Humidity question

My son and are are arguing about the humidity in his BP tank!

I have no knowledge about snakes at all, But i do have some knowledge of lizards!
We have owned in the past an Iguana and i have right now an Anole.

I keep a heat light in my anole tank plus i mist it often to keep humidity in it.

The argument with my son is that i told him he need's to keep the humidity up all the time in his BP tank, He told me no that he should only keep it up during the shedding period.

Who is right him or i? should it have humidity all the time or only during the shedding period?

Thanks
~LadyBones~

I don't raise humidity during shedding.

I keep my collection between 50% & 60% RTH 24 hours a day.

-adam

Heheh


/agree


see my reply in your other thread

I think that your son got confused. Most inexperienced keepers who keep snakes in aquariums have very low humidity levels, like 20-30%. When we say "raise it up" for shedding periods, it means to get the humidity around 50-60%, which ideally is where it should be ALL THE TIME.

your humidity should definatley be around 60% in the past ive had a hard time keeping it under 75% but too low of humidity can cause problems with its health ...i was just at the pet store and saw a ball shedding and the hum. gauge was only around 40 and it didnt look like it was doing too well in the process...adam's right 50-60% all the time

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Originally Posted by Perrin024

but too low of humidity can cause problems with its health

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That has not been my experience. Low humidity can cause dry stuck sheds, but those are easily fixed with a good hour long soak or two. Also, sometimes low humidity can cause a ball to fast, but there is no direct relationship between low humidity and a ball pythons health.

-adam

I thought low humidity could possibly lead to an RI.....right or wrong???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

I thought low humidity could possibly lead to an RI.....right or wrong???

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That has not been my experience, but I certainly have not seen everything. I've had times when my humidity as been 20% and below for weeks without any problems.

-adam

Thats good to know.... I dont know where I had got that from...must be one of the many online bp myths.... thanks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

Thats good to know.... I dont know where I had got that from...must be one of the many online bp myths.... thanks.

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It could be that it's true and I just got lucky as well???

-adam

So i guess i win the argument :)

Hmmm I always thought it was excessively high humidity (with condensation on the tub or dampish bedding) that caused problems for balls?

We keep baby in the 50-60 range then add in the humid hide during shed. It's worked great this last shed though with high humidity the other week it was a struggle but as advised here, as long as the higher humidity doesn't bring on condensation or damp bedding it's not a major issue during the summer.

~~Jo~~

correct me if im wrong but i think wet bedding and stuff can cause scale rot not RI so thats a completely diffrent sort of problem

Yep completely different problem.....but sometimes people will forget that the wet bedding can cause problems and cause wet bedding when trying to increase humidity....so I guess it is kinda related :)

im having a hard time keeping the humidy up around 50-70 % everyday is there an easer way 2 do so? should i buy a humidity hide or something?

So it's only low temps that cause RIs?

Greg: What kind of enclosure are you using? If you have a screen top, try covering it with a towel or plexi-glass to keep the humidity in. Also, if you're using heat bulbs or any other sort of overhead heating, they zap humidity, so maybe consider using a UTH for most of your heating needs. You can also try misting the tank occasionally until your levels get to where they should be. My humidity stays around 50% with just a big water dish in the tank and a towel over 75% of the screen top. Hope some of these tips have helped!

corect me if im wrong but cant u put the dish under the heat lamp to incres humidity

im using a glass tank with a screen top ive put a towel over the top and it works very well but for lighting i have a light lol. i have a uth heater for heat. and the tank is somewhat small 4 my python so it sits right over the water bowl cuz thats the only place the water bowl and the light can go right in the middle. i dont want to put the light on and have a towel on there 2 because im afriad of a fire. ive already lost my house when i was 6 to a fire and i dont want it again i plan on buying a bigger tank sometime during this week. is there any easier ways to raise the humidity other than misting it constantly?

Maybe consider another source of lighting? If it's just to light up your tank, maybe put it outside of the tank? Your ball doesn't need light, so there's no benefit in keeping it on top of the tank if you're worried about a fire. The lamp is zapping out humidity though, so that's part of your problem...

If you DO want to keep the light on top of the tank, you could always move it to one end, and keep the towel folded back so it's not touching the lamp. I have a ceramic lamp on top of my tank, off to one end, and a towel covering most of the rest of the top, but the two never touch.

Otherwise... misting (or getting a bigger water dish) is about the only way I can think of to keep humidity up. Sorry.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xXGregXx

is there any easier ways to raise the humidity other than misting it constantly?

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this is what i am using with great success. i placed a fish tank air pump which is used to pump air into a fish tanks water to increase oxygen level. i set the pump outside the tank and run the air hose into the snake tank and into the water dish. make sure the pump is set on something that obsorbs the vibration of the pump or it could iratate the snake. i have mine setting on a towel and it is not on the same shelf my tank is on. So no vibration/ noise issues. i have the pump on a timer right now and it doesnt take long for the humidity level to rise 5%. i bought a timer with 24 on/off settings for a 24 hr period. so i can have it come on and off every half hour. i am strongly thinking about switching to a dimmer switch though to give that a try. I also am using UTH but my primary source of heat is from a infradred bulb (75w)which is on the top of my tank (20 gal). I placed the water dish on oposite side of tank (cool side) and it seems to work well for me. i can easily keep my humdity levels at 60% or close to it. good luck.

My personal favorite is humid hides. All you need is any small plastic container with a hole cut in it and some damp paper towels.

If you would still like to increase using the damp towel method, I suggest putting plastic wrap on top of the damp towel. this keeps the water from evaporating outside of the tank, keeps good vapor barrier and will make your damp towel last longer.

interesting.. i'll try that one out next shed but arent u afraid of the herp getting tangled in it? possibly suffocating!