High humidity

[Tigerhawk]

I have a rack for my ball pythons. And I have each tub setup with a medium size dog water bowl. However the humidity gets so high, that water drops form on the inside walls of the tub. Also the paper towels on the bottom of the tub gets wet. I have tried using less water and it helps some. I have holes all around the top of the tubs. I also change the paper towels each day if they get wet. So my question is how can I avoid this high humidity that causes the tub sides to get wet. Thanks for your help.

[TheSnakeGuy]

Couple questions for us to help you out.

1. What size tubs/how many?
2. Where in the country are you located?
3. Where is the rack located in your home?
4. What type o hygrometer do you have and what is it reading?


My first thought would be to change from paper towels to a very dry substrate like aspen shavings. They will soak up some of that humidity, but they shouldn't get wet or need daily replacing.

[Tigerhawk]

The tubs are twenty eight quart sterlite tubs. I currently keep them in my basement as I am finishing my snake barn behind my house. I also live in the U.S.A. And there are four tubs right now. I may try the aspen shavings. Please keep the advice coming . Thanks for the help everyone.

[bcr229]

Are the snakes possibly dumping the water bowls, or climbing in/across them? Are the water bowls on the heat tape or on the cool side? When you say the bowl is "medium sized" how many inches in diameter is that? What's the humidity level in your basement?

[Inarikins]

I would add a lot more holes to your tubs. I seem to have the perfect amount where it doesn't matter if I have newspaper or reptibark inside I stay at that 45-55% range. Of course, the reptibark I use is nice and dry.

[Tigerhawk]

The bowls surface area is about four or five inches across. Now that you mention it the humidity level may be a bit high in the basement. It has rained here everyday for the last two weeks. I have fans running now in the basement to get the air circulating. Which I hope will help cut down on the humidity. If you all have any other ideas please let me know. I hope to have my reptile barn insulated and finished in the next few weeks. Thanks for your idea's and help.

[Tigerhawk]

I figured out my problem. I had too much water in the bowls, after I cut back on the amount of water in the bowls. The moisture on the sides of the tubs went away and the paper towels have remained dry.

[Rickys_Reptiles]

I figured out my problem. I had too much water in the bowls, after I cut back on the amount of water in the bowls. The moisture on the sides of the tubs went away and the paper towels have remained dry.

Thats's odd. The surface area of the water will be the same no matter how full the water bowl is.

[MootWorm]

Thats's odd. The surface area of the water will be the same no matter how full the water bowl is.

Yeah unless maybe the bowl tapers down, like a cereal bowl? I have a dog bowl like that. It might just be that the fans are working to decrease ambient humidity. Or perhaps the outside humidity has dropped, lowering the overall humidity in the basement.

[Rickys_Reptiles]

Yeah unless maybe the bowl tapers down, like a cereal bowl? I have a dog bowl like that. It might just be that the fans are working to decrease ambient humidity. Or perhaps the outside humidity has dropped, lowering the overall humidity in the basement.

True. I hadn't considdered that the bowl could be shaped that way. Thanks for pointing that out!