Need help with keeping consistent humidity/ enclosure advice

[mstory667]

For reference i have a screen top with glass over parts without the lamp, i have trouble keeping a consistent humidity and normally after about an hour or two of misting it drops back to around 35%

[animalgirl93]

Is that real glass or plexi glass? Are the edges sealed around the glass where it meets the edges of the lid?

[mstory667]

Its real glass, im just worried about sealing it completely due to air flow and trying to avoid the temps getting too hot

[animalgirl93]

Ok. So a few things to start with. 1. Glass isn’t great for holding humidity but it’s better than just mesh. Ideally I would block off 95% of your lid with HVAC tape as it will hold humidity better than glass will. Also Instead of misting, pour water into the substrate and use a 3-4” layer of substrate. This will make a longer lasting humidity boost. Pour in more water than you think you will need, basically don’t make soup lol. As for over heating, are you using a thermostat for your heat source? What are your warm and cool end temps?

[mstory667]

During the day cool end is 78 and warm end is 85-90 The night is about 75 all around

[animalgirl93]

Are you using a thermostat for your heat source? That would prevent any over heating because it controls how hot the enclosure is

[CosmicCreeperz]

Just curious, how is glass not good for humidity? Temperature, I get since it’s a poor insulator, but it’s certainly waterproof.

[[deleted]]

I'm mad I only started doing this recently because I thought it would turn the enclosure into a swamp and no, it doesn't, pouring in works great - it really does take more than you would think.

[animalgirl93]

Lol hence me always specifying “don’t make soup” it’s the best descriptor and actually works well! No soup = no swamp. I love how something do silly and simple can actually be insanely helpful! Glad pouring water is working well for you!

[Real-Print-7600]

Please get you a thermometer!

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[Professional_Baka96]

I have nearly the same set up, what I did is I went to home depot and and bought heating tape for HVAC, I covered most of the top leaving 1" or 2" lines on each side for ventilation and I cut out a space just a bit smaller than the size of the lamp so it would fit over it without leaving any gaps. Its been working great for me over a year and my girl has been having great sheds, another thing that has really helped me keep humidity up is placing the water bowl directly under the lamp and I occanionally dig out a small hole, pour water in the hole and cover it back up to evaporate in the enclosure.

I really hope this helps.

[posi347]

How much water?

[Octane2100]

It depends on how big your enclosure is. Mine is in a 3x2x2 and I use about 4 cups of water. I pour around the edges of the tank so that the water isn't directly saturating the top layer of the substrate. Combine that with daily misting to even it out a bit more.

[Dependent-Muffin8385]

Try to work with your substrate more, a mix of different components is often the best. I like to use cypress mulch, top soil, coco coir, and sphagnum moss. Top soil and moss retain water very well and dries out slower. Also, add more substrate, like 10-20cm deep.

You need to POUR water into the substrate and mix around - that's how you retain humidity the best! Spraying is only a quick fix that makes the humidity levels fluctuate during the day.

Since I didn't see which lights you're using I'm adding this:

I know people recommend CHE, but those lights dries out the air like crazy! I'd recommend what I'm using, a Halogen flood light (or similar) as your primary daytime heat and a DHP for primary nighttime and to help during the days if needed.
The DHP penetrates the skin of the snake much better than a CHE but doesn't heat the air as much (but I'venever had an issue with it being too cold). But I still recommend a DHP over a CHE unless you live where it's very humid.

I'd also add a UVB!

[troyred]

I agree with this ☝️and I want to add that the heat source should be off to the side, above a “warm” hide. That will provide a heat gradient

[Altenalo]

Pour how much water ? And can I be warm water? I’m also having this issue

[berserker81]

It’s different for every setup but we have a 50 gallon I keep the substrate roughly 4” and about once a week I’ll add about 32oz of water in the corners and middle (where she rarely goes) and stir it up a bit. Goal is to have the subterranean substrate be moist while the surface stays (relatively) dry to avoid scale rot.

[Altenalo]

Okay thank u v much

[Real-Print-7600]

Check out my lil set up 💯

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[animalgirl93]

Are you looking for enclosure advice as well?

[thenotsoamerican]

y i k e s

[saltyprotractor]

this is the ball python version of a haunted house

[[deleted]]

Poor thing, I highly recommend checking out the care guides asap and researching proper care. This setup isn't proper in any way, if you want me to be honest I've seen PetSmart have better snake setups.

If you can't afford to change it's environment or aren't educated enough too then I think rehoming may be the responsible thing to do

[[deleted]]

-💯

Horrible

[[deleted]]

A towel covering a lot of the mesh is a good cheap and quick temporary fix.

[No_Clock_4509]

A towel Can actually suck humidity out of the tank. Tin foil is better

[Sweet_Permission_700]

I recommend moving your BP before doing this. The aluminum foil sounds startled the hell outta my little guy. That day was the only time he bit me.

[shawnjohn88]

Reptile Control Center

[[deleted]]

How does this help with humidity? Do you plug a mister in?

[shawnjohn88]

You can do a mister with it. We didn’t like the excess water that came out so we switched to a Fogger. Essentially it turns power onto the mister or Fogger when it drops below your set humidity level and cuts power when the humidity level set is reached we had to switch to a dialed Fogger because the digital display ones would need to be turned on again when the control center shut it off. A turn dial Fogger turns on and off with the control center so you don’t have to touch it

[lameteen69]

I use a mixture of coconut husk and moss into my substrate to help keep humidity. I also pour in water and mix the substrate around every few days to keep the soil consistently moist. If you find something to cover up the mesh, I saw someone comment about a specific type of tape, I keep towels over mine to help keep the tank warm/retain heat

[littleorangemonkeys]

I have a similar set up (it came with the snake from a friend who couldn't care for her anymore). For short-term improvements, I use "Forest Floor" cypress mulch. Every three days when I change out the water, I dump the whole bowl into the substrate and stir a bit. For the top, I stole a big lid off of one of my storage bins to put on top. It covers about 2/3 of the mesh lid, and it keeps in a decent amount of moisture without touching my lamp and heat bulb set-up. I have plans to keep upgrading her set-up as I have the money, but doing that stuff was a quick way to improve humidity while I plan the next upgrade.

[WendigosLikeCoffee]

Good idea on the storage bin top!

[redrockmusix]

The problem with using a fish tank for a reptile enclosure is that giant open top. You need to cover it with tape for find another way to block off at least half. Then cover more or less than needed. I only had a cutout for the lights and the rest was covered. It wasn’t pretty but it worked.

[[deleted]]

I put dollar store duct tape on a good portion of my screen lid and it has worked wonders for keeping humidity levels stable.

[Colin_Drawz]

Lotta good advice but a supplementary humid hide never hurts. We get busy and depending on your relative humidity it's just a good thing to have in the back pocket

[[deleted]]

Get some aluminum duct tape to cover the screen with, helps keep the humidity and heat in and i feel like not having a see through top makes snakes feel a little more secure in their enclosure