Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I currently have my brb in a rubbermaid, so the temp and humidity are fine. I have a very nice melamine setup 4'x2' that I want to move him to. I have a heat basking light with a rheostat to control temp, which is fine. I cannot get the humidity up at all. It stays at about 47 %.

I have tried to place the huge water bowl in the heated area, no luck, I also have moss in there and attempted to raise humidity by spraying the whole tank several times during the day. Newspaper as a substrate.

What about one of those devices that mists water continually?

Any other suggestions?

I will add a pic if that will help.

Brian

Lights are for lizards and pot plants, LOL!

Get a heat pad, some heat tape, or a UTH. Rainbows don't bask in captivity or the wild, so don't make them. Lights kill Rainbows, plain and simple.

BRB's being nocturnal certainly do not bask in direct sun. However they also do not derive thier heat in the wild from below ground (unless they happen to live in a geo-thermal area or next to a road). I think it is the ambient temperature that is most critical to these snakes and the absolute best way to replicate an ambient temperature gradient in a large enclosure is by an over head heat source. I use night lights exclusively to heat my enclosure and have done so for over 4 years now. Granted, a light can kill a BRB but so too can a UTH. By controlling the heat source by a rheostat or thermostat one can advoid overheating. I personally think UTH are not the best way to heat an enclosure because they heat the area just above ground. In a rubbermaid this is probably OK, but not in a large enclosure.
Just my opinion,
Paul

I would never use radient (air) heat for a Rainbow Boa. I would only ever use conductive heat. Radient heat causes a LOT of problems that must have solutions and makes owning the snakes more of a chore than a blessing.

Of course it can be done, but in the 300 Rainbows that have passed through my hands, in my opinion, not one would have benefited from having overhead heat over bottom heat.

Certainly there are different ways of doing things. The main thing is for people to get the opposing views so they can find what works best for them and their snakes. But I disagree with your statement that conductive heat is better than air temperature and I certainly disagree with the statement that 'lights kill, plain and simple'.
Paul

Light kill in the hands of the inexperienced who don't know the animals, who don't know the limits of tolerance (or lack thereof), and who don't know the subtle signs of when something is going to go or is going wrong.

Lights don't give these beginners the buffer that sometimes is the difference between a dead snake, and a mildly dehydrated snake. Therefore, I suggest other methods.

Of course lights work. I've bred tons of Rainbows with lights. 6 years ago. But I would never go back, and I'm amazed at how some of those animals survived under those conditions. But they survived IN SPITE of radient heat, not because of it.

The SECRET to Rainbows is a cool refuge. Ambient heat pretty much does the opposite of that.

I can see where your coming from. As a breeder you've probably had more of your babies bite the dust due to being cooked by inexperienced buyers than you'd care to remember, and your right, lights can definitly kill in the hands of the inexperienced (I've only raised one litter and out of that 2 that I know of died from poor husbandry). Most keepers do maintain their BRB's in enclosures that do not offer alot of heigth (most I read about are no more than 2 ft. high) and for a light system to operate optimally I think you need at least 3 to 4 ft. of height.
I do maintain, however, that in a large, tall enclosure with a range of lights of different wattages, and many hides of varying heigths creates the most optimal, 'natural' environment for BRB's. Your definitly right, they need to be able to escape to a cool spot and unless you have a large, tall enclosure they probably could not do that. In mine, the floor even at the hottest of times, never gets above the high 70's in the warmest spots, and most of it stays in the low to mid 70's during the summer. You can calibrate a light system to the perfect temps, but it does take effort and money.

One of two things could be happening. Either you have too much ventilation or the light is too hot.

You could use cypress mulch instead of newspaper to hold more humidity. But since rainbows don't require light I wouldn't use one unless you just can't keep the temps up. I use a dark purple ESU night light as needed.

Linda

Like Linda said, i think your problem is too much ventilation, I keep my BRB in Rubbermaid racks with heat pads in one side where I locate my water bowl, I used newspaper as sustrate and never mysth them with water just when doing cycle, I live in Colorado which is really dry, my BRB enclosure are between 80% and 90% , i also used a humidifier that help me keep my room in 70%

If your spraying down the enclosure several times a day the humidity should be fine. The problem is you'll tire of doing this really quickly. I'm not sure what kind of ventilation you've got in your enclosure but you should seal off most of it.
I use one of those garden sprayers you can get at any hardware/garden store (one you can pressurize by pumping) and really soak the enclosure once a day. This will be sufficient for adult BRB's. The moss is a great substrate either over Orchid bark or newspaper, just really wet it and you should be good to go.
Paul

ExoTerra makes a large waterfall which can be fitted with both a water pump and a fogger.

It looks great in my setup and the water cycling down the waterfall is enough to keep the humidity up. I don't even need the fogger (but I have a smaller setup, my RB is only 24" and is in a 20gl)

You can add the fogger (which has humidity control) to add great visuals to the setup.

On the downside, the waterfall does vibrate/hum slightly and most say that it can be disturbing for the pets, but if it is set upon a small rubber base or moss, that absorbs most of the vibration.

Good luck.
-----
-Iman

2.0 Balls (Spot and Speck)
0.1 Colombian BCI (Belle)
1.0 Colombian Rainbow (Rex)

Loving to Learn
Learning to Help
Helping to Love

try a manufactured cage that's made out of pvc plastic and comes with flexwatt heat. moonstruck exotics has these in a 4x2 for $200 shipped to your door. boaphile has them as well. plastic cages, as you know from using rubbermaid containers, hold humidity very well.

good luck, chris o