what do people think about brian gundy's humidity recommendation ?

[EL-Ziggy]

I never worry about humidity with any of my snakes either. My humidity has ranged anywhere from 30-65%, depending on the season, and I've never had a bad shed or RI. I believe that hydration is more important than humidity with most snakes but there are some species like BRBs where higher humidity is definitely required.

[distaff]

Just a tip, might need to make sure those humid hides are only offered during shed cycles.

A lot of snakes that don't require high humidity outside of shed can develop skin conditions if they start to get "addicted" to staying in a humid hide all the time. Might not be a problem and it might be perfectly ok to keep one in the enclosure but keep an eye out if they start to stay in there all the time.

Hmmm...
Maybe they just prefer something about that particular hide? I have extra identical "Tupperwares." I am going to make dry hides with them - same box, same moss w/o water, and see what the snakes do. Will keep an eye on it. Thanks.

[artgecko]

Sadly I'm not fond of the tub/rack setup, the room for us is designed for a more visual encounter, I have my niece and nephew over a bit and they love seeing all the reptiles and I honestly don't mind the small amount of extra care I have to have for humidity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Then keeping something to cover most of the screen top (if using glass tanks) will help. Use plexi glass or foil... There is a sticky somewhere on the forum about making a foil cover for a screen top that holds humidity very well. Using a substrate that helps with humidity should also help, but covering most of the screen lid will do the lion's share of the work.

[iddah]

I've kept my bp in 70-88% humidity since I got him, zero signs of respiratory problems or infection, I prefer to keep him at higher humidity than 50-60% anyway because I think higher humidity is beneficial to the snake and also removes the stress / hassle of having to up the humidity during shed cycles. If you look at the humidity levels in West and Central Africa it's way closer to the 70% and high 80s range than it is 50-60%. That seems more like the bare minimum of the humidity you should provide bp's imo. But I guess in the end it's about personal preference while also keeping the snakes' health in mind.

[Aerries]

Then keeping something to cover most of the screen top (if using glass tanks) will help. Use plexi glass or foil... There is a sticky somewhere on the forum about making a foil cover for a screen top that holds humidity very well. Using a substrate that helps with humidity should also help, but covering most of the screen lid will do the lion's share of the work.

I've actually tried the foil approach and did nothing for me....just a wet towel over the screen works best...every situation is different and like I said before if I still come home every day have have to do that little extra maintaining for my beeps then so be it. I love my animals because they are the only children I'll ever have.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ckuhn003]

I've kept my bp in 70-88% humidity since I got him, zero signs of respiratory problems or infection, I prefer to keep him at higher humidity than 50-60% anyway because I think higher humidity is beneficial to the snake and also removes the stress / hassle of having to up the humidity during shed cycles. If you look at the humidity levels in West and Central Africa it's way closer to the 70% and high 80s range than it is 50-60%. That seems more like the bare minimum of the humidity you should provide bp's imo. But I guess in the end it's about personal preference while also keeping the snakes' health in mind.

So glad to hear this because I feel like I'm stuck in this 70-88% range....no matter what I do short of getting a new enclosure.

[Starscream]

So glad to hear this because I feel like I'm stuck in this 70-88% range....no matter what I do short of getting a new enclosure.

Are you still using newspaper/paper towels or did you switch to something else? I've been baking my substrate to help get rid of some of the excess humidity, plus keep any nasty bacteria/bugs at bay. I ran into a similar issue when I didn't bake it at a high enough temp, although my regular ambient humidity around the house is closer to 45, 50%. If you're wanting to do coco husk, maybe cook it in the oven for about an hour, maybe two, at 300 degrees F? Seems to help keep the substrate dry-ish but not dusty for me. (The top layer dries out under my CHE so it lowers the humdity from 75% to about 60% on the hot side. Cool side maintains a 70%. Love it).

[ckuhn003]

Are you still using newspaper/paper towels or did you switch to something else? I've been baking my substrate to help get rid of some of the excess humidity, plus keep any nasty bacteria/bugs at bay. I ran into a similar issue when I didn't bake it at a high enough temp, although my regular ambient humidity around the house is closer to 45, 50%. If you're wanting to do coco husk, maybe cook it in the oven for about an hour, maybe two, at 300 degrees F? Seems to help keep the substrate dry-ish but not dusty for me. (The top layer dries out under my CHE so it lowers the humdity from 75% to about 60% on the hot side. Cool side maintains a 70%. Love it).

Yes, I'm still using unprinted paper from Home Depot. I would of loved to continue to use my Reptichip but that seems like a lot of work I think it basically comes down to the pvc enclosure I'm using holds humidity (regardless of the substrate I use). And it's not like I have the water bowl filled to the top.

[Starscream]

Yes, I'm still using unprinted paper from Home Depot. I would of loved to continue to use my Reptichip but that seems like a lot of work I think it basically comes down to the pvc enclosure I'm using holds humidity (regardless of the substrate I use). And it's not like I have the water bowl filled to the top.

That sucks :c. Like I said, baking it does remove a lot of humidity, so if you really wanted to use it you could try baking it dry-- 350 degrees F for two hours does that pretty well, and still no dust.

[Maddumpling]

Living in the bay area and I do talk to Brian from time to time and I do the same thing as well. When the snake is in blue or in shed, he mists them with a spray bottle all over their body and then just leaves them alone. I do the same thing too and I keep my snakes in a rack system. I really don't focus on humidity that much either. I care about the hot spot for the snake, mites/sickness from the animal, and if the snake is eating or not. But this is just the area that I live in and the system that I have. I keep my snakes in a bit smaller tub where the water bowl is also their hide so the water bowl goes over the heat tape and creates some humidity, but I've never measured the humidity of the tubs and never will. Never had a bad shed, never had a sick snake, or a snake that go off food due to bad habitat.