Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am having an issue with humidity, especially as winter approaches. Some of the books I have suggest plants and moss to maintain humidity and for the snake to hang out in. Does anyone here have any thoughts and/or experiences that may be useful? Should I try live or artifical plants? And is moss good, or is bad (and can it cause bacterial growth?) Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks,
S

Do you use tubs or aquarium tanks? It'll help me answer your question easier.
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1.3 normal BPs
1.0 Pastel BP (Graziani, from the Sutherlands)
1.0 Boa Constrictor Imperator
0.1 albino Cranwell's horned frog
1.1 breeding Clawed frogs
1.0 black cat
0.2 paint mares, 1.1 paint foals
Also have fancy goldfish, african cichlids, and rats.

Oh, sorry, I forgot to include that stuff.

I have (at the moment) a 20-long terrarium with the screen top that slides into the top of the tank. I will be replacing it soon enough with something bigger (as he grows) that has a more convenient layout. I also use a bark substrate.

Right now my humidity is naturally hovering around 50-55%.

the reason is because of the screen top on your encclosure. Cover half of it with plexi glass that should keep humids up.
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1.0 cb pastel bp
0.1 cb normal bp
0.1 cb BRB
0.1.0 cb Cyclops Mt. GTP
1.0 cb blue bar ambilobe panther cham.
2.0 wc scottish terrirers

You actually don't have to worry a whole lot about replacing the tank with something bigger - they spend most of their time asleep in the tightest, tiniest spot they can find and fit into, so a 20L is just fine, especially if you take it out several times a week.

What I do, since I also have a screen top on my enclosure, is I mix bark with forest bedding, such as eco earth, in about a 50/50 mix. The forest bedding I know can get too wet (scale rot or R.I.), but the bark also tends to be too dry (your current problem), and yet the two combined are actually pretty close to perfect Also try covering up one side with a towel, and when your snake is about to shed, just dampening the towel some. That'll bump up the humidity without you having to mist and soak the substrate.

Hope that helps!

~jenny
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1.2 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, and Periscope)
0.0.1 california kingsnake (tetris)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
2.0 horses (Buddy and Sam)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
1.25 chickens (Ugly the rooster and his harem)

"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." - Voltaire

is fine. You don't want to go above 65%. If it dips below 50% I use a towel to cover most of the top on my screen tops and that does the trick.
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"It's insane this guys taint"