Help

[tkdlover123]

I have a heat pad under the terrarium and have a night heat lamp over it. I have a cold side with a temperature of 84-85 and a hot side with a temperature of 90.
However, even if I use eco-earth and sphagnum moss, the humidity in the terrarium still ranges from 30-40. How can I raise my humidity up without creating any molds. Thank you.

[anicatgirl]

Mesh top? Cover the top like 90% in foil. It helps a lot.

[KMG]

My Ball's tank humidity stay in the 30s. I added moss to the hides a few years back and don't have to do much else but dampen it once it dries out and keep is moist during a shed. This has given me great sheds even with low humidity in the tank. I do have most of the screen covered and that will help but it is usually not enough to fix the issue. Some moss can do a lot of good for your snake. It creates a high humidity level inside the hide and since that is where your snake hangs out most of the time is benefits from it a lot with mold or RI issues.

[tkdlover123]

So I cover the top with an aluminum foil? Also will my snake get a RI with too moist substrate or moss?

[anicatgirl]

Too moist of substrate and moss can cause scale rot and an RI, because they aren't meant to live on 100% humidity surfaces. It can be a wreck and not fun for you or the snake. Better to avoid it entirely. And yes, with a tank like we have, i have like an inch on two sides open and around her light. The rest is foil. You can cover cardboard with it or just fold it around the edges.

[dr del]

Also those gauges can be seriously unreliable. I normally recommend them as fit only for throwing at the salesman proffering them.

[anicatgirl]

However I would like to add that those guages are horridly inaccurate at best. For judging temp and humidity. You need like, a digital thermometer/hydrometer. Walmart man

[KMG]

I have always used cypress mulch and for the past few years have used my moss trick. It will not cause a RI and it will not cause scale rot.

Once the cypress dries out I don't miss with it expect the water that gets into in for my live plants. This does not make the cypress wet or moist hardly at all as it soaks into the lower level.

As for the moss I make it damp and then place it into the hide. This will not cause 100% humidity and will not cause any problems. Many here use it. I then allow it to dry out and once its nice and dry I wet it again and repeat the process.

During a shed I keep the moss damp throughout the entire shed process and then revert back to my regular routine. I don't even have to mist doing this and my Ball is healthy as can be.

Like I said I have done this a good number of years and I believe it is the easiest way to keep a snake happy in a glass tank. In my forty gallon I have a mix of cypress, eco earth, and repti bark, with live plants that I water. Even with all of that the humidity does not stay up. Using the moss I have perfect sheds and I do nothing more than what I said above.

When covering the top you want some area open to allow for a good air exchange. Allowing the air to sit will lead to issues.

For my top in glass tank I cut cardboard and then covered it with foil. I then just place it on top of the screen and leave it alone. This way if I need to I can take it off easy.

[tkdlover123]

Thank you so much!

[DVirginiana]

I mentioned in that other thread that those were the gages that almost caused me to kill one of my frogs when I first got into keeping exotics. Seriously, I compared it to the readings from my digital thermometer and it was about ten degrees off at best.