Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hiya.

my baby colombain has gone into shed for the first time while i've had her. when i came home today she'd taken the front half off in bits, and was soaking in her water. she then proceeded to start to pull the rest off as normal.

is this abnormal in rainbows? ive been misting the tank heavily morning and night.

on the subject of humidity, does anyone have any ideas how to keep the humidity in a tank with a screen top, ive already got it half covered with plastic, but the tank only stays humid for an hour or so. by this i mean the moss dries out and the condensation on the glass goes away.

also, is it possible for it to be too wet for the snake? i dont get the substrate too wet cos i dont want belly rot.

sorry for all the questions but im new to rainbows and want to get it right.

cheers for reading and (hopefully) helping!!

cat

cat,
...You are describing your problem perfectly. You mist a little water into the cage and it evaporates out through the screen top. If you have a warmer area in the tank and a cooler area in the tank the air will rise off of the warmer area and leave the tank and as this is happening cool DRY air will come down from outside the tank to replace the escaping warmer humid air. The cage can dry out very quickly when this is happening. You need to cover at least 95% of the screen top. Some people even cover 100% of the screen. Be careful and watch the cage temperature. Covering much of the top and stopping the escape of warm humid air will raise the temperature in the cage along with the humidity. You may need to adjust the heat source. Most snakes need quite a bit of ventilation. Rainbow Boas seem to do well with very limited ventilation. Instead of misting a little water twice a day try pouring a lot of water into the cage twice a week. Some people keep Rainbow Boas on damp substrate 24/7 and have no problems. In my cages I want the Brazilian and Isla Marajo and Peruvian Rainbows to be on damp substrate about half of the time and dry substrate about half of the time. The Argentinian and Campina Grande Rainbows are kept on dry substrate most of the time. If any animal looks like it is getting dry or having a problem shed I will either soak it or pour more water on the substrate.
Good luck,
Jeff
My Rainbow Boa Webpage with info about cage humidity

>>cat,
>>...You are describing your problem perfectly. You mist a little water into the cage and it evaporates out through the screen top. If you have a warmer area in the tank and a cooler area in the tank the air will rise off of the warmer area and leave the tank and as this is happening cool DRY air will come down from outside the tank to replace the escaping warmer humid air. The cage can dry out very quickly when this is happening. You need to cover at least 95% of the screen top. Some people even cover 100% of the screen. Be careful and watch the cage temperature. Covering much of the top and stopping the escape of warm humid air will raise the temperature in the cage along with the humidity. You may need to adjust the heat source. Most snakes need quite a bit of ventilation. Rainbow Boas seem to do well with very limited ventilation. Instead of misting a little water twice a day try pouring a lot of water into the cage twice a week. Some people keep Rainbow Boas on damp substrate 24/7 and have no problems. In my cages I want the Brazilian and Isla Marajo and Peruvian Rainbows to be on damp substrate about half of the time and dry substrate about half of the time. The Argentinian and Campina Grande Rainbows are kept on dry substrate most of the time. I keep my Colombian Rainbows just a little less damp than the Brazilians and Isla Marajos and Peruvians. If any animal looks like it is getting dry or having a problem shed I will either soak it or pour more water on the substrate.
>>Good luck,
>>Jeff
My Rainbow Boa Webpage with info about cage humidity

hey, i have a brb and i have a screen top and what i do is i take a wash cloths and soak it with the hottest water i can stand with my hand and then spread it about 2/3ed of the cover and then i cover 1/2 of whats left with plastic but then i also use a heatting lamp on the other 1/2 of the cover which leaves some airflow but i do the wash cloth when i leave for school and when i get home from work so like 8am the first time and then like 8pm the second but since i've dont this he's had perfect sheds plus i sloak him every day when he starts his blue eye phase till he sheds and if that doesnt keep the humidity i also every now n then i'll take a plastic bag and fill it with hot water then put a pin hole in it and let it drip for like 30 mins but when i do that it'll get so humid in there that the sides of the cage will start fogging up, so hope my experience help you out
zack