Fan's

[Carl]

Ok so I really have not been on any snake forums for the past 2 years. I have ran across some new thing's and new care habits for ball python's which I have found interesting. I have ran across post that say's NOT to keep a fan blowing on enclosures. When I was having humidity issues a week ago I was doing that but nothing bad happened to any snakes. So what exactly does the fan do to the snakes? I heard one person say that it can cause RI? If so how is this possible when its lowering the humidity to a stable reading? I have tried researching this and have not found anything on about this

[Blitzjg]

I don't know but Ill help bump the thread with my thought, and that would be you are increasing the air flow into and out of the cage, (which sounds nice) but your also increasing the particulates and possibility for introducing harmful objects like certain bacteria/dust etc.

[Carl]

That's a possibility. I am very surprised that nobody can really answer this lol.

[piedplus]

I use a ceiling fan, usually on medium and in the direction that pulls air away. This seems best to circulate heat and maintain humidity in my particular set up. I experimented with other fans and had no problems except that, if blowing right on the cages, the humidity can drop quickly. I think it's ok to experiment with fans while keeping a close eye on heat and humidity. Just IMHO. Hope that helps.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Reptile keeping isn't an exact science. There are some hard rules that everybody needs to follow, but most everything else is just down to what works best for you and your reptiles. If that means running a fan to keep humidity in check, then there's nothing wrong with it.

For example I live in Florida where it is very hot and humid most of the year. Because of this I can't use certain substrates because my cage humidity goes through the roof. But if I lived out in the western US I would have to use a high humidity substrate to even have a chance at maintaining proper humidity.

Unless you see something wrong with one of your snakes I wouldn't worry about the fan. I can't see a fan causing RI as long as your cage has proper temperatures/humidity.

[John1982]

Imagine all them snakes in the wild when faced with a stiff breeze - the horror.

[Anya]

Imagine all them snakes in the wild when faced with a stiff breeze - the horror.

[bcr229]

Here's the thing - fans move air around. Most of us keep our BP enclosures at a higher temperature and humidity than our homes. So, the last thing we need to do is move the cool, dry air from the house into the enclosure as it would be counter-productive.

During a long-term or daytime power outage I do have very small, battery-operated personal-sized fans to blow air across a frozen bottle of ice water, and the cool/wet air could fall (not be blown) into my BRB's enclosures as they need to be kept below 85*F, and our daytime highs are well above that in the summer. The other snakes would be ok as long as they had access to cool water.