Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I see a bunch of different information regarding humidity. Temperatures all appear to be agreed upon by everyone. However, humidity has bouncing information depending on where you get it from.

Albinoburmese.com-
Burmese don't require exceptional humidity. I've found the best humidity levels are 20-40%, with occasional increases to around 60% to aid shedding.
http://www.albinoburmese.com/minimumhousing.htm

New England Reptiles-
Providing proper humidity for Burmese pythons is important to help ensure complete sheds & avoid respiratory infections, but as stated previously too much humidity can be as problematic as too little. First off, let's establish "humidity" as the amount of moisture in the air. To provide your snake with a humidity level of 50% - 60%, you have a couple of options.
http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareBurm.html

The thing that made me post this is reading Corbin's post below. He mentioned to have a humidity level of about 50% and up to 60% for shedding. Then said to drop it back down or it could cause problems. So I am curious, which is correct? There appears to be quite a bit of difference between 20-40% and 50-60%. Both also tell you to raise the humidity level to a bit higher. My humidity level usually fluxuate between 60-70%. I was going by a book that I read one point. Can someone provide some insight? Preferably long term owners/caretakers please?

Thanks,

Chris
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

Chris, 60-70 percent humidity shouldn't cause a problem, and it's plenty enough to help in the shed I would think.

Quig

Quig,

That is what I thought, but wasn't sure. I see so many fluxuating advice on humdity levels it's annoying. I knew not really to go any higher than about 70 on a consistent basis and the cage is ventilated. It just really got the best of my curiosity.

Thanks,

Chris
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

I won't claim to be an expert but having kept MANY burms throughout the years, and, having kept them on a long term basis (25-35 years and still going strong), plus, having rehabbed MANY abandoned burms who have come in with many ailments, I will base my opinions on these interactions only.

There are several keys to keeping burms healthy on a long term basis: 1) providing enough room for adequate exercise, 2) avoiding obesity (most captive burms are obese), 3) proper temps....as you said, I think most of us agree that you should provide a thermal gradient that ranges from 78-80 deg F on the cool side to the mid 80's on the warm side with a basking area that reaches 90-95 deg F. and night temps not dropping below 80, and 4) HUMIDITY: the key with humidity is providing good ambient humidity WITH good air flow. Too many folks clog up vents, cover mesh screen and basically seal everything in creating a nice environment for all kinds of bacteria to fester leading to many health problems including respiratory. That's why many people will tell you to drop the humidity when a burm has RI but that is HORRIBLE advice. You must provide humidity to loosten things up and get the system working properly but you also must have FRESH air exchange. I try to maintain humidity levels in the 60-75% range; not easy during the Midwest winters we have here but that's what we shoot for. At these humidity levels our snakes do very well. For convelescing animals struggling with RI issues, we'll bump up humidity to the 80-90% level along with slightly higher than normal temps. People can argue all they want. I'd be happy to share my volumes of data I have accumulated over the years.

In terms of how to provide optimal humidity levels, it really depends on your set up, house, etc. Some can do just fine with hand misters. Others should use a misting system. Warm air vaporizers (that can filter out bad bacteria) have been used with success as well as humidifiers. It takes experimenting to find out what works best.

Bottom line is that good humidity with excellent fresh air exchange (w/out drafts) is the key when it comes to this topic.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, IL

>>I see a bunch of different information regarding humidity. Temperatures all appear to be agreed upon by everyone. However, humidity has bouncing information depending on where you get it from.
>>
>>Albinoburmese.com-
>>Burmese don't require exceptional humidity. I've found the best humidity levels are 20-40%, with occasional increases to around 60% to aid shedding.
>>http://www.albinoburmese.com/minimumhousing.htm
>>
>>New England Reptiles-
>>Providing proper humidity for Burmese pythons is important to help ensure complete sheds & avoid respiratory infections, but as stated previously too much humidity can be as problematic as too little. First off, let's establish "humidity" as the amount of moisture in the air. To provide your snake with a humidity level of 50% - 60%, you have a couple of options.
>>http://www.newenglandreptile.com/CareBurm.html
>>
>>The thing that made me post this is reading Corbin's post below. He mentioned to have a humidity level of about 50% and up to 60% for shedding. Then said to drop it back down or it could cause problems. So I am curious, which is correct? There appears to be quite a bit of difference between 20-40% and 50-60%. Both also tell you to raise the humidity level to a bit higher. My humidity level usually fluxuate between 60-70%. I was going by a book that I read one point. Can someone provide some insight? Preferably long term owners/caretakers please?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Chris
>>-----
>>Chris Law
>>U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
>>Herpetoculture Element Representative
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Thanks Mr. Carmichael. I am always willing to take your advice. Like I said, I usually keep my Humidity ranging between 60-70%. I will also mist if necessary to aid in shedding. Now I am working on designing the best possible cage for my Burm. Now, you say "no-drafts" but recommend making sure there is good ventilation to get clean air. What is the best way to achieve this? I open the front door regularly and their is a 1/4 inch gap at the top of the front cage door on each side about a foot long. Is this the inappropriate way of dealing with this, or will this work temporarily? I don't wish to do it this way on my new cage, so would appreciate any ideas you might have.

Typically, is building a new cage cheaper and better than buying a new one? If not would you recommend a particular brand that is good?

Thanks,

Chris
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

All I meant by drafts was that a cage shouldn't be located in an area where cool air from doors opening, windows, etc. could suddenly drop cage temps.....just normal air flow in an enclosed room is perfectly fine. As far as building a cage vs. purchasing a commercial cage, it really depends on your skills. I do not possess any cage building skills so as such, I either contract out a builder (like Crescent Moon Creations), or, purchase something like a Vision, Neodesha, Habitat Systems, etc.

Hope that helps, Rob

>>Thanks Mr. Carmichael. I am always willing to take your advice. Like I said, I usually keep my Humidity ranging between 60-70%. I will also mist if necessary to aid in shedding. Now I am working on designing the best possible cage for my Burm. Now, you say "no-drafts" but recommend making sure there is good ventilation to get clean air. What is the best way to achieve this? I open the front door regularly and their is a 1/4 inch gap at the top of the front cage door on each side about a foot long. Is this the inappropriate way of dealing with this, or will this work temporarily? I don't wish to do it this way on my new cage, so would appreciate any ideas you might have.
>>
>>Typically, is building a new cage cheaper and better than buying a new one? If not would you recommend a particular brand that is good?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>Chris
>>-----
>>Chris Law
>>U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
>>Herpetoculture Element Representative
-----
Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Mr. Carmichael,

Thanks for your help, as usual it is much appreciated. As long as I know that I am not providing improper humidity levels to my burm then I can rest well. As far as caging is concerned, it's still a toss up. I would like to attempt to build my own cage, but I dont' dare attempt it without assistance from those who have successfully done it. I have absolutely NO skills with wood and a saw, but I would like to at least take a shot at it.

Thanks for your help!

Chris
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

Here is the best way to start in the home made fabrication of a cage. Find a template. I design all my cages off a simple two dorr design basically like the ones used by animal plastics. By using their pics as a template I can get a basic understanding of how to do it and then jsut adjust the sizes accordingly. One main point not to overlook is to ensure that you seal the wood very well and then let it air out until all signs of the fumes are gone. I have found that the thick grey cement paint works wonderfull in sealing wood. I also recommend using either linoleum or contact paper or something of the such on the floor after it has been sealed. It aids in clean up immensely and creates a better seal for the huge urinations and occassional water bowl spills. Hope this helps a little, Todd

Great post Rob, and I completely agree with you 100%. I also have rehabbed burms back form respiratory infections simply by an increasing in temp and humidity. It is the key to a healthy snake. Todd

I try to keep humidity in the 60 to 70% range for tropical boids and I have also pulled burmese out of minor cases of RI by raising the humidity to the 80-90% range and running the temps in the low 90's day and night. Lowering the humidity on a boid with RI will do nothing but make the situation worse. However, severe cases of RI will always require a vet visit and antibiotics.

Kelly

Kelly,

Thank you for your response. Two respected people in the hobby with the same agreement on humidity ranges makes me feel much more comfortable. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing something bad with my humidity levels for my burm. Now I can sleep tonight .

Thanks,

Chris
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Chris Law
U.A.P.P.E.A.L. (Uniting a Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League)
Herpetoculture Element Representative

Does anyone get the weather channel? What's the humidity over in Burma?

Ian,
There are obviously a large number of variables affecting relative humidity as in air temperature, season, altitude, time of day, etc., but the annual average for the northern lowlands runs 65 to 70% and the annual average for the southern lowlands runs 75 to 85%.

Kelly