Riverrun

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Originally Posted by ShaneSilva

Glad she's okay (:

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Me, too. The rest of scales aren't in good shape at the moment because she's still constantly soaking. All over, even on her back, they're starting to get rough-looking. Not really chipping, just dry-looking patches.

I've been having a hard time keeping her enclosure humid. It's a mixture of the fact I still have to occasionally run the space heater, and the EcoEarth in her enclosure is unusually large-grained. So it's been drying out extremely quickly even when the heater is off, and doesn't seem to be able to hold as much as usual in the first place. I bought Cloud's bedding at the same time, but it's got the classic smooth dirt-feel to it and it's been holding humidity a lot better now that I'm able to turn the heater off most days. But River's continues to lag behind. I have a third set of blocks I never expanded that I'm going to try mixing in with River's and see if that helps.


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I got her out to dampen her bedding. She's got such strong silver coloring.


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Try ReptiChips. That stuff is a lot bigger chunks so it soaks up and holds water well. Even running my oil filled radiator plus setting my house to 77F and the humidity is over the top most of the time lol. Seems the smaller the chunks, less water it can absorb and thus release too.

And here's to hoping her scales smooth out. Caesar got his stupid butt stuck in one of the plastic rings on his plant chain. I had to cut the ring with scissors to free him. It folded a few of his scales and left a ring around his body lol. The next day, everything was fine but I also had like 70-80% humidity for him.

I say just push that Eco Earth into a pile and pour a glass of warmish water on it and mix it up and see if a few days of some 80%+ humidity doesn't get those scales all squared away. Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Try ReptiChips. That stuff is a lot bigger chunks so it soaks up and holds water well. Even running my oil filled radiator plus setting my house to 77F and the humidity is over the top most of the time lol. Seems the smaller the chunks, less water it can absorb and thus release too.

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I would, except it's more expensive than EcoEarth and isn't available on Amazon at the moment so idk where else to get it. EE is only $5 for a 3 pack block on Amazon now.

I am happy with EcoEarth and don't plan on switching. It's not a problem with the bedding itself, it's a problem with the particular batch I got in River's enclosure. Instead of being fine grained like it normally is, it's chunky, so it's releasing moisture too fast. I'm not having any problems right now in Cloud's enclosure with EE.

I'm also not using an oil-filled radiator in the main snake room because I couldn't get one to heat it properly, I'm using a quartz heater, which pushes heat out with a fan so it also pushes humidity out with it.

I have been wanting to use in a mixture with EE in my tubs though so I'll probably still grab some when they get available, I just don't plan on switching my enclosures with ambient heat over.


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Also that's exactly what I do with the EcoEarth. I pour water in it and mix it up. Her bedding doesn't hold as much water as I'm used to EcEarth holding and it's releasing moisture fast.

Here's a comparison of normal EE vs her's. I'm not sure how well you can see it but at the top is her chunky bedding and bottom is from Cloud's enclosure. Both are equally wet.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8540ef3ce8.jpg


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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

I would, except it's more expensive than EcoEarth and isn't available on Amazon at the moment so idk where else to get it. EE is only $5 for a 3 pack block on Amazon now.

I am happy with EcoEarth and don't plan on switching. It's not a problem with the bedding itself, it's a problem with the particular batch I got in River's enclosure. Instead of being fine grained like it normally is, it's chunky, so it's releasing moisture too fast. I'm not having any problems right now in Cloud's enclosure with EE.

I'm also not using an oil-filled radiator in the main snake room because I couldn't get one to heat it properly, I'm using a quartz heater, which pushes heat out with a fan so it also pushes humidity out with it.

I have been wanting to use in a mixture with EE in my tubs though so I'll probably still grab some when they get available, I just don't plan on switching my enclosures with ambient heat over.


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You can get this stuff cheaper. It's basically the same stuff as ReptiChip. http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/p...oil-amendments. But if you are happy with Eco Earth, more power. And yeah any heat source that pushes the heat with air/fan is bad for humidity. That's why I like the Oil radiator heater except my house's forced air heating kills it on really cold days lol. I'll probably actually go back to ReptiChips for Caesar. Switched him to paper towels and he seems happy with it but my humidity in his cage tanked to around 60%. I usually keep everyone around 80% except the dumerils. And the downside for the paper towels is it doesn't kill the smell of pee like RpetiChips does haha. Even F10SC doesn't kill it completely. I guess they make a pine scented F10SC which is premixed in a spray bottle but I bet the stuff is way overpriced haha.

Anyways, you can check out that PlantIT GrowIT stuff. Little smaller blocks but half the price and basically looks like the same stuff really. Maybe Jmcrook will chime in here as I think he ordered some and can give more of a first hand experience with it.

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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

Also that's exactly what I do with the EcoEarth. I pour water in it and mix it up. Her bedding doesn't hold as much water as I'm used to EcEarth holding and it's releasing moisture fast.

Here's a comparison of normal EE vs her's. I'm not sure how well you can see it but at the top is her chunky bedding and bottom is from Cloud's enclosure. Both are equally wet.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...8540ef3ce8.jpg


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That stuff looks almost like potting soil lol. That is rather chunky for Eco earth.

I heard of a lot of staining issues with the Grow!t stuff so I'm not going to buy it. It seems to be in more humid areas that it stains their skin, in drier climates people don't seem to experience it, but at 50-60%+ in the summer I live in a humid area. So I'd invest in the name brand stuff myself.

I have an oil filled radiator in my quarantine room but it's half the size of the main snake room. The radiator heaters just simply could not keep up in the main room, and there's no room to safely place a fan to push air around between the heater and all the cages. So I got the quartz heater. First year in 4 years I haven't had to struggle with temps, but the first winter I've struggled with humidity. Everyone's shedding whole sheds so I'm not complaining too much but still.


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Oh didn't know about the staining issue. Good to know. And yeah if it's at 50-60%, that's not good as like I said, I keep my boas and retic at between 80-85%. I would be pissed if it stained their bellies haha.

Yeah I use the 1500 watt Pelonis one and it is plenty for a 20x20x10 room. I actually keep it at low power with the t-stat set to half on really cold days. Otherwise it turns the reptile/tv room into a freakin oven haha.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Oh didn't know about the staining issue. Good to know. And yeah if it's at 50-60%, that's not good as like I said, I keep my boas and retic at between 80-85%. I would be pissed if it stained their bellies haha.

Yeah I use the 1500 watt Pelonis one and it is plenty for a 20x20x10 room. I actually keep it at low power with the t-stat set to half on really cold days. Otherwise it turns the reptile/tv room into a freakin oven haha.

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I meant 50-60% inside my house not their enclosure. Lol Higher home/starting humidity seems to make the issues more likely whereas arid areas with lower home humidity don't cause the issues. The humidity inside the enclosure doesn't seem to be the cause.

I have a 1500 watt Pelonis in the smaller snake room and it seems to be about the limit for that room. On colder days the temps drop. If it's 40 or above it's almost overkill, but on the average winter day it's just enough or barely enough. The room the Pelonis is in is 8'x8' I think? Or 7'x7'. Something close to that. It's probably more due to an insulation problem than anything. I had to stuff a blanket in between Dominika's T12 and the walls to keep the cold drafts out of her enclosure.


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Originally Posted by CloudtheBoa

I meant 50-60% inside my house not their enclosure. Lol Higher home/starting humidity seems to make the issues more likely whereas arid areas with lower home humidity don't cause the issues. The humidity inside the enclosure doesn't seem to be the cause.

I have a 1500 watt Pelonis in the smaller snake room and it seems to be about the limit for that room. On colder days the temps drop. If it's 40 or above it's almost overkill, but on the average winter day it's just enough or barely enough. The room the Pelonis is in is 8'x8' I think? Or 7'x7'. Something close to that. It's probably more due to an insulation problem than anything. I had to stuff a blanket in between Dominika's T12 and the walls to keep the cold drafts out of her enclosure.


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Oh. Heck inside my house is like 40% if that haha. Pretty dry.

And yeah, I would bet it has to do with insulation. The big room I use the heater in is half underground as its the basement so its half insulated really well. If it's 40 or above, I don't even run it here since I keep my house set to 77F. I only use the heater if it gets freezing or below as the early mornings can get a bit chilly down there. The heater knocks that chill off. Yeah the windows in my house are still single pane so winter time, the big front window, I leave the curtain down and then just tack a blanket over the curtain to keep any drafts out. the smaller back window and the bathroom window I leave alone as the draft from them is minimal for a single pane window lol.