Reptile & Amphibian Forums

On how to keep the Temp and Humidity level? I had a heat lamp on my BP but it would dry the air out, so I tried to take the lamp off for a night, the temp went way down to 60* but the humidity is perfect... I have to use newspaper as substrate right now because the snake had a shedding problem the last time it shed and I needed to keep his substrate as dry as possible.... well now he's shedding again, and I'm worried that if I can't get the relative humidity and temps right, that he'll have problems again!! the "snake room" is kept a lot warmer than the rest of the house, almost 70* and I've even gone as far as to throw a towel over his tank to try to keep it a little warmer... I'm stumped!!!

Any suggestions would be very helpful!! Thanks!

Teri

Teri first get a UTH(under tank heater) for a heat source in your tank. They are marked as to what size tank they can be used with. Second,You need to keep the humidity up. Do you have a hide for your snake to use to get away from all the hub bub outside his home? You can make this a humid hide ,or add another hide to the tank for this, by putting some moist peat moss or the like in the bottom of it. Also covering most,or all, of the top will keep the moisture inside the enclosure. Some use damp towels, plexiglass or you can cut a 3/8 inch piece of plywood to fit the inner lip of the top of the tank. Pait this both sides and drill a few quarter inch holes in it for ventilation. Good luck, hope this helps.

Quig

I do have an under tank heater, I suppose it's too small though. it's big enough to fit under his hide, and that's about it. Um, As far as the moss, I was told my my vet to keep him on news paper ONLY until he has shed again, and gotten rid of his scale issue on his belly.... I have tried the moist towels over top of the tank and that works great until it dries.... Maybe I will go out and get him another hide and a bigger heat pad.... since the humidity seems to be keeping steady. Thanks for the help.

Teri

When you say it had a shedding problem do you mean it came off in pieces? The snakes that we have that have heat lamps instead of undertank heaters get misted when they are shedding and they shed perfectly if we dont mist them sometimes it comes off in pieces. If thats the problem you are having I would think using newspaper would make it harder to keep the humidity up which would make it harder for them to shed in one piece. So if the change of substrate was only due to shedding you may need to switch back to something that will hold humidity in better.

Well, the last time he shed his substrate was waay too moist and he had the starting stage of scale rot. We got a hold if it, gave him some antibiotics and I had been cleaning it twice a day. It seems to be going away, and I am seeing signs of shed now. My vet had told me to keep him on newspaper until he sheds again just to make sure he doesn't get too wet again. He seems to be doing alright, and like I said, the humidity level is doing just fine, I just need a better idea in keeping the temp up. I'd like it to be between 85 and 88...... perhaps a bigger under tank heater..... I work 40 hrs a day and can't mist all the time, so I don't think that would work. I can do the damp towels on the top a couple times a day, but working 9 hrs a day, I don't get the time to mist, cause I know you need to do that several times a day....
thanks so much for the help, this forum is awesome

Teri

One wet shed should not cause scale rot. May need to get a schedule together to throughly clean his tank once a week and spot clean every other day to keep the scale rot away. Spot cleaning only takes a few minutes, I do mine right before I go to bed.
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Yeah I know, I have been very careful about keeping the cage really clean since then. I mean, if I see a wet spot i completely change the newspaper and make sure new stuff is in there. I actually did a deep clean (sprayed the tank down with scalding hot water and dried it thoroughly) I dunno really what else I can do except mist and monitor. I almost wonder if he had this issue before I even got him and i just hadn't noticed it...... hmmm??

I'm still learning and trying to do things right but, seems like I've had nothing but stress since I got this snake.. hopefully i'll be able to get things figured out and be able to enjoy owning a snake!!! *sigh* one can only hope!!!

Teri

i have a rack that is too dry, and i mostly use newspaper as well. for humidity, i have a very simple system... during my weekly cleanings, i tip the water bowl on to the clean newspaper just enough to dampen half the enclosure. this humidity lasts a few days and in my feeble mind mimics a rain. since i've been doing this, i've had perfect sheds and appetites are up, as are breedings.

i do have a few males that clearly do better in more moist conditions, and for them i'll use aspen. males do not eat as often, so while not as easy as paper, i dont have to fully clean out all that often, and the aspen holds the spilled water tight to one spot, so you can really get the humidity up while leaving a large % of the enclosure dry so that your animal is not in constant contact with a wet surface.

If your snake has scale/belly rot it is much more important that you take care of that problem before you worry about a bad shed.

Follow you vets advice about the scale rot. Keep the tank clean.

Snakes shed as part of their healing process and it may be a couple sheds before the issues is completely resolved.

A rubber maid tub within your snakes enclosure should suffice for a humid hide. Cut an appropriate sized hole in the top or side of the rubber maid and put a damp towel inside the tub.

Place your snake in the tub and the tub within the enclosure. The hole will allow for your ball to leave when he needs (be sure to use the lid to help retain the humidity).

Since all of the excess humidity is within the rubber maid you can add water as needed (once every day or two) and the snake will have a chance to move to another part of it's enclosure for it's scales to dry out.

For now, I would suggest using a towel instead of the moss for a couple reasons:
1. The towel can be cleaned and disinfected.
2. The soft fibers of the towel are less likely to irritate the scales.
3. It will hold more humidity for a longer period of time.

Just be sure to clean the towel when it becomes soiled or twice a week (whichever comes first).

After your snake sheds remove the humid hide and continue the course of action your vet has prescribed.

Thanks so much for the advice, I will have to do that! I will also let you know how things are progressing!!!