Keeping up with humidity question...

[WingedWolfPsion]

I'm just getting a humidifier for the room...gave up on trying to adjust humidity in individual tubs, lol.

[kc261]

When I first read your idea about the floral foam, it sounded like a great idea. I do think it would help with humidity a lot. I think part of what it is supposed to do is to suck water up and distribute it throughout the foam block, which would then have tons of surface area for evaporating and creating humidity.

But the more I think about it, the more concerned I am getting about it being a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. I used to be really into keeping aquarium fish, and most filtration systems make use of some sort of foam, because it has tons of surface area for establishing the beneficial bacterial colonies that you need in a fish tank.

I know you said you'd just toss it and replace it with a new one each time you disinfect the tank. If you are talking about doing that once a month, that is going to be plenty of time for gobs of bacteria to have grown in the floral foam. If you decide to try it, I'd recommend that you do something towards cleaning the foam every few days, to at least slow down the growth of bacteria. I'd be slightly concerned with using bleach since I suspect that foam will be hard to rinse thoroughly. Vinegar might be a good bet since it has less potential to be harmful but still does a pretty good job as a disinfectant. Also I have no idea about the chlorhexidine (or something similar) that some people use to disinfect. I think I read that you don't need to rinse after using it?

[kc261]

I forgot there was another thing I wanted to comment on.

A 75 gallon tank is 4'x1.5'x1.5' LxWxH. So if yours is 3'x1.5'x1.5', that would be about 55 gallons, but it isn't the standard 55 gallon dimensions, which are 4'x1'x1.5'. The height doesn't really matter that much for a BP anyway, so talking about gallons isn't nearly as important as just the square footage of the floor space. Most people will say that much area is too big for a BP as young as yours, but others report success as long as they give adequate hides and don't leave too much open space. My little girl is about 3 months old, and is doing very nicely in a 20L, which is about 2.5'x1'. It did seem to overwhelm her at first and we had to use the crumpled newspaper trick to get her settled in and eating.

[Sunny1]

If you turn the light on quite a bit, try moving your water bowl under the light. The light will help to evaporate the water from the bowl, leading to more humidity in the tank.

You could also try giving your BP a humid hide. I have read others use this with some success. Take a tupperware type container and cut an opening large enough for your BP to enter by. Put some damp moss in there and when your BP needs a little more humidity they can just go in there. But I think those that use one could help you out with this better.

If you do go with the floral foam, i would change it maybe at least once a week. I would worry too, that with leaving the same peice in there too long bacteria would build up on it.

[MedusasOwl]

You could also try giving your BP a humid hide. I have read others use this with some success. Take a tupperware type container and cut an opening large enough for your BP to enter by. Put some damp moss in there and when your BP needs a little more humidity they can just go in there. But I think those that use one could help you out with this better.

I live in Arizona, and do this with the snakes that aren't in tubs. As you can imagine it is DRY out here. I use potting soil that I keep moist, which the vet recommended since nothing grows in potting soil other then what you plant in it so no moldy stuff. You just have to be careful not to use potting soil with chemicals in it, which can be hard to find sometimes. Then I just keep the humid hides misted on a regular basis. Hope that helps!