i used to use cypress mulch with my lizards and it did hold in the humidity really well but they always seemed to be getting it in their mouths when trying to grab crickets and once one of the lizards bit down on it really hard and cut the inside of his mouth so i have shyed away from it since then...now i use reptile carpet.

a bigger water dish probably would help, i will try that tonight when i get home from work. i also have this contraption that i used to use for humidity when i had a gecko--its bascially just a rock-like bowl with a tube and airstone running into it from an air pump. would something like that work or would it be scary for the snake to have the moving bubbling water inside its enclosure? the DIY humidifier does look pretty easy to make so i will just go that route if you think the bubble bowl thingy isn't a good idea. thanks!