Humidity

[oopslala]

I'm waiting for the weather to leave the negatives and reach 40+ for a few days before my first ball python gets shipped to me.

The terrarium is complete apart for one big factor, humidity. I like in Michigan, so as you can expect it's really dry. I've got a constant humidity in the terrarium of 25%-30%, when obviously it needs to be double that. I've seen people suggest putting moist moss in the hides, towels on top of the screen etc, but that all seems like it's a multiple time a day task, when I want to be able to refill have a constant humidity that only requires me to look at the hydrometer and make small tweaks to foil, or whatever it may be to fix the humidity.

I've recently been thinking about getting a humidifier specifically for the terrarium, and seen that a couple people on here have done it as well with decent results. I'm looking for suggestions on a humidifier that you may have or may have used in the past that did the job and lasted more than a week.

My setup is a 29g glass tank, screen top, UTH heater hooked to a thermostat, 1 hide on top of the UTH, one other side, water dish in the middle with aspen bedding. Heat lamp is also on constantly as well on a lower setting.

So, does anyone have any suggestions for humidity that does not require me to mess with some towels or mist multiple times a day to maintain the humidity levels needed? I'm all ears and willing to try whatever may work.

[Nodnarb3do]

Usually when the mossy hide is suggested, it's more that you're giving him a place to balance his humidity rather than trying to humidify the entire hide, so it wouldn't require frequent replacement.

I ran into the same issue of being unable to maintain humidity above 40%, even with frequent mistings, so I decided to throw money at the problem and got the Zoo Med Repti Fogger with its recommended hygrometer. You place a sensor in the tank (I keep mine right next to his hot hide), and set the humidity you want it to stay at, and it will turn the humidifer on as needed. I set mine to 60%, and it keeps it between 53-60%. I don't recommend this option however as it was rather expensive and I later found rather poor ratings for the Repti-Fogger.

As to the mesh screen top, do you currently have it covered with anything? Towel, foil, plastic, etc.?

[oopslala]

I currently have foil on each side with a hole in the middle for the heat lamp to shine down. Is putting moss in the hides, as a place for him to balance his humidity with terrarium humidity at 30% acceptable? That seems kind of wrong to me.

I also looked at that humidifier on amazon, it along with all the others had reviews at best of 3.5 average, which I don't think is good enough.

[Nodnarb3do]

From what I understand, a humid hide is usually a stop gap while fixing the larger issues. And yeah, like I said, I don't recommend the humidifier. It's expensive and not known to be super reliable. I'll be selling mine along with my glass tank when I get my PVC setup.

[SKO]

I live in NY and have two tanks with screen tops. Cypress mulch, towels on top, terrarium Moss, water dish under heat lamp that is on a dimmer switch, and I only mist and make sure the Moss is damp two times a day, morning and evening, more if they are going to shed. Not much work at all. I can get the humidity to be as stable as i want. Room humidifier might help a little.

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[KMG]

I have a 40gal glass tank for my bp. I place moss in the hides and it gives me great sheds. I keep the moss moist during a shed but let it dry out before making it damp again when not in shed. It works great even with the humidity in the tank being in the 30s.

It really does not require much effort and is much easier than humidifiers. I will add that I have a mister bit it is actually for my live plants. It only goes off twice a day and that only because once is not an option.

So moss with a daily mist should work for you and your snake.

[Outtkast]

I have a 40gal glass tank for my bp. I place moss in the hides and it gives me great sheds. I keep the moss moist during a shed but let it dry out before making it damp again when not in shed. It works great even with the humidity in the tank being in the 30s.

It really does not require much effort and is much easier than humidifiers. I will add that I have a mister bit it is actually for my live plants. It only goes off twice a day and that only because once is not an option.

So moss with a daily mist should work for you and your snake.

So you put sphagnum moss or something similar inside the hide with your snake? How long does it take the moss to dry out? Also, how do you mist? Just the glass and tops of the hides? Do you mist on top of the substrate? Is that a bad idea with something like aspen as far as mold?

[KMG]

So you put sphagnum moss or something similar inside the hide with your snake? How long does it take the moss to dry out? Also, how do you mist? Just the glass and tops of the hides? Do you mist on top of the substrate? Is that a bad idea with something like aspen as far as mold?

I like to use this moss. http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Terrar...s=zoo+med+moss

Yes, I just take a good size clump and stick it in the hides. The snake can easily push it around and it makes the hide seem even more secure while not actually taking up any space.

When I mist I mist everything. I use a pressurized mister to mist my cages. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Usually the only cages I mist daily myself are my bloods in a rack and my gtp. The bp has an automatic mister that is really there to water the live plants but when it goes off it sprays everything. When I mist my bloods who are on cypress with hides I tilt the hides and mist directly inside on the snakes and the entire outside of cypress in the tub to give everything some moisture.

Misting aspen is fine but cypress mulch is a much better substrate to hold moisture and is also mold resistant.

[AtomicJok3r]

Sorry to budge in, but I have some questions. I bought some sphagnum moss and it is drying out almost as fast as I can spray it. Do I need to actually soak the moss a little and then put it in there or just spray it really good? Also about the mister. All I use now is a spray bottle where the nozzle is undone just enough so it sprays, so I can get the best spray to mist. When you mist, is it better to actually get a pressurized one that can actually turn it to a mist instead of a 2 dollar spray bottle? I'm having the same issues as OP, but I spray it every couple of hours to maintain humidity for my snake.

[KMG]

Sorry to budge in, but I have some questions. I bought some sphagnum moss and it is drying out almost as fast as I can spray it. Do I need to actually soak the moss a little and then put it in there or just spray it really good? Also about the mister. All I use now is a spray bottle where the nozzle is undone just enough so it sprays, so I can get the best spray to mist. When you mist, is it better to actually get a pressurized one that can actually turn it to a mist instead of a 2 dollar spray bottle? I'm having the same issues as OP, but I spray it every couple of hours to maintain humidity for my snake.

During a shed I actually soak the moss and put it in dripping wet. Then I just mist it to keep it damp. When not in shed I will sometimes soak it and then let it dry out and other times I will just give it a good spray.

The cheap bottles are fine. I just found that they didn't last that long and really just frustrated the hell out of me when they start to mess up. They certainly can work though. That nice one I bought is a dream though and I should have bought it sooner.