Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was using these tubs with reptibark and a moss in them and spraying them down once a day, but today my mind has changed on that idea, because I've found little bugs in both of the containers, needless to say, those are out of the cages now Does anyone else have any ideas for humidity? These cages don't seem to have a whole lot of trouble holding it Idon't think, do you think spraying it down once a day would do? Or anything else that maybe doesn't involve a kind of wood or moss??

Thank you,
Ben Renick

` Need to know a few things.

Where is the humidity escaping the cage?
Are there vents above the floor level?
Do you have a large, or small water container in the cage?
Is the water heated?
How do you heat the cage?
What kind of substrate do you use?

` I don't like spraying. In commercial settings, you've usually got to, for cost reasons. For my main display cages, I like to set them up so they produce and trap humidity. Then, I use a 3 inch fan to force air into the cage to reduce the excess humidity. Spraying leaves damp surface areas, which along with the heat, can produce nasty stuff, quick. The ventilation to reduce the humidity is great in helping to keep the cage clean. The fans are on timers, adjusted to time of year. Another plus of forced air ventilation is that you know immediately when someone makes a mess.
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Humidity escapes through the window creases. That is also the ventilation for the cages. Fairly large water containers for both to soak in, both are usually under the heat source to keep the water hot, but I moved the retics so it could eat, which is what it was doing at the time the pic was taken. The cage has a 100 watt red light on the left side and a 5.0 Floresent light on the right. The cage alone seems to keep a little humidity for the water being heated but I could always use a little more. The bedding I'm using is the guy on kingsnakes, it's some kind of paper, I think it's Indented Kraft Paper.

~Ben

Ben,
It's tough to keep the humidity up when heating with an internal incandescent heat source. The easiest way to raise humidity is to heat from beneath the cage and place an evaporation dish over this heat source. I heat about a third of the cage floor with Flexwatt controlled in the mid to upper 80’s and have a shallow, flat glass bowl filled with saturated aspen bedding over this heat source in cages where I need additional humidity. You can put the snakes soaking container over the heat source, but you will need to change it frequently to avoid bacterial proliferation in the water due to the higher temperatures. Slightly acidifying the water as Rich does will also help inhibit bacterial growth as well.

Kelly

` How are you measuring your humidity? Specifically, what kind of measuring device do you use, and where in the cage do you measure it?
` I quit using overhead heating sources years ago. Besides the dangerous heat of the units themselves, they lower humidity considerably, and create updrafts. A large snake may live for years with a hot light as in your picture, then one day coil around it, or just touch it with their head. As you know, Boids can stand up to 1/3, or more, their body length. If I can't put my hand on it, and keep it there, it doesn't go in my cages.
` Floor heat has the advantage of using a heat source that is only 70 to 90 degrees, this is much more gentle heat. I use heat tape of varying wattage, depending on position. Under their water, 85 to 90 degrees. Elsewhere, from 70 to 85 degrees. I heat the entire floor, except for one or two safety zones, depending on cage size, and population.
` When you eliminate the need for the snake to thermoregulate, you'll often see behavior that most snake keepers miss. I still keep some babies in cages where they must thermoregulate. Those snakes are tied to their heat source, and it controls their behavior, limiting or eliminating certain behavior.
` My cages all vent some humidity around the doors, but it's not enough to lower ambient humidity. With my main vents all within 6 inches of floor level, I still must use fans to keep it down to 70% to 80%.
` If you aren't using a reliable measuring device, and measuring near the floor level, it's all academic, anyway. Also, with a non-contact IR thermometer, you can pinpoint exactly where heat and thus humidity are escaping. Are the top, and side seams of your cages sealed?
` By the way, you can't beat plain, non-colored newspaper, for substrate.
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Agh, I went through the same problem with the reptibark!
The moss shouldnt be a prblem though. Of course youll have to clean all the moss you have in there now and put in new. But the reptibark I am finding is certain to have the parasites. I also use a reptile mite powder uder all teh bedding materials now.
Mites love moist places. Only materials I use for keeping in moisture is the moss now. And I use a fogger in her pool to keep moisture in her tank. It has beena great combo so far. Had her for almost 2 years now, and never a problem since the reptibark.