Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 3'5" male living in a 55 gallon terrarium. My question is, how do i keep more humidity in the enclosure longer? I have some plastic on the top, which keeps it up for about 1/2 a day. But right now I have to mist before I leave for work early in the morning and then almost as soon as I get home in the afternoon. The water bowl is half on the uth, I have a 75w tight beam overhead during the day with nothing at night. Ambient temps stay pretty normal(95-83 day)(83-78 night). Should I use a thicker plastic? I've even tried foil but my temps got too warm on what was supposed to be the cool side. Also, I've been considering getting a red light for 24h heating. Is this recommended or is what I have now fine? My boy is perfectly healthy, just wanna make sure he stays that way in his new home. Thx in advance...

hello there!

Pretty snake you've got there. Very sweet face.

When Abigail first shed it was horrible. There was NO way I could keep the humidity up correctly in her cage. She's housed in a 4 ft by 2 ft by 2 ft custom enclosure with screened holes on each side, and a few in the back. (15 1.5" holes total covered by screen on the inside.) I thought good for keeping humidity in and ventilation. But her first shed with us was painfully long & sporatic & piecey.

Then I started with humid hides. (I swear, the only time I ever post is to rave about how well this works.) The humid hide give my snake the chance to regulate her humidity needs as she would her heat needs. She now goes into her humid hide to shed without us "making her" by removing all other hides. She leaves a nice neat ball of skin behind for us to clean up.

I assume that you're worried about the day to day humidity, so you might want to consider getting an entirely new hide with "something" to hold a bit of paper towel, moss, or whatever to keep the humidity in. I hope this helps. Best of luck, and have fun!

Maxwells (the humid hide advocate)

Yep I agree....find yourself a big tupperware or rubbermaid box, chop a hole in the lid and fill it up with damp spagnum moss or some other similar substrate. This way you dont have to worry so much about the overall humidity of the large enclosure, and it also gives your snake options to suit his own humidity preferences. Keep in mind that ball pythons come from fairly dry areas, but seek out the humidity provided underground and in termite mounds etc when they need it.

Nicole

Hey. Thanks for the replies. I always give him a humidity hide around his shed time (about the time i notice his eyes glazing) but I just like to keep the humidity around 60% usually. I think moving him in the larger area may have stressed him some because he wheezes a little now when he's outside of it. No signs of RI yet though, but I am keeping a check. I'm just trying to restore everything the way it was before to get him back to normal. That's why I asked about the red basking light. Has anyone out there tried them? What are your opinions? I dont want to stress him with all of the light at night and ruin his photo period, but i would like to keep it warmer during the night. I'm trying a blanket overtop tonight to see how my temps are in the morning. I guess it's just trial and error until i get it set up right for him. If anyone else has a 55gallon terrarium or close to it, and keeping a BP in it, please reply and share your setup or tips to getting it setup for my boy. Thanks...

I'd invest in an undertank heater if I were you. They stay on all the time and you don't have to worry about light

Well this is what iv heard.The water dish should be on the end of the cool side, and when he is shed put it closer to the warm side.

HOPE THIS HELPS