humidity help

hello everyone. vernon is our 8 month old BP (maybe a year...) and he has been doing well, feeding well, good temperament. no concerns really. but we stay in a basement where humidity can be a problem. i have noticed poor shedding recently. my temps are good (just have an undertank heater) and based on his feeding response, i think he is generally happy. so i guess the poor shed is a function of lack of humidity right? i know misting the tank is a solution, but i was wondering if there was anything else i can do. he stays in a 30 gallon tank with a screen top.

thanks!

ed

Covering the screen lid with some kind of plastic material will work wonders for retaining humidity AND heat.

In the past, I used heavy-duty plastic wrap fixed with black duct tape. Spend some time with it, you can make it look fairly decent. Others have had plexi-glass cut to fit the lid. Since you use an undertank heater, you won't need to leave any room on top for a heat lamp. You may wish to leave a few slots on top for ventilation, however.

I've got some old pics of lids I made when I used glass tanks. PM and I'll send them to you to give you an idea. There is also a Glass tank How-To in the husbandry forum that covers it fairly well.

If you dont want to use the plastic you can also go with aluminum foil and duct tape over the screen top. That combination works great on my 20 gal tank.

You can also make a make-shift humid tub with 70% humidity. I do that with my snakes if I have a tough time in their tanks.