Humidity

[Carsten]

What should the humidity be for my one year old ball python. He lives in a ten gallon terarium and the substrate is a special kind of mulch for snakes.

[Slim]

BPs thrive in a constant humidity of 50%-60%. When you notice him going into shed you should bump it up to 70%, or as close to it as you can get. It will help them have a complete shed.

[Trackstrong83]

Between 50-60% is ideal. Bump it up to around 70-80 during shed. There is a care sheet on here that will tell you everything you need to know. I don't know the link though, someone on here will though.

[Trackstrong83]

Slim beat me to it. Lol

[Carsten]

How do I keep the humidity up to 60%. Right now its hovering around45-50%.

[Trackstrong83]

You can put the water bowl under the heat lame, the water will evaporate and bump up the humidity. Do you have anything covering the screen on top of the tank?

[The Serpent Merchant]

50% is fine. the ideal rage normally is 40%-60% it is only during shed that it needs to be higher (60% - 80%) there are many ways to increase the humidity, the easiest is to simply mist the cage more.

If you have a glass tank you can cover the top with a damp towel or foil. You can use a different substrate that holds moisture better, .....

If you have a tub (and you have drilled/melted holes in it) you can cover over the holes

for any cage a bigger water dish positioned over the hot spot (or under if you are using a heat lamp) will also increase the humidity.

[Trackstrong83]

50% is fine. the ideal rage normally is 40%-60% it is only during shed that it needs to be higher (60% - 80%) there are many ways to increase the humidity, the easiest is to simply mist the cage more.

If you have a glass tank you can cover the top with a damp towel or foil. You can use a different substrate that holds moisture better, .....

If you have (and you have drilled/melted holes in it you can cover over the holes

for any cage a bigger water dish positioned over the hot spot (or under if you are using a heat lamp) will also increase the humidity.

this ^^^

[kitedemon]

I don't bother to raise the RH I keep mine between 55-60% and don't change it during a shed and I have no shed issues at all. I don't think it needs to be over 60% it won't hurt but I have not found it to be necessary. I am very picky about accurate instruments so I use calibratable analogue ones that are more accurate than digital versions that are a reasonable price range. I check and calibrate them every 6 months or so. The digital ones I have used if they were accurate when new (60% of mine were) they don't stay that way for long and need to be replaced often. (my longest lasting was a fluker and it is still +7% after 14 months the next best was 12 months and -12%)

[paperaith]

I don't bother to raise the RH I keep mine between 55-60% and don't change it during a shed and I have no shed issues at all. I don't think it needs to be over 60% it won't hurt but I have not found it to be necessary. I am very picky about accurate instruments so I use calibratable analogue ones that are more accurate than digital versions that are a reasonable price range. I check and calibrate them every 6 months or so. The digital ones I have used if they were accurate when new (60% of mine were) they don't stay that way for long and need to be replaced often. (my longest lasting was a fluker and it is still +7% after 14 months the next best was 12 months and -12%)

Slightly OT, but how do you calibrate the analog ones?