Reducing humidity?

How to reduce humidity without:

• Adding more holes
• Lowering Temp
• Boosting Temp

The humidity is going up to like 80 from 65, I add more holes then it goes up to around 71-80

Thanks.

Is the cage dry, or is it moist? How are you measuring the humidity? Do the sides of the tubs fog up and get condensation on them?

The humidity is probably okay, you can reduce it letting the substrate dry out somewhat, if it's damp. But if the cage isn't wet and/or doesn't have condensation on the sides, it's probably alright. It'll likely drop down as you maintain the tubs over a longer period of time.

-Jen

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LLLReptile

Is the cage dry, or is it moist? How are you measuring the humidity? Do the sides of the tubs fog up and get condensation on them?

The humidity is probably okay, you can reduce it letting the substrate dry out somewhat, if it's damp. But if the cage isn't wet and/or doesn't have condensation on the sides, it's probably alright. It'll likely drop down as you maintain the tubs over a longer period of time.

-Jen

---

i use paper towels, everything is dry i measure it with an exo terra digital hygrometer im the type of person who will panic when the humidity reaches 80%

what is acceptable?
50-80?
or 50-70?

what number is too high?

Thanks

With papertowels, if the cage is dry then there's really no number that's too high - watch the snake. It's weird that the humidity would say it's that high when it's dry in the cage - it's probably just the lack of airflow plus natural evaporation from the water that's making the hygrometer spike. How long have you been monitoring the humidity for?

-Jen

high humidity % isn't a big issue. what is a big issue is when the humidity starts condensing in the tub. 40% humidity that is forming condensation on the inside of the tub is far worse than 90% humidity that does not.

Setting up a small oscillating fan can help lower humidity, but you may have to adjust the speed and distance from the enclosure to get it where you want it...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LLLReptile

With papertowels, if the cage is dry then there's really no number that's too high - watch the snake. It's weird that the humidity would say it's that high when it's dry in the cage - it's probably just the lack of airflow plus natural evaporation from the water that's making the hygrometer spike. How long have you been monitoring the humidity for?

-Jen

---

Only a day now, i bought my own tub and it litterally has around 100 Holes in it.

- - - Updated - - -

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

high humidity % isn't a big issue. what is a big issue is when the humidity starts condensing in the tub. 40% humidity that is forming condensation on the inside of the tub is far worse than 90% humidity that does not.

---

Ok thanks that makes me feel a bit better :)

I have the Exo Tearra Temp/Hum gauge. I find it useless for the humditiy. When compared to my very accurite cigar humdior gauages it is not even close. Mine actually goes the other way. It always tells me that the humidity is 13-17%, but when I put a good gauge in there it was 56%.

I suggest buying a better gauge. You might find yours is useless like mine. I still use mine for the temp, but thats it.

i dont have the dual one like hydro and temp together i have two separate ones if you have the dual one?

I am also from the UK so half of the things people suggest are not available in this country :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SRMD94

i dont have the dual one like hydro and temp together i have two separate ones if you have the dual one?

I am also from the UK so half of the things people suggest are not available in this country :(

---

Im sure that its the same technology in the singles thats in the dual.

Take the hydrometer out and perform a test. Google how to calibrate a hydrometer and follow the easy steps. You wont be able to calibrate yours but you will be albe to see if it is close to what it should be.

Or an easier way is if you have a cigar shop near you they sell calibration kits that are set at 70% so you would know for sure that you were testing it right and see if your gauge is right. They are cheap.

If your gauge is not working right you can change your whole tank but it will still be wrong. My tanks each have a digital themometer and a analog temp/humi gauge, and I just added a weather station montior to my tanks. I tend to over prepare. I just posted the station I bought, here is what I got. Not really what you need but will point you in the right direction. http://www.boaphileplastics.com/rhin...ball_room.html

When I first bought the ExoTerra gauge I was freaking out too because no matter what I did it still said low numbers.

Bottom line is TEST IT!!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

Im sure that its the same technology in the singles thats in the dual.

Take the hydrometer out and perform a test. Google how to calibrate a hydrometer and follow the easy steps. You wont be able to calibrate yours but you will be albe to see if it is close to what it should be.

Or an easier way is if you have a cigar shop near you they sell calibration kits that are set at 70% so you would know for sure that you were testing it right and see if your gauge is right. They are cheap.

If your gauge is not working right you can change your whole tank but it will still be wrong. My tanks each have a digital themometer and a analog temp/humi gauge, and I just added a weather station montior to my tanks. I tend to over prepare. I just posted the station I bought, here is what I got. Not really what you need but will point you in the right direction. http://www.boaphileplastics.com/rhin...ball_room.html

When I first bought the ExoTerra gauge I was freaking out too because no matter what I did it still said low numbers.

Bottom line is TEST IT!!!!

---

Lol i have never saw a cigar shop where i live in my life!

but thanks for all the advice i will try and figure something out :)

NO CIGAR SHOP!!!!! What do you have!?! You should move!!! LOL!!!!!

Well do the salt test. Its easy. Like I said just Google, if you have Google HAHAHA!, hydrometer calibration. Its pretty much just salt, water and a zip bag or air tight container.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by KMG

NO CIGAR SHOP!!!!! What do you have!?! You should move!!! LOL!!!!!

Well do the salt test. Its easy. Like I said just Google, if you have Google HAHAHA!, hydrometer calibration. Its pretty much just salt, water and a zip bag or air tight container.

---

Lol the UK has nothing :(

and ye i have Google lmao, and ye i will try the salt test, just need to find a bottle cap :L

I just realized that keeping snakes is much like keeping cigars. They both have their own box/cage, they need certain temps and certain humidity and can cost as much as you want to spend. That and you cant just have one.

Humidity is a bit more complex than you are making it. What is the RH in the room? If the RH in the room and enclosure are the same there is little you can do to reduce it with out reducing the room. There is also no need to. High humidity is not a problem unless coupled with low ventilation. This creates perfect bacteria breeding grounds, that isn't a problem either but is VERY likely to lead to respiratory issues. Condensation occurs when the room is cooler than the tubs it is not necessarily connected to problems in an 80º room a tub can be dangerously too humid and not show any condensation. It is how ever unlikely to get condensation in a enclosure that has proper ventilation no matter the RH in the tub it vents to the room and prevents this.


The best hygrometers that are appropriate are calibratable analogue ones. Digital ones need to be clean and are very fragile snakes tend to be hard on such things. Analogue ones are robust and very accurate if calibrated. I am not familiar with these brands specifically but I am guessing there is a calibration screw 'round the back.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HUS99-Brasse..._sim_sbs_lp_30
http://www.amazon.co.uk/TFA-Integrat...d_sim_sbs_lp_2

I have a few of these they are reasonable ones I don't mind them, better then most digital ones.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/CALIBER-DIGI...760346&sr=8-24

remarkably there is a hair hygrometer for a reasonable price. They tend to be quite accurate and very very frail but ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adorini-hair...d_sim_sbs_lp_4
(I love the scale it is hair so the scale is non liner.)

A salt test is the easiest way to calibrate a hygrometer it is quite hard on digital units the salt crystals corroding the sensing element and cause it become out of calibration. (same for uranate) (this is why the kits are sold they are not so hard on digital units. The accuracy of a salt test is about 1% analogue units sold for humidors tend to be quality (unlike pet store units) and highly accurate. Mine hold with in 1%. The best digital one I have is 6% off. All my analogue ones are better.

http://cigars.about.com/od/humidors/qt/hygrometers.htm
Saturated salt solutions RH by temperature
http://www.omega.com/temperature/z/pdf/z103.pdf

hi m8 has u are from the uk same has me hers a good site that i use to by some of my stuff from http://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/
i hope that this will help u m8

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kitedemon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adorini-hair...d_sim_sbs_lp_4
(I love the scale it is hair so the scale is non liner.)

---

I don't understand.

Just done the Salt test for 6 HOURS
and my humidity reads:
72%

and it says it should be 75% so not too bad :) i will probably buy an dial one though, thanks for the help!
so every time I have to add 3 to the reading?

Hair hygrometers do not have evenly spaced scales the RH scale starts widely spaced and then gets narrower. It is related to how much hair moves in various humidity. Look at the face

http://www.robertwhite.com/cgi-local...av_bar=weather

10% to 20% has a very large space where 80 to 90% is quite small. This is the mark of a true hair hygrometer. They quite literarily have a strand of hair inside. They are very consistent.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kitedemon

Hair hygrometers do not have evenly spaced scales the RH scale starts widely spaced and then gets narrower. It is related to how much hair moves in various humidity. Look at the face

http://www.robertwhite.com/cgi-local...av_bar=weather

10% to 20% has a very large space where 80 to 90% is quite small. This is the mark of a true hair hygrometer. They quite literarily have a strand of hair inside. They are very consistent.

---

so which out of the 3 you have showed me the UK ones would you recommened most?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SRMD94

Just done the Salt test for 6 HOURS
and my humidity reads:
72%

and it says it should be 75% so not too bad :) i will probably buy an dial one though, thanks for the help!
so every time I have to add 3 to the reading?

---

That is fairly good. You can but it may vary anyway. In all fairness the RH inside each hide will be different anyway.


For example...
One of my enclosures is showing 64% the cool side hide under this is reading 68% and the warm side hide is 57% it is quite typical all of mine relate to this the cool hide is a bit higher than the ambient and the warm lower.

It isn't super critical in any event, the issue is high humidity and low air flow. If (and it sound like you do not) that is not an issue from 45-70% is perfectly fine. Higher is ok too as long as there is enough air moving. Lower starts to be a concern in the 30% range as this can lead to dehydration. That is a very wide latitude. the real tell is the snake and the shed if the shed is good it is perfectly fine if not is is low. I keep my ambient RH around 60% in the summer it some times creeps up some as it is humid outside too. I never have had a poor shed, I often have sheds in the 55% that are fine and 50% good too. I know hygrometers digital ones if they get too dusty tend to read higher than normal. If you take the specs of some of the popular hygrometers in America (accurites) they are spec'd at 15%+/- meaning if it is actually 50% RH they are considered 'calibrated' if they read between 35% and 65% it is a huge range. If it is off from the start and it starts reading high, the enclosure could be reading 60% but actually be as low as 30%. I have seen lots of posts saying you need over 70% for shedding, my guess is the hygrometer is off and that the real RH is below 40% so adding 20% for a shed brings it to a correct range.

- - - Updated - - -

I have never used any of those three. The one I use is made by Western Instruments I do not know if it is easily available in the UK. I would guess they are all about the same I would not advise the Hair one unless you wanted to do quick comparisons to others they are frail and would not stand up well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AMyVUx0Y60

http://www.thomann.de/gb/jahn_hygrometer_2.htm

I just got a IM from a friend in Germany he suggests this one as a decent calibratable unit. He also suggested fine music stores will carry good ones for string instruments cases.