Humidity

[Escher]

Hi all,

Ok, new question. Back in the old days (around 10 years ago) when I had my first ball, I never heard about the humidity control issue, and therefore never checked it. Then again I was just using a hot rock, and never had problems, dumb luck I guess.

Anyways, I have got everything set up pretty well now, Temps are in the right range (I have a temporary setup with a 10 gallon while I'm cleaing/builing a new 40 gallon). But humidity keeps going really low, like 30% or so. I'm just using paper as a substrate.

I have read about the DIY humidifier, is this what everyone else uses? Seems like if I mist the cage, I can get it up to around 50-60 %, but only for an hour or so before it all evaporates.

What do you guys do? This is about to drive me nuts.

[Smulkin]

You abandoned the hot rock, right?

If you have a screen lid the best thing to do to boost humidity will be to cover it with contac-paper, duct-tape saran-wrap etc and cut out a few corners (into triangles) to allow air to exchange (2 warm side 1 on cool side generally). We use con-tac paper and it nipped the humidity probs in the bud. With this in place you really dont need the additional humidity from the DIY humidifier in most household environments - size of water dish/location will also play a decent role - move twd warm side to boost - cool side to lower.

[Marla]

Yep, if you have a screen lid, try covering most of it as Smulkin said (though you don't really have to be so precise as to make triangles -- rectangles and irregular shapes work just fine, too ). Also, in addition to size and placement of water dish playing a role in humidity, material of water dish can make a difference as well. If you have trouble keeping the humidity high enough after covering the top (I doubt it) or for when you want a boost for shedding, try putting in a glazed ceramic soup bowl from the dollar store or WalMart as your water dish. Ceramic, glass, and most types of stone conduct heat better than pvc and some other plastics commonly used for water dishes.

[mlededee]

i made the humid hide described in the DIY section and that helped tremendously. that along with covering the screen top with contact paper pretty much keeps my humidity right where it needs to be all the time.

[Smulkin]

as Smulkin said (though you don't really have to be so precise as to make triangles -- rectangles and irregular shapes work just fine, too ).

HEY - path of least resistance, moam! Do not correct the lazy way! Cut dodecagons if you like LOL. I'd have done it with 2 cuts instead of 3 had that been geometrically possible (ok come to think of it you could just fold it back along the intended 3rd cut).

[elevatethis]

ReptileDirect.com sells this air exchange system for $11.99, plus you will need to get a cheap air pump to run it. I bought that a couple of months ago, and turn it on when my bp goes into shed. Its great because it keeps the humidity at about 70% without having any part of the cage being damp at all.

http://www.reptiledirect.com/index.a...ROD&ProdID=437

[led4urhead]

For something else to cover the screen top, check here : http://www.ball-pythons.net/index.ph...highlight=glad
Shadrach posted about using those glad press and seal things. If you're not up to cutting Smulkin's complex geometric shapes ... this might be another option

[Marla]

My only screen-topped enclosure simply has the covering 1" narrower than the screen, giving air exchange all along it but preserving most of the humidity. I just meant there are many good ways to achieve that. Heck, you could get a hole punch and just perforate the darn thing.

[Escher]

Hmmmm.... That air exchanger is nearly identical to the DIY humidifier. Did we reverse engineer or did they?

[elevatethis]

I'm not sure what they did, but yes, the BPs.net DIY is just a ghetto version of the air exachange. I just got lazy and had 12 bucks to blow on something.