Humidity Question

[Stevethesnake]

I recently purchased a 6 month old BRB and I am trying to maintain humidity levels. I have read that covering half of the lid will hold in the humidity. My problem is that I have two heat lamps, one is an inferred lamp on the left side and a basking light on the right, the only space to cover is in the middle. Can I put a piece of plexiglass on one of the sides with a lamp on top of it? Common sense says it will probably melt, but are there any better solutions?

[dart]

Are you using a UTH with the lamps? The lamps are killing the humidity, if you're using a regular terrarium with a screen top my advice would be to cover the majority of the cage with a towel. If you need the lights because they're your only heat source then you need to cover as much of the cage as possible to keep the humidity up. You can always keep one light on one side of the cage so the snake has a hot side and cool side to thermoregulate.

[Evenstar]

The lamps are sucking out the humidity for you. Snakes don't need a basking light or any other special lighting. Do you need the lamps to keep your temps up? If so, perhaps another method of heating would be better. Do you have a UTH?

I would eliminate the lamps altogether, put a UTH on one end set at 88-90 for the hotspot and, if you're ambient temps aren't high enough with that alone, you could add another UTH on the other end set at 80. Cover your screen top with wax paper or foil leaving a 1/2" strip along the back edge for ventilation. This should help hold in the humidity for you. This is what I do for my tank setup and my humidity is consistent at about 70%.

UTHs aren't expensive. I like the ultratherms from ReptileBasics.com. They are only about $20.

[Stevethesnake]

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate it! I don't have any UTH's. I was told that they weren't the best because of the possibility of burning the belly. Currently I have the tank set up on the floor and that also factored in to my decision of lamps over UTH. I bought a ReptiFogger today which seems to have helped a quite a bit (not to mention looks pretty sweet). I also have some tin foil covering some of the top, but it looks a bit tacky. I do plan, in the future, on buying or building a stand for the terrarium and I'll make the switch to UTH. Thanks for the advice!

[Daybreaker]

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate it! I don't have any UTH's. I was told that they weren't the best because of the possibility of burning the belly. Currently I have the tank set up on the floor and that also factored in to my decision of lamps over UTH. I bought a ReptiFogger today which seems to have helped a quite a bit (not to mention looks pretty sweet). I also have some tin foil covering some of the top, but it looks a bit tacky. I do plan, in the future, on buying or building a stand for the terrarium and I'll make the switch to UTH. Thanks for the advice!

Just make sure you regulate the UTH or else it will get too hot and possibly cause burns. I recommend a nice thermostat (I'd look into Ranco and Helix as a start) or at least a temporary dimmer for it.

[Evenstar]

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate it! I don't have any UTH's. I was told that they weren't the best because of the possibility of burning the belly. Currently I have the tank set up on the floor and that also factored in to my decision of lamps over UTH. I bought a ReptiFogger today which seems to have helped a quite a bit (not to mention looks pretty sweet). I also have some tin foil covering some of the top, but it looks a bit tacky. I do plan, in the future, on buying or building a stand for the terrarium and I'll make the switch to UTH. Thanks for the advice!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a UTH so long as you DO use a t-stat to regulate it. UTHs are used widely in the reptile community and, along with flexwatt, is considered the best way of heating your snake's enclosure. Sounds like you're on the way to figuring out what you need though! The fogged sounds good - just make sure it doesn't get too wet though or you might end up with mold, bacteria, or scale rot to deal with. Sometimes, a little drier is better for your snake than too wet - you can always mist during shed to boost humidity, but its hard to take it out.