How to make a "humidity window"

[icygirl]

High Humidity Problems In Your Snake Tubs?

When I first transferred my snakes from glass aquariums to Sterilite tubs, I had a lot of problems with high humidity, due to evaporation from the water bowl and low air circulation in the tub. I drilled so many holes in the tub it started to look like swiss cheese, but the problem wasn't going away. My boyfriend and I came up with this method to increase air circulation and decrease humidity in Sterilite tubs. This is extremely inexpensive and easy to do, it is very safe for your snakes, and there are no sharp edges that they can cut themselves on. I now use this for all of my snakes and it has worked great.

*Disclaimer #1: This method works well if you use flexwatt or another UTH as a heat source (thermostat controlled, of course). I have not tested it using overhead heat lights or ceramic heat emitters, but I wouldn't recommend it as the dried glue might start to melt if the lights get too hot.

*Disclaimer #2: This method works great for ball pythons and small-to-medium colubrids, but I probably wouldn't use it for strong, heavy snakes that could break through the wire mesh.

Here's what the final product looks like:





What you will need:
-A plastic tub with a top made of somewhat malleable plastic. (You need to be able to drill holes through it and cut a section away, without it cracking or splitting.) I use Sterilite tubs from Wal-Mart, which generally cost around $10, depending on the size of the tub you are buying.
-A dremel or strong drill that can make holes in the tub top's plastic.
-Heavy duty scissors or box cutters, again, that can cut through the tub top's plastic. (Or a stronger tool if you have it.)
-A roll or sheet of thin wire mesh - similar to the stuff you'd find on a screen door. You can probably buy a roll of it at a hardware store for between $10 and $20.
-Between 8 and 20 cable ties or "zip" ties, depending on how large your window is. I found a 25-pack for $1.54 at Wal-mart.
-A pair of scissors to cut the wire mesh and to cut off the ends of the cable ties.
-A hot glue gun and glue gun sticks. I bought one in the craft section of Wal-Mart, the Ad-Tech High Temp, for under $10.

The cost per tub goes way down if you are doing this for multiple tubs, because the glue gun and roll of wire mesh can be reused many times for this.

Cutting the Window
First you need to cut a window out of the tub cover. Generally I will use a dremel to make holes in the general shape and size of the window I want, then I will use the heavy-duty scissors to cut along the holes. You can always use stronger tools that can more quickly cut the window, depending on what you have available to you.

How big should the window be? It depends on how much you want to adjust your humidity, and also on the ambient humidity in your house or snake room. My corn does fine with the same humidity as in my house, so his window covers almost his entire tub cover. For my ball pythons, I use smaller windows. Remember: even if the window makes your humidity too low, you can cover part of it with a towel to create a sort of "humidity aperture".

After you make the window, clear off any excess pieces of plastic that have come off as a result of drilling/cutting.

Securing the Mesh with Cable/Zip Ties
Cut out a piece of the wire mesh that is slightly bigger than the window you made. You will want enough room on the outsides to add the zip ties and also to fold over the edges of the mesh.

Line up your mesh piece over the window hole, and drill holes through both pieces at the locations pointed out in this picture. You are trying to roughly attach the mesh to the tub top with the zip ties. Adjust the number of zip ties used based on how big the window is.


Now thread your zip ties through the holes and zip them tight, and then cut the ends off. You can see how I did it in this picture:


The purpose of the zip ties is to add a base stability to the window, and also to hold the mesh in place when you are gluing it down.

Gluing Down the Edges
Plug in your hot glue gun and wait for it to heat up. I'm sure there are many different kinds of glue guns out there; I just use a cheap craft glue gun and have not run into any problems with it.

Once the glue gun is hot, trace the edge of the window with glue. The glue should sink through the wire mesh and touch the plastic of the tub cover; when it dries the mesh will be stuck inside the glue, and the glue will be attached to the plastic. Make sure that you glue over any sharp plastic edges. You also will want to glue over the holes through the mesh that the zip ties went through; if you leave small holes in the mesh, it might tear in the future.

After you've glued the top of the window, wait for it to dry, pull off any excess "glue strings", and flip it over to do the back side. This is very important because it increases the stability of the window and will cover up any sharp plastic edges that are facing into the snake's enclosure. Once again, when you are done, make sure to get rid of any excess "glue strings".

View from the back.


Folding Off the Sharp Edges of the Wire Mesh
When I first tried this, I didn't fold off the edges, but every time I'd go to touch the tub cover, I'd get poked by the fraying edges of the mesh sticking out. Taping them down proved futile. So this simple extra step will save you lots of finger pricks.

Fold over the sharp edges of the mesh that are sticking out. Then, while holding it down on either side, make a "dot" of hot glue over the folded mesh. (Making "lines" of glue is unnecessary since you're just trying to hold this part down, and probably would make a mess.) Same concept as before - if you are holding it down on either side, the glue will sink through the mesh and make contact with the plastic, and will then dry in place. Make several "dots" around the perimeter of the folded mesh so that it stays down.

Again, make sure to remove any excess glue pieces or glue "strings".

You can see how I did this in the picture:


And voila! You are done.



Dried hot glue is water resistant and fairly sturdy, and when it dries there is no way it can harm your snake, unless you have been careless cleaning up any excess pieces of dried glue that have come off. The mesh itself is not terribly strong - I wouldn't recommend balancing heavy objects on top of it - but since it is on top of the tub it should not matter.

Once again: If you made your window too large and your humidity drops too low, all you have to do is cover part of it.

I hope this method is helpful to anyone out there who is struggling to decrease snake tub humidity. If you have any questions or suggestions let me know!!

[jspuds]

This looks pretty interesting for a plastic tub. If anyone here has a plywood tank, on the other hand, I highly recommend the cheapo $5 floor vents from home depot - I just jigsawed out a hole for it, popped it in, and drilled it down; I can open and close the thing with fluctuations in weather (and therefore humidity).

[Crazy4Herps]

Thanks! I'll bookmark this in case I don't get my humidity problems solved... its kind of weird for me to be talking about too-high humidity; I live in the desert where it is an average of 40% (this time of year, it rarely gets above the 30%s!) I'd get a humidifier for my room, but I'm getting a Bearded Dragon, and they need low humidity.....