

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Originally Posted by BHReptiles

The thing I would worry about with such a high humidity all the time is that it promotes bacterial growth and it keeps the substrate damp which can lead you to issues like scale rot.

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As long as there is proper ventilation as well as no standing moisture or condensation, the 'high' numbers should be fine.

Mine is always 60-70%. I honestly think 50 is too low. I don't understand why that's on the care sheet.

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Speaking of eco earth, (I have been wondering this for a while), do you guys who use it feed your snakes in it's enclosure? I used to use reptibark but got tired of what it was doing to my bps belly scales so I switched her to paper towels in the mean time. I'm worried about ingestion of the substrate.

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Originally Posted by anwhit

Speaking of eco earth, (I have been wondering this for a while), do you guys who use it feed your snakes in it's enclosure? I used to use reptibark but got tired of what it was doing to my bps belly scales so I switched her to paper towels in the mean time. I'm worried about ingestion of the substrate.

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A little ingestion of substrate won't hurt your snake. They do digest bones just fine after all. And I'm sure the rats in the wild aren't free from dirt and debris either.