Humidity Question

[CWalker]

I am having some trouble keeping my humidity in the 50%-60% range.

My temps are good (82-84 on the cool side, 92-94 on the warm side, ambient consistently around 80). I use shredded aspen for substrate and my enclosure is a 10 gallon glass tank that has been set-up and insulated with foam board insulation on 3 sides as I read about here. My humidity stays around the 30% mark unless I mist, which I have been doing regularly.

My heat sources are a UTH and a heat bulb, both of which are on thermostats to maintain the above temps.

What can I do to improve my humidity? Would another substrate be better? Any advice is greatly appreciated!

[MUSTANGGTANDGSXR]

you can add spagnum moss. you can get it at lowes, or you can get a substrate like cypress mulch or reptibark.

[starmom]

Do you have the lid covered in plastic and foil? This will help keep humidity inside.

Also, whenever my humidity needs a boost I put some damp sphagnum moss into each of the hides so that the snakes have the humidity where they hang out most.

Also, the heat lamp is killing your humidity. A CHE is better and none is best. Have you thought about using two UTH's (one for the warm side and one for the cool side)? Yes, you'd need another thermostat or one Herpstat II, but it would also help with the humidity issues.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

sounds like your setup is fine. All you need to do now is cover the top with foil, then duct tape. ONLY leave a hole for the overhead lamp. As long as you have the right size water bowl your humidity will always be over 50%.

[CWalker]

Thank you all for your help!

To answer a few questions, I do have the top covered with foil, but I might need to put more from the sound of it. I have about a 6" strip of foil on either side and left about an 8" strip in the middle open. This is attached with foil tape.

I had not heard that about the lamp hurting humidity, but that makes sense. I started having trouble with humidity about the time that I added the lamp.

I think that I will go with some moss for an immediate boost, but I am definitely going to get another UTH & thermostat and eliminate the lamp.

Thanks again for all of your help! I just love this site!!

[JohnNJ]

One thing that worked well for me was the wet face cloth on top of the screen. I covered that with a styrofoam sheet and the humidity shot up.

JohnNJ

[wafisherman]

I like using a mesh container (plastic with holes will work). I have a wire mesh pencil holder that was about to be thrown out. I stuff it full of aspen or moss and soak in warm water for a few minutes, drain, and put in the tank. This has kept my temps perfect. I re-soak once a week. Each month I empty it, wash it, and start over with clean materials.

I have a small UTH and a 75 or so Watt CHE. I have the top covered about 60%. This keeps the humdity between 40 and 60. When time to shed, I ensure that the container is fresh and wet, and just cover the top up to 80%. This pops up the humidity to 80%.

[CWalker]

Just a quick update:

I added the moss as suggested and foil taped some more of the top. It helped immediately! So much so that yesterday, he shed in one full piece! WooooHooo! Gotta love it when it goes like that!

One thing that I did change - I added a layer of cypress under a shallow layer of aspen. I liked the humidity adding benefit of the cypress, but did not like how coarse it was. I added about a 1/2" layer of aspen on top of this for good bedding and my humidity has been around 54%.

Thanks again for all of your advice!

Oh yeah, will be posting some pics in the next couple of days!

[llovelace]

That's great!

[ohyeahnow]

I use glass tanks as well. My humidity and temps are all fine. During shed time I can hold humidity between 60-70%. I covered my top with reflectix and foil tape. I maintain humidity even with a lamp. The flaps you see are needed for opening when humidity gets too HIGH.