I have a Sav in a 8 wide x 3 long x 7 tall cage. The substrate is top soil, sand and decomposed granite from Home Depot that is 2 feet deep in a 8x3x2 galvanized steel trough. There is a 3x2 water tub changed weekly. The furniture is parts of a pine tree that I chopped down, allowing for climbing, elevated basking and hiding. The basking area is set up with 3 45W halogen flood lights. The top of the cage is essentially 6 wood sections fastened together on top of the trough. These sections have the inside coated with ReptiShield. There is a vent on the cool side, towards the bottom. I have a "misting system" that is a section of 1/2" poly tubing with 2 90 degree sprinkler heads at each end and 2 180 degree heads towards the middle. The line is set below the doors, just above the stock tank at an angle such that the dirt will saturate completely and the furniture get a mist. This used to be on a timer, but now its turned on manually as I will explain below.
My problem is with maintaining humidity. I have my hygrometer set higher up in the tank about 3/4 of the way up and it consistently reads 40% humidity. When i turn the misters on for 1 minute, the humidity raises to 70%, but after 20 minutes, it will drop back down to 40 for ambient humidity. The soil will still be wet. The problem with consistently running the misters is that the water runs through the dirt and collects at the bottom of the tank, leaving the top of the soil dry. My monitor does not burrow. He used to, but now just goes under his hides. The cage is sealed except for less than 1/8" gaps between sections and the vent on the cool side.
I was thinking I should swap out the sprinker heads for misting heads and put them up high, so everything gets saturated and the air stays moist. Plus a finer mist will allow for more frequent mistings with less absorption in the ground.
Does this makes sense. I will include a ton of pictures, so you can see the setup.
