Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After all the publications i have read over and over they really dont tell me how to get the right humidity in the enclosure in the language i understand, english for stupid people. so please if someone or some people please help me find a way to regulate the humidity in my enclousure

What are you using for a cage, what is the substrate, and how do you heat the cage(Under tank pad, lights)??
TomChambers

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1.0 Ball Python "Aragorn"
1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa "Gimli"
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0.1 Rough-Scale Sand Boa "Arwen"
0.1 California Kingsnake "Gentoo"
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake "Indigo"
1.0 Snow Corn snake "Chile"

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"Kira"

I'm using aquariums for both my balls. Here's what I did when having trouble with humidity.

Switched to "Forest Bark' substrate, available at pet stores. Holds moisture very well. Only issue with it is that you should feed in a seperate enclosure so they don't ingest.
Used plexiglass (Home Depot) to cover most of the top. I've also used duct tape but when you do this, make sure the 'ends' of the duct tape are on the top. If not, it can peel off and possibly harm your snake.
Stopped using any above tank heat/light. They dry out the air quickly. Use heat pads under the tank.
All of this, should take care of it. I don't even have to mist though a little misting will raise humidity quickly and it will 'hold'. If none of this works, place the water bowl over one of the heat pads but clean dish frequently.
In the smaller tank, I made a DIY humidifier. Truthfully, I don't know how much this helps but I had the stuff on hand so what the hell.
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(¯`·.¸¸.·´Kane`·.¸¸.·´¯)

Alright well i am a person who is being smart. i don't have a ball yet. only 13 and can't afford one. i want to be able to have a constant income so that i can provide my ball with food, check ups and everything else that it may need come when i buy him/her. but i have never understood exactly how to get the humidity right. but i know i am using a 10 gallon fish aquarium till he gets about 20 inches and then from there i don't know what i should use. i have heard about rubbermaid tubs being good enclosures. but i don't know what demensions to get. also i know i am going to be using a thermostat(most likely a Zoo med 500R) and then like either and EXO-TERRa Heatwave Heating Pad or a ZooMed Repi-Therm U.T.H. i was also thinking about using newspaper for the substrate. is that good? thanks for the help. i will need all that i can get. i want to be the smartest person and be stupid and get the ball and then have to give him/her away because of financial corruption.
thanks Challenger440

Personally I’m not a big fan of aquarium setups, although I understand if you have only a few snakes and you want to see them occasionally, it’s nice to use glass.

Ball pythons are shy animals and thus stay in their hides most of the time, and when they do come out it’s usually at night, so they don’t make the best snake to sit and watch anyway.

I prefer to use plastic tubs, which are much easier to control humidity with IMO, but I won’t try to sell you on them.

Anyway, I also had just a few snakes at one time, and I opted to use 40 gal breeder aquariums with screen tops. I used newspaper as substrate, UTH and a supplemental 50 watt red bulb for heat.

As Kane said I got some Plexiglas and covered about two thirds of the top, I used weather stripping between the Plexiglas and the top. This cost me like $8 to do two 40 gal tanks.

I also kept a large water bowl over the UTH, and the setup worked great. Held about 55% humidity regularly, and when I misted for a shed cycle, it stayed at 80% - 90% for four or five days at a time.

I would suggest setting up your tank, and seeing how it works for you, then post again if you have any further questions, or need some fine tuning.

Good luck
TomChambers