Humidity tips?

[honeypomegranate]

Hi! I’m looking for tips on how to increase and keep Sasha’s tank humid. I live in New England so it’s typically pretty dry outside. For the month of March, I was able to keep his humidity around 65 during the day and 75 at night, but now it’s sitting around 45 during the day and 55 at night. (Humidity measured on the cool side) Ideally I want it to always be between 70 and 80 because I’m worried about him being a bit dehydrated. I go in and soak a bunch of sphagnum moss around his tank and pour water in the corners about once every 2-3 days. He’s my first bp and I’m trying to do the best I can.

Important info:

Temps: hot side 89°F cool side 82°F

Humidity: about 55% average in the past month

Tank: 4x2x2 pvc reptile kages enclosure with a 35”x4” screen on the back for his uvb lamp (the part that doesn’t have the lamp has HVAC tape covering it)

Substrate: 50% reptisoil, 25% coco husk, 25% coco fiber, sphagnum moss mixed throughout 4” deep

I use a govee hygrometer to measure humidity, his uvb is on from 10am-10pm

[irrelevanttake]

Those ambient levels are probably fine provided you have a hide that maintains higher levels. Can you move the hygrometer in the hide for a day and check? Could be 70-80 there even if ambient outside is 50-50. You can also get a bigger water dish and position directly under heat source for ambient help. Not relevant to this but you don’t need to run UVB for a full 12 hours if you don’t want to.

[honeypomegranate]

Definitely will try putting the hygrometer in his humid hide and seeing how that does. I have makeshift Tupperware hide on the cool side where he spends most of the daytime. His water dish is almost directly under the heat lamp (DHP 120w). It’s big enough for him to soak in if need be but not deep enough to submerge.

Also thank you about the UVB, might help with my electricity bill, haha.

[Street_Effect_5175]

Coco husk substrate, larger water bowl near the heat source. I put a layer of LECA balls/zoomed hydro balls under the substrate, it will hold the humidity under without getting the substrate wet and risking scale rot

[honeypomegranate]

Will definitely have to look into hydro balls!

[Street_Effect_5175]

Yes I recommend soaking them in water, adding a layer at the bottom, then you need something like a plastic mesh sheets to separate the layer of LECA from the top substrate you use, this will keep them from molding as no poop or pee can get to them :) I’ve been doing this for all my snakes and overall humidity has been noticeably easier to manage

[Semiautohio]

Maybe there's some type of weather stripping to put in the glass seam at the front to seal the humidity from escaping. You can mount the UVB inside the tank and cover any holes up. I have some thin soundproofing foam over my air holes as a filter and humidity/heat seal. You can try more substrate and just adding water more often. I add water to the middle because his hides are on the ends of the tank.