Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have recently acquired 2 green trees one yellow and one red. I have read a lot of info on them but I am having trouble getting their humidity up to 80-90%. I can keep it at 60% but thats it. I have two live plant and a waterfall w/ fogger. I mist them in the am and pm to help. I read that they need a well ventilated area so I have 2 sides open. They are now having trouble shedding and I dont want them to come down w/ a respiratory infection with the air being to dry.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

i'm not an expert yet, but i'm getting their... lol

i think 60% is ok in my opinion... but during the shead cycle you should raise the humidity to about 70-80%...

but if you want it higher try putting a larger water dish in the bottom......

another idea i read about is if you get one of those car washing towels that are large and kinda spungy... sorry i dont know what they are called... but if you get it wet.. not drenched... and put it in the bottom of the cage it will be a larger wet surface putting humidity in the cage and also makes clean up a breeze...

just my opinion... i'm sure one of the guys that have been in the game longer will suggest something as well...

good luck

shiloh

How long does it usually take for them to shed? It is only coming off in pieces and its been about a week. Do I need to assist?

Don’t bother with percents and gauges. Humidity for the most part is relative. The bulk of Chondro keepers do not have humidity gauges in their enclosures. Go by your eye and feel of the enclosure.

First thing I would look at is proper caging. I take it you have babies, here is the proper way to keep them.
http://www.finegtps.com/cagingbabies.htm
http://www.allchondros.com/images/cagesabove.jpg

This should solve your humidity problem.

Here is some good reading
http://www.allchondros.com/Care.htm
http://www.finegtps.com/Care_sheets.html

Here is a link that addresses humidity.
http://www.finegtps.com/Care_sheets.html#SolvingCommonProblems

Good Luck

Welcome to the world of chondros. Now just make sure you have a place to put any other animals you might have to make more room. lol. I think too many people pay too much attention to humidity with these snakes. Constant high humidity is not necessarily good for them. They are thin skinned snake and will develope necrotic infection if kept in wet conditions. I try to keep my relative humidity in the 60-70% range. You say the side of your cage are oped. Just how open. If you're getting bad sheds, it sounds like there is a little too much air flow there. It also sounds like you have a couple of rather small animals in this cage. I don't know how big the cage is, but if the chondros are less than one year old, I would suggest raising them in rubbermade or Sterlite containers until they are 18-24 months old. If you could describe the exact set up they are in it would help us determine how to help a little better.

Good luck.
Brandon Osborne

I have recently acquired 2 green trees one yellow and one red. I have read a lot of info on them but I am having trouble getting their humidity up to 80-90%. I can keep it at 60% but thats it. I have two live plant and a waterfall w/ fogger. I mist them in the am and pm to help. I read that they need a well ventilated area so I have 2 sides open. They are now having trouble shedding and I dont want them to come down w/ a respiratory infection with the air being to dry.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

The set up that I have is custom made. It is 24hx18x18 solid oak(my wife wouldnt let me get anything that wouldnt go w/ the rest of the furniture lol) I just put a piece of glass in the door and a small piece on the side so that there is a half inch on top and bottom for ventilation. the top was open but I put a piece of plexiglass over half. it has raised it to about 70% Is that enough ventilation? Thanks for the info.

could you please be a little more specific as to the ventilation... you said half inch but is it just a 1/2" hole or is a 1/2" opening but 18" across...
i agree with brandon on the shead problem... probably to much ventilation... your humidity is good...

but i have never helped a snake shead and i have had a few bad sheads... i usually just let it fall off on its own or the next shead, but all of my bad sheads have come off in peices but almost all of it came off because of them moving about in their cages...
like brandon said these are thin skined snakes and u might hurt them...

shiloh

The ventilation is 1/2 inch X 18 inch top and bottom on one side. There is also a 1/4 inch opening surrounding the heat source. Do you think that is still to much?

So if I let the shed be it wont cause an infection?

Thanks for the imput!

well thats more ventilation then i have, but i think it will be ok... but their are several things that could make a difference... such as a ceiling fan in the room ect...
but u said u made it less and your humidity went up to 70% right???

as far as the sheading... my snakes that have had bad sheads usually loose almost all of the skin over time just my moving about in their cage... what kind of items to you have in your cage for them to rub on??? i use driftwood as the perch in all of my cages... i use vision cages and have drilled into the side and into the drift wood and it works great...

best of luck

shiloh