Longest holding humidity substrate?

[rockmissjess]

Covering the top with aluminum foil or aluminum foil tape is a must. I think you already said you do that. Cypress mulch is the best I've found, but even in Florida which is very humid, the humidity only holds for a couple weeks. Don't bother misting with water. Instead, when your humidity drops pour a couple cups of warm water over your substrate and mix it in very well with your hands. Much more effective than misting.

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I might have to do that daily cause misting isnt helping but for like a hour or two.. arizona is sooo dry.. Im thinking i might get the plastic sheeting (that looks like glass) and cut it and put it on the top to keep even more moisture in than the foil is doing..

[Craiga 01453]

Don't bother misting with water. Instead, when your humidity drops pour a couple cups of warm water over your substrate and mix it in very well with your hands. Much more effective than misting.

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I'm sure it was just an oversight, but I wanted to follow up just to clarify...

If using this technique it's important to make sure you're not adding too much water and leaving the substrate wet.
If there's too much water bacteria begins to breed and scale rot becomes a concern.

[Craiga 01453]

yes, I have two 40 gallon breeders with screen tops... tops are foiled with painters tape over the top.. about 95% covered... i thought about getting the clear plastic sheeting (thats like glass but not glass) instead... and just cutting it to fit each to hold humidity better... if I run a humidifier in the snakes closet i can get up a little (i have a small humidifier) i was also thinking of investing in a bigger humidifier that can run longer times...

Since you have 40 breeders you definitely have room for a second water dish. I have one of my BPs in a 40 breeder and I actually use plastic dog bowls from Walmart for hides/water bowls. They're square and hollow underneath. Just big enough for the snake to soak if it chooses, holds plenty of water and doubles as a hide. I just elevate the dish using flat rocks when the snakes get big enough and need more room. And they're like 88 cents. I just put one on each side as if they were hides.

Using a humidifier will also help a lot. I started using one this past winter and it definitely helps.

[XPLSV]

I just recently converted an Exo Terra Large-Wide: replaced the four screen panels on the top with Lexan. The frog guys/gals convert a lot of the smaller sized Exo Terra tanks. I went with the Lexan because the polycarbonate is much easier to drill than glass or acrylic. It's not quite as arid here in Colorado as Arizona, but it certainly isn't Florida or Alabama. It is retaining humidity even better than I expected...and I expected a big improvement. I'm only using newspaper at this point, but a light misting is good for 2 days. So...not a direct answer to your substrate question, but as others have said, working with the screen top can do a world of good.

[Burticus]

I'm in AZ myself but using a plastic tub at the moment. Inside the home humidity is ~30% and I was actually getting my humidity a little too high in enclosure using cypress mulch. I did some testing with my ceiling fan and found even though my tub has ventilation holes on side, the fan on LOW would considerably affect humidity in tub over course of day. So I would definitely look at what kind of air you're pushing around the room as well!