Humidity and Misinformation

[patientz3ro]

I've seen probably hundreds of times where someone will ask a question about using different methods to control humidity, and there's always someone who makes the claim that "foggers breed bacteria, just put your water dish over the uth." This is false. Warm water, like the water in a water dish over a uth is a LOT more likely to breed bacteria. Factor in the habit many ball pythons have of leaving surprises in the water, and it gets even worse.

Depending on the area you live in, it may not take very long at all to empty the reservoir in a fogger. If you're in a dry area that gets cold, making it necessary to run a fogger almost constantly, you can empty one in a day or so. It takes longer than that to build up a colony. What's more, the way you route your hoses from a fogger will also be a factor. If you have dips in the hose where stagnant water can build up, you're begging for bacteria, especially if you're using expandable hose. You CAN get filters to run in line with your hose that will eliminate most, if not all, of the bacteria that may build up.

The bottom line is that humidifiers are not always bacteria generators, but warm dishes of water WILL colonize, often VERY quickly.

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[KMG]

I don't ever suggest putting a water bowl over a heat source but a bowl is much easier to clean than a fogger. I had a fogger and while it worked well it was a real pain to properly clean.

I think misting is a better option. That paired with a humid hide a fogger should not be needed if the cage is correctly setup for a ball. The fogger I had was for my brb while I was waiting on my proper pvc cages. Now that I have them I don't even mist except for shed times.

[PitOnTheProwl]

That is why we should clean and change water often.
Having a water bowl partially over the UTH will raise the humidity level but the bottom line is any water bowl is stagnant water.

[ballpythonluvr]

I use a tub for my snake and I always put the water bowl on the hot side and my snake has perfect sheds. I change the water out every other day and I do not have issues with bacteria building up in the bowl.

[OctagonGecko729]

We use a custom rack with FB70 tubs and a vision V-18 rack. Water bowls on the cold side. I check my snakes everyday to see who is going into a shed and simply spray their cage prior to the shed. I have never had an improper shed since I started a year and a half ago with 21 BPs in the collection now.