Humidity

Hi all,

Ok, new question. Back in the old days (around 10 years ago) when I had my first ball, I never heard about the humidity control issue, and therefore never checked it. Then again I was just using a hot rock, and never had problems, dumb luck I guess.

Anyways, I have got everything set up pretty well now, Temps are in the right range (I have a temporary setup with a 10 gallon while I'm cleaing/builing a new 40 gallon). But humidity keeps going really low, like 30% or so. I'm just using paper as a substrate.

I have read about the DIY humidifier, is this what everyone else uses? Seems like if I mist the cage, I can get it up to around 50-60 %, but only for an hour or so before it all evaporates.

What do you guys do? This is about to drive me nuts.

You abandoned the hot rock, right? ;)

If you have a screen lid the best thing to do to boost humidity will be to cover it with contac-paper, duct-tape saran-wrap etc and cut out a few corners (into triangles) to allow air to exchange (2 warm side 1 on cool side generally). We use con-tac paper and it nipped the humidity probs in the bud. With this in place you really dont need the additional humidity from the DIY humidifier in most household environments - size of water dish/location will also play a decent role - move twd warm side to boost - cool side to lower.

Yep, if you have a screen lid, try covering most of it as Smulkin said (though you don't really have to be so precise as to make triangles -- rectangles and irregular shapes work just fine, too ;) ). Also, in addition to size and placement of water dish playing a role in humidity, material of water dish can make a difference as well. If you have trouble keeping the humidity high enough after covering the top (I doubt it) or for when you want a boost for shedding, try putting in a glazed ceramic soup bowl from the dollar store or WalMart as your water dish. Ceramic, glass, and most types of stone conduct heat better than pvc and some other plastics commonly used for water dishes.

i made the humid hide described in the DIY section and that helped tremendously. that along with covering the screen top with contact paper pretty much keeps my humidity right where it needs to be all the time.

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as Smulkin said (though you don't really have to be so precise as to make triangles -- rectangles and irregular shapes work just fine, too ).

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HEY - path of least resistance, moam! Do not correct the lazy way! Cut dodecagons if you like LOL. I'd have done it with 2 cuts instead of 3 had that been geometrically possible (ok come to think of it you could just fold it back along the intended 3rd cut).

ReptileDirect.com sells this air exchange system for $11.99, plus you will need to get a cheap air pump to run it. I bought that a couple of months ago, and turn it on when my bp goes into shed. Its great because it keeps the humidity at about 70% without having any part of the cage being damp at all.

http://www.reptiledirect.com/index.a...ROD&ProdID=437

For something else to cover the screen top, check here : http://www.ball-pythons.net/index.ph...highlight=glad
Shadrach posted about using those glad press and seal things. If you're not up to cutting Smulkin's complex geometric shapes ... this might be another option ;)

My only screen-topped enclosure simply has the covering 1" narrower than the screen, giving air exchange all along it but preserving most of the humidity. I just meant there are many good ways to achieve that. Heck, you could get a hole punch and just perforate the darn thing.

Hmmmm.... That air exchanger is nearly identical to the DIY humidifier. Did we reverse engineer or did they?

I'm not sure what they did, but yes, the BPs.net DIY is just a ghetto version of the air exachange. I just got lazy and had 12 bucks to blow on something.

i just place my water dish on the warm side close to the light mist a couple times a day (only when he is shedding) and cover the top with saran wrap and tape it so it doesnt fly off. it both looks great becuase it is clear and it works great too. I never did the tape thing just becuase the saran wrap looks so much better ....to me

BEHOLD AND PHEAR ;)

the most complex geometric form known to man . . .

http://c.featherweightfanatics.com/B...htTriangle.gif

(EDIT ok sorry hehe it's Friday - 20 mins left in the work week there's a certain sense of levity involved)

I just gotta say, I've been in a lot of forums, but you guys all take the cake. I've never felt more welcomed.

Thanks everyone!

:)

Yeah, I'd have to agree with you.
I really love this forum, everyone is great and easily keep conversations! :P

this place is the best! seriously after i found this site i visited one other forum about reptiles a total of one time and that was it. no need to go elsewhere after you find these guys. 8)

I know these guys on here are the best.
I usually always get a little education and a laugh or two when I come on here.
As I always say this site Rocks!

I visited several other forums before settling on this one, and the only thing any of the others have that's any better is better selection of classifieds. You won't find a better community than here. :community: :sniff:

I love this site, everyone has helped me so much with my first bp Cujo. I spend 90% of my time here when I'am online this site is the best :aww:

:headbang: We ROCK! Definitely the best around!

Hi. I'm new here, and new to the snake thing. I am going to cover the screen top with plastic (with vent room) to raise the humidity level. What sort of impact should I expect on the temperatures?

Thanks.

First of all Welcome to the forums! Glad you joined us :) ... As for the temps, you should notice a temp increase. Any time you restrict the air flow into and out of any enclosed space the temps go up. The enclosure will retain heat easier and should allow you to drop your heating pad and/or light setting. What kind of setup do you have, substrate, tank or rubbermaid?

hi kidsnakedad, welcome! tell us about your snake and your setup :D

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Originally Posted by led4urhead

First of all Welcome to the forums! Glad you joined us :) ... As for the temps, you should notice a temp increase. enclosure will retain heat easier and should allow you to drop your heating pad and/or light setting. What kind of setup do you have, substrate, tank or rubbermaid?

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How much of a temp increase? We are going out of town for the wknd, but I want to put the plastic on before we go. I just got a hydrometer and found the humidity is in the 15-20% range. OTOH, I don'w want the heat increase to cook the snake while we're gone! He is about 14 inches, in a glass/screen top cage, with some kind of wood shaving substrate. There's some moss in the tank that I wetted down, a water dish, warm and cool hides, and I' using a red lamp bulb for heat. I had a heat pad, too, but that seemed too hot.

Thanks for your help.

One other question: last night, my wife was holding him, he moved, she got scared, and dropped him from about 4 feet high onto a rubber matted floor (it's my little boy's room, cause it's his snake. right. ) Anyway, any likelihood of injury from that? He does not seem to be acting weird that I can tell.

I'd be hesitant to make a change like that before leaving on a trip. It's hard to tell how significant an impact it will have on temps (too many variables to even give you an estimate sorry) but you definitely need to get the humidity raised. If you are using analog gauges to measure I'd reccomend snagging a $15 digital accurite at walMart - the disparity in readings the analog things present is frightening sometimes as much as 15 degrees/% humidity - also make sure you are gettgin readings from ground (substrate) level. As a stopgap solution I'd only cover half the tank and then reassess the situation when you get back - last thing you want is to come home to a cooked herp. You could also lay a moist towel on the screen lid but if you are using a bulb for heat it will dry out very fast.

hmm i dunno, nobody has ever dropped my snake before and when somebody holds him i am always close by just in case they are scared and drop him or somthing goes wrong. I guess just check him out and look at him when he crawls around and make sure he moves normally. Its possible he might have broken a rib (maybe i dunno) 4 feet is pretty high up.

Take a trip to WalMart before you go out of town and get an Accurite Digital thermometer/hygrometer combo. It has a probe so you can measure both cool and warm sides and will measure the humidity. Those analog ones from the pet store are notoriously very inaccurate and you may be cooking the snake. To deal with the low humidity, ditch the light as it just leaches out the humidity, and just use the heat pad, as they require belly heat for the best digestion. After you get the digital thermo/hygro, place the unit on the floor of the warm side and the probe on the floor of the cool side. As for the wood shavings, be very sure that they AREN'T pine or cedar, both of those can cause serious nervous disorders in snakes.

As for the fall of 4 feet, he should be ok, but just make sure his sides don't have any abnormal looking indentions indicating broken ribs and that his back is straight and aligned, with no abnormal crookedness. Being that he is a baby, and as all babies, he is probably made up of mostly cartilage, and will be fine.

Also, before ya'll go on your trip for the weekend, you might want to get a thermostat from the pet store so it will regulate your temperatures while you are gone and even when you are there so the enclosure won't get too hot or too cold. People have had good luck with ESU and ZooMed. Just make sure yours comes with a probe.

And next time anyone is holding the snake, just make sure they are sitting down and make slow movements. Ok, I'm sorry for making such a long post, I just wanted to include everything I could think of. :)

i use a heating pad under my tank, and it actually was too hot so i used a few pieces of wood to raise the tank a couple of inches off of the pad and that has worked really well. do get the accurite--i discovered my temps to be way off when i got one. i made the diy humid hide to help with humidity in my tank, and that has made a big improvement.

If the humidity is actually that low, you could try the DIY humidifier in the DIY section or get yourself a bigger water bowl. As far as the dropping is concerned ... as long as he doesnt show any outwardly visible or tactile ( when you touch him ) signs .. he should be ok. You may want to keep an eye out for something for a couple of days.

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One other question: last night, my wife was holding him, he moved, she got scared, and dropped him from about 4 feet high onto a rubber matted floor (it's my little boy's room, cause it's his snake. right. ) Anyway, any likelihood of injury from that? He does not seem to be acting weird that I can tell.

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A friend of mine dropped my bp when she was just a baby. This is someone who has no experience with snakes at all, and I just watched him let her crawl right of of his hand and fall to the floor. Luckily she was ok. They're strong little guys...

where can I get a good hygrometer my temps are tight on and I would liek to know what my RH is can any one help ???

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

where can I get a good hygrometer my temps are tight on and I would liek to know what my RH is can any one help ???

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Walmart has a digital thermometer and hygrometer combo for about $15 dollars. Its the Acurite model.
Keep in the mind the Acurite shows outside and inside temps, and ... Its Digital!

Great thanks for the info. Didn't know if Wal-mart would carry something like that or not.