Issues with humidity in my PVC tank

Hey all, so I recently moved my snake into a 4 x 2 x 2 PVC tank from Cornel’s World with hinged acrylic doors and an 80 watt RHP connected to a Herpstat 2 on Dimming mode, runs at 100%. Hot side temps range around 87-88 and cool side is 77-80. After trouble shooting with the Herpstat, I got the temperatures right and transferred him without issue, but my humidity levels are really starting to annoy me. I know it’s normal to have a humidity gradient but my issue is that it drops so quickly. I’m having to spray the tank 4x a day or more which I don’t think is normal. I use Govee thermo/hygrometers on the cool side and in the middle, and an Accurite thermo/hygrometer with a probe on the hot side. I just cannot seem to get a stable reading on my cool end (I was told this was the most practical way to measure humidity). Should I try pouring water in the corners? I don’t want to get mold which I’ve had an issue with in the past.. I use coconut husk fiber from Exo Terra as substrate. I have a large water bowl on the hot side to help with humidity but it doesn’t seem to be helping. Within a few hours, my hot and middle meters are reading 50% or lower and my cool side, when first sprayed reached up to 95% and then slowly drops within hours to 60%, then I have to spray again. I do not spray the door as I don’t want hard water stains.. should I start doing that? Does anyone have any tips? :(

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Originally Posted by ktea93

Hey all, so I recently moved my snake into a 4 x 2 x 2 PVC tank from Cornel’s World with hinged acrylic doors and an 80 watt RHP connected to a Herpstat 2 on Dimming mode, runs at 100%. Hot side temps range around 87-88 and cool side is 77-80. After trouble shooting with the Herpstat, I got the temperatures right and transferred him without issue, but my humidity levels are really starting to annoy me. I know it’s normal to have a humidity gradient but my issue is that it drops so quickly. I’m having to spray the tank 4x a day or more which I don’t think is normal. I use Govee thermo/hygrometers on the cool side and in the middle, and an Accurite thermo/hygrometer with a probe on the hot side. I just cannot seem to get a stable reading on my cool end (I was told this was the most practical way to measure humidity). Should I try pouring water in the corners? I don’t want to get mold which I’ve had an issue with in the past.. I use coconut husk fiber from Exo Terra as substrate. I have a large water bowl on the hot side to help with humidity but it doesn’t seem to be helping. Within a few hours, my hot and middle meters are reading 50% or lower and my cool side, when first sprayed reached up to 95% and then slowly drops within hours to 60%, then I have to spray again. I do not spray the door as I don’t want hard water stains.. should I start doing that? Does anyone have any tips? :(

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Pics of your enclosure would help us to help you. This thread will instruct you how to post pics. Generally speaking, to increase humidity, you need to decrease ventilation.

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Originally Posted by ktea93

Hey all, so I recently moved my snake into a 4 x 2 x 2 PVC tank from Cornel’s World with hinged acrylic doors...

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I got a description from their website. This enclosure has built in vent holes, so my first suggestion would be to cover them. I'd just use tape, at first, to see what effect it has. If it works, you can fill them with spray foam or silicone sealant later for appearances sake. If that doesn't do the trick, you can also add weather stripping around the doors. That should reduce ventilation even further.

Hey, thanks for the quick response! Should I just cover a few? I’m scared my
BP won’t have enough air.

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Originally Posted by ktea93

Hey, thanks for the quick response! Should I just cover a few? I’m scared my
BP won’t have enough air.

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I wouldn't cover them all- I didn't look this cage up to know how many there are, but maybe start with only covering half of them, & see how it goes with humidity.

***Important***: tape goes on the OUTSIDE only. ;) Never use tape inside an enclosure, since warmth & humidity tends to loosen it, then the snake can rub against it & have it stick to them, & when they use the heated area, the tape MAY end up essentially "hot-glued" to wherever it stuck on the snake. So obviously, that's not good. :colbert:

(I know this sounds far-fetched, but trust me, many years ago I found out the hard way...but now that we have forums to share what not to do, this is something we often bring up so it doesn't happen to you & yours. ;) My snake was okay, but it wasn't easy removing the tape around his neck- & even though he wasn't choked by it, he made it very clear that he hated "neck-wear"-:D)

Gotch, I covered 2 out of the 4 and I’ll see how it goes. Only used the tape on the outside, it’s foil tape.. is that okay? And yes no sticky anything of any kind in his enclosure, I was on the BP subreddit and I was told the exact same thing. I don’t even wanna think about the damage it could do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ktea93

Gotch, I covered 2 out of the 4 and I’ll see how it goes. Only used the tape on the outside, it’s foil tape.. is that okay? And yes no sticky anything of any kind in his enclosure, I was on the BP subreddit and I was told the exact same thing. I don’t even wanna think about the damage it could do.

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Any kind of tape is fine to block some air flow- it's on the outside. :gj:

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Originally Posted by ktea93

Hey, thanks for the quick response! Should I just cover a few? I’m scared my
BP won’t have enough air.

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You certainly don't want to make it air-tight, but you probably couldn't even if you wanted to. Blocking half the holes is a good start. If it works, great. Leave it at that. If it doesn't, I'd block the rest. The enclosure will get more than enough air flow around the doors.

I thought I fixed it with covering the two ventilation holes but I guess not :/ humidity is dropping fast again.. I’m scared to cover all the holes tho.. the door definitely has space between where air can get in but I’m worried that’s not enough? :( I get very paranoid.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ktea93

I thought I fixed it with covering the two ventilation holes but I guess not :/ humidity is dropping fast again.. I’m scared to cover all the holes tho.. the door definitely has space between where air can get in but I’m worried that’s not enough? :( I get very paranoid.

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Try covering all the vents, but only on one side. That will stop air from flowing through your enclosure and drying it out.

I’ll try that, thank you! I only covered one on each end so blocking off an entire section probably makes more sense lol