Newbie questions

Here's my setup
10 gallon tank with Uth on one end with a hide,second hide on cool side,red light bulb just to help keep temp up. I've covered top of tank with acrylic to help keep in humidity. But there's a lot of moisture build up on tank.Thermometer/hygrometer reads 40% humidity and 80 - 85 degrees. Humidity is usually lower but she's about to shed,I think. Eyes are grey,belly is a little pink last I looked. Which was 3 days ago. She goes back and forth between hides every few hours. She also just had a big meal. I'm thinking she's not as active cause she just ate as is about to shed,just wasn't use to her not being very active. I've had her about a month and this is the first time she's every just spent the days and most of the nights,as far as I can tell, in her hide,normally she is very active. We get her out daily and let her crawl around on the floor with the kids as long as she's active,I don't like disturbing her when she's in her hides. Nobody likes to be pulled out of bed :).just was wondering if all this was normal. Also what's a good humidity to keep tank at most of time when she's not shedding vs when she is? What's a good bedding that holds moisture? I use aspen snake bedding currently.

From what I've been reading 70+ humidity seems to the norm.
You can lock humidity in by putting some foil on the screen of your tank, or a moist towel.

Ok,so all the moisture on the tank is normal. Ive seen so many habitats and none of them have any moisture on the glass. Guess there's a lot of people doing it wrong. Thanks

Condensation is not normal and not good. You need to lower your humidity asap. High humidity isn't as bad of an issue as condensation. 40% should be okay, with up to 80% while in shed.

How do I keep condensation down while keeping humidity up?

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Originally Posted by Inarikins

Condensation is not normal and not good. You need to lower your humidity asap. High humidity isn't as bad of an issue as condensation. 40% should be okay, with up to 80% while in shed.

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Having condensation on glass at 40% humidity is odd. Either the 40% is way off or there is some seriously cold glass on that set-up in contact with the 40% warm air.

Neither is good.

The way I read it you are getting condensation on the outside of the tank. If that is what you meant, no that is not normal. If the moisture is inside the tank that can lead to problems too but your humidity would be really high. So I think you have condensation on the outside.

You need a thermostat on the uth, if you don't have one.

Humidity during a shed should be around 60-70% for a good shed.

If you haven't checked out the caresheet give it a look.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

On the outside isn't as bad as on the inside, especially if the air inside the tank is significantly warmer than the air on the outside. I assumed it was inside that was condensating which is really bad and can lead to an RI if unchecked.

Not condensation really,just when mist the tank it stays for a while.seems like I have to mist too often. But with light bulb it sucks humidity up. The aspen bedding doesn't seem to hold much moisture. I read that cypress would be better for more humidity.

Yes cypress is the better choice.

cypress, eco-earth and sphagnum(peat) moss all help with humidity stabilizing in glass terrariums (open top type).

The solution to the mesh top tank humidity issue.

Took a 20 gal long with sliding screen top, removed the mesh, added plexiglass with drilled holes for ventilation, and turned it on it's side.

Holds humidity amazingly well. I only mist about every 3 days now and when I do it has to be very minimal or humidity jumps to 70%+ and I get condensation that has to be wiped away.

http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/...ps870e79f1.jpg

Is plexiglass more heat resistant than acrylic? Acrylic warps if light gets too close.

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Is plexiglass more heat resistant than acrylic? Acrylic warps if light gets too close.

No part of the plexi gets anywhere near hot enough to warp anything. The light you see above is a halogen strip light to warm the air. It's all belly heat.

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGuy

No part of the plexi gets anywhere near hot enough to warp anything. The light you see above is a halogen strip light to warm the air. It's all belly heat.

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Nice setup. Thanks everyone for all the info. Got a few things to tweak.btw she just shed,one second grey eyed,go back in there an hour later and she was done.was hoping to see it but glad it's done. Looks like all came off in one piece. Again thank you everyone.