HELP! New to ball pythons!! Humidity problem

I'm new to ball pythons, seems like i have all the temperature set up right, but my humidity has been a big problem. My new albino is looking like shes starting to go into shed so i'm trying everything to get the humidity up and it doesn't seem to work. I've tried misting my whole tank (using eco earth), using sphagnum moss and misting that, and using the wet towel method. Sphagnum moss/misting seems to help a little, but my humidity only went from 40% to around 43-47% max. My goal is to get it to about 50-60%! please help, any answers would be appreciated! thanks :)


heres my setup:

http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/...psfd35ef53.jpg


heres Luna, my 2012 albino


http://i1353.photobucket.com/albums/...psb79404ab.jpg

The answers to these questions will help us help you, so if you could, copy and paste them into a post here and answer them:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Questionaire

Do you have a water dish in the cage? if so how big is it?

bigger water dish, and wet the top of the towel while its on the screen

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

The answers to these questions will help us help you, so if you could, copy and paste them into a post here and answer them:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Questionaire

Do you have a water dish in the cage? if so how big is it?

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yes i have a water dish and its a pretty big one.


1. How long have you had your ball python?


4 days


2. How old (or how big) is your snake?


5 months, about 150 grams


3. Does it eat on a regular schedule?


hasnt ate yet


4. How long since its last meal?


about a week and a half


5. What type/size prey is being offered?


hopper


6. How often do you offer food?


tongs


7. What type and size of enclosure does it live in?


20 gal tank


8. What are you using as substrate? If it has depth, how deep is it?


eco earth. about 2 1/2 inches or so


9. What type of heating do you use?


uth and one 75 watt infared lamp


10. Do you use a thermostat to control temperatures?


light dimmer


11. What do you use to measure/monitor temperatures?


2 thermometer/hydgrometer


12. What are the surface and ambient temperatures in the enclosure?


warm: 90 cool : 79-83 ambient: mid 80s


13. What is the average humidity level?


45%


14. How many and what type of hides does the snake have?


3


15. Is water readily available at all times?


yes


16. Does the snake live alone or does it share the enclosure with anything else?


alone




17. How often and for how long is the snake typically handled?


not much, last handled for 5 min


18. Does the snake have any medical history (old injuries or illnesses)?


no




19. Do you have any other reptiles? Have you brought in any new reptiles recently?


no




20. Is there anything specific or unique about your situation that we should be aware of?
no

When mine go into shed in the glass tank, I found cutting a sponge into two or three pieces and placing them in the hide (http://www.reptilebasics.com/small-hide-box) works really well!

http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0e968159.jpg

Placing damp moss in the hides will create micro climates giving the snake the humidity it needs.


Its very dangerous to have an uth without a thermostat. I would unplug it until you get one. I like Herpstats. Also the substrate over a uth needs to be thin so the heat can reach the snake. It appears yours is really thick which makes the uth useless. I barely cover the floor over the uth so even if the snake moves all the substrate off the temp is still good and won't burn it.

KMG if I read right he has a red light and dimmer a pain in the butt but fine.

tomjones456 it looks to me like everything is fine. 45% is perfectly acceptable it maybe a bit low for a shed cycle but at the first sign of a shed you can simply add a humid hide and when the shed is over remove or clean it. (leaving it can increase bacteria and lead to health issues.

yeah im usin a light dimmer for both the lamp and the uth. working well right now, glad to know the humidity is ok for her. where could i get a cheaper thermostat? only one i could find was 100$ at petsmart

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tomjones456

yeah im usin a light dimmer for both the lamp and the uth. working well right now, glad to know the humidity is ok for her. where could i get a cheaper thermostat? only one i could find was 100$ at petsmart

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http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's what I use and haven't had a problem!

Dimmers are fine for lights but not good for uth. When the temp changes the dimmer doesn't know and continues to pump power into the uth which can cause it to over heat the hotspot quickly.

As for a tstat if you buy cheap you get cheap. The one at both Petco and Petsmart are junk and so are the Hydrofarm ones. I was given one from Petco with a snake I bought from a family that no longer wanted to care for it. While I ordered my new cages and tstat I was using it. It broke just before I was going to switch. I Also had a Hydrofarm that broke within 3 months of getting it.

The tstat is the mist important piece of equipment you as a keeper can buy.

I have both a Herpstat 1 and 4. I absolutely love them. For the money they can not be beat.

You can buy a cheap one but it will fail and you will end up buying another one and probably ending up with a good one. Save money in the long run and buy it right the first time.