Sterilite Tub

[ShortStop]

Question on my setup for you guys out there using Rubbermaid or Sterilite tubs..is this enough air holes? I have taken pictures of the long side and the short side. The opposite sides of each match. Thanks for your advice!

[mkeller13]

That should be fine. you might think about a few in the lid also.

[Vypyrz]

Make sure that you monitor the humidity for a day or so before adding or covering any holes...

[RichL]

Yeah, its plenty of holes for 'air'. You might need to add or remove more for humidity purposes.

[pbjtime8908]

bps breath slow enough i believe they could get by with one hole on each side. its humidity that requires so many. like others said, make sure and monitor the humidity level then add/cover holes as needed.

[kitedemon]

I'd say that no it is not enough. The real test is will it smell musty or old after a week or so. Closed feeling. Controlling humidity in this way is unhealthy, using the moisture of exhaled breath is not a good option. Building a petri dish for your snake is not a great idea. There are serious health risks associated and documented by vets and well respected breeders alike. The Barkers of VPI (very highly respected throughout the community, called as expert testimony by USARK) state...

"poor ventilation is generally undesirable, whether it is intentional, to raise humidity, or whether it is a flaw of the enclosure. Poorly ventilated cages with warm temperatures and high humidity are breeding grounds for bacteria, fungus, and molds. Ball pythons fare best in well ventilated, dry cages with moderate to hight humidity.

...

They (Ball Pythons) do not tolerate poor ventilation without suffering consequences. Keeping ball pythons in high humidity without good ventilation is courting problems of health and maintenance. This is one area which the Herp maxim, "It's best to err on the side of dry," is definitely applicable."

Ball Pythons 2006 pp40-41

There are a number of RI posts that all point back to tubs that have little ventilation, many refuse to believe this but the facts speak for them selves.

More holes are better than few, too many and too low humidity = poor sheds Too few and high humidity = health issues vet bills ect.

[snakesRkewl]

Looks like plenty of holes to me as long as the humidity level doesn't spike to high your golden

[L.West]

I know I've posted this before but my understanding is that as long as there is no condensation on the inside of the tub it doesn't matter if your humidity guage reads 55% or 65% - it the condensation that you need to watch for.

Is this correct.

[kitedemon]

Condensation is temperature related as much as humidity. I get condensation if my room goes below 65ºF and the humidity is 60%. It isn't that simple I wish it were.

The crux of the problem is how much is enough. I don't have an answer. If the water bowl (that should be the primary source for humidity) is removed, the humidity was at 60%, the room is less than 60% and the humidity does not drop to the rooms level in 2 hours I'd be concerned that there is not enough ventilation. The logic is that with no additional source of humidity the tub should have a 100% exchange of air (replacing the humidity level with the room) in two hours. By human standards this is very low air exchanges recommended for a class room is 3 or 4 changes per hour.

[SlitherinSisters]

Most likely that will be plenty. I only have about 6 holes in the front of my tubs that are that size in my rack. My rack from reptile basics doesn't have any holes.