having trouble with humidity

[Pals BP]

I use 40 gallon Rubbermaid, my rack system is a 4 tube rack from boaphile. I use aspen bedding and have med water bowl on the cool side of the tube. I only use 1 strip of my belly heat tape but my rack has two rows, would using both help with humidity

Is it one of these?
http://www.boaphileplastics.com/rhin...ball_room.html

Those look like nice racks, but have not used them myself. I would elevate it off the floor somehow or just not use the bottom rack. Next, I would definitely use both heat strips on this rack. More heat surface area means higher ambient temps and humidity. When using these, you did not put any holes in the tub itself, correct? There is a small gap between the tub and rack, so extra ventilation is not necessary and can reduce humidity inside the tub. Next, I would just use folded newspaper as substrate, as a layer of bedding can reduce heat transfer from the heat tape. Then, make sure you are using a thermostat or even an inexpensive rheostat (sold at Petsmart, other pet stores, or online). Also get a temp gun, such as this: http://www.amazon.com/HDE-Non-Contac.../dp/B002YE3FS4. This will allow you to open the tub and quickly shoot the area of the newspaper over the heat tape and adjust the thermostat or rheostat until the Max Hold on the gun is around 91 F on the hotspot. I'm not sure what size the medium water bowl is, but I would use one that is at least 8-10 inches in diameter and a few inches deep for that size enclosure. If you take all these steps, your temps and humidity should be spot on. Good Luck.