How can I raise the background humidity in my snake room. Besides a humidifier.

Any suggestions as to how can I raise the background humidity in my snake room. Besides a humidifier.

I have to use two bowls currently and that reduces floor space for my ball pythons.

Moist moss in the hides. I used this when I had a glass tank sitting in my living room. With adding that and covering most of the top I had no issues with shed and no longer had to worry about keeping the entire tank humidity up.

I agree with KMG ^ ^ ^ especially since it's not always a good thing to raise your home or room's humidity- that can encourage mold problems, unless you literally live in the desert? But humid hides & reducing overall air-flow in the snake enclosures works well, plus you can customize them separately if there's more than one & they're different kinds.

Then again, an indoor swimming pool would be nice. :D

You put a huge fish tank in the room.

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Originally Posted by KMG

Moist moss in the hides. I used this when I had a glass tank sitting in my living room. With adding that and covering most of the top I had no issues with shed and no longer had to worry about keeping the entire tank humidity up.

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I use tubs for my ball pythons, Glass would help. My sheds are ok though as I spray at shed time. its just a pain with the two bowls for normal humidity levels for ball pythons, but moss in a sweat box is something I have used in the past. Worth considering. But its hard for me to keep non shed humidity up in the tank.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I agree with KMG ^ ^ ^ especially since it's not always a good thing to raise your home or room's humidity- that can encourage mold problems, unless you literally live in the desert? But humid hides & reducing overall air-flow in the snake enclosures works well, plus you can customize them separately if there's more than one & they're different kinds.
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Too much humidity in the room and mold is not a problem for me. Its cold in the UK. So I have to have the central heating on a lot. (its water filled sealed radiators in every room all joined ) They dry out the humidity in the house making it lower than outside. Background humidity in my house is usually only 30%, so indoors that's pretty close to desert humidity most of the year.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Then again, an indoor swimming pool would be nice. :D

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Well, that's the dream :D

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Originally Posted by GoingPostal

You put a huge fish tank in the room.

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Edit: thanks, saw that after posting. I do like fish, i like that idea, pretty background light too. but maybe not too Huge :D

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Originally Posted by Ascended

I use tubs for my ball pythons, Glass would help. My sheds are ok though as I spray at shed time. its just a pain with the two bowls for normal humidity levels for ball pythons, but moss in a sweat box is something I have used in the past. Worth considering. But its hard for me to keep non shed humidity up in the tank.

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You don't still have hides?

Maybe remove a bowl and add a hide with some moss. With the moss there is no worrying about the outside humidity because the snake will be in the hide where the humidity is.

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Originally Posted by Ascended

....Well, that's the dream :D ...

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Yeah, mine anyway...https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f3ca

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Originally Posted by KMG

You don't still have hides?
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Yes i do have hides.
What I meant was i used to also put an extra box with moss in it and with a lid and a hole in for the snake to enter it , just for bad sheds or laying eggs for north american snakes. I called it a sweat box.

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Originally Posted by KMG

Maybe remove a bowl and add a hide with some moss. With the moss there is no worrying about the outside humidity because the snake will be in the hide where the humidity is.

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Your convincing me somewhat, Still a few reservations. That that would need regular watering with the low humidity I have. Also some of my ball pythons don't use the hide boxes provided.
I suppose I should consider this again for some of my ball pythons. Sphagnum Moss grows wild here and is cheep and easy to obtain.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Yeah, mine anyway...https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...m/mail/e/1f3ca

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Seriously its mine too. Seriously :cool:

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Originally Posted by Ascended

...
Your convincing me somewhat, Still a few reservations. That that would need regular watering with the low humidity I have. Also some of my ball pythons don't use the hide boxes provided.
I suppose I should consider this again for some of my ball pythons. Sphagnum Moss grows wild here and is cheep and easy to obtain.

Seriously its mine too. Seriously :cool:

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I tend to find that snakes NEEDING higher humidity, like in shed cycle, will seek out & use a humid hide that they may otherwise seem to ignore. Worth a try, IMO. Especially since you can locally source the sphagnum moss- you're lucky!

And as far as the https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...m/mail/e/1f3ca, I'm serious too. I swim laps for 3 months -all summer here & starting soon- in an outdoor pool, & I can hardly wait for the indoor aquatic facility that our town has approved & will be building over the next couple years, so we'll be able to swim all year long. It's the best exercise for me & for so many others, plus it's just so much fun. I thought about putting in an "Endless Pool" at home, because I know I can lap in place (I swim with fins) but now I'll wait for the facility to be built. The funding was voted in. :D

I understand about the dry interior since my HVAC in some ways is just too good and it really dries out the air in my house. During the winter the humidity can drop below 15%, and I end up with cracked skin on my hands.

I started hanging towels, jeans, bedding, etc. on a drying rack in the house after I washed them. Anything heavy that would take a long time in the clothes dryer, I just put on the rack. Saves electricity and it does help with the humidity.

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Originally Posted by Ascended

Any suggestions as to how can I raise the background humidity in my snake room. Besides a humidifier.

I have to use two bowls currently and that reduces floor space for my ball pythons.

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You don't say what type of cage, tub or aquarium you are using but I have used a humidifier for the room to keep the humidity up a little at approx 50%. This seems to do fine with the rack system as the tubs stay at or above 60-65% generally. In my aquariums, I heard of using a ball of moss inside a nylon stocking and tried this for a while but switched to using a damp sponge that I place on top of the warm side hide. This brings the humidity up inside the tank (instead of trying to make it rain in the snake room).. If the sponge gets dirty I just throw it away. They are 2 for a dollar at The Dollar Tree so much cheaper than sphagnum moss & cleaner too. I have found that the larger the hide the sponge is placed on the better this works. Hope this helps.

HVAC systems do pull a lot of moisture from the air in our homes. When I do laundry, I do a lot of "damp dry" also, & hang things up while they finish drying. I also have a fair number of "hand wash" things like sweaters & delicate tops that say "dry flat"- & that's where my large screen topped tanks come in handy. My snakes enjoy the humidity, while my stuff gets dry. :D

Admittedly my "method" is rather inconsistent though...:rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by NCSteve

You don't say what type of cage, tub or aquarium you are using

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I have used glass tanks for other high humidity snakes in the past, like rainbow boas. But this time round only ball pythons, and tubs in racks

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Originally Posted by NCSteve

Y
heard of using a ball of moss inside a nylon stocking and tried this for a while but switched to using a damp sponge that I place on top of the warm side hide. This brings the humidity up inside the tank (instead of trying to make it rain in the snake room).. If the sponge gets dirty I just throw it away. They are 2 for a dollar at The Dollar Tree so much cheaper than sphagnum moss & cleaner too. I have found that the larger the hide the sponge is placed on the better this works. Hope this helps.

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Yes, considering sphagnum moss, but that would need monitoring and repeated dampening and so it would just be easier if I could just use bowls, and raise the background a few degrees.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I tend to find that snakes NEEDING higher humidity, like in shed cycle, will seek out & use a humid hide that they may otherwise seem to ignore. Worth a try, IMO. Especially since you can locally source the sphagnum moss- you're lucky!

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I was actually surprised about how true this is. Since swapping to a PVC enclosure I've had a much easier time maintaining humidity, but I left the humid hide just in case. As my humidity drops throughout the week, I usually mist once a week just to give the enclosure a little boost, I notice he spends a few hours a day in his humid hide, and if he's in there for a day or two I know with 95% certainty that he's in shed and I just leave him alone.

Can't recommend humid hides enough, regardless of what kind of enclosure you have.

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Originally Posted by Hugsplox

I was actually surprised about how true this is. Since swapping to a PVC enclosure I've had a much easier time maintaining humidity, but I left the humid hide just in case. As my humidity drops throughout the week, I usually mist once a week just to give the enclosure a little boost, I notice he spends a few hours a day in his humid hide, and if he's in there for a day or two I know with 95% certainty that he's in shed and I just leave him alone.

Can't recommend humid hides enough, regardless of what kind of enclosure you have.

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Thanks for all the helpful suggestions.

I am going to try extra hides again with sphagnum moss but I don't want to rely on them all the time. With less than 30% background humidity most of the time, I worry about the snakes spending too much time in the wet hides. Low air flow and possible too much humidity in the hides and the risks of bacterial build up and risk to to skin and repertory infection that may create.
I can spray the tank in the morning and its dry again in the afternoon in my environment.

I will also try the suggestion of a cloths rack in the room, also the fish tank seems fun, I like fish and the nice colours and lighting.

If all that does not work I may have to give in and get a humidifier. But I resist it.