Humidity

Trying to do a better job with humidity... Tanks hovering around 30%.... I have been misting but they somehow always fall back to 30%.

Thoughts??

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You can cover some of the vents on the cages, but don't cover all of them.

What substrate are you using?

They are in plastic Vision tanks with glass doors! I am using reptibark....

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/26/ga7ezyha.jpg

Wow, I can't believe that you are having humidity issues. The one thing that you could try is switching to eco-earth substrate. It holds humidity better than cypress if you keep it damp.

Larger water dishes, live plants, and regular misting will all help to increase humidity.

Is the hygrometer correct? Digital ones are very fragile and don't do well with any kind of abuse or dirt/dust. I would first check the gauge for accuracy analogue ones you can do a salt test. Digital ones are harder there are test kits available or you could just wrap the probe in a damp towel and check to see if it is close to 100% after 20-30 min.

What is the RH in the room?

There are two tanks set up exactly the same....and both are reading around 30%

RH? relative humidity in the room?? I have to imagine its close to 0%.... Being up in the northeast we have baseboard heating in the house which is very dry.... Temp around 68-70 degrees in the house

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Wow, I can't believe that you are having humidity issues. The one thing that you could try is switching to eco-earth substrate. It holds humidity better than cypress if you keep it damp.

Larger water dishes, live plants, and regular misting will all help to increase humidity.

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x2 on the eco-earth. If you do switch I would recommend letting the substrate dry out for a day or two before putting in. I found this the hard way, and it was a pita to get the humidity down to a maintainable level the first day or two with a pvc/plastic enclosure.

Repti fogger or even a plain humidifier from Walgreens works fine. You just have to get a hard clear rubber tube to attach to the Walgreens type humidifier and place the other end blowing somewhere into the tank. It works great it keep your humidity right and also helps a lot during sheds. Just crank it up a bit. Hope this helps.

What about mixing substrates? Can I add some ecoearth to the reptibark??


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Iv heard that reptibark stains the belly of snakes it comes off but makes the color change a bit, just throwing that out there

I have a small humidifier inside my tank that uses a water bottle for it's tank so it easily fits in there. I feel you, I live in the north east too and mine was around 20% with misting before I got it. CVS has it for $30.

http://www.cvs.com/shop/product-deta...r?skuId=737138

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ldag32

What about mixing substrates? Can I add some ecoearth to the reptibark??


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I use Eco earth because it helps to hold humidity. I have some cypress mulch mixed in to give it a more real feel. My BP seems to love it. If you have a screen top use a warm damp towel to cover the top and raise the humidity.<---- I use to use this technique. That with regular misting if your in a really dry area. You also have to watch out that you don't wet the soil to much to avoid scale rot and i believe respiratory problems. The humidifier is really the way to go though because it takes all the work out of keeping the humidity right.

I actually just invested in a humidifier last week. I got one that does warm and cold mist so it was a little more expensive. I also wanted a bigger one so I don't have to refill it more than once a day. It's raising the humidity in my reptile room but I still spray them in the evenings. I'm in Ohio and its so dry right now, I'm lucky I haven't had to deal with any RI's.


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RI is often attributed to too much humidity coupled with low ventilation not a problem you s


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Seem to have (stupid phone). My


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Omg anyway I would suggest a warm mist type. The cool mist one should be cleaned more often and as it is really mist not vapor it seems to effect the temps much more. Warm mist ones will raise the ambient temp in the room some where cool mist drops it a touch.


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Mine,
Honeywell QuickSteam 4-Gal. Warm Moisture Humidifier

4gal refers to how much water it will evaporate not how large the tank is. Over all I like it, the built in hygrometer / humistat is not the best but works ok mine is 2 years old and is tired now but all in all a good unit.


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I use one similar to the CVS model posted previously. Just hook up some plastic tubing and pipe it right into the cage. Run it off a timer, 15 minutes every couple hours, refill every other day. Works even when its super dry like it is now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

Mine,
Honeywell QuickSteam 4-Gal. Warm Moisture Humidifier

4gal refers to how much water it will evaporate not how large the tank is. Over all I like it, the built in hygrometer / humistat is not the best but works ok mine is 2 years old and is tired now but all in all a good unit.


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Thanks! Is that for the entire room or is it hooked up directly to the tanks??

I have two tanks soon to be three in a very dry room. Feel like I have to be creative with a humidifier...


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No the whole room. I keep it at about 50-55% there is some gain under the hides in the enclosures. Humidifing the room (that's not a word is it?) allows for lots of ventilation and prevents 'petri dish' syndrome. That I'd basically the same as 'sick building' issues in construction buildings too tight that don't exchange air well.


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So I cleaned the tank earlier and put in fresh reptibark... The humidity jumped up and now it's reading like 98%.... It's been there for a few hours.

I am worried that now it's too humid! Unreal!! Is this a problem??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

You can cover some of the vents on the cages, but don't cover all of them.

What substrate are you using?

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U mention vents.... Not sure if my tanks are vented all that well. Is that a problem??

It does sound like a faulty hygrometer. 0% in your room would cause nose bleeds for you. They can be very flakey some are specs are quite poor some as much as 15% in error is called 'accurate'


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by kitedemon

It does sound like a faulty hygrometer. 0% in your room would cause nose bleeds for you. They can be very flakey some are specs are quite poor some as much as 15% in error is called 'accurate'


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The vision tanks don't have a ton of ventilation....just the spot in the back of the tank for the the fluorescent light!

Not sure if that is the issue.

I have two (2) thermometer/hygrometers...one is the accurite that everyone suggested and the other is the Flukers one.

What do you suggest???

Are they reading the same rh?

I have owned both I found the accurites to be in accurate. They are speced at +/- 2 degrees centigrade about 4 degrees Fahrenheit. They last I checked were 15% up or down rh. Some say they are accurate but I have never found one that was the best I have seen was quite off.

Personally I use an analogue one ment for cigars. Like this one,
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0007V...sr=8-3&pi=SL75

It can be calibrated with a salt test and is robust unlike most digital resistive units.


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