Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,

I am having a hard time regulating my humidity in my snake's cage. The humidity is always at a good level, but it is such a tedious job to sit there and spray his cage 5 or 6 times over in each area so that is stays that way overnight.

Are there any kind of devices, like humidifiers that I can put directly in his cage to keep it constantly humid without having to be there to spray his cage all day. I mean I have stuff to do during the day!

Thanks ya'll

You need to be careful with your attempts to raise humidity. One of the common problems of raising humidity with misting is the substrate stays too wet.

Wet substrate can lead to scale rot.

Also, I was just talking with my vet about this the other day, when there is substantial humidity; bacteria can grow in any excess moisture(like condensation on the tank sides). This can lead to an RI .

So if you have mold growing, which will happen in times of high humidity and excess moisture you definitely have bacteria growing in your tank.

I disinfect with Virosan.

You need to give more details on your tank setup, what substrate is dirt style???
What are your actual humidity levels?

I personally don’t keep humidity too high except during shed. I use about 55% normally, and bump it up to about 80% at first sign of shed, and keep it there through the shed cycle. All of the snakes have perfect sheds and are in good health at these levels.

Good luck,
TomChambers

Hey,

Are there any kind of products that can go inside a small body of water (like a bowl) that will humidify the cage properly? I went to this one web-site (can't remember the name of it off the top of my head), and they had this one thing that went inside the water in the cage and created almost a small fog in there for the snake so it felt natural.

Is that a good idea? have you heard of this before?

Thanks

Sorry never tried any products like that.

When I used aquarium type cages, as Adam pointed out, I placed plexiglass over about 2/3 of the top. I also used under tank heat, and I placed a large water bowl directly above the UTH pad.
The combination provided enough humidity when they were not in shed.
I use news print for substrate, which I misted 2 times a day for the 7-10 days of shed, and humidity stayed at 80-85%.
As far as burrowing BP’s aren’t burrowing snakes per say.
My understanding is they do go underground, but they enter preexisting holes in search of food and a place to hide.
TomChambers

Hey,

By the way, I forgot to tell you that the style of dirt in there was recomended to me by my sister (she's a vet). It is a sterilized top soil that you can buy at Home Depot. It makes for good burrowing and stuff and generally, it stays pretty good so if you wanted plants you could have them.

I had that reptile sand stuff in there for a while, but he hated it. Plus I want Rocky to have a natural environment.

Thanks

It is very difficult to keep an aquarium with a screen top humid. They were designed to keep fish not reptiles.

Many people use pieces of Plexiglas or some other type of plastic on top of their screens to keep the humidity in. I have also seen warm air humidifiers modified with dryer vent tubing directed into the enclosure to help with humidity.

The thing to remember is that while humidity is important, keeping a dry clean substrate is even more important. Your post below said that you have a problem with mold. Mold forms because your substrate is too damp and can cause serious health problems for your ball python. It would be better to keep his enclosure with lower humidity and dry substrate than to spray so much you create moldy conditions.

If you are worried about dry sheds, make a "humidity box". Get a small Rubbermaid container. Cut a hole in the top or side and fill it with damp (not wet) moss. The snake will use this "humidity box" when it needs to and you can keep your substrate dry.
I am sure there are other great ideas out there for your humidity problems. Hopefully people with similar set ups will post with their thoughts.

Hope this helps

-Adam

I bought the 'Tropic-Aire Humidifier & Air Exchanger' and use with an air pump and cover most of my screen top with duct tape. Works great - I'd recommend buying an air pump rated for a larger tank than what you have.

I've also heard others use the Repti-Flo.
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"Aragorn"

1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

That product looks so awesome and just what I need.

Quick question, Does it cause mold or mildew in your cage?

No mold - no mildew. It's like a humidifier in your home - you don't have a soaked/wet carpet when you use one. It humidifies the air.

Here's a link to a discussion on the Tropic-Aire:
ballpython.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49&start=15

Here's a link to a discussion on the Repti-Flo:
ball-pythons.net/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=568

Best of luck!
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My Album

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"

1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"

Hi,

I too have a humidity problem but I was told it was due to winter. I went to Petco today to buy the product that you mentioned but it said that I had to have a cover over the acquarium/terranium. I have a screen over the acquarium with a heat lamp lying on the screen. I managed to cut out a towel so it covers the screen completely expect for a circular area that allows the lamp to lay on top of the screen.

I wasn't sure if this would work as the instructions said that any open areas will allow dry air to enter so I didn't buy it. I wanted to come here and see if anyone knew whether my configuration would work with that product.

Thanks in advance!

Why don't you just put a humid hide in the cage and keep it damp and let the rest of the cage be ambient. With a tank I would still keep plexi over the top. IMO putting a humidifier in the cage is a way to encourage mold, scale rot and upper respiratory infections.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

It is safe. I know many who use it. It's not like it creates condensation on the glass or wets anything in the tank. The air is just more humid. I don't know how well a towel would hold in the humidity. I just use duct tape. I cover all of the screen with the exception of open sapce I leave for the lights I use. It works fine for me. You could certainly try using the towel and then if it doesn't work use duct tape. I believe others I talked to all eventually went with duct tape also. I tried just using a humid hide - it did nothing for my humidity and my snake won't use it.
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My Album

1.0 Ball Python
"Aragorn"

1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa
"Gimli"

0.1 Australian Cattle Dog/Pointer
"Kira"