Temp and humidity are killing me!

[daddiojones73]

Looking for advice on heat and light. Just acquired my first ball and I'm having issues with heat mainly but humidity is a constant chore. So first I have an exo terra 36x18x18 enclosure for a 5 month old albino. I know it's overkill but got it dirt cheap. I'm using flex watt on hot side with a jump start thermostat. I screwed up and put probe in wrong place but will be correcting that tonight. I'm maintaining pretty close to 90 in hot hide (86-92). That's where it stops being somewhat easy. I have a double light fixture running a 100w incandescent bulb and 100w che. Che stays on continuously. Also have another single fixture with dimmer running 150w heat lamp. With those I can achieve a pretty steady 90-94 on hot side but it kills my humidity. Cool side will barely hit 75-78 on cooler days and humidity is a little low but better than hot side. Purchased a small halogen fixture with 25w red bulb in hopes of bring cool side up to 80. Was covering cool side with plexiglass to try and retain heat and humidity but with additional light I'd have to cut plexi and want to keep intact. This setup seems to be doing job. Right now my temps are 89 hot side and 78 cool. Hide is around 91-92. Humidity is around 52 hot and 40 cool. I added a small bowl of water soaked moss on warm side in hopes of helping out but so far not a huge improvement. I'm in Dallas and the weather is a little cool so I'm sure that a part of my issues. Mid 30's at night and ambient temp in house is probaly 65-67. Woke up this morning and cool side was 68 while hot side was 85ish. Immediately use a small heater to up temps since he just ate yesterday and I want to make sure digestion goes good. I am at my wits end trying to get setup to be at a consistent suitable level. I am looking to add a herpstat 4 later and I know once spring and summer get here this should be a lot easier but for cooler weather I have to get this figured out. I mean this isn't rocket surgery or anything. What are some suggestions that I could try to correct these issues?

[tttaylorrr]

first: how are you measuring temps and humidity? and i assume ALL heat sources are on thermostats, yes?
second: bulbs suck any humidity out of the tank, and i would recommend not using them if possible.
also, i'm guessing the tank has a mesh top: are you covering it with anything to trap humidity? for my mesh top i have it covered with saran wrap with a couple slits cut into it. and certain substrates do a great job maintaining humidity: what are you using?

[daddiojones73]

I have a thermometer/hygrometer on each side and my flex watt is on a thermostat. Lights are on a timer but no thermostats any where else. I've been looking for a proportional thermostat as opposed to one that just shuts off and on in hopes of extending life of heat lamps. I am considering saving for a herpstat 4 or maybe 6 as I'm considering adding another ball toward the end of summer. Currently have no choice with the lights in order to get temps up. Do have the one che. As far as substrates we use eco earth and have moss in a couple of areas. We spritz thoroughly about 3 times a day and are generally keeping 55-65% but have to be very diligent which is ok. Just looking for a more simplified strategy. As I stated in earlier post...once it warms up I should have no problem with any of this but that could still be a couple of months.

[Coluber42]

The first and easiest thing is insulation for heat, and limit ventilation for humidity. Cover as much of the screen as you can with foil. Put some kind of insulation under the tank, so it doesn't lose heat to whatever it's sitting on. Insulation could be foam, such as an aquarium mat or some packaging foam, or blankets, or several layers of cardboard, some thick wood, etc. Also put insulation around three sides of the cage, leaving only the front uncovered. That alone should get you pretty far.
If that doesn't do it for the heat, you should look into radiant heat panels. They are more efficient because the whole thing sits inside the enclosure, so less heat escapes into the room. As a last resort you can heat the whole room with a space heater, but that is really probably the most inefficient and ultimately expensive way to go for only one cage.

For humidity, also use a large bowl or even two, positioned under a lamp. If your substrate is eco earth, you can even go so far as pouring water (experiment to find out how much; depends on how deep the Evo earth is; you don't want the surface to be stopping) into it, which will spread out and soak in from the bottom so as to evaporate more slowly over the course of the day. When you spray, all the moisture you introduce is spread thinly on top, and it all just evaporates and escapes through the screen in short order.
You can also make a humid hide with moss or even just more Eco earth using a Tupperware with a snake sized hole in the lid.