Humidity and Husbandry

[ReptileWhisperer]

Okay so this is the first time I've owned a ball python. So far, Im not doing so well with keeping the humidity levels where they should be. So much my girl actually got a respiratory infection. But i had that taken care of with a 200 dollar vet bill. I was told by my vet to change everything I had currently set up in my tank. My bedding, my heating. So I did, and I'm still struggling with keeping up the humidity. I have a 40 gallon tank, and I use newspaper for substrate as suggested by my vet. He recommended no other substrate than newspaper. I have a 75 watt basking light on during the day as well as a 100 watt heat emitter. At night I turn the basking bulb off. 75 on the cool side 85-86 on the warm side. I have a screen top lid which doesnt keep the moisture in. My ball once again had a bad shed and I just dont know what to do from here. Ive tried everything. I spray her tank 3-4 times a day. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated at this point. Love my girl, hate to see her suffer

[JLC]

Hi there...

Your account was still waiting for the e-mail confirmation, which is why your initial post didn't show up right away. I've bumped your account to fully registered and approved the post. I also moved it into the proper forum.

To answer your question...everything you're doing is working against keeping any sort of humidity. The tank is much larger than it needs to be. Newspaper is terrible for holding humidity. A screen top with lights and/or heat emitters on top will never hold in moisture.

Shredded coconut husk (Bed-a-Beast or other brand names) is good at holding humidity although it WILL dry out over time and need to be refreshed with water from time to time.

Cover the screen completely, except for an opening for your light/heat sources. Aluminum foil can work and its easy to cut out circles where the lamps sit on the screen. Some people will drape a damp towel over the screen instead of a cover. This can work if maintained carefully.

A large water bowl will help, as a larger surface area will allow for more evaporation, which adds moisture to the air around it.

But all in all, that style of tank for a ball python is notoriously difficult to maintain proper conditions in. My suggestion is to fix what you can right away using the ideas I've given so far, and in the meantime search for alternatives. Search around the site here...we've got an excellent care sheet and lots of helpful threads for setting up ideal enclosures for glass tanks or plastic tubs. You'll find those pinned to the tops of the husbandry and/or caging forums.

[BigJay]

Yes i was having Humidity problems as well untill i switched from cyprus mulch to Coconut substrate, i went from misting/spraying 4 and 5 times a day to only once in the mornings and maybe 1 more at night if it was a hot day.
I covor up around 75% of the top so humidity and heat stay in and the other 25% is where the heat lamp is and fresh air

Also I find it better to put my lamp right on the water bowl so it dries that out rather than the cocosubstrate

[M.P.C]

yup what they said gotta get ride of the news paper and cover the top plus keep the water bowl within the heat source... ive cut misting down to maybe 1or twice a a week by giving a small narrow air vent on the cool end of the tank, also give a little gap around the whole for your light.... ive found this helps stop the light from evaporating the moisture in the air to fast. remember heat lights dry out the air very fast