Humidity issues and how you deal with it?

I need some advice for my humidity for my boa and ball python. They both have 50 watt infrared heat lamps and the hot spots are at 90 and cool end around 80 F. My humidity gauges always indicate around 20 percent humidity which is why I use spray bottles daily to bring it up but it dries up really quick. They have screen tops so sometimes I try putting something over part of the top to keep moisture in but it doesn't really work like that. How do you guys keep your humidity ideal without having to be like me and constantly watch and adjust?

What substrate are you using? You could always try using something that holds humidity better like coconut fiber. I cover the lids of my tanks with foil and that works well for me.

I used some foil insulation from lows and glued it to the inside of my screen top. I keep a wet washcloth on top of one hide. I use a large water bowl and have another bowl with wet paper towel in it. I also mist daily PA winters are brutal for humidity.

Are you using a tank with a screen lid? You want to cover that somehow if you are. Use substrates that hold moisture well like cypress and coconut husk. The bulbs aren't helping you much, and if the problem persists, you'll need to change to a heat pad controlled by a Uth. Lastly, make sure you aren't using crappy humidity guages.

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plastic rack tubs with ventilation holes, coconut eco-earth kept very slightly damp with a spray bottle. Whole house 6 gallon humidifier. Humidity stays between 60-90%, with hardly any effort at all, in the tubs. Only have to fill the humidifier very other day, and spray the coco substrate a couple times a week, max.

This winter sucks as far as humidity control goes for quite a few of us, as this winter has been harsh.

I added a second water dish to each of my enclosures which helps a bit. I also built what is essentially a 3 sided box around each of my enclosures out of 1/2" foam board insulation as well cut one to fit the screen tops, leaving enough room for the heat lamp and a little air flow.

I also added sphangnum moss to each enclosure.

We have an Exo-Terra terrarium with the screen top that is sectioned into four. We picked up inexpensive cutting mats at our local craft store and cut them the exact size of the screen sections. We covered three of the four. We have a CHE on the fourth section. This slowed down evaporation quite a bit.

We also have a piece of drift with a large cavity that we pack with sphagnum moss which also helps.

Together that keeps our humidity around 30-40% now that winter is here.

The rest comes from daily misting.

One thing that we want to try is moss balls: https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Aquar.../dp/B071NGJW92

Our plan is to fill them with sphagnum moss, soak them, and place in the terrarium (rinse and repeat daily). Through trial and error we'll hopefully figure out how many we need to keep our humidity in the sweet spot without misting.

Is your humidity gauge near the screen at the top of your enclosure? Try placing it nearer the ground level where the snake usually is the humidity might be higher there...

place your snakes water dish under the heat lamps this can release more moisture into the enclosure..

if you cant bring up the humidity of the entire enclosure have a humid hide for your snake...mist the humid hide down really good and when your snake wants a little extra skin moisture it can just go to that hide...My ball python has 3 hides, warm, cool and humid and he loves hanging out in that moist hide when i place him in his tank he most often heads straight to that one!

I'm using Aspen bedding for now. My Boa is gonna move into a new home I've been building to accommodate her future size. But yeah they have screen tops which is why I try covering them and misting them and extra water inside. My humidity gauges and temp gauges are always on the floor. I also have UTH and heat tapes for new builds I'm making but I personally like the infrared bulbs in their current set ups. I wanna figure it out as the next month is when both of them will get a nice condo upgrade. I was thinking coconut husk just because our canadian winter this year is pretty harsh for humidity.

I’m in Chicago, a humidifier solves lots of problems. I consider having one to be essential. I can’t imagine what it would be like humidity wise without it. :)

Winter time is brutal when it comes to controlling humidity and especially this year in my area! Myself, I control the humidity level in my whole snake room with a huge humidifier, which runs 24/7. The humidifier I use is rated for 3,800 square feet and I am only using it to control the humidity in my snake room, which is only 8' x 11'. In order for it to keep my humidity between 50% and 60% the heater vent in my snake room HAS to be closed or i'm lucky if the humidity will even stay above 30%! So, I have no choice, but to keep the vent closed and heat the room with a (up to) 1,500 watt space heater 24/7 as well. So, to effectively control the heat and humidity in the room i'm basically running about 1,600 watts 24/7. I really don't even want to know how much that makes my electric bill! That doesn't even include however many additional watts that all of the heat tape and thermostats are using 24/7. But, my point is, it is ultimately the heater vents in your house that causes excessive dryness during the winter months, not the humidity level outside so much...

In your case, if you only have two snakes, it wouldn't be very feasible to do what i'm doing. Personally, I won't use substrate for numerous reasons. I use newspaper... But, you basically have to use substrate if you aren't able to dedicate an entire room to your snakes and control the ambient temps and humidity of a whole room. Personally, I would probably choose Sphagnum Moss if I had to use substrate. If you are using fish aquariums with screen tops, the first thing I would recommend is either buying each snake an appropriate size pvc enclosure if you want to display them or move them into appropriate size plastic tubs with locking lids and drill some ventilation holes in the front and sides of the tubs. You are fighting a losing battle with aquariums. Also, I would stop using heat lamps and switch to heat tape/heat mats (with thermostats). Heat lamps are not only going to cause more dryness in the enclosures, but also dry the animal's skin out. The ambient moisture in the enclosure is what is most important, not how much moisture is directly on the snakes. Prolonged exposure to dampness will eventually lead to other issues, like scale rot. Something that would probably help you a lot is simply keeping a soak and wet towel on top of your snake's hides in addition to using large water dishes.

I noticed now that you said you are acquiring/building new enclosures already. That's awesome! I would definitely recommend using PVC if you can afford it. Otherwise, melamine is fine. It's just ungodly heavy and not the greatest stuff to work with. I would build the enclosure 4' x 2' x 18" and if that's too large for your snake's current sizes, you can just sit their tubs (or aquariums) inside of the enclosures until they are up to size.

I hope this helps...

Honestly if you use sphagnum moss you'll be fine. I have a mesh top and that doesn't effect the humidity when I use the moss


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Originally Posted by ontariosnakelover

I need some advice for my humidity for my boa and ball python. They both have 50 watt infrared heat lamps and the hot spots are at 90 and cool end around 80 F. My humidity gauges always indicate around 20 percent humidity which is why I use spray bottles daily to bring it up but it dries up really quick. They have screen tops so sometimes I try putting something over part of the top to keep moisture in but it doesn't really work like that. How do you guys keep your humidity ideal without having to be like me and constantly watch and adjust?

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Switch to PVC cages. It will make your life much easier and more pleasant for the snake.

But your first problem is a heat lamp. Those dry the air. Better of going for heat tape and if you need ambient temp, a small CHE above the warm side.

Imo 90F hot spot is pretty hot. I keep all my snakes with hot spots around 86F or so. Their ambient/cool temps are the room temp which anywhere from 77-80F depending if its night or day. Pretty much all my snakes sit on the cool side 90% of the time.

I would start by changing your heating method and putting in a large water bowl for more surface area as well as cover 3/4 the top of the screen with plexi or even tin foil. The key is to control the air flow in the cage. Too much and you will never keep up with humidity. Too little and you will have a swamp in a tank lol.