Humidity levels

[Ashleighsmommy]

I have a roughly 7 month old female ball . I had her in a basic setup until recently now that i have more money and have been able to buy her better things. I just got her some cypress mulch for substrate, a new log hide, and finally got a humidity and temperate guage. The only things that really need improvement now is a larger water dish (which I'm getting from my mom soon) and an actual reptile heating pad for under her tank (im currently using a regular heating pad that's for human use, but its keeping her tank at a good 85 degrees when i have a thin layer of fabric over the top of her tank to hold the heat in ) the problem I'm having is i can't get her humidty to stay high enough , i mist her tank down daily with a water bottle and when first misted and a bit after its perfect, but by the time i go to check her the next day its too low , what can i do to fix this?

[Greensleeves001]

I took an old three ring binder (plastic) and cut it in half, covered it with duct tape, and duct taped it to the cool side of the tank cover. I put some duct tape on the warm side to cover the gap between the light and the edge of the lid.

Some people have made entire covers of duct tape. Whatever you use, make sure it can handle warm temps from your light. An old plastic cutting board might work. A piece of ceramic floor tile would be great. A piece of plexi glass etc. Just make sure there is ventilation.

[Ashleighsmommy]

See my having fabric over it seems to be working half decent , ive been keeping a close eye since i sprayed her tank down and so far its went down some but is still at 60% and its been about 12 hours , so if it's been like this constantly shes probably had about 12 hours each of good and low humidity every day give or take a bit . So i mean that can't be horrible right ?

[Morjean]

A temporary fix could simply be to mist twice a day, until you find a proper solution. I mean, misting takes like 10 seconds...

[Scottywelsh]

If it's still 60% after 12 hours then you don't have a humidity problem. That good humidity

[JodanOrNoDan]

I think the prioritization of equipment is required here. Mulch substrate,not required you can use paper towel. Special hide. Not required, I use left over food containers. Special water bowl. Not required. Go to the dollar store.

What is required is that you lose the human heating pad. Those things are not reliable. I fell asleep on one and burnt the crap out of myself. You need a reptile mat or heat tape. THese things should be regulated, preferably with a thermostat. The way you are set up now it is not a matter of if there is going to be an accident, it is a matter of when.

[Holly_Berry]

I'm somewhat having the same issue, Although I believe in my case that it's due to the lamps I have for heating and living in a dryer state. After bad luck with getting a UTH to work, I switched to just using two CHE lamps which I know dries out the enclosure quicker. Right now I'm misting the cage several times a day, letting the substrate dry out in between which only takes a few hours, and I've been wetting down a pillowcase to place over the top of the screen. Which has been keeping the humidity in, and also helping with heat; So maybe you could try doing that? I may invest in a misting system that I can turn on and off myself.

[Greensleeves001]

60% after 12 hours is good.

I have a ball python at work and I could mist him down five times a day and the humidity still plummets because the air in the building is ungodly dry. I keep sphagnum moss in with him and dampen it as it needs be. That helped a LOT. It was a pain to have to continually stop, check, spray, stop, check, spray (even though it only took a few seconds). I felt like I was tethered to the humidity gauge. The moss helped so much and it keeps the humidity constant even on the weekends. In the winter I add cypress mulch and that helps even more.

My other pythons are at home and their humidity levels are constant with a daily misting.

You will find a balance that is comfortable for you 60% after 12 hours is really good!

See my having fabric over it seems to be working half decent , ive been keeping a close eye since i sprayed her tank down and so far its went down some but is still at 60% and its been about 12 hours , so if it's been like this constantly shes probably had about 12 hours each of good and low humidity every day give or take a bit . So i mean that can't be horrible right ?

[chrid16371]

What is required is that you lose the human heating pad. Those things are not reliable. I fell asleep on one and burnt the crap out of myself. You need a reptile mat or heat tape. THese things should be regulated, preferably with a thermostat. The way you are set up now it is not a matter of if there is going to be an accident, it is a matter of when.

Listen to this ^^^^ I'm sure your temp is 85 ambient, you need to check the temp under the substrate on the glass over the hearing pad and I guarantee it is well over 100 which will burn your snake and it must be no higher than 94 under the substrate. You need a temp gun or digital thermometer with probe to take your temps correctly. Human body temp is 98.6 so the human heating pad heats at over 98.6 so us as human can feel the heat from them. Uth don't heat the air and neither do human heat pads, they heat the surface above them, if they increase your air temp by a significant amount that means they are running way to hot. You need to unplug it and use a night bulb or che to keep your cage at proper temps or around the mid 80s until you get the proper equipment. You need a reptile uth, a thermostat to regulate the amount of heat the uth gives off, and a reliable ir temp gun or a reliable digital thermometer with probe like the acurite 00891. If you do not stop using the human heat pad your snake is going to get burned eventually, they are also not made to run 24/7 and is an extreme fire hazard.

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[Ashleighsmommy]

Okay i know the heating pad isnt proper , thats not what i came here for . I am working with what i have at the moment trying to make it better , i cant put a heat bulb on her at the moment as my roommate has a kitten that would get on top of her tank which i dont trust , so where shes set up thats not a possibility but there's also no space for a light. As for the person saying the substrate and hide werent necessary, they were because she was having no luck shedding due to low humidty and nothing to properly rub up on so i got her mulch i knew held humidty well and a hide that had tecture on it . Im a soon to be mother and I'm working with what money i have to make her happy , a proper heating pad was my next step i was just waiting to be able to get one oi can actually afford because the ones at the pet shop near me are over priced compared to the ones ive seen elsewhere. Again i didnt come here for criticism on my heating supply i came here for help on her humidity levels