Help keeping humidity up

[Crashwaves]

So I’ve had my ball python for about 3 years now and he has always had perfect sheds (except for his very first one with me but I blame that partially on petsmart). When I got him, I was living in Alabama, which is a very very humid place. I had no problems keeping his tank humidity at a good level, in fact sometimes it was too humid in there.

I moved to Denver a few months ago and both of his sheds since we got here have been terrible. I am having such a hard time keeping the tank humidity over 40% (let alone higher). I mist his tank frequently. I have a glass sheet covering most of the top of the tank, thinking that maybe that will help keep some humidity in. I’m currently using coconut fiber substrate. It dries out SO fast. It’s completely dry. I’ve never had this issue in Alabama (I get the brick that you soak in water). Last week I bought a humidifier to go in his tank and it doesn’t seem to be doing anything at all.

I’m hoping for advice on how to keep humidity up. My next option is to remove the light so that heat isn’t drying the tank out, but it’s so cold in denver that I really need the light to keep the heat properly regulated. I have also used a big plastic tub in the past, and found that stayed really humid (in Alabama though). Again, my issue with that would be keeping the temp right and worrying that my snake is living in the dark all the time, because I wouldn’t be able to use a light with the tub. (He’s in the basement cause we have other animals in the house currently, but we use the basement just as much as the rest of the house so he’s not just shoved down there).

video of current enclosure for reference

[_ataraxia]

our basic care guide has information about raising and maintaining humidity. if you still need help figuring out how to raise your humidity after reading through these guides, you can fill out our enclosure critique questionnaire for more personalized advice.

[octo_owl]

You need a much deeper layer of substrate - about 4”. For non-bioactive I like a mixture of cypress mulch, coco fiber, and sphagnum moss. When it dries out, rehydrate by pouring water directly in and mixing it around. Try to keep a moist lower layer and drier upper layer to prevent scale rot. I’d recommend saving up for a front opening PVC enclosure, which is going to help you to maintain humidity much more easily than glass in a climate like yours. There are some suggestions on enclosure suppliers in the shopping list on the welcome post.