How should I increase humidity

[Idon'tknow]

For awhile now I have not been able to keep my ball python's tank at a decent level of humidity, and I have been using a humidity box. The humidity box works perfectly fine. I have never had problems with shed since I have started using it, but I know that most people believe that ball pythons should always be in a humid environment so I would like to finally figure out how to increase humidity.

My room tends to shift temperature a lot and often it gets too cold. I have a heat pad but it doesn't keep the tank warm enough, so I have to use two heat lamps. One on either side of the tank. The heat lamps of course dry out the tank plus the tank has a mesh lid.

I use eco earth with a little bit of repti bark as my substrate, and he has a water dish big enough for him to sit in.
I have tried misting the tank with a spray bottle but I'm not always around to do that. I've tried covering part of the mesh but because of the heat lamps it doesn't help much.

I was thinking that getting a fogger of some sort would maybe help, but I wanted to ask before buying one. I've heard that foggers can sometimes cause too much humidity for a ball python, but I was thinking that because of the situation that I'm In this would maybe be a good solution?
Thank you so much for your time and advice.

[KMG]

When I used a lamp and a che over my Ball's tank I made a cardboard cut out wrapped in foil to put on the screen. It held in some heat but I am not sure it helped all that much for the humidity. What I did was just keep damp moss in both hides. That gave me great sheds with very minimal misting. The misting was more for the live plants I had in there.

What is the humidity level you have now?

[Idon'tknow]

I believe the humidity is around 10 percent. I have a humidity box which is a hide made out of a plastic box and filled with damp moss which he uses when he is in shed. I haven't had issues with shed and really the only reason I want to increase humidity is because I always hear everyone say that it's best to keep ball pythons in a tank that has humidity of atleast 50 percent. Would increasing the overall humidity of the tank be better or should i just stick with the humidity box?

[KMG]

The humid hide is a great thing to use and it sounds like you really need it.

Where are you that it is 10%?

Where I am I don't do anything hardly at all for my Ball but my snake room is usually in the 40% zone. I will run a humidifier during dry times but usually I am good with just what I have.

With that I would say saving up and ordering a PVC cage would be on my to do list. That will help you a ton.

[Idon'tknow]

My problem is that I have to use heat lamps in order to keep the tank at the right temperature but that drys out the humidity. That's why I was thinking a fogger might be good? If my room didn't get so cold I probably wouldn't have this issue. The heat pad I have doesn't warm up the tank much.

[KMG]

My problem is that I have to use heat lamps in order to keep the tank at the right temperature but that drys out the humidity. That's why I was thinking a fogger might be good? If my room didn't get so cold I probably wouldn't have this issue. The heat pad I have doesn't warm up the tank much.

I like it cold at home. At night my A/C drops to 64. When I lived in an apartment and had snakes all over my Ball was in the living room. Because of how cold I kept it I needed a 100che and a 60watt bulb to give me good temps. With that I made that cutout I mentioned earlier and added moss to the hides. I would only mist when the snake started a shed and all was good. Since the snake stays in the hides most of the time the high humidity in there proved to be enough for me.

[ApathyAngel]

I live in Las Vegas. Humidity is a constant obstacle here.

But I actually disagree with the general consensus about keeping balls in constant high humidity. I think that's fine for 99.999% of cases, but I've had a couple of severely neglected rescues, and the general blanket statements just don't work in every case.

My old male in particular was in *bad* shape when I got him. We were on a first name basis with the vet for the entire ten years I had him (he never fully recovered, he was just always sickly, but he had a happy life before he passed).

One thing my vet suggested was to give BPs, particularly sickly/recovering rescues, a humidity gradient, just like we do with heat. And it made such a difference with my boy, and it seemed to help my female recover faster when I first got her, too (though she wasn't nearly as bad as he was).

My female is healthy now, and I keep the whole tank at about 30% (all I have to do to maintain it is spray her tank down every couple of days, and I covered the mesh lid with clear plastic wrap to better hold humidity), aim for about 40-50% in each of her hides (higher when she's in blue, but she's like 7 or 8, so she doesn't shed as often anymore). And then I've got a separate humidity box that hovers around 65%.

I've got fake plants and fake leaves (check them carefully to make sure there are no exposed wires or sharp points) to give her some cover out of the hides, so she can hang out in the drier 30% and still feel secure, she can hang out in her mid-humidity hot and cold hides, and she can hang out in the higher-level humidity box.

I've never had an issue with shedding or respiratory infections. I only have the female now, but she's healthy. When she wants her humidity box, she'll use it, and when she wants something a little drier, she has the option. And she's pretty good about self-regulating, and hanging out in her different hides as she needs it.

But the constant dealing with the vet, and managing my male's special needs, made me a staunch supporter of humidity gradients and humidity boxes. And living in a desert, it's *much* easier to maintain a humidity gradient consistently, and keep the humidity levels stable, than to try and keep the entire tank humid.

You need extra gauges to make sure you can monitor the humidity in each hide, as well as the humidity box, but it's worth it, imo. Way less stress for you to maintain in a drier environment.

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