Alternative to stabilizing humidity??

[Coastietech]

I just recently bought my first ball pythons, purchased a female normal and a male Mojave from Ben Siegel's. I have read quite a bit on here as well as a few other sources dealing with humidity. This got me thinking, I also have a fairly large and substantial cigar collection as well. I use 60% rH beads to keep my humidors stable. They suck humidity up when it gets to humid and let out moisture when the humidity gets to low. They sell these type beads in 60%, 65% and 70%. About an 8oz mesh bag is good for a 4300 cubic inch area. So I'm wondering how practical this would be for a keeping the humidity stable in my tanks? They come in nylon mesh bags but the mesh is so tiny that theres no way the snake would be able to eat them unless they destroyed the bag. I'm wondering if anyone out there has tried this and if so does it work?

Here is a link to the product I was referring to.

On a side note I have lurked here for a few days just reading and doing research and am throughly impressed with the amount of information here. Thank you in advance for your help.

[Jeo123]

I'm not too sure that would work for something like this. Cigars are (usually) kept is a relatively closed environment so the moisture doesn't actually leave. When it evaporates, it gets stored in those beads, then gets released later.

With most BP set ups, unless you completely close off the air flow, you're going to have humidity loss through the gaps, and everytime you change the water you'll be increasing the humidity. Those beads rely on it being a closed environment, which BP tanks normally aren't.

Also, I know msot people on here complain about not being able to keep humidity high enough, and the only way to correct that is by adding more moisture. Otherwise, your beads will just release all the water they have, then sit there not doing anything.


I guess overall they probably would make it a little easier, but you'll probably be recharging them often.

P.S. Not sure if those are snake friendly. Nothing indicates they're not, but I'm sure they didn't study it either.

[snakesRkewl]

Tanks just plain suck for keeping humidity levels stable without doing modifications which is why most keepers switch to tubs eventually.

[Coastietech]

All very good points... I have some tupperware with wet sphagnum moss in there now and that seems to be keeping it up high enough for now, was just trying to come up with a more efficient way other than tubs.

[jfreels]

I've had great success with tanks. Check my sticky, it shows you how I handle the screen tops. I have tanks and tubs, so I'm not being biased