Best substrate to keep and hold humidity

I am a new owner. I have a 20 gallon set up, foil on top of screen. A UTH and red lamp (75w). Aspen is the bedding. I am having a hard time holding humidity and have spritzed every few hours. It rises to 65-70% but hours later falls below 50%. Ideas????

You can do a few things. Switch the bulb out for a CHE or put a dimmer switch on the lamp. Instead of foil use damp towels. Cypress mulch holds humidity better than Aspen. You can also get sphagnum moss and put it in the hides and throughout the tank just make sure it stays moist. You can also move your water source under the lamp, just make sure you watch the water level and clean the dish more often.

Cover most of the screen lid.

Switch to cypress mulch.

Add damp moss to both hides.

Mist daily.

*Your tank will probably still register low humidity but the damp moss will being creating a higher humidity level within the hides so even though the tank shows low your snake should be getting what it needs.

I second the cypress and damp towels. I have a 40 gal breeder tank that has cypress mulch, I never need to mist. I have a CHE on one side (regulated with a thermostat) and a nighttime bulb on a dimmer on the other. I put warm damp towels over the middle part of the screen, then cover everything except where the lights are with foil. This keeps my humidity between 50-65 at all times. I usually only have to re-dampen the towels once a day to every other day depending on the weather. I only offer a humid hide when he goes into shed, but so far he has never used it. I also have a large water bowl under the CHE and a small one under the light, so that helps too.

It took a good two weeks to get everything set up and stable, took a lot of tweaking light placement and foil coverage.

For the OP I did this very thing and its a night and day difference with my snakes, I even felt bad I had been using aspen. .



Sent from my SGH-T999

Do damp towels really retain moisture better than foil or saran wrap? I can't imagine how....?

I will switch to cypress when I do my first cleaning. I'll try to pick up some moss this week and add it in. I find I need the bulb to keep the cool side at its 80 degrees. I suppose I could switch to a CHE, but then it would have no light in there at all. So unless it's necessary, I'll keep the light. I'll be misting.

Question on the moss though: How do you dampen it? How damp? How much in the hide? Warm side only, or on the cool side too?

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Originally Posted by jack jones

I will switch to cypress when I do my first cleaning. I'll try to pick up some moss this week and add it in. I find I need the bulb to keep the cool side at its 80 degrees. I suppose I could switch to a CHE, but then it would have no light in there at all. So unless it's necessary, I'll keep the light. I'll be misting.

Question on the moss though: How do you dampen it? How damp? How much in the hide? Warm side only, or on the cool side too?

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I submerge it in water, then squeeze/wring it out so it's still damp but not sopping wet. Then I put it in the warm hide, around the warm hide, (since that side dries out faster), some in a tiny water dish that stays moist to keep humidity up, and then some more on the other side. As far as how much to buy, it depends on the size of your tank and the ambient humidity. As someone else stated already, if it's in the hide your hygrometer may indicate the tank is drier than it actually is.

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Originally Posted by O'Mathghamhna

Do damp towels really retain moisture better than foil or saran wrap? I can't imagine how....?

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Damp towels on the screen can help as they are damp so they add humidity. I don't like them because they will make the screen lid rust with time.

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Originally Posted by jack jones

I will switch to cypress when I do my first cleaning. I'll try to pick up some moss this week and add it in. I find I need the bulb to keep the cool side at its 80 degrees. I suppose I could switch to a CHE, but then it would have no light in there at all. So unless it's necessary, I'll keep the light. I'll be misting.

Question on the moss though: How do you dampen it? How damp? How much in the hide? Warm side only, or on the cool side too?

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I break off a handful from the main clump to use. It really is up to you. It is easily compressed and moved so its hard to put to little or to much. I would guess I usually use a baseball to softball sized clump.

During a shed I give it a good soak and put it straight in the hides.

During a non shed period I will sometimes soak it and other times just give it a good spray with my mist bottle.

Another good thing about moss is it can make hides that are to big feel smaller and more secure for the snake. If you find yourself with a hide like this add some extra moss and you will increase the snakes feeling of security.

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Originally Posted by O'Mathghamhna

Do damp towels really retain moisture better than foil or saran wrap? I can't imagine how....?

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Foil will reflect the heat and dry up the air faster. I had tanks with screen lids and tried everything. The damp towels work best.

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Originally Posted by SKO

Foil will reflect the heat and dry up the air faster. I had tanks with screen lids and tried everything. The damp towels work best.

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You either loose heat or humidity. I would rather loose humidity as it is cheaper to produce than electricity.

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Originally Posted by KMG

You either loose heat or humidity. I would rather loose humidity as it is cheaper to produce than electricity.

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K well the post was how to retain humidity not electricity. With the proper set up you don't have to lose either.

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Originally Posted by SKO

K well the post was how to retain humidity not electricity. With the proper set up you don't have to lose either.

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A bit snappy are we?

When I give advice I try to give the best advice in all aspects. I try to give information that is best for the animal while being good for the keeper in ease of use, results, and finances. I don't like wasting money and I don't like wasting other either. I don't believe giving information that will leave the screen lid rusted and eventually useless as the best choice.

You are correct that with a proper set up you don't have to lose either but that's not what these repeated threads have now is it. If it was the threads would not exist.

I still stand by a screen covered with a hard material vs. a wet material is best in the long run when looking at a life time of use.

It won't rust the lid that easily. Replacing a lid isn't that expensive either. And no I'm not getting snappy that's just how you took my last post. You are actually one of the members on this site among a few others that I enjoy reading feedback from and know that you have a lot of knowledge to pass. Really the next best option is to have plexiglass cut out for the lid.

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Originally Posted by SKO

It won't rust the lid that easily. Replacing a lid isn't that expensive either. And no I'm not getting snappy that's just how you took my last post. You are actually one of the members on this site among a few others that I enjoy reading feedback from and know that you have a lot of knowledge to pass. Really the next best option is to have plexiglass cut out for the lid.

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The lay on top metal tops are easy to replace and they are much thicker than the slide on or clip on screen tops that Exo and Zilla. The slide on and clip on screens are harder to find and much more money.

Also maybe to you and I the lids are not that expensive but there are some keepers here that are on a shoestring budget. Be it from being a kid, in college, or starting young adult. If I can help them save some money by giving them the best long term option I always will that includes spending the money out of the gate on a Herpstat tstat.

It did seem a bit snappy and I still think we need specific fonts for things like sarcasm, anger, and now snappiness. LOL! Thanks for the compliment.

Thanks to BOTH of you for the tips! Both options are beneficial in their own way. I personally am still partial to the saran wrap on top of the screen, this way I think you get the best of both worlds, as it retains moisture and doesn't reflect heat. Also I've noticed using damp towels that as KMG said, it will start to rust the lid--but more importantly, the towels start to smell funny after a while, almost like mildew or an old dish sponge? :puke2:

So I recommend saran wrap, but again, it's all about personal preference. Thanks again everyone for your input!

So I ended up getting some moss, soaked and wrung out, then added to his warm side hide. I surrounded him well. I also placed a layer in the center around the water bowl, under the lamp. Humidity went up from 48% to 56% so far, in good time. Temps are holding well. he finally came out after that and is exploring right now.

I'd post a pic, but apparently I can't post attachments. Don't have that permission. Not sure how to turn that on.

Load the pic to a source like Photobucket. Then copy the "img" code and paste it into the comment box here. When you hit submit the code will magically turn into the pic in the tread.

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...sgsedgepg.jpeg

That worked. And I have a much better spray bottle than that green one, LOL. Learned a lesson. No Dollar Store stuff. Anyway, he's been a bit active now.

Yay! And yeah, like others have stated, if snakey needs the extra humidity, he will seek out the damp moss. My babies all seek out their moss and snuggle up to it for periods, and then they move somewhere else.

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Originally Posted by jack jones

http://i1305.photobucket.com/albums/...sgsedgepg.jpeg

That worked. And I have a much better spray bottle than that green one, LOL. Learned a lesson. No Dollar Store stuff. Anyway, he's been a bit active now.

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I hear ya on the spray bottle I bought one that you pump for pressure I found in at my Favorite place to shop Amazon.com they had 2 sizes I bought the smaller one it was 19.99 and it does a fine job.[emoji106]
I like your set up. ...
Sent from my SGH-T999

Another option for the substrate would be a mixture of the cypress mulch and eco-earth, or any brand ground coconut fiber bedding. About a 50/50 mix, and when it get dry you can simply dump water in to get it moist again. I use this in my green tree python cages, and I hardly ever mist. Just add a half gallon or gallon of water once a week or so. And damp towels end up becoming a mildew factory on top of the other problems, but they can be a good short term solution.