Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright. Built a cage, the sides a melamine with a coating. The top and bottom are plywood with a small layer of paint. I have 2 2x10 inch vents and a plexiglass front. I am using a lavalamp bulb as a heatsource. Is the bulb to bright? the humidity is reading 24 in the cool part 34 in the warm part. The cage is about 87 degrees all over. Now the part I want to fix right now is humidity. Should I spray everyday? theres about 10 sheets of newspaper down. I already sprayed once but didn't change the levels. I will spray again and get back to you on the levels. But any tips on humidity or heat would be nice...

Thanks
Owen

PS I have a bulb that prudces less heat, basking spot of about 86 degrees and cool spot of about 76....
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np
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First off, you probably want your basking spot or warm side to be around 90 to 95 during the day. If the cool side is 80 then that sounds about right.

As far as humidity goes, make sure you have a fairly large water bowl in there. Since the humidity is so low you might want to think about changing from newspaper to cypress mulch as a substrate or something that will hold in moisture. I don't use it myself but a lot of other posters on here are using it and say that it hold's moisture in really well.

DId you say that you have 2 2" X 10" vents? With vents that large you not only will have trouble with humidity but you're giving your snake a very good chance to escape, even if they're on the top. Snakes are great escape artists even through openings that you wouldn't think they could get through. Maybe I misunderstood that part, you'll have to let us know.

Anyway, I hope that helps and I'm sure you'll get more advice that's better than mine from the more experienced keepers on here, in case I missed anything. Good luck!

Thanks for the advice, pretty helpful.
About the vents. They are screwed in steel vents with gaps less then a half in wide. I got a large water bowl I think I'll just spray every once in a while.

Thanks
Owen Cass
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...placing the water bowl under the spot lamp. Just make sure the bulb is in some kind of wired cage. You'll have to replace the water a lot more often but that will raise humidity decently.

I use cyprus mulch, and pour some water over the area below the heat lamp. This keeps my Hmidity between 70 and 80 percent. You just have to figure out how much water to use and how often. Keep good records and try different amounts and you should be fine. I have mine figured so that I only have to add water every 50 to 65 hours. Once i get a room humidifier this won't be necessary, but works real well right now.

bulbs dry out the air and contribute to low humidity.

Consider cypress mulch.

use a UTH or heat tape to provide belly heat - they need belly heat. With this you can then add a second water dish on top of the uth that will increase humidity. Best bet might be to add a humid hide to the warm side, then you don't have to worry about humidity in the rest of the cage. There are posts below with other ideas - check them out.

Temps should be: warm = 90-95, cool 80-85
drop in temps at night not needed, but if they do go no lower than 75 on the cool side and make sure there is still a difference of 5-10 degrees between the two sides.
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