What is the best method of humidity to use?

[Shadowolf]

We just recently obtained a Python for ourselves, but I was curious to know what method of humidity is best to use for a BP, or rather what is the most efficient method to use, if any?

I was reading around the forums and some things on the internet, and i've seen things such as putting a heat lamp over a large water source helps great with humidity. I also checked out the Homemade Humidifier in the DIY section as well. Is there any overall best method, or can it vary? Could anyone possibly list the pros and cons of some? Also, are there any reptile humidifiers on the market worth checking out?

Currently we use a room humidifier which is connected to a hose, and the hose streams down to the very top of the tank where it filters in. It seems to be working pretty well so far, our snake doesn't look like its been troubled by our method and its temperament seems quite normal (our Python was previously squeaking when it exhaled while breathing, it was during the shedding process, but since we helped out our snake with soaking, there hasn't been any squeaking since and it appears to be in great health). It is rather unsightly for when people do come over though (we're generally on a tight budget as it is, so we're using what we work with and the resources we have!)

Should we stick with our "homemade" method, or would it be better to go with tried and true methods? I know people sometimes get creative with things when money is tight, although i'd rather much put in the investment for our snake's health than to be creative and only make it do half the job it's supposed to do. Like I said though, our snake appears to be quite content, there's no noticable problems we've picked up since we assisted it in its shedding process.

Thanks for any/all advice!

[llovelace]

Can you post a pic of the set-up?

[ubecrew610]

do you have a way of measuring humidity? like a hydrometer? you can get a thermometer with a built in humidity gauge at lowes or walmart for 11 dollars. what is the humidity now?

[Shadowolf]

I don't have any current pictures uploaded on my computer at the moment, but when I return home from work tonight i'll able to post some so you can get a better idea of it.

We have one of those little circular humidity gauges from PetCo (yeah I know they're cheap, but like I said we're on a budget). The humidity ranges from 30-50%, depending how much humidity we filter into the tank and how long we keep it on for (there's a low, medium, and high setting of rate to filter it in).

We're still playing around with methods on how to keep the humidity in there since our tank has a cover that is mostly ventilated, but we try to at least leave a portion of it open on one side of the cover.

I don't know, does all this sound kind of... uncommon to hear of? I haven't really known anyone who's used a room humidifier, but we figured it would work just as well.

[llovelace]

Yeah post the pics when you can