Huimidity abit to high.

I finally got my humidty gauge today and I noticed it was reading about 69-72%

I removes the water bowl from the UTH and removed the plastic wrap from the vents but it didn't bring it down.

Perhaps I should change the substrate tomorrow to newspaper?

What disturbs me most is I noticed a few scales atop her head that seem...off. Not rotten just...odd.

Are you using a tub or tank?

If it's a tub, put some more holes in it. If it's a tank.. well.. remove some of the plastic wrapping or whatever you use to reduce the humidity

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Originally Posted by CoolioTiffany

Are you using a tub or tank?

If it's a tub, put some more holes in it. If it's a tank.. well.. remove some of the plastic wrapping or whatever you use to reduce the humidity

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Plastic Cage, Neodesha.


I took off all the plastic wrap over the vents.

I noticed the word "Gauge" do you mean is one of those analog stick things? those are always way off.

Get an accurite if so, they sell them at the wal-mart and home depot garden section.

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Originally Posted by Danounet

I noticed the word "Gauge" do you mean is one of those analog stick things? those are always way off.

Get an accurite if so, they sell them at the wal-mart and home depot garden section.

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Gauge was a poor choice. It's a digital accu-rite. Unfortunatly I bough the wrong one so it has no probe >_<

That humidity level doesn't sound too excessive to me. If the substrate is dry, I wouldn't worry about it at all.
Some of the places ball pythons live in the wild are more humid than we normally keep them.
The 'off' scales happens sometimes when they bump their head on something during a shed cycle. The underlying scales can be slightly damaged and appear odd after the old skin is shed. This can also happen if humidity was too low during a shed, and the skin on top of the head stuck, but they pulled it off anyhow.

In a Neo cage you probably don't need to cover the small vents. How long have you been using this setup? What substrate are you using? If it's newer then give it time to settle. If you're using cypress or something you can switch to aspen or paper. If you're water dish is huge you can use a smaller one. Your humidity isn't that high so any small change can make a huge difference for you.

You could put a small oscillating fan by the cage for a little bit. That should help bring the humidity down a notch.

But honestly, I don't think you even need to bother. 60-70% is fine. It will probably dry out a little bit over time now that you uncovered the vents.

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Originally Posted by Seru1

Gauge was a poor choice. It's a digital accu-rite. Unfortunatly I bough the wrong one so it has no probe >_<

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That's OK, even if it had a probe, that probe is only a second thermometer, it doesn't read humidity. Only the unit itself reads humidity.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

That humidity level doesn't sound too excessive to me. If the substrate is dry, I wouldn't worry about it at all.
The 'off' scales happens sometimes when they bump their head on something during a shed cycle. The underlying scales can be slightly damaged and appear odd after the old skin is shed. This can also happen if humidity was too low during a shed, and the skin on top of the head stuck, but they pulled it off anyhow.

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Oh Really? Thats good. :) I stopped misting a few days ago after doing more reading on the forums and now I am glad I did.

I noticed some of it was just substrate, but I think when I change her substrate this weekend I am gonna sand down the entrances to her hides better. I did it one but they aren't suuuper smooth yet.

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Originally Posted by waltah!

In a Neo cage you probably don't need to cover the small vents. How long have you been using this setup? What substrate are you using? If it's newer then give it time to settle. If you're using cypress or something you can switch to aspen or paper. If you're water dish is huge you can use a smaller one. Your humidity isn't that high so any small change can make a huge difference for you.

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I've been using it about three weeks. I am gonna change the substrate to newspaper soon I think.


I am also Hoping like Kaorte says it will dry out overnight now that I uncovered the vents.


Thanks for all your help everyone! :D

What size is your water dish?

I live in Florida and I use 4 inch ceramic water bowls. They help A LOT with humidity. :)

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Originally Posted by Danounet

What size is your water dish?

I live in Florida and I use 4 inch ceramic water bowls. They help A LOT with humidity. :)

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I have never measured it but it's a medium size dog bowl, it's really hard to tip over. So thats it's big bonus. Also it was free.

I thought about just using a small saucer plate instead. Or I could get her a small crock tomorrow but when she sheds she couldn't fit in those I don't think.

I agree with wingedwolf. That really isnt too high. Maybe not ideal for long term but its not going to hurt your BP. Low humidity will cause more problems than high humidity. It wont drop very fast if you make small changes. Just try a much smaller and more shallow water bowl. Wait a day to check it again. You dont want to risk dropping the heat too low while trying to get the humidity lower.

Oh and for bowls, do you have a Target store by you? They have plastic dog/cat food bowls in different colors and sizes which will not tip. Small ones are about $2.00 and are not likely to break or crack like the dollar store ones.

She doesn't need to go in the water in order to shed.

Not even an hatching will fit into a 4 inch water dish, it is very small.

I'll get her a smaller dish tomorrow then because if I had to guess I'd say this was 6" or 7"


But thats a guess.