Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, ever since the new furnace was installed and is running I've noticed that the humidity level in my E. notaeus tank has gone down. I have a cup filled with moss and water plus her waterbowl in there. Before the RH was 65-70% at floor level and 50-60% at the top. Now it is 45-50% at floor level and 25-30% at the top. To keep the humidity up I would have to spray the tank down several times a day. The thermostat for the furnace is set at 67 degrees now that may seem cool but the room she is in at that temp it gets pretty warm. It makes me sweat. This house is dry overall and since it is my parents' house they will not allow for a humidifier. It could ruin old pictures that are my moms among other old things both my parents treasure. I've been looking into getting an Exo Terra waterfall that acommodates the ultrasonic fogger to help up the humidity. This will cost in the range of $65 up to $100, depending where I get it from. Any other ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Oh, in a year I should be out of here and into my own place then I can do whatever I want or need to better care for my baby Steven
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"I am all that is Divine, I am all that is Evil.
I am the one who brings forth Death,
On the wings of a Weevil." JSKII

There are a lot of different ways to keep up the humidity, if it's in a glass cage with a screen top, it's very hard to increase, so if that's the case I would put maybe a shower curtain or something covering most of top... But what I do for humidty is I use humidity huts. Rubbermaid boxes with a hole cut in the lid or side of it for an entance, fill the bottom up with Moss (not reptibark, it deveops bugs overtime) because moss is the one thing that usually wont have any bugs or mold on it... This has worked very very good for me, all it needs is to be sprayed down, usually once a day, sometimes condensation will last for 2-3 days, but once a day just to be sure. All my snakes are clean shedders because of this tactic, and with rubbermaids you can get up to pretty big sizes so for when the snakes are larger, you can still keep up the humidity pretty easy.

~Ben

She's in a 40 gallon glass tank with a screen top but I have trash bags covering the top completely even around the dome light fixture. There may be .1% of open space that is not covered. Before it started getting cold and the old furnace went out the humidity stayed up where I needed it. Now the new furnace is up and running and the room is fairly warm I've noticed that it is hard to keep up where I need it to be. There used to be condensation on at least 50% of the inside tank area mainly on the ends but now it never does that. Right now the only way I can get humidity up is by spraying the tank down several times a day. On the humidity huts are there any other holes other than the entrance hole? Like ventilation holes. Steven
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"I am all that is Divine, I am all that is Evil.
I am the one who brings forth Death,
On the wings of a Weevil." JSKII

` If your cage has a sliding screen top, you can turn the cage on its side. Then, attach clear, heavy plastic tarp/sheet to the screen down to about 2 inches of the bottom, on the outside of the screen, I learned the hard way. You now have a sealed( mostly )sliding side door, and this will trap more humidity than if you try to seal the screen at the top of the cage. Years ago, I had several old glass critter cages I had quit using because of the humidity loss. When adapted like this, they trap much more humidity, which I produce by putting the water container over an 85 degree spot on the floor. Any kind of heat is going to reduce humidity, but mild floor heat does it least. Hot heat sources will create strong convection, which will find a way out, taking the humidity with it.
` When I was in herp retail, I converted all my customers with this type of cages to this system. It was amazing how many neophytes with Ball Pythons suddenly had snakes shedding in one piece, with no problems. Spraying/misting is a last resort, for me. The wet spots formed, along with the heat, are a bacterium's paradise. Many of those bacteria find their way into the respiratory tract of the caged critter, causing infections. They also cause eye, mouth, and cloacal infections.
` Good luck.

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Stop the world-I want to get off!