Reptichip vs. Reptile Prime for HUMIDITY

[Charles8088]

I'm using Reptichip for the bp T8 enclosure. But, humidity still seems to be an issue. Sphagnum moss wasn't helping. The lower humidity isn't a big deal for the MBK, in the other half of the T8, but for the ball not so good. She shed yesterday, and has a little stuck shed on the head. No big deal... I'm sure she'll work it out after I misted the substrate heavily and brought the humidity back up.

But... had me thinking... I thought the Reptichip was supposed to be good for holding the humidity. I still have a problem keeping it up. Has anyone used Reptichip AND Reptile Prime to give a comparison? I'm going to finish off the Reptichip. But, should I move to Reptile Prime? A little more expensive, but worth it if the humidity is better kept with that one.

[Sauzo]

Lol how do you have low humidity with ReptiChips? I had the opposite with that stuff. My cages would get so much condensation in them, you couldnt see anything and i literally had droplets of moisture forming on the roof of my cages. It would last for days. i ended up getting fed up with it and actually went back to aspen which i used for years and never had issues. If i needed something for humidity, ReptiChips would be my second choice as I still love my aspen and my snakes seem to really enjoy the aspen as they burrow all over and 'play' around in it. Plus i can just as easily mist the aspen if i need to bump up humidity for a shed. Contrary to what a lot of people say about aspen molding, i have had ReptiChips and Eco Earth both mold on me, yet never had aspen mold for me. I believe its due to waste material being locked into the substrate and then staying wet. I find aspen easy to spot clean and get everything.

I've never used Reptile Prime but it looks pretty much like a less fine version of Eco Earth. If it is like it, the stuff sucks for baby snakes. I had to hold my surinames' mouth open 2 times and swab Eco Earth out with a Q-Tip and then use a spray bottle and hang her head down and rinse her mouth out. She wasnt very happy as this was our beginning meeting with each other in the first month lol.

Anyways, I'm sure you will get varied experiences with the any substrate and my advice is order a brick of whatever you are interested in and give it a try yourself. If you like it, then ignore everyone else and stick with it. If you hate it, then order something else and give that a try until you find something you and the snakes both seem to like

[Charles8088]

Lol how do you have low humidity with ReptiChips? I had the opposite with that stuff. My cages would get so much condensation in them, you couldnt see anything and i literally had droplets of moisture forming on the roof of my cages...

Exactly my point. Have no idea why it won't hold humidity. Maybe its me, the way I'm using it. Before I used it, it was all completely dry. I've opened and expanded the compressed bricks weeks before even getting the snake. So, it was in a tub drying out. This stuff was completely dry. So, when it came time to put it in the enclosure, I would wet it and mix it around in a smaller tub, then drop into the enclosure. I didn't soak it, just wet it a little. Figuring, that over time I'll mist it inside the enclosure to bring it up to what I'm happy with. So, I'd bring it up to about 60, and the next day it'd be down to high 40's. Spray again, bring it up, next day back down.

Maybe I'm not putting a thick enough layer? I'm putting in only enough to cover the floor. Maybe a little deeper? Should I heavily soak the substrate, and then squeeze out all excess, and then place it in there? Not sure. Will play with it, of course. And, more than likely will also try the Reptile Prime.

How do you prep it before using? How deep a layer?

[Sauzo]

Exactly my point. Have no idea why it won't hold humidity. Maybe its me, the way I'm using it. Before I used it, it was all completely dry. I've opened and expanded the compressed bricks weeks before even getting the snake. So, it was in a tub drying out. This stuff was completely dry. So, when it came time to put it in the enclosure, I would wet it and mix it around in a smaller tub, then drop into the enclosure. I didn't soak it, just wet it a little. Figuring, that over time I'll mist it inside the enclosure to bring it up to what I'm happy with. So, I'd bring it up to about 60, and the next day it'd be down to high 40's. Spray again, bring it up, next day back down.

Maybe I'm not putting a thick enough layer? I'm putting in only enough to cover the floor. Maybe a little deeper? Should I heavily soak the substrate, and then squeeze out all excess, and then place it in there? Not sure. Will play with it, of course. And, more than likely will also try the Reptile Prime.

How do you prep it before using? How deep a layer?

You need to soak some of it and then mix it up if that makes sense. Dont soak it all or else you will have a mess lol. The stuff absorbs LOTS of water and will transfer the humidity to itself. So if you have like half of it fairly wet and mix it up together with drier stuff, it will all even out. Once it dries out, you have to add a decent amount of water to get it back to moist. When i used it, i would just push the stuff into a big mountain and then pour a glass or two of water on it and stir it up and then spread it out again. Misting it really wont do much unless you are seriously misting it like crazy.

And like you said, play with it. obviously just misting it wont work for your set up so try the soak and squeeze method. Try the method i suggested with half wet, half damp and mix it all up. When i mixed up batches of it, i would just throw a brick in a big tub and pour a few glasses of hot water on it and let it sit for 15 mins or so, then crumble it up. Then when i got to dry stuff, rinse and repeat with pouring more water glasses on it. The extra substrate i would just put the lid on the tub and put it next to my cage stacks. It stayed damp for weeks.

[SiXandSeven8ths]

Lol how do you have low humidity with ReptiChips?

I'll clue you in on why I have low humidity with it. (I don't know why people are so ignorant on this site...) I live in the South Dakota. It is December. The air gets very dry in the house. This is due to the cold, dry air outside (though at times it can be up to 60% humidity outside). But the outside temps and humidity isn't the problem. Its the inside. And when it is cold outside you run your furnace. That warm, dry air lowers the inside humidity considerably.

When my T8s get cleaned and fresh substrate put in, they maintain good humidity for a while (about 2 weeks in the winter and 4-6 weeks in the summer). But the stuff will start to dry. Combining the RHP in the T8 with the ambient air quality you will end up with dry substrate.

Not everyone uses heat tape. For me that stuff sucked. Did nothing for me. So consider that if someone uses a heat lamp or RHP, that heat will start to dry out your air and substrate. Not everyone lives in fracking Florida. Our homes aren't a constant 80+ degrees at 75% humidity. How anyone lives like that is beyond me. But because I don't I have to do different things to keep my snakes environment optimal.

[Charles8088]

I'll clue you in on why I have low humidity with it. (I don't know why people are so ignorant on this site...) I live in the South Dakota. It is December. The air gets very dry in the house. This is due to the cold, dry air outside (though at times it can be up to 60% humidity outside). But the outside temps and humidity isn't the problem. Its the inside. And when it is cold outside you run your furnace. That warm, dry air lowers the inside humidity considerably.

When my T8s get cleaned and fresh substrate put in, they maintain good humidity for a while (about 2 weeks in the winter and 4-6 weeks in the summer). But the stuff will start to dry. Combining the RHP in the T8 with the ambient air quality you will end up with dry substrate.

Not everyone uses heat tape. For me that stuff sucked. Did nothing for me. So consider that if someone uses a heat lamp or RHP, that heat will start to dry out your air and substrate. Not everyone lives in fracking Florida. Our homes aren't a constant 80+ degrees at 75% humidity. How anyone lives like that is beyond me. But because I don't I have to do different things to keep my snakes environment optimal.

My environment closely resembles yours... dry air, cold, furnace for heat, in the basement. I know the stuff eventually dries out, but it just seemed like it was drying out too quick for me.

[Sauzo]

I'll clue you in on why I have low humidity with it. (I don't know why people are so ignorant on this site...) I live in the South Dakota. It is December. The air gets very dry in the house. This is due to the cold, dry air outside (though at times it can be up to 60% humidity outside). But the outside temps and humidity isn't the problem. Its the inside. And when it is cold outside you run your furnace. That warm, dry air lowers the inside humidity considerably.

When my T8s get cleaned and fresh substrate put in, they maintain good humidity for a while (about 2 weeks in the winter and 4-6 weeks in the summer). But the stuff will start to dry. Combining the RHP in the T8 with the ambient air quality you will end up with dry substrate.

Not everyone uses heat tape. For me that stuff sucked. Did nothing for me. So consider that if someone uses a heat lamp or RHP, that heat will start to dry out your air and substrate. Not everyone lives in fracking Florida. Our homes aren't a constant 80+ degrees at 75% humidity. How anyone lives like that is beyond me. But because I don't I have to do different things to keep my snakes environment optimal.

If you are calling me ignorant, get off your high horse. You have no idea how long ive kept reptiles and amphibians.

The OPs question was why is his stuff not holding humidity for long. I was giving him tips on how to mix it to get the best saturation. You shouldnt have to mist the stuff and misting will do pretty much nothing for it. You have to remix it with a few glasses of water. Even in the winter with heaters running a lot etc, the stuff should hold humidity in a limited airflow cage for at least a week a two.

And i dont remember anyone saying the stuff wouldnt dry out. Thats pretty obvious.

Also an RHP isnt the only thing that will dry it out, heat tapes will too. Pretty much any kind of heat applied to it will via evaporation.

Bottom line is i feel the 'people on this site are ignorant' comment was uncalled for and portrays you on some high horse reptile know it all. Now you might know a lot, you might know jack squat. i am not going to make that call as i dont know you but i will say, i am far from ignorant when it comes to reptiles and amphibians. i have kept them since i was a 12 year old kid almost 35 years ago. There was no t-stats and pvc cages and all the modern stuff now when i was growing up. You kept large constrictors in 2x2 frames with sheets of plywood nailed to them and heat lamps on rheostats. It was like the old west or MacGuyver ingenuity back then lol.

[SDA]

TIL Sauzo is actually older than I am but not by much.

[Sauzo]

TIL Sauzo is actually older than I am but not by much.

Lol, yeah im an old coot.

[Godzilla78]

i'll clue you in on why i have low humidity with it. (i don't know why people are so ignorant on this site...) i live in the south dakota. It is december. The air gets very dry in the house. This is due to the cold, dry air outside (though at times it can be up to 60% humidity outside). But the outside temps and humidity isn't the problem. Its the inside. And when it is cold outside you run your furnace. That warm, dry air lowers the inside humidity considerably.

When my t8s get cleaned and fresh substrate put in, they maintain good humidity for a while (about 2 weeks in the winter and 4-6 weeks in the summer). But the stuff will start to dry. Combining the rhp in the t8 with the ambient air quality you will end up with dry substrate.

Not everyone uses heat tape. For me that stuff sucked. Did nothing for me. So consider that if someone uses a heat lamp or rhp, that heat will start to dry out your air and substrate. Not everyone lives in fracking florida. Our homes aren't a constant 80+ degrees at 75% humidity. How anyone lives like that is beyond me. But because i don't i have to do different things to keep my snakes environment optimal.

dingdingdingdingding!!!! We have a winner!
This.
You can use the best substrate in the world, but if the ambient air is dry, and you are constantly heating it, you will still need constant humidity additions. I use a humidifier in the dry winter, in the summer it gets humid, so I just mist the tubs once in awhile.