Humidity Issue in AP T8

I received my Animal Plastics T8 last week. I let it air out for 5 days as the sealant had a strong odor. Anyways, I set it up and get the heat going yesterday morning. I use Reptichip and the Reptichip had been in a open storage bin that I've been airing out for a few weeks now. Well the humidity level inside the enclosure is 95+%.

How can I decrease the humidity in a T8?

I really like the Reptichip because it does help with humidity because my BPs were in Exo Terra Large Lows and I like the size of the chunks. I did try Reptile Prime and find it to be to small and my female missed a mouse once and had some of it stuck on her teeth. Is there a dry loose coconut substrate out there that I could mix with my Reptichip? I really don't want to buy a new block and try to break it up without wetting it.

On a side note, I moved my 4 month old female Pied into one half of the T8. Her hides in her tub she was in were too small so I bought her new ones. I placed one of her old hides in there along with some of the old substrate just to help her feel more comfortable. Well she has two brand new larger but not too large hides and what does she do, yep goes into her old small half coconut sized plastic hide that spins as shes coiling up in there. so funny. I'm thinking of removing the old hide and maybe removing the new corner hide and the new half log and picking up a larger sized plastic half circle hide.

I look forward to your suggestions!

Sorry for the lengthy post!

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Originally Posted by ssmith73

I received my Animal Plastics T8 last week. I let it air out for 5 days as the sealant had a strong odor. Anyways, I set it up and get the heat going yesterday morning. I use Reptichip and the Reptichip had been in a open storage bin that I've been airing out for a few weeks now. Well the humidity level inside the enclosure is 95+%.

How can I decrease the humidity in a T8?

I really like the Reptichip because it does help with humidity because my BPs were in Exo Terra Large Lows and I like the size of the chunks. I did try Reptile Prime and find it to be to small and my female missed a mouse once and had some of it stuck on her teeth. Is there a dry loose coconut substrate out there that I could mix with my Reptichip? I really don't want to buy a new block and try to break it up without wetting it.

On a side note, I moved my 4 month old female Pied into one half of the T8. Her hides in her tub she was in were too small so I bought her new ones. I placed one of her old hides in there along with some of the old substrate just to help her feel more comfortable. Well she has two brand new larger but not too large hides and what does she do, yep goes into her old small half coconut sized plastic hide that spins as shes coiling up in there. so funny. I'm thinking of removing the old hide and maybe removing the new corner hide and the new half log and picking up a larger sized plastic half circle hide.

I look forward to your suggestions!

Sorry for the lengthy post!

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I had the same thing happen when I first setup my AP T10 with Reptichip. Are you using an RHP to heat the enclosure because you may quickly find out that it will zap the humidity levels? Just give it time to settle in. Let's just say I never had a reason to mist because my humidity levels were skyhigh.

I drilled holes on the sides. Used aspen for bedding. Removed water bowl 2x a week on bowl cleaning days. Turn a fan on, open the door (supervised) and air out for 15 min a day. I kept my king in the T8 and my bp in a tub but I am using aspen as well in my tubs due to its ability to keep humidity up at all times. If you need to up the humidity for shedding purposes, add a humid hide.

AP's don't suffer from low humidity issues like a glass tank or an Exo Terra. You might not need Reptichips anymore

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

I had the same thing happen when I first setup my AP T10 with Reptichip. Are you using an RHP to heat the enclosure because you may quickly find out that it will zap the humidity levels? Just give it time to settle in. Let's just say I never had a reason to mist because my humidity levels were skyhigh.

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I am using two RHPs, one on either side of the divider. The Reptichip has been sitting for at least 3 weeks if not more in an open tub, with me mixing it trying to dry it out. That stuff is no joke at holding water!!!

How long did it take to dry out to the proper levels?

I was actually thinking of switching over to aspen as I have some for my Hognose.

Maybe I should give it a shot!

Alright, I switched one side over to aspen to get an idea if the difference. I wish I knew how to add pictures to this forum.

Side note: as I was removing the old old substrate to replace it, I noticed my female left me a poopy present in the warm hide. Lol She really doesn't like going in it though. I'll have to give it a few days before switching to a plastic circular hide bigger than her older one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ssmith73

I am using two RHPs, one on either side of the divider. The Reptichip has been sitting for at least 3 weeks if not more in an open tub, with me mixing it trying to dry it out. That stuff is no joke at holding water!!!

How long did it take to dry out to the proper levels?

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Hard to tell because I had mine in a ventilated tub for months while I experimented with using ink-less newspaper as a substrate. I've since gone back to using the ReptiChip and have two enclosures (one with a couple of UTHs and another with an RHP) and the RHP really dries out the substrate. I would wait a couple of days to and see if the humidity drops. As long as it's not wet with condensation in the cage, you should be fine.

Can you "bake" the Reptichip on low in the oven for a few hours to dry it out? Then if it needs a little misting to get the level where you want it, it should hold there.

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Originally Posted by ryknoll3

Can you "bake" the Reptichip on low in the oven for a few hours to dry it out? Then if it needs a little misting to get the level where you want it, it should hold there.

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Is that I question for the general or are you stating I could bake the Reptichip? Because I could totally bake it if that's what it takes.