Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone, I could use some advice. I just bought an Asian Vine Snake which I'm told needs a cage with 90 to 100% humidity. I can't seem to get mine above 80%. I have the substrate soaked, a fogger, and I mist him (or her) like 5x a day. All the temps are good, 90-95 in bask spot and around 80 in the rest of the cage. It's a glass aquarium with a screen top that I keep half of covered with a damp towel. The other half has the heat lamp on it. I also have a waterfilled bottle with a small hole to drip into the cage. I'm fresh out of ideas on what else to do. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Also, I can't come up with a name that fits. I want something exotic/crazy/mysterious etc. I don't want to just call him the new snake forever!

About the only way that I see you're gonna be able to reach 90%-plus humidity levels with a screen top would be to put the light inside the tank instead of on top of it. Then you'll have to get a piece of plexiglass, drill a few small holes in each end for ventilation, but keeping the holes small enough (1/8 - 1/4 inch) to hold in humidity & heat.

Putting the light on the inside may mean that you'll have to use a smaller wattage bulb.

Take care!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

I keep BRB's and they (babies) also need high humidity. A common mistake is using a fishtank with screen lid. I wrote and saved this as an answer to the commonly asked humidity question about BRB's. I'm sure you can pick out som good info from this:

Rainbow humidity 101

Since this topic comes up from time to time, I've created a document with all my answers. Not steadfast rules and/or guidelines, just what works for me.

Being from tropical rain forests, Rainbow Boas require high humidity. There are three basic factors to humidity:

Evaporation - is the process of water molecules becoming airborne.

Dissipation - The natural tendency of airborne water particles is to spread out as far apart as possible.

Condensation - warm moist air contacting a cooler surface will cause the water molecules to condense into droplets on the cool surface.

The number one mistake made with rainbow boas is to give them lots of ventilation. They really do not require much oxygen. They've even been reported to submerge under water for up to 30 minutes at a time. That ventilation will allow all those precious airborne water molecules to dissipate into your house. Unless your house is humid, many more will leave than enter. This will result in the enclosure drying out.

Many keepers use misting regimens to keep humidity levels up. IMO, you need to set up the environment so it will automatically be humid. Here are the steps I take to provide that environment.

1) LIMIT VENTILATION - my cages at around 6 cubic feet only have one two inch round vent each. More than enough for air exchange.

2) Provide LARGE surface area water bowls. Remember, the larger the surface area, the more water will evaporate.

3) I provide damp hide boxes. A sweater box size for adults with holes in the sides. An inch of peat moss and another inch of green moss. All kept damp

4) Depending on your enclosure you can fine tune your system by moving the water bowl around. Closer to the warm end and more evaporation, closer to the cool end and less.

My cages:

A moss box:

Thanks for reading and I hope this helps.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
21.29 BRB
19.19 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats