Humid Hide & Improving Habitat

[Rascal]

Hi,

I'm concerned about keeping a consistent humidity in my snakes cage.
Right now shes housed in a 4ft by 1ft glass tank, 21in tall.

The tank is warmed by an under tank heater and a 100w ceramic heat emitter, and things dry out if I don't keep spraying.

I've heard about humid hides before and just wanted to know how I should set one up. I've heard people use moss too. Is the dried moss from the store good, or is it better to use live moss?

Also I'd like to make a more natural environment, including real plants or shrubberies. What kinds of plants are good for using in a snake's cage?

I heard about people using living soil as their substrate and that it can be perfect if it drains properly. (Maybe alittle much to setup right now )

I want to have a setup that I don't need to worry about maintaining, besides filling up the water dish cleaning every week.

Thanks,



sg

[fishmommy]

Hi

What type of cover do you have on your tank? If it is a screen top, you will want to cover most of it to retain humidity and heat in the cage. During shed, you can cover it with wet towels. There are many threads on glass tank issues on this web site that should be helpful

I use a plastic cage, which also needs a little help to keep humidity levels optimal. I am kind of a noob (got my first BP in Feb) but I have played around a bit with stuff related to humidity and here is what I found:

Cypress mulch substrate seems to help quite a bit in keeping humidity levels up. When you first put it in it is way too humid for a day or so (you need to either dry it out first or open up the cage to vent it a few times a day until it stabilizes at a good level. After that I mist the substrate once a day or less.

For a humid hide I bought a Repti-Shelter hide http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2006+113872
and filled it with damp sphagnum moss (dead, not live). I mist it once a day during shedding periods, and leave it dry the rest of the time. my BP LOVES this thing and uses it every day. He likes the dry moss bedding when he's not shedding, and uses it religiously when he is shedding and I am keeping it damp. I get perfect sheds every time.

[Rascal]

I'm using a screen top and Coconut fiber substrate.

Btw, the coconut fiber I bought is really fine, like sand or dirt. Shouldn't it be more fibrous and thicker?

[fishmommy]

ugh...just lost my post....
to recap in less words

plants get crushed by the snake, need light that affects your heat levels, and can't be disinfected when pooped on.
good silk plants (fake) look real, need no care, and can be pulled out and cleaned easily.

soil...you need to use soil that is free of bugs and other nasties. many people use Coco bedding, which is a lot like soil
you don't want your snake to be on damp substrate so if using soil-like stuff be careful about how much you mist.
I like cypress mulch....easy to clean, holds humidity, and dries/drains really well.

[fishmommy]

try covering most of your screen top with saran wrap. That should hold your misting humidity much better. Leave a couple inches open for ventilation.

I also recommend searching this site for
"screen top" or "glass tank" or similar words...lots of great info tucked away

[Kagez28]

for my humid hide i use a small rubbermaid tub, like what you put leftovers in. i cut a hole for him to get in and out and put damp paper towels down on bottom. fill it with a enough warm water to saturate the towels, and put it in his tank.