Common Humidity Problems

[ogdentrece]

Recently I have noticed a huge number of questions on typical humidity problems with very standard solution and solutions easy to find online and in this forum. Very few are unique out of the ordinary problems, much less than with questions regarding other issues, so I decided to give everyone all the answers in one place instead of the few of us repeating the same things on multiple thread. The whys, hows, whats. If there are any mistakes or problems please do correct me.

This thread would look at problems regarding low humidity and hygrometers. Low humidity is focused on because it is more common, and more likely to give rise to such issues. However, having too much humidity can be an issue too especially with low ventilation and air flow, and can make your snake more susceptible to diseases and infections. If you have excessively high humidity, like over 85%, at least ventilate more, otherwise use a lamp or get a dehumidifier.


Hygrometers
I feel many people put too much faith in the word ‘digital’ when it comes to measuring equipment, particularly hygrometers. Hygrometers with special attention not only because this is on humidity but also because from what I have seen and heard in my limited experience, digital hygrometers can be worse than analogue ones. I have bought so many digital hygrometers, a few of each brand bought, and very rarely do I find that even within the same brand, would they give me consistent readings. They have been as far as 30% apart, and a couple have told me about their experiences with readings as far as 50% apart. I have raised this issue before and asked for advice, I think the best response was this:

The things I look for are actually easy a well mounted 'number card' The ones sold for reptiles are often paper and not well mounted so they move. The other thing I look for is a calibration screw so if I test it (salt test is easy EASY and accurate) and it is wrong it can be corrected. I found this one (western instruments brass faced one http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digita.../dp/B0007VWEQA), to be very good out of the box, accurate and consistant (I have 7 all read within 5%) the digital ones are all over the board no two read closer than 7% and many or farther than 20% I can live with 7 but 20 is a bit much

I like hygrometers that can be calibrated. Ones designed for humidors seem to be quite good. The analogue ones are cheaper and hold calibration longer (less likely the snakes will change the calibration too.) Digitals seem to be all over the place and need to be kept clean (no dust) to continue to work well. When they get gummed up the solution is to toss em as they become erratic. Accurites are no better or worse than the others on the market, I find them to big and bulky. Hygrometers are easy to test, google hygrometer salt test. It takes a bit of time but knowing what the humidity is is better than not knowing.

I am rather paranoid and perform salt tests with mine every now and then, and every time I buy hygrometers I would have to compare their readings with those already proven accurate. Even if you are holding on to one without a calibration option, do perform the salt test to determine how inaccurate your hygrometer is. No need to throw it away if its inaccurate, you should still be able to estimate the actual humidity after the test. After all, the salt test gives you a humidity that is not very far off the humidity levels you are aiming to achieve in your ball python enclosure. So before you ask about your hygrometers or anything which sounds very inconsistent like misting 10x a day but still getting 50% humidity, try this and see what you get.

The least you could do is to just take it outside and check if it is at least anywhere near the humidity in your area is supposed to be. I found out my first hygrometer was insanely inaccurate by this simple observation – air here never goes below 50%, but it read 30% even before it was being used.


So you do have problems with low humidity. What can you do?

Misting
Misting enclosures only work with some types of substrates, otherwise they would just cause a 15minute spike in humidity and then start falling back to normal. Some substrates like mulch hold water much better than others like newspaper and even aspen; I believe if you have the latter two as substrates misting is not effective, has to be done too many times a day, humidity fluctuates too much and most of all promotes growth of mold. Substrates which are ‘good for humidity’ or ‘good at holding humidity’ basically absorb much moisture and water and slowly release it into the air with evaporation over time. Misting helps to replenish this moisture in the substrate. Or along those lines, I heard it from the BHB people. But not all substrates exhibit this ability, and even less would be free of mold when this is done. Some would barely absorb anything and just stay wet, and with the heating in your enclosure it would be a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

What I call.. Humidity Socks
Given that you are using substrates which are horrible when misted, there are still options. I use aspen and don’t like the idea of misting. Having a humidity of 50-60%, I like to increase my humidity when my snakes go into shed. So I get a bunch of nice absorbent stuff like sponges, tissue, cotton etc and wet them. Then gently stuff them into a small sock like thing, which some people attach to the end of their taps as a filter (well that’s actually its main purpose). You can stuff them into almost anything like that, like actual thin cotton socks. But I make sure this outside layer isn’t really wet, just as long as the inside is. The outside isn’t wet so it doesn’t pose a problem on the substrate and is not openly damp. I put them in their hides, but if you have to do it for the entire enclosure, do it on a larger scale like using a whole sock and leave it there, it works great and increases humidity for a few days straight. If you want to reuse it, I don’t recommend spraying from the outside to wet it, I like to try to keep the outside layer as dry as possible.

Humid Hides
Humid hides are basically hides with stuff in them like moss or the above mentioned stuff to create a small secure area with a higher humidity for the snake to retreat to. Unless your humidity is excessively low, say below 30%, the humid hide is probably the easiest way to solve humidity problems. It just requires frequent replenishing of moisture, and a little more attention to ensure mold does not grow. Ball pythons spend most of their time in their hides, so a humid hide allows it to spend most of its time in a decently humid environment too. In fact, another user of this forum, Skiploder, has raised the point that this is actually what a ball python’s natural habitat is like. It is pretty arid, but the rodent burrows they spend most of their time in help to give them to humidity they need.


And the other common problems?

Heat Lamps
Heat lamps are notorious for giving humidity problems, period. This is done through two ways, inefficiency and circulation.

Being inefficient methods of heating, I believe should only be used when you have no other way to get the overall ambient temperature in your enclosure above 75F. Heat lamps require a lot more power than a UTH will – they use radiant heat and heat top down. Radiant heat loses much of its power and heating ability very quickly, and heats the air more than surfaces. Using a lamp, the air in the top half of the enclosure nearer the lamp would always be much hotter than that below on the floor mainly because the radiant heat has lost its potential. And since hot air rises, it would stay that way.

The Problem: So how does this affect humidity? Warm air has the ability to carry more water vapor in it, so although heat lamps do not ‘suck’ the moisture out per se, the relative humidity decreases as the amount of water vapor present in relation to how much the air can hold is reduced. Relative humidity is what we normally refer to when we talk about humidity and is what affects evaporation, transpiration, and thus dehydration. The other way in which heat lamps give rise to humidity problems is linked to the above – as it heats the air more than UTHs do, it promotes circulation. This is only an issue if you are in a dry climate. As the hot air rises and finds its way out, the dry air from outside the enclosure is drawn in, reducing the effectiveness of all the methods you have used to increase the humidity within the enclosure. This is not to mention the hole in the top of the enclosure you would have to leave for a lamp. Any hole in the top would allow both heated and humid air to escape quickly since they both rise.

When using a UTH and providing belly heat, the snake is heated through its belly by sitting on a warm surface rather than sitting in warm air. This means that the air surrounding, even at the hot spot, does not need to be particularly high, above 80 should be fine. Without heating the air too much, the relative humidity is reduced less, less humid air is lost, and you have less problems.

Solution: The most obvious would be to swap out your heat lamp for a UTH and put your lamp on thermostat so that it kicks in only when the ambient air goes below 75F. However, if you still do use heat lamps, the best you could do besides the already mentioned methods would be to have your water bowl below the lamp to encourage evaporation. Also, you can try to play around with it being on thermostat or a rheostat, I find that even if it were to be regulated just slightly, there would be a fairly big impact on humidity.

Screen Tops
The Problem: Usually if you are keeping your snake in a tank, it would have some kind of open top. This can be a problem if the air in your area is dry, as excess ventilation would just release all the humidity you try to put into it. Humid air rises as it is less dense than dry air. Assuming the same temperature, air with a humidity of 70% has more water vapor than that with 40%. Gases all have the same molecular density, but water has a molecular mass of 18 compared the predominant components of air – oxygen and nitrogen, with masses of 32 and 28 respectively. Since more of the lighter water vapor in air displaces the heavier nitrogen and oxygen, humid air is lighter, less dense, and rises. This results in humid air rising, and all the work you have put into increasing your humidity to just simple escape through the top.

Solution: Now, the obvious solution would be to cover up that top and trap the humidity in. Foil is the first thing most would recommend to up that screen. Play around with the percentage you need to cover, it really depends on your setup and your area’s humidity, but always start from the warm side. If you have no other sources of ventilation, and do require covering as much as possible, do remember to leave a gap at the side, preferably the cool end, so that it can ventilate. Covering it helps to ensure less of what is inside (humid air) gets out, and having it at the cool end rather than the heated end is more effective.


Nothing seems to work!

If everything does fail, consider getting a humidifier, there are some decent ones which don’t cost very much. Whether it is to increase humidity of the entire room or if its just to direct into an enclosure, its definitely worth it. Think of your snake, make sure everything’s in place and you’re doing it right for him, even if you do it the cheaper way.

[tikigator]

Wow the humidity sock sounds like an awesome idea. I have been misting my tubs (which have newspaper in them) twice a day. Its sort of a pain and there are days I work late or don't come home at all during the day and they are dry by the time I get home.

Can you please elaborate more on the humidity sock? Can you explain exactly what you would use? I mean, would you take anything wet (like another sock) and stuff the wet sock in a dry sock and then leave it in the tub? I would like to try this....I wonder if kids socks for the small 15 Qt tubs would work.

[ogdentrece]

Wow the humidity sock sounds like an awesome idea. I have been misting my tubs (which have newspaper in them) twice a day. Its sort of a pain and there are days I work late or don't come home at all during the day and they are dry by the time I get home.

Can you please elaborate more on the humidity sock? Can you explain exactly what you would use? I mean, would you take anything wet (like another sock) and stuff the wet sock in a dry sock and then leave it in the tub? I would like to try this....I wonder if kids socks for the small 15 Qt tubs would work.

Yeah, that sounds alright. Basically the aim is the achieve something that releases the moisture slowly or slows down the evaporation so it would last a while increasing humidity without drying out quickly like misting does. Misting usually only moistens surfaces of everything rather than holding moisture and increasing humidity for a period of time. So it needs to be rather thick, absorbent, and wet right through. The additional dry sock on the outside is because I always prefer everything dry. Safer too. As for size, you might have to play around with those.

[ogdentrece]

Oh I can't edit the original post anymore, but I forgot to add, if you have a screen top and are looking for a way to increase humidity, you can try various things to cover the screen top - they make a difference in your humidity. The best bet if you have tried everything and still can't raise it, the most effective would be a wet towel over almost the entire top, and cover it with foil or clingwrap. Towels are great with humidity because they release the moisture over a day or so. And the humidity sock thing, although its wet right through, its not dripping wet. Mods if you could add that itll be great thanks

[mommanessy247]

i do the wet towel over my screen top & i also have 2 water dishes, one of which is directly over the heat pad on the warm side
(speaking of which, why wasnt that mentioned when listing ways to increase/create humidity?)

now as far as the issues with digital hygrometers being erratically inaccurate & the mention of accu-rites...

i have an accu-rite and i must say that when my girl has gone into shed i've increased the humidity & even let it max out as high as the accurite can read it without there being condensation and my girl has yet to have a bad shed. when the accu-rite reads "HI" for humidity its s'pposed to be over 90% but even at that level theres never been condensation.
even if it were giving an inaccurate reading, obviously its high enough to prevent a bad shed.
i'm not saying your experience with these things is wrong...i'm just stating what i've observed.

[NormalBallPythons]

I have a humid hide on the warm side with moss in it. The snake loves it. The rest of the tank drops to 30%. I used the wet towel trick and it fixed it I have a heat lamp & UTH. When the heat lamp goes off the humidty rises. So im thinking keep the towel on only when the heat lamp is on. How does this sound?