Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok we all now our boas need high humidity. And in all my cages i seem to be able to maintain the high humidity, ie above 80 in throughout the whole cage, plus they have a humid hide which is even higher.

Was wondering what other people have? what is the lowest you can keep the humidity for the entire cage, if you have a very very humid hide box for them? just trying to work out stuff with my new tub rack i gonna make
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Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

My racks have high humidity, not sure how high, but condensation high so probably 95% /- a few. My bigger ones are in a boaphile and melamine display, the humidity in their cages stays around 80%, though it sometimes wanders up towards 90% or a little lower to 75%. The difference is that the racks have cypress bedding so the youngsters can burrow in it, they seem to like that more than the hides that they have. The adult cages are newspaper floors with various tubs of cypress, water and moist hide boxes. The humidity fluctuates a little in the adult cages, but normally not too much over a week's time. I dont let it get below 75% and its rarely below 80%.

so you mention never getting below 75%, i assume that mean you monitor that right. so when you see that the humidity drops to the low 80% what steps do you take to get it back up?
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-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?
-- bearded dragon for the wifey my list got to big...

Yes, on the monitor. If the humidity starts to drop, I just pull out one of the open hide boxes and add a little water to the cypress. These cages have minimal ventilation so it doesnt take that much to get the humidity to stay up. The melamine came with a bunch of holes drilled in the sides and back. I think I taped over all but 4 for the entire 48" x 24" x 18" enclosure.

and for my big cages, i was having trouble keeping the humidity up. They have a ventilation grid from one side to the other at the back, same place that a light can go. I cut a bit of perspex that goes from one end to the other, with about a 5cm gap. I also have found a kind of moss that is sort of like a brick in shape, there is one in the middle of each cage, and i just shoot it with the water sprayer every couple of days. seems to keep the humidity up, please they all have sphagnum moss hides
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Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

Just a warning... all of the "brick" shaped moss molds with our snake's humidity requirements. I tried that too. You have to get live moss if you want to keep it. Usually you can find it at your local nursery.

so that brick thingy, are those the green foam blocks you soak in water then stick flowers into it? or is it actually moss

also it seems that them moss is best to use, my question is; is there a reason that the damp moss work better in a hide than say a damp sponge or a damp towel???

i would think a towel or a sponge would hold the moisture just as well and release it slowly
-----
-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?
-- bearded dragon for the wifey my list got to big...

ok well it not acutally a brick, more used that word for the shape oops. Basically i found a 50lt (dont know what that is in gallons!!) of sort of moss stuff at the nursery. It brownish not green, and i dont know what the translation would be from finnish. It just sort of moss looking stuff havent been using it long, but it does seem to hold the moisture well. Dont seem to have any problems with mould in the big cages, but have to keep my eyes on the smaller tubs, and seem to need changing more often. Once i have my rack system going and more snakes, i will probably go to paper towels or something similiar, when i have many more snakes, but for the time being, with the snakes i have, i enjoying giving them as natural as possible.

thanks for the heads up on the mould in different types of mosses, i will keep more of an eye on it
-----
Dave

2.2 Normal BRBs
0.1 Anery BRB
2.1 66% poss het anery BRB
1.1 het hypo BRB

Paid for, but stuck in europe somewhere hope to get from next german show
1.0 Anery BRB
0.1 66% poss het anery BRB
2.5 66% poss het new european line hypo

I taped over the ventilation grids in a few of the cages. I used clear tape so looking at it didnt drive me nuts. Worked out great, I only have to add water to the open hide about every other week.

Have you never heard me mention I do NOT own any type of device or meter to measure humidity? Set the cage up right and humidity will take care of itself!!! The exact number is not important, what is important is having enough humidity. That can be watched by how they shed. As long as one piece sheds, humidity is high enough. By one piece I mean not tattered, quite often a shed will get stuck on something as they peel it off and tear off a big chunk, then the next piece comes off fine as well.

Adults are much more tollerant of lower humidity.

IMO the perfect solution is the damp hide box. Gives them a nice humid spot to rest and they can crawl out whenever they want!
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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:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

the number itself isnt as important lol ... what i was more asking about is what can be done to bring humidity up a little.

ive heard up moving the water dish closer to the heat source, ive heard misting, ive also heard with the right set up misting shouldnt be needed, and a response on this thread mention adding some watter to the humid hide....

thats more of what i was looking for just see what whoever else does
-----
-Stephen-

0.1 soon to be wifey (hopefully)
1.0 rotwiler/chow (Boomer-wifey's pooch)
1.0 norm corn (Jake aka grumpy old terdhead)
0.1 col redtail boa (Dixie-my baby girl)
0.1 ball python (Bella- wifey's baby girl)

hopeful for not to distant future:
--brazillian rainbow boas 1 female for sure
2 or 3? maybe a breeding pair?
-- bearded dragon for the wifey my list got to big...

All are good ways to tweak humidity but you left our THE most important one - limit ventilation!!! They don't need much oxygen. Excessive ventilation will cycle that precious humidity out of the cage and into the room!!! And it does not take very
much ventilation to be excessive!!

And yeah, I don't mist!!! Except for newborn babies!!!

Large surface area water dish, Damp moss hide and limited ventilation!!!!
-----
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:
26.49 BRB
20.21 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Limiting ventilation is the biggest key IMO. I never mist.