Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Since I've had this boa in my care, I have had to mist the cage, soak the substrate, and even had an aerator set up to bubble the water in an attempt to keep the humidity up. During the holidays I received an odd looking humidifier as a gift. It's basically an oddly shaped bowl with a tiny lid in the middle. The water is electrified near the "arc" and a rather eerie looking cloud of water vapor slowly flows over the sides of the bowl.

The top of the cage is wire mesh, complete with my very best friend--lid locks. We have a ceramic heat lamp that sits upon the mesh as well, but at a reasonable distance. There are some low branches for her to climb and I don't want her to get accidentally burned.

I have a towel that covers half of the cage, and on top of this towel is the humidifier. I've modified the bowl so that most of the water vapor trickles into the cage. For the past few days, I've seen her emerge at night to bask. Rather than face in the opposite direction, she faces the stream of water vapor. I'm happy that I can now turn off the aerator, as I'm sure that she didn't enjoy the vibrations one bit. I turn the humidifier towards or away from the top of the cage in an attempt to maintain a steady humidity level. For the past few days, the humidity as lingered around 70%.

Later on I will attempt to modify the humidifier (just the bowl--not the electrical components) so that it can reliably keep the tank at about 70% all of the time.

Hopefully this setup will work out.

You have a warm air vaporisor which is used to treat colds. Humidifiers blow cold air. I do use both in my reptile rooms. The vaporisor is a good way to prevent upper respiratory infections by utilizing the medicine cup. But you will have a very hard time keeping the humidity at a consistent level with a vaporisor.

the best way to keep humidity up in the cage is to not use screened covered enclosures. Scrap the fish tank set up and try to pick up a used vision cage or something similar. room size humidifiers can cost upwards of $100. for a decent one.

Hope this helps.

Mike

The air that is produced is cold. It was designed to humidify an entire room...it was more for decorative purposes and it lacks modifications that would allow medications to be used. Anything other than distilled water causes it to fail to work and results in necessary cleanup. The aquarium I'm using has been modified and has insulation on three sides and on the bottom. The boa is still little and will shortly grow out of this cage. A larger cage is available and ready to go when that time comes.

The tank remains consistent in keeping a steady temperature, and drops about 5* at night. I've made some modifications to the water vapor producing device and for the past 3 hours the tank has maintained a steady 70% humidity. The major problem is keeping an ample supply of water, as it does run out. I tested the tank for approximately 3 weeks before the snake actually arrived. Using a humidity producing device was a new idea that I thought would make things a little easier for me. A gas heater has a tendency to dry out the air. In the summertime, I don't think I would require a humidifier and could just resort to daily misting. I never did like the idea of an aerator, and I think I will avoid using one when possible.

Her next cage is made from wood and has sliding glass doors in the front. Because she is a Dumeril's boa, she would stress out too much if I put her in the larger tank right now. This is a temporary setup and she will probably outgrow this smaller tank soon.

I've been watching her to see how she behaves. She hides during the daytime on the warm side of the tank and once the lights go out will emerge to explore the whole tank. I'd like to think that she is in part comfortable with her surroundings. I've worked very hard to give her plenty of hiding places, moss and such for her to hide in as she travels from one hiding place to another, and low branches to climb (which much to my surprise she uses occasionally at night).

Respiratory problems have been of great concern for me as she was lost in shipment for a while. She hasn't tried to soak in the water bowl and doesn't try desperately to get out of the tank. Based upon some colubrids I've had in the past and from what I've read and gathered from forums, I can only hope that she is in good health and not overly stressed.

I'm wondering why you are worried about the humidity? Dumeril's are a desert/semi-desert species. They require low humidity not high.

Most of the care sheets recommended anywhere from 50% all the way up to 80% humidity. I chose 70% because it was somewhere in the middle. However, if they really don't need the humidity, that's fine with me.

I knew they were ground dwelling, but wasn't too sure what their environment in Madagascar was like exactly. If you know of some in-depth information that better describes their environment, that would be greatly appreciated. I would like to simulate the natural environment as closely as I can.

This might help some....

http://www.dumerils.com/dumerils_care.html

Good luck...Dumeril's are great snakes. Easy to care for and breed.

As I mentioned in the dumerils forum, and as someone mentioned here already...dumerils do not like high humidity, and they do live in semi-arid regions. For future reference...when you see a large deviation between care sheets (for example one person saying 80% and another 50%) that usually means that there are inaccuracies. I would recommend that rather than guessing in the future that you ask a lot of people experienced with the species. I wouldn't go much higher than 60% humidity, and do not leave the substrate moist. While she is a hatchling you can offere her a humidity box, so she can move in and out of humid regions.
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3.17 Normal ball pythons
1.0 Pastel ball pythons
1.0 Plains Garter
0.1 Normal Kenyan Sand Boa
1.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Mid-Baja Rosy Boa
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.2 Dumeril's Boa
-----My list is too long, so I'll stop here!
*Amy*

I have had them for years and were miss guided my times. I have decided that looking at maps of where they come from and the leafy pattern they have. They must come from an in between area. Mine like about 60% and shed very well and show there colors well. I have been told by a breeder to keep them dry and one of my females soaked contantly.
Amanda

You have to do what works best for you and your snakes. If yours thrives at 60% then stick with it. Yes, there are some that range overlaps that of the Madagascan ground boas (Madagascan ground boas inhabit the more humid areas of Madagascar.). This overlapping range is quite humid. But the vast majority of Dums live in arid areas. Bill Love has been to Madagascar many times....I've known Bill for over 20 years and if he says it you can believe it.
Btw...even this arid area of Mad still has trees, brush and leafy plants, but it is not tropical wet. Dums hide in this leafy area in camouflage waiting for prey to pass by. I've kept Dums since they were first available in the U.S. I keep mine VERY dry except during breeding. This has always worked well for me. But maybe it's just me...I think most people keep ALL boas and pythons to humid...heck I even keep green anacondas, blood pythons and GT pythons very dry (except when in shed and breeding) with no problems at all.