Humidity 🙄 I need tips on increasing and maintaining it please

I’ve tried lots of ways to boost my humidity but it always ends up back where i started. I have a large water bowl, I’ve put moss in half of my 70 gallon tank. I have to pour glasses of water in the substrate(reptibark and cypress mulch) and mix it up yet it still dries out it goes from 75 to 30 🤧 I just got my ball python and he’s starting to shed and I’ve raised the humidity but I know it won’t last I’m scared he won’t have a very good shed. Does anyone have any tips?

Maintaining humidity can be a challenge in glass,but it can be done. But that's a huge enclosure to maintain humidity in.

I'm assuming it has a screen top?

Also, any supplemental heat dries out the enclosure. So this time of year many people are heating their homes a d the heat dries out enclosures. Your heating equipment also dries it out.

What I do with my glass enclosures is wrap them in 1/2" foam board insulation. I do the top, back and sides. This helps immensely with heat and humidity control.

You've also got plenty of room in that 70 gallon to add a second even a third water bowl.

what kind of top does the enclosure have and what are you using to heat it?

If you have a mesh lid covering half to one third of it can really help - but if you are using a ceramic bulb you need to leave a clear area for the heat not to build up or cause problems over time. We did have a good sticky showing the process but when I went to look for it a lot of the pictures have sadly stopped working. :(

I use glass aquariums I have a thirty now but am switching to a 150 gallon very soon. It’s vital to cover the screen top or make your own lid. I used the roll out silver insulation hot glued to 3/4 of the screen. I could go four or five days without soaking my moss or moving substrate around. For the 150 I have built a custom lid but also switched to a rhp using a che makes life tough as well.

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Originally Posted by chloe21

I’ve tried lots of ways to boost my humidity but it always ends up back where i started. I have a large water bowl, I’ve put moss in half of my 70 gallon tank. I have to pour glasses of water in the substrate(reptibark and cypress mulch) and mix it up yet it still dries out it goes from 75 to 30 �� I just got my ball python and he’s starting to shed and I’ve raised the humidity but I know it won’t last I’m scared he won’t have a very good shed. Does anyone have any tips?

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You have 1 ball python in a 70 gallon aquarium and are getting ready to more than double that? Did I hear this correctly?

Sorry different poster getting ready to go to 150... CORRECTED.. So one BP in a 70 gallon tank. How big is the animal?

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Originally Posted by Moose84

You have 1 ball python in a 70 gallon aquarium and are getting ready to more than double that? Did I hear this correctly?

Sorry different poster getting ready to go to 150... CORRECTED.. So one BP in a 70 gallon tank. How big is the animal?

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You read that correct, getting ready for a 150 gallon aquarium. As soon as I talk to pro heat tmr and get the right rhp we will be finishing it all up. He’s just average nothing crazy.

seems I did the same thing as you and misread some posts lol

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Originally Posted by DandD

You read that correct, getting ready for a 150 gallon aquarium. As soon as I talk to pro heat tmr and get the right rhp we will be finishing it all up. He’s just average nothing crazy.

seems I did the same thing as you and misread some posts lol

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Why are you upgrading to such a large tank? That is much larger than most people use for a BP, and larger than most people think would even be appropriate. :eyepoppin

Besides that, I would definitely recommend the tip above of wrapping a screen top. I am actually dealing with the same problem as you right now!

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Originally Posted by OkamiFlautist

Why are you upgrading to such a large tank? That is much larger than most people use for a BP, and larger than most people think would even be appropriate. :eyepoppin

Besides that, I would definitely recommend the tip above of wrapping a screen top. I am actually dealing with the same problem as you right now!

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i don’t really agree with the thought that you can have a tank to big. I also got a great deal on a huge aquarium and thought,what a good way to make a really nice looking enclosure for my dining room.

also chloe is the one dealing with humidity issues.

I have a 20 gallons L with mesh top. I went to Lowes and had them cut a thin sheet of plexiglass to cover most of it. For a 20 gallon it was less the 20.00, not sure how much a piece would cost to cover a 70 gallon. It has a cleaner look the using foil in my opinion. Foil is obviously a lot cheaper.

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Originally Posted by DandD

i don’t really agree with the thought that you can have a tank to big. I also got a great deal on a huge aquarium and thought,what a good way to make a really nice looking enclosure for my dining room.

also chloe is the one dealing with humidity issues.

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Just because you got a good deal doesn't mean it's a good enclosure for a snake.

That is HUGE for a BP.

How many snakes do you have and how much experience with them in larger enclosures?

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

Just because you got a good deal doesn't mean it's a good enclosure for a snake.

That is HUGE for a BP.

How many snakes do you have and how much experience with them in larger enclosures?

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We have one snake and I have zero experience with snakes in large enclosures. I also had zero experience with snakes in small enclosures when we started this journey. I want something that looks nice that my snake will enjoy. I can assure You this is not going to be two hides and a water bowl in the middle. It’s essentially a custom build from the ground up.

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Originally Posted by DandD

We have one snake and I have zero experience with snakes in large enclosures. I also had zero experience with snakes in small enclosures when we started this journey. I want something that looks nice that my snake will enjoy. I can assure You this is not going to be two hides and a water bowl in the middle. It’s essentially a custom build from the ground up.

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I'm not saying it can't be done, but there's a reason experienced keepers don't use large enclosures like that. There's also a reason we try to tell new keepers to stick to basics.
That would be a lot of work to realize it was all for nothing if the snake doesn't thrive in there.

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Originally Posted by Craiga 01453

I'm not saying it can't be done, but there's a reason experienced keepers don't use large enclosures like that. There's also a reason we try to tell new keepers to stick to basics.
That would be a lot of work to realize it was all for nothing if the snake doesn't thrive in there.

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If after all my planning doesn’t work and he moves back to his smaller aquarium. I’ll still have a really nice enclosure for a snake or snakes that don’t need quite the high standard of husbandry a ball does. Maybe a big king or a really cool community garter snake tank.

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Originally Posted by DandD

If after all my planning doesn’t work and he moves back to his smaller aquarium. I’ll still have a really nice enclosure for a snake or snakes that don’t need quite the high standard of husbandry a ball does. Maybe a big king or a really cool community garter snake tank.

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I don't know anything about colubrids and that might work.. I will tell you however, you are probably headed for issues with a tank that size for a BP. It will be nearly impossible to keep humidity it. I will also say this. There is also something to be said for a smaller set up for these animals. Tanks tend to get neglected because they are such a complete pain to clean. A tank that size will be a nightmare. This tend to lead to the owners "putting off" cleaning and proper care because of the amount of issues they present. Animal will suffer ultimately. I'm NOT accusing you of this I'm just going based off my experience with tanks/racks and others. Most of the surrendered and neglected animals are in HUGE enclosures that are filthy because after 2 months the owner doesn't want to do it anymore. They had the best of intentions initially but then the cleaning was too hard, the animal wasn't eating, another stuck shed, so on so forth.. Just builds and builds and the animal either dies, suffers or is given up.

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Originally Posted by Moose84

I don't know anything about colubrids and that might work.. I will tell you however, you are probably headed for issues with a tank that size for a BP. It will be nearly impossible to keep humidity it. I will also say this. There is also something to be said for a smaller set up for these animals. Tanks tend to get neglected because they are such a complete pain to clean. A tank that size will be a nightmare. This tend to lead to the owners "putting off" cleaning and proper care because of the amount of issues they present. Animal will suffer ultimately. I'm NOT accusing you of this I'm just going based off my experience with tanks/racks and others. Most of the surrendered and neglected animals are in HUGE enclosures that are filthy because after 2 months the owner doesn't want to do it anymore. They had the best of intentions initially but then the cleaning was too hard, the animal wasn't eating, another stuck shed, so on so forth.. Just builds and builds and the animal either dies, suffers or is given up.

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humidity is not a nightmare in a tank when you plan for it. Cleaning is not a nightmare when you plan for it. These are all things I kept in mind when making this tank.

It’s always been mentioned about putting a perspex ( or whatever ) life over the mesh top ( if it is indeed mesh)

I’d also try or orchid / repti bark as the substrate as it will hold as much or as little humidity as you need .. just spray daily as many times as is needed



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Back to the original poster, Chloe:

If you aren't already, before you put your substrate in, add lukewarm water to the substrate until its moist all the way through, but with no excess water. Your cypress mulch or coconut coir should not be desert dry. If you are worried about exposing your snake to too much moisture, you can put dry substrate underneath the hides, but most people find this unnecessary. That should help keep humidity up longer between cleanings.

Another thing you can do is get a whole room humidifier with a humidistat. That is what I have done. Use only distilled water, or you will end up with mineral deposits very quickly.

Air Innovations 901D High... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077MLKCYW...p_mob_ap_share

Above is the humidifier I used. I set the humidistat to 50% and that lets me maintain humidities of 60-70% much easier.

You can also get a fogger for the tank but only do this as a last resort, because even on the lowest setting, mosr foggers can get tanks up to 80-90% humidity. I don't think a fogger would be necessary for you unless you are in an extremely dry climate, or you have other species in the room that can't have the higher humidity that ball pythons need. If you do go with a fogger, I recommend finding a humidistat you can use to regulate it.

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Originally Posted by DandD

humidity is not a nightmare in a tank when you plan for it. Cleaning is not a nightmare when you plan for it. These are all things I kept in mind when making this tank.

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Sounds like you have it figured out. Best of luck!

On top of using damp substrate like coco fiber, and a humidifier (optional), you can also add 1 or 2 humid hides in the tank. You want to aim keeping the humidity in while not sacrificing air flow. This can be done by covering most of the mesh lid with a cover and limit the use of heat sources that would speed up water loss and dry out the tank (ie heat lamps).

I think a big tank can work for a bp. If it eats consistently for you, and it is showing no signs of stress, sure why not. If if fails, then you can return the bp back to its old smaller enclosure. Bp's generally do better in smaller spaces but it won't hurt to try. Keep in mind though, for the amount of work you have to put into it, you probably won't see your bp as much as you would expect compared to an active colubrid.

I have a big tank for my BTS, about 4 x 2. It was a frag tank, I think about 275gallon? Either way, like most BTS, he sleeps most of the time and is active once he is up. He also requires a 50-60% humidity at minimum. To keep humidity in, we covered half the tank with ply wood drilled with some holes. The other side has a mesh lid with a basking bulb and UVB light. I spot clean his tank as needed and every month, the whole tank gets cleaned out, and he has yet to get sick (He gets checked his check ups). And lizards poop a whole lot more often than ball pythons do. Imo, big tanks don't equates to dirty tanks if the keeper is dedicated to cleaning them. Conversely, I had seen many owners putting their snakes in too small of an enclosure and not clean the darn tank (Smaller space, need to clean more often).

Fyi, Cali kings and other large active colubrids would love that space. Or a red ackie.

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Originally Posted by Cheesenugget

you can also add 1 or 2 humid hides in the tank.

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This is what i was going to say. You can easily make a humidity box for your snake by taking a plastic food container that the snake will comfortably fit in and cutting a hole in the lid big enough for them to fit thru(make sure to smooth the edges down). Fill it halfway with damp sphagnum moss and pop the lid on. Place on the warm end of the enclosure. Just re-wet the moss once or twice a week, and your snake will hang out in there when they need a humidity boost.

Just make sure you don't have standing water in the bottom of it :)