Ok guys, here's my first real question.

So I have a medium low exo terra tank which is great but I'm having issues with humidity. I use aspen bedding and both a heat lamp and uth as the apartment is usually pretty cold. I've tried putting some wet paper towels on half the lid but the humidity stays around low 40s. Besides misting more, what can I do? Fyi Charlotte has had two sheds, one great and one okay.


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Is the lid covered in foil completely except for a hole for light? Picture of setup? How big is water bowl? Where is it positioned in relation to heat sources?

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The water bowl is on the cool side. I tried foil before but it didn't work so well. I might have did it wrong.


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I have the same exact tank... here's what I did.

Aspen bedding-make sure it's about 1/4" thick above the UTH so heat still goes through. Cool side can be thicker.

I covered the top, hot, back and half of the cool side with foil to lock in heat and humidity. With a hole for the lights to get in.

I've got a reptifogger with a controller (I use inkbird) to keep humidity up while I'm gone for the day (I work 9-14 hr days). Just remember to fill water. Which I may have forgot to do today....

Obviously controller for the uth.

I put two hides in and some plants for extra coverage.

I have the dual light fixture thing, with the lights on timers alternating day n night. I had to use 100w basking bulb and 100w red basking bulb to keep temps up (It's like 40 degrees in iowa at night) I also keep a radiator style heater close to the hot side because even the lamps don't do enough.

Then your typical temp gages n whatnot which I'm sure you have.

That's what I did and it looks great. And is keeping the Temps where they need to be. If you get the stand that sticks to the outside of the tank, the lights are too heavy and will fall so I got gorilla glue double sided tape to assist and it works wonders... you can raise and lower the lights to get that exact temp you desire.

The tank seems like a good idea at first, but I should have gotten a vision tank or similar.

Here's a YouTube vid.
https://youtu.be/yC64kYiKIoc

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You know, I was paranoid about Charlotte burning herself so I have reptile carpet with aspen bedding on top. Could that be messing up the heat too?


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Yes probably she can't even feel the heat(if the uth is at 90° through 3 inches of flooring). Please get a temp controller to prevent burning because i think your uth will run as hot as it can go which is WAY too hot. As you can see I keep mine at 92° but I have it maxed at 94° (you can control that with the controller so it never goes over what you want) but currently it was running at 90° at the time of the picture. So it fluctuates from 90-94 but stays around the low end.

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Also your thermometer is measuring ambient air temp not the floor temp so there's that too. The controller will measure the floor temp.

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I also got one of those infrared thermometers to just point at things and measure the temp.

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It helps for when you're first starting on the tank plus making sure food isn't too hot cold (I do frozen).

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Yes, I definitely have a thermostat so no problem there. Poor Charlotte, I've been so paranoid that I'm depriving her :(
She's my first real reptile so I'm trying to do everything I can for her. You should have seen me setting up everything for her before I even got her lol


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ptshay

I also got one of those infrared thermometers to just point at things and measure the temp.

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Yeah me too.


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I've had the same Viv and top for my BRB a few years ago . I got a piece of black Perspex cut to size and placed it on the top - then stuck dow the edges with black tape . Looked real nice and was very effective ..


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Akumu0

Yes, I definitely have a thermostat so no problem there. Poor Charlotte, I've been so paranoid that I'm depriving her :(
She's my first real reptile so I'm trying to do everything I can for her. You should have seen me setting up everything for her before I even got her lol


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Lol I did the same. Broomhilda is my first I've had her for 3 weeks now and I did about a month of tests before I got her, and still made changes after.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ptshay

Lol I did the same. Broomhilda is my first I've had her for 3 weeks now and I did about a month of tests before I got her, and still made changes after.

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Right? Seems like even when you think everything's set you can still find something to fix lol


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zincubus

I've had the same Viv and top for my BRB a few years ago . I got a piece of black Perspex cut to size and placed it on the top - then stuck dow the edges with black tape . Looked real nice and was very effective ..


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I tried the plexiglass/acrylic and I feel like it didn't retain the heat like foil does tho.

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I just noticed you're using paper towels.. try using actual towels, like a bath towel, it'll help because of how much more water they hold.

You should probably use a different substrate for good, because aspen is a drying substrate. Try coco husk or coco fiber (messy).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I just noticed you're using paper towels.. try using actual towels, like a bath towel, it'll help because of how much more water they hold.

You should probably use a different substrate for good, because aspen is a drying substrate. Try coco husk or coco fiber (messy).

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...... or even orchid bark which holds as much moisture as you want near enough .... looks great as well .


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It also looks like you have three of the four quadrants of the lid covered over, but the fourth is wide open. If you use foil, you can rest the shade of the lamp right on the screen and wrap the foil right up to the lamp. The idea is to reduce the amount of exposed screen as much as possible. It may also help with heat, since more of it will be going into the tank instead of out into the room. You can also add an additional water bowl, handful of damp moss, or a damp washcloth sitting in a shallow dish, under the lamp.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Akumu0

So I have a medium low exo terra tank which is great but I'm having issues with humidity. I use aspen bedding and both a heat lamp and uth as the apartment is usually pretty cold. I've tried putting some wet paper towels on half the lid but the humidity stays around low 40s. Besides misting more, what can I do? Fyi Charlotte has had two sheds, one great and one okay.


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Use coconut husk bedding. Fine or coarse doesnt matter. Much better at holding humidity and wont mold like aspen will. Didnt read everyone elses posts so apologies if i repeat something someone else said. To big negatives for humidity are the screen top and the heat lamp. The lamp will cook off all the moisture and the screen just lets it out. So cover that screen. The bulk of it. Coconut with a misting once a day or once every other should help a ton.

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Thank you everyone for your help. I'm going to try the coconut fiber and foil. If the foil doesn't work for some reason, I'll try a damp towel. Again thank you everyone. I'm glad I joined this forum. :)


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by OTorresUSMC

Use coconut husk bedding. Fine or coarse doesnt matter. Much better at holding humidity and wont mold like aspen will. Didnt read everyone elses posts so apologies if i repeat something someone else said. To big negatives for humidity are the screen top and the heat lamp. The lamp will cook off all the moisture and the screen just lets it out. So cover that screen. The bulk of it. Coconut with a misting once a day or once every other should help a ton.

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Coconut husk doesn't mold? I didn't know! That's awesome!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ptshay

I have the same exact tank... here's what I did.

Aspen bedding-make sure it's about 1/4" thick above the UTH so heat still goes through. Cool side can be thicker.

I covered the top, hot, back and half of the cool side with foil to lock in heat and humidity. With a hole for the lights to get in.

I've got a reptifogger with a controller (I use inkbird) to keep humidity up while I'm gone for the day (I work 9-14 hr days). Just remember to fill water. Which I may have forgot to do today....

Obviously controller for the uth.

I put two hides in and some plants for extra coverage.

I have the dual light fixture thing, with the lights on timers alternating day n night. I had to use 100w basking bulb and 100w red basking bulb to keep temps up (It's like 40 degrees in iowa at night) I also keep a radiator style heater close to the hot side because even the lamps don't do enough.

Then your typical temp gages n whatnot which I'm sure you have.

That's what I did and it looks great. And is keeping the Temps where they need to be. If you get the stand that sticks to the outside of the tank, the lights are too heavy and will fall so I got gorilla glue double sided tape to assist and it works wonders... you can raise and lower the lights to get that exact temp you desire.

The tank seems like a good idea at first, but I should have gotten a vision tank or similar.

Here's a YouTube vid.
https://youtu.be/yC64kYiKIoc

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Love the set up tips. I have this exact tank and will be going to a show next week. I will most likely be coming home with my first BP and have been wondering if it would work. I really want to get the Exo Small Tall but didn't want to have to drop all the $$ for a snake and complete set up. I love the aspen also I have a cornsnake and love the easy clean up but was worried about humidity ... not anymore lol so thanks. Your snake looks awesome also [emoji1][emoji216]


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrobinson12

Love the set up tips. I have this exact tank and will be going to a show next week. I will most likely be coming home with my first BP and have been wondering if it would work. I really want to get the Exo Small Tall but didn't want to have to drop all the $$ for a snake and complete set up. I love the aspen also I have a cornsnake and love the easy clean up but was worried about humidity ... not anymore lol so thanks. Your snake looks awesome also [emoji1][emoji216]


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Thanks! She's a sweetheart, now lol. First 3 weeks were a struggle she was very nippy. I would recommend (from what I've heard) purchasing prevent a mite and spraying everything down before you put your new pet in.

Also buy a tank asap and set it up before so you're not trying to get the Temps and humidity right while she's in. You want it to be perfect when you first put her in. Good luck!

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