The best substrate ever...

I used aspen for a while in a class tank and could never get my humidity to where I wanted it. Therefore, I switched to cypress mulch. For those that have plastic enclosures and aspen substrate how is your humidity holding up?

What if im going to use tubs but my room is like 30% humidity. Would I still be able to use unprinted newspaper or paper towel? Thanks.:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by warman0712

What if im going to use tubs but my room is like 30% humidity. Would I still be able to use unprinted newspaper or paper towel? Thanks.:)

---

You can, but you may have shed issues. I suggest cypress mulch, which will increase the humidity in your tubs.

I started using Alpha Dri again and so far I'm liking it.

Currently I have one adult in a glass aquarium with aspen and three little ladies in tubs with lids using paper towels for substrate.

The adult tank requires a lot of effort to maintain humidity. There is a water bowl that is nearly a third of the tank. I have to put a wet wash cloth over the screen and cover that with aluminum foil. When shedding is going on I have to spray multiple times a day.

The three tubs have perfect humidity most of the time. If there is too much I replace the paper towels. If there isn't enough during shedding I wet the paper towel a little. I have more problems with humidity too high than too low. Also using white paper towels with no print shows everything that may be going on.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Reptile King

For those that have plastic enclosures and aspen substrate how is your humidity holding up?

---

works great in my opinion. have had my rack for a week now and i was using some tubs before, and the humidity is all around 60%. thats with no spraying the cage or anything. i believe the aspen holds humidity verywell! it also depends on howmany holes you have in the tubs as well though i believe.

I have a melamine rack and using aspen there was never a humidity problem. I actually had to melt a few more holes in the tubs because there was a little too MUCH humidity. Cypress works too as does newspaper/shop towels etc... I've used both the hamster style shaved aspen and the snake aspen effectively. Best bet is to just buy huge bags of it online or at a local herp store if available.

I use reptile carpet for my small snake, and Aspen for the adult snake.

I use to use bark soil, and then i got gnats that liked it too much from a plant i brought in and took out quick lol..

i have a big tank, so its very hard to keep humidity in.. if you have a wood or a different type of encloser, you can get away with paper towel or even just news paper(any kind). You can put some paper towel into caves and dampen them up to make them more humid on the warm side of the encloser.

What i am doing right now. is a few sheets of newpaper on the bottom, papertowel in her cave, and in a humid plastic hut. on her hot side.


soon, the best thing i have researched, is coconut soil, if you have a tank as it keeps the humidity in really well, that is what im going to be using.. you can also spray the tank down with water every day, and even pour some water where the head pad is, as soil should get wetish in the morning and dry out by evening.. (also use bought filtered water the ones you can refill at the store, as theres less minerals and wont leave spots on your tank if thats what you have).

then the moss stuff i will be using in her cave and plastic hut, cause that too keeps it in very well.

hope that helps.

Newspaper--it's much easier to keep things sanitary. If humidity is too low, buying a humidifier is the best solution. Don't underestimate the size you'll need.