Newbie snake owner with questions..

[anicatgirl]

I would like to note, you should also have 2 hides... One on the hot, one on the cold. That temp is k, but I also use a heat lamp with my uth because I too like my apartment cooler than that. It's not ideal, just make sure you will have regular temps, because if it heats up in there the heat lamp can easily make it too hot. As for the health of your snake, I am going to assume, and correct me if I am wrong, that you have a mesh top? Covering that 90% in foil with a cutout for your light will immensely help your humidity remain constant. 60% ish is ideal, 70% for shed. It being too low is bad too, and can cause eventual RI problems.

[ShayInator]

I currently have 2 hides, and a water bowl in there as well, big enough for her to soak in. I do have a mesh top, and it is covered halfway with a towel, should I change it to foil, or does it not really matter?

[Monty's_Mom]

I tried using a towel on the top of the mesh but it didn't work well. A simple piece of tin foil over the top or wrapping a piece of cardboard with tin foil works better for me. I can adjust the ambient temp and the humidity with a 2 inch slide of the cardboard wrapped tin foil on top of the tank. Use cardboard that is about 75%-90% of the top of the tank. You can easily slide it around to adjust for temp if the lamp hangs from the ceiling or with a lamp stand.

Don't worry about buying a lamp stand if you can. Like I said before, I hang my high output infrared heat lamp from the ceiling and I can adjust the temp by changing how high the lamp sits from the tank.

I found the cardboard covered with tin foil helps to hold in the humidity better than a towel. I tried for a long time to wet the towel but it made the towel smell moldy fast. The tin foil works better.

[ShayInator]

I tried using a towel on the top of the mesh but it didn't work well. A simple piece of tin foil over the top or wrapping a piece of cardboard with tin foil works better for me. I can adjust the ambient temp and the humidity with a 2 inch slide of the cardboard wrapped tin foil on top of the tank. Use cardboard that is about 75%-90% of the top of the tank. You can easily slide it around to adjust for temp if the lamp hangs from the ceiling or with a lamp stand.

Don't worry about buying a lamp stand if you can. Like I said before, I hang my high output infrared heat lamp from the ceiling and I can adjust the temp by changing how high the lamp sits from the tank.

I found the cardboard covered with tin foil helps to hold in the humidity better than a towel. I tried for a long time to wet the towel but it made the towel smell moldy fast. The tin foil works better.

I'll try that, I hate having the towel smell all weird.. I'll try it tomorrow!

[anicatgirl]

Yeah I never tried towels, but I figure at best you could have mildew or mold issues Not tasty

[Reinz]

A towel is just going to absorb humidity and become a bacteria trap.

Something like foil, plexiglass, Formica will work much better.

One of my tanks has screen top with no dividers in the screen. So for this one I used two separate pieces of cardboard wrapped in foil. This way I can slide them across and adjust as needed for humidity requirements, ventilation, and lamp clearance.

Believe it or not, it works so well, humidity gets too high at times and I have to slide them way open or remove one.

Placing the water bowl below the heat lamp will help immensely as well!

[Reinz]

For my tank top that has a divider, I made cardboard foil inserts for each section. Again, I just remove one or more to adjust the humidity, or even slide one out partially.

[ShayInator]

The wheezing seems to have stopped now that I have raised the humidity, which is such a relief! Thank you all so much for the help!!