another humidity question..

i currently have a baby in a 10 gallon cage, with overheat heat light and u smaller heat pad, i have to mist it constantly, i covered the top with both tin foil, and ceran wrap. moisten paper towel, nothing seems too make it stay up for long. if i get a room humidifier at say rite aid or wal greens, would that help at all?

I doubt a humidifier would help. The problem isn't the humidity in the room, but rather the heat lamp drying out the air in the tank. A better solution would be a plastic bin cage with an UTH (under tank heater), but many people don't like them because you can't view your snake.

If you don't want to use a plastic bin, there are other solutions. Create a humid hide for your snake to use while shedding and provide a large bowl of water for him to soak in. If your snake does have a bad shed due to poor humidity, there are ways of safely removing the stuck shed.

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Originally Posted by xdeus

A better solution would be a plastic bin cage with an UTH (under tank heater), but many people don't like them because you can't view your snake.

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Okay, my noobness may be showing, but I thought you couldn't use the UTH with plastic bins. If that's not the case, you may have just solved an ongoing heating frustration for me, lol.

also be sure your not only misting the air. I use aspen bedding and its pretty decent at retaining moisture, i like to mist the walls till they drip and get the hides and climbing structures nice n wet. Doing this I find ill only need to mist maybe 1once or twice more throughout the day to keep humidity relatively stable.

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Originally Posted by JulieInNJ

Okay, my noobness may be showing, but I thought you couldn't use the UTH with plastic bins. If that's not the case, you may have just solved an ongoing heating frustration for me, lol.

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Of course you can, it just needs to be regulated with a thermostat just like with a tank or any other enclosure.

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Originally Posted by QuiccStrike911

also be sure your not only misting the air. I use aspen bedding and its pretty decent at retaining moisture, i like to mist the walls till they drip and get the hides and climbing structures nice n wet. Doing this I find ill only need to mist maybe 1once or twice more throughout the day to keep humidity relatively stable.

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Getting the bedding and other things wet inside the enclosure can lead to bacteria build up and can cause potential for scale rot. If you need to mist that much to keep up humidity you should look into other options...

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Originally Posted by LGray23

Of course you can, it just needs to be regulated with a thermostat just like with a tank or any other enclosure.

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That's great news! I've been trying to move my QT's into tubs but I just couldn't get the right temps using the heat lamp. Thanks!

yeah, i've had mine 2 days now, late evenings into the night the humidity stays good, that overhead heat lamps killin the humidity. gal at the pet store said 30-50% will work, reading around ive heard mixed opinions, and raise it during shedding time.

Woah thatsss a reallllly high boost In humidity, first I reccomend you buy a hydrometer and try to keep things at 50-60% if your tank isn't maintaing it to well, try putting the water bowl over the heating pad, that should keep things going good

yeah i use aspen bedding, and a large water bowl under the heat tank, as well as a uth underneath her hiding log. still was a pain to keep up. so tonight i tried using tin foil on the long side, and on the side thats up against the wall. im hoping that would help keep the heat in, and not need the heat lamp on as high, and ill see if that helps the humidity a little. i would go with a plastic tub, but i like seeing it.

UGH heat lamps, an absolute thing of the past for me. i will never, ever go back to them.

for snakes, anyways. they cost a lot more to run, and if you have other animals like dogs, cats, or men (jk), then you run the risk of the lamps getting knocked down onto a carpet and starting a fire. and BELIEVE ME they start very fast! i've seen it happen.

also as you've found out, they're really bad for sucking up humidity.

if you are wanting to use the glass tank though, why not get a UTH and cover the top with saran wrap, like you said?

also keep in mind that ball pythons need belly heat, you don't need to worry about warming up the ambient air temp to 90 degrees. as long as they have a nice warm spot to lay on, they're good to go!

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Originally Posted by SquamishSerpents

also keep in mind that ball pythons need belly heat, you don't need to worry about warming up the ambient air temp to 90 degrees. as long as they have a nice warm spot to lay on, they're good to go!

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They need belly heat? I never knew that. I know that people opt to provide it, however I never knew that it was biological requirement.

I wonder how all those other people keep their ball pythons aliving and thriving with overhead and back heat. Maybe their snakes are special.

With regards to humidity - one option is to stop mucking with trying to affect the whole enclosure and instead concentrate on providing a humid microclimate - like a humid hide.

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Originally Posted by jeff_blake

yeah i use aspen bedding, and a large water bowl under the heat tank, as well as a uth underneath her hiding log. still was a pain to keep up. so tonight i tried using tin foil on the long side, and on the side thats up against the wall. im hoping that would help keep the heat in, and not need the heat lamp on as high, and ill see if that helps the humidity a little. i would go with a plastic tub, but i like seeing it.

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You can put a humid hide in there http://pet-snakes.com/make-humid-hide.
I switched to rack, but I have 2 in QT in my old tanks for a while. The rack/tub thing is so much easier, no humidity problems and stable temps with heat tape.

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Originally Posted by Skiploder

They need belly heat? I never knew that. I know that people opt to provide it, however I never knew that it was biological requirement.

I wonder how all those other people keep their ball pythons aliving and thriving with overhead and back heat. Maybe their snakes are special.

With regards to humidity - one option is to stop mucking with trying to affect the whole enclosure and instead concentrate on providing a humid microclimate - like a humid hide.

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haha sorry, was waaaaaay past my bedtime.

let me rephrase:

belly heat is the optimal method of heating your ball python's enclosure.