Humidity.

[Yoganderson]

So my humidity levels range from 48-50%. Some times it will dip down to about 42%. When he sheds I plan on putting moss in his hide to help out. Are these levels fine or is it dangerous. If so would putting a bigger water bowl in help. He acts fine eats great. Nothing wrong. But I have noticed that his head looks a little bit dry. I've only had him for 2 weeks and he hasn't shed with me. But everything else looks great.

[KMG]

If you are staying within that range consider yourself lucky if your using a glass tank. Those are really good and adding moss during a shed should give you perfect sheds.

[Sonny1318]

Moss in the hide, a tank keepers best friend.

[Yoganderson]

Thank you. In using a melamine enclosure. Is there any way to tell if the humidity gets to high when I add the moss to the hide. And should I spread it out or keep it off to the side. I'm going to use sphagnum is it ok to use.

[KMG]

That's what kind I use.

I just take a clump and put it just inside the door to the hide. This makes the hide even darker and I believe adds to the security.

I have never worried about the humidity within the hide getting to high but for the whole cage you do not want to get condensation on the walls or roof. If you get that back off or add a bit of ventilation of air circulation.

In my PVC cages I can have this problem and all I did was add a small fan to the room to keep the air moving. It is not pointed at any of the cages and instead pointed toward a corner. This gets enough air moving to keep the cages on point.

[Yoganderson]

Thanks for all the advice.

[kitedemon]

The problem with quoting just a % Rh is that a % of how much? With out a ambient air temp % RH means nothing. It is a % of the amount of water the air can carry changes with temperature. It is likely low, but how low depends on the temperature. If your ambient air is 85ºF 50%RH is spot on. If it is 75ºF you should be closer to 70% RH.

[Yoganderson]

My temps are 90 under the heat lamp. 85-89 ambient on the hot side and 80 to 82 on the cool side.

[Yoganderson]

That's what kind I use.

I just take a clump and put it just inside the door to the hide. This makes the hide even darker and I believe adds to the security.

I have never worried about the humidity within the hide getting to high but for the whole cage you do not want to get condensation on the walls or roof. If you get that back off or add a bit of ventilation of air circulation.

In my PVC cages I can have this problem and all I did was add a small fan to the room to keep the air moving. It is not pointed at any of the cages and instead pointed toward a corner. This gets enough air moving to keep the cages on point.

so I put the moss in today and I checked it after I got home about 14 hours later and it was pretty much dry. Is this normal. Or should I leave it a little bit more damp next time.

[kitedemon]

Lets average the temp out so you have loosely 83-4ºF ambient air thought (heat lamps project IR down and heat the temp probe so it is an artificial increase)

83ºF has a saturation point of 28 gm/m3 (average again) 49% of 28 is 13.7 gm/m3. Following? Royals need around 15.5 gm. You are low. For and ambient of 83ºF you should target 55-6% RH (55% of 28 is 15.4)

80º has a saturation point of 25.38 (so 60% is 15.3 make it an easy number and 15.5gm/m3)

Here is a list,
Temperature (ºF) - saturation points
74º - 20.98
76º - 22.37
78º - 23.83
80º - 25.38
82º - 27.00
84º - 28.71
86º - 30.51

Here is a graph... sorry my cousin is an underwater welder and scuba guy so the chart relates to that.
http://www.scubaengineer.com/high_pr...or_filtrat.htm