humidity help!!!

[nikitajane25]

Ok, we have 3 tanks. My husband has put foil over the top, the heat lamp is directly over the water bowls, we wrapped black contact paper around the 2 sides and back (from theoutside of course), we mist, we have a humidifier....and the humidity won't go higher then 40 (staying between 33and40). We finally put some moss in one of the hides to make a humidty hide. But what can we do to boost the humidity in those tanks?!?

[cmack91]

you could switch from heat lamps to using UTH's as the primary heat source, that way you could probably use a lower watt bulb to keep up ambient temps. or if you have a room you can keep heated up to 80, you could discard all heat lamps, and only use uth's. you also might want to try putting foam boards around three sides of the tanks, this should help heat hold in better, wich means you could possibly use lower wattage bulbs. wich in turn would help out humidity

[The Serpent Merchant]

What are you using to measure humidity? I had a hydrometer that was bad and never read above 60%. Do you mean that you can't even for a short period of time get the humidity above 40 or it won't stay above 40? If you can't even get it above 40% I would question your hydrometer.

[keith88]

two tanks have uths on a thermostat and we do use a low wattage bulb in our lights. Each tank has a digital accurite temp/hydro plus each tank has two analog thermo and one analog hydro. The humidity has fluctuated all the way up to 63 on the digitals as well as the analogs. Last reading of them was 42 percent all tanks humidity. I'm just gonna start misting three times a day and stuff stome more moss in the tanks maybee dampin the moss a bit.

[cmack91]

you probably just need to mist more then, i have mine in a 55g right now, and i have to basically spray an entire coat of water over everything about 5-6 times a day, sometimes more

[ksen1]

Hi, I had similar issues a few years ago when I started my collection. I couldnt keep the humidity up either.. To me, by adding foil to the top of the tank ( IF I READ RIGHT ) Foil actually absorbs the heat emitted by the lamp, acting as a over head head pad if you will, which intern kills the humidity.. I would get a piece of plexy glass cut to the size you need and drill a few wholes for air ventilation NOT to many as hot air rises. IF you have a ball python they dont really "need" over head lamps, you can switch the over head to a belly heat source whether be flexwatt OR zoomed pads that will be put under the glass ( not inside the tank )very inexpensive alternative to a light as flexwatt has a wattage per feet. adding a rheostat which is much cheaper than a helix will control your heat output.

I keep my snakes in tupperware containers with underbelly heat and i dont have any issues with humidity nor shedding.

[keith88]

Won't that put them at higher risk for scale rot getting the bedding that wet? I don't wanna cause mildew or mold to start forming

[keith88]

And we do have uth on the tanks we have the zoo med heat packs stuck to the underside of the tanks. We did a lot of homework on the matter. I just misted their tanks and the humidity jumped to 50 and I made humid hides in each of their tanks they seem to be doing a lot better now and the foil only covers half of the tank tops and the lights don't touch the foil. There about to go into shed so well see how the humid hides worked when they do shed thanks everyone for all the advice

[RestlessRobie]

I use Eco Earth substrate and make sure to stir it around weekly also I use a Plexi Cover with foil tape to reflect heat back in looks like
I have no problems with humidity neverhad an issue with scale rot or RI yet as well hope this helps

[Emily Hubbard]

I started out with a UTH and a bulb as well and had the same problem. IMO, bulbs just are not your friend, no matter what. I found as soon as I removed the bulb, humidity shot up and ambient temp plummeted. So, I got two more UTH. One was one of the smallest you can get and I put it on the outside of the back corner at the hotspot, on the side wall, just to raise the ambient temps. Then I got a third one for the cool side, but set the thermostat WAY low to 75. It just kicks on if the room temp drops on a really cold night, making a gentle, negligible heat. I will remove that one in the summer months, it's just my winter solution. Solved all my problems, three UTH in total. This system works great for me, but of course, all heat pads have GOT to be regulated, and I manually check hot, cool, and ambient temps every morning and every evening, just to make sure. I mist lightly about once a week and humidity is golden.

Just my solution. The right solution depends on type of tank, temp of the room, size of water bowl... it's all about analyzing the situation and finding what works for you and your set up.