Humidity and moss and substrate, oh my

[MedusasOwl]

I'm gonna put together a humid hide or two as the humidity here is dismal. Heck, at this stage, I want a humid hide, this is getting rediculous! Stupid Phoenix... where's my monsoons?? Anywho, I'm misting Gomez twice a day (which he hates) and still the humidity drops to around 30 all the time in the plastic tub. I'm def thinking long fiber sphagnum moss and another hide sound like a happy thing.

And yet, my question is more about the moss than the humidity hide. Is there a very good reason of somesort that noone uses moss as a substrate? Aside from a possible messiness factor? Because it seems to me it holds moisture and looks lovely. Naturally, constantly wet moss would be a bad idea, but otherwise... ?

[kavmon]

you may have done this already, but can you post a pic of the setup or describe it. basically the amount of vent holes,the size of water bowl and source of heat are the main things that effect humidity in a setup.


vaughn

[MedusasOwl]

This is the most recent pic since I moved his skull hide, the second pic that is. We use flexwatt on a ZooMed t-stat (not for long, the Herpstat is on it's way!) and you can see the cat bowl next to him there which is on the warm side. The clay pots hold water pretty well and keep the humidity up a bit for a little while after I mist but otherwise... I think a humid hide certainly couldn't hurt.

[xdeus]

Is there a very good reason of somesort that noone uses moss as a substrate? Aside from a possible messiness factor? Because it seems to me it holds moisture and looks lovely. Naturally, constantly wet moss would be a bad idea, but otherwise... ?

I think two factors that make it unpopular are cost and the ability to spot clean easily. If those aren't a problem, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to use it if it isn't kept too moist.

[MedusasOwl]

I think two factors that make it unpopular are cost and the ability to spot clean easily. If those aren't a problem, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to use it if it isn't kept too moist.

I'm quite tempted to use it for my corn... he's a picky brat who gets a different sort of substrate from everyone else as it is and he likes the moss inside his hides. He'd also show up better against it than the coconut husk he has now... Hmm.

[kavmon]

if the top is completely covered , doesn't look like too much ventilation. you might want to try a bigger water bowl(more surface area to evaporate). or copy that setup on a tub that is shorter in height like 2-4 inches shorter (less volume of air to humidify) i'm a fan of paper substrate, but i know alot of guys who use cypress/aspen without problems.


vaughn

[ARamos8]

Medusa have you tried covering up a few of the vent holes on the front with some tape and testing over a day or two? I found I had to do this just the other day and I stay around 55-60 %, then again I am near the gulf coast (that helps)... Good luck...

[MedusasOwl]

The top is completely covered, but I may try covering some of the holes as ARamos suggested (thank you!). There's two rows all the way around, maybe I got too gung ho with that. Not much I can do about the height though. I got that tub because it locks down really tight and I'm hooked on the extra security, but they don't make shorter tubs of this type. Just smaller.

His substrate is technically paper, btw, Carefresh is recycled paper that's been bleached to death more or less.

[Razaiel]

I use sphagnum moss in Emily's humid hide (aka margarine tub with moss in it ) I've never had any problems with it and just buy more when it gets icky - it is sometimes used to poo in!! so I check that.
I spray it every day and when she's going into shed I spray it like 2-3 times a day and she does sometimes go inside it and sink under the moss. She's just had a lovely shed too

[MedusasOwl]

I def need to pick me up some more moss.