Humidity control in the PNW

I'll have the lamp and the UTH, and I just bought a Repti-Temp 500R on eBay, so I should be pretty good. I'll definitely keep an eye on it to start.

Should I put the probe on the warm or cool side?

Too bad about missing the sale. It was definitely worth it . . .

I personally would put the probe for the thermostat on the hot side to prevent burns or cooking of poor snakey pet. But it would also depend on the wattage of your heat lamp.......i.e. if you've got a dinky (say 5x8" UTH on a big 20L tank) UTH but a 200w bulb or CHE that will heat your tank to 115*++....Then I'd put the therm on the heatlamp, not the UTH


Have I forgotten your mentioning how warm the room is where your pet is???? :oops:


RuLyn

I'll be using a 100W red lamp, and the 10-20 gal size UTH. Can't remember which it is off the top of my head.

The problem with any rooms in my house right now is that they suffere a pretty radical temperature shift during the day. Since we've been in the 90's to 100's, they can have a 20 degree shift over the course of the day. I figure it will be a monitoring issue until such time as I can regulate the temperature of my house better (i.e. Winter).

If you've got the thermostat, that should help you keep them stable, no matter what the room is, but I know what you're talking about. It's like that in the valley here, too----cooler nights now, but the days are still 80 (which is nice) or 95+ :zerb: hotter 'en Hades! Ick!

Well, I've got it set up now with just a 100W lamp, and the temps are just about dead on (90/80), with Ekans moving back and forth between the sides as he sees fit. I'm having trouble with the humidity, though. According to my new Acu-Rite, it's hovering right around 35%. Not sure what to do, there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by benhamtroll

Well, I've got it set up now with just a 100W lamp, and the temps are just about dead on (90/80), with Ekans moving back and forth between the sides as he sees fit. I'm having trouble with the humidity, though. According to my new Acu-Rite, it's hovering right around 35%. Not sure what to do, there.

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Do you have anything covering the tank to keep humidity in? If you do, and it's still at 35%... you might want to try ditching the lamps and just adding another UTH and put it on the cool side (set to the low eighties, of course..). UTHs don't suck the humidity out like lamps do. You could also try putting your water bowl over your UTH.

I just covered most of the top with tinfoil and black duct tape this morning (leaving the area around the light open), and with a light misting the humidity went up to around 55% and is holding there. He has a mildly stuck shed, so I put him in a damp pillow case, which should get the last bit taken care of. I think I've got the last of the kinks out, so we'll see if he eats on Sunday and how his next shed goes.

Thanks everybody!

Chris

regarding humidity and bedding:
reptibark bedding raises my humidity TOO high, even when I only replace half the tank...should I be drying/baking it first? remoist as needed???
I have a UTH under half, and a totally open screen lid
it takes days after even a partial change for it to come back down to 50-60 (which is why I do partials...I'm concerned it may cause belly rot!)