im kinda worried but...

[mommanessy247]

i'm getting my snake on monday night but i just realized i forgot all about the accu-rite digital thermometer/hygrometer...i would only be using it to monitor the humidity since i have a temp gun that i use to keep tabs on the heat. my bf gets paid in the following 2-3 days and we MIGHT have enough left over to get the accu-rite but what if we dont? i know i can mist the cypress mulch in the cage and the water in the water dishes should together, hopefully create enough humidity but i'm worried and kinda wondering, how long a bp can go with unknown humidity levels...i know...dumb question and i cant believe i forgot all about that one last piece of equipment...i started thinking about the rats i was gonna need to get and was thinking about their stuff that the one last thing i needed for the snake cage just slipped my mind...now i'm like "um, crap"...bp's will get sick if its too cold right? i have the heat at good levels so cold is not really an issue but what'll happen if they have too low or too high humidity? i'm really praying we'll have enough to get an accu-rite...

[ptate]

you should be fine with lightly misting the substrate to raise humidity levels. to answer your question about too low humidity, it can cause bad sheds and severe situations can cause a loss of appetite. too high humidity with poor ventilation can cause bacteria, mold, and fungi to develop and infect the snake.

[mommanessy247]

hm well i sure as heck wont be keeping it dry in there...i'll do what i have to to create some kind of humidity, i'm just worried that i wont know what level its at without the hygrometer...stupid, stupid, stupid me for forgetting about that! right now i've got aluminum foil covering about 90% of the small screen area at the top of the cage...is that too much? how much should i cover to where it wont let all the heat/humidity out?

[ptate]

if maintaining temps isn't an issue, cover 50% of the top preferably the side where the heat source is and just lightly mist the substrate a few times a day. you should be fine using this method until you get a humidity gauge.

[mommanessy247]

ok so cover the screen top over the warm side...and mist a few times a day. hm sounds easy enough. thanks so much...

[ptate]

your very welcome.

[BuckeyeBalls]

To be honest I could care less about morning humidity. The humidity in my house is around 30% thats enough to give me 50% in tubs.

I just look for sheds, if i notice bad sheds then I no something is up. But honestly humidity isnt as "bad" as people make it out to be, to me having ur room to cold is 100x worse these lower humidity.

Mind u im not saying its ok to keep it low just that rather people like to admit it or not a bp could do fine in 40% humidity

[Trey Yeoman]

Just watch for sheds, and be careful when misting the substrate... if it stays too moist, it can cause scale rot... if its moist like... "soaked" then it is too wet. You can raise humidity levels by getting special reptile moss that holds moisture and putting it under the log that is atop the UTH (under tank heating pad), the heat will cause increased condensation and it will be trapped under the internal surface of the hide, thus creating a mini moisture area... this moss would have to be soaked every day when you change the water bowl... but its only 7 or 8 dollars... compared to how much the humidity gauge you were talking about is.

thats my two cents, for what they are worth.


ps: I would get a more resolute opinion on the use of the exo-terra moss. (i believe that is what it is called)

[mommanessy247]

thx f4 and trey.

[zina10]

I agree ...to much misting isn't good either !

I do not keep my BPs on wet substrate at all, can cause all kinds of nasties. There is enough humidity from the little that spills out of the water bowl.

But I keep them in tubs at the moment, and it holds humidity well.

When they go into shed, I do mist the paper-towels a couple times the day and I will see condensation on the side of the tubs. But once they are done shedding (and its always in one nice piece) I go back to keeping them on dry substrate.

If you do mist, don't mist the entire bottom, and not where they lay in the hides...