Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a question for who ever is willing to help. i have experience with your basic corns and ball pythons and decided to expand my hobby. a little over a week ago i purchaced a gtp around 10 mo. old. i did as much research as i could on the net and still have yet to find the answer to humidity. I was wondering what is "high humididty", as a number percentage? all i can find is, requires constant high humidity and such, but for an idiot like me i need to see actual numbers and i can't find any specifics. Petie's home is a 40 gallon pentigon terrarium. so it is nice and tall for climbimg limbs. i have 3 daytime temp zones from 87-in the perches, 82 on the far left side 6 inches off the bottom and 75 around the water area a few inches off the bottom controlled by timers, at night i have 1 warm area at 82 and the rest of the area is 75, the perches, water area ect. for humidity i set up a cool mist ultrasonic humidifier which pipes in the humidity threw a 1 1/2" pvc pipe. this is hooked up to a digital timer and goes off as programed. i am currently maintaining around 82-88% humidity levles through out the setup day and night. is this adequate humidity?, or is there anything i am missing? thank you in advance for any help, oh yah Petie thanks you too!

I try to keep my humidity between 60-70% which is not always easy living in the desert region that I do. The humidity will rise after misting and usually drop back down after a few hours.

I might rethink the whole enclosure setup for now while your baby grows up. A 40 gal tank is a pretty large enclosure, you might consider it when your baby is grown into it's adult size, but for now I'd set it up in a nice tub where you can control environment so much easier.

Actually, you don't want it wet in there day and night. What I have found through research is that you want a period of drying out (relatively, of course)

What was suggested to me is to mist once or twice in the daytime. Then allow for the cage to dry during the evening/night. Also, you don't want the sides of the cage continuously wet, as that is too humid.

I believe that that is why there isn't a "set number" for the humidity level out there. A cycle is a better way to put it, although you can keep the humidity continuously high during a shed cycle I believe!

Good luck,
Brent Strande

P.S.
Here is an excerpt from Greg Maxwell's site ( www.finegtps.com ) located here:
http://www.finegtps.com/Care_sheets.html

Humidity

This is an important topic when discussing chondro husbandry, and is one that causes unnecessary confusion. The level of humidity in a given environment will be based on a number of factors such as how much moisture is added to the cage daily, temperature, ventilation, how well the cage substrate holds and releases moisture, etc. You will need to experiment with your own set up and existing factors, adjusting these until you have the correct balance. Use observation as the best guide, which is better than attempting to maintain a specific percentage of relative humidity. Also, remember that just having a wet cage interior is not the same as providing humidity, which is the amount of moisture in the air. For example, an excessively ventilated cage can have standing water on the floor and still not be humid.

Many people have an exaggerated idea of how much humidity these snakes require. They may suffer health problems if kept too wet, including skin infections. The only time to err on the wet side is during the animal’s shed cycle. Chondros are very thin skinned and sheds will dry on them very easily if the relative humidity is too low during the shedding period. The goal should be a gradual drying out period at night and early morning, followed by an increase in humidity in the afternoon and early evening. Condensation on the glass 24 hours a day, or the growth of mildew or mold, indicates excessive humidity. On the other hand, if the cage is dry three hours after spraying, there is not enough humidity. A hand-held mister or pressure sprayer works just fine for daily misting. I have used automatic misting systems and do not care for them. Another important point to remember is that chondros may drink off of themselves after misting, so keep the water and the sprayer clean!

To sum up...provide moderate to heavy humidity, along with an overnight drying out period. Regulate cage humidity by increasing or decreasing the amount of misting and dampness in the cage substrate, along with adjusting the ventilation. And remember, other than at shedding time, humidity is not critical. Getting it right is important to the long term health of your animals, but having it too high or too low for brief periods won't hurt anything.

I spray down the cage at around 6 p.m. when it is at about 80% and let it dry out overnight and through the day. You really kind of just play it by eye/ear ( I dunno, LOL)

Thanks for all of the help. its great when you can ask a question and get such valuable information from experienced handlers as you all provided. i am new to this website and am very impressed with the resources it provides. i will then set my system up for around 80% during the day and let it dry a bit after dark. i was running a misting cycle just before i cooled down the tank, and the humidity would stay at around 80% during the dark or cool period at night. as for the size of the terrarium for such a small chondro, i have it set up where it is no problem to keep the entire environment regulated with a series of vents, timers, heat source location, and misting cycles. i had to open and close vents and adjust everything until i found the proper ventilation/heat/cool period/humidity levels before Petie arrived. so i would think as long as the environment is strictly controlled the size should be fine. or not? Again thanks for all of the excellent information, you guys make sites like this a priceless resource. jsnake