need more humidity in tank

[MOOZE]

I purchased a humidifier but the pump was not strong enough. I went out and purchased another pump but still it did not produce enough humidity. Any tips or suggestions besides spraying. Or what type pump would be strong enough to push the humidity into the tank.
thank you

[sclark]

Re: need more humidity in tank

Hello Mooze,

First welocme to the forums..

Now as for your humidity problem. First make sure you are guaging your humidity on an correct gauage. The cheaper gauges are so off its not even funny. I have used the peal and stick ones and they were reading at 20% when in fact it was 63% in the cage. They have good digital ones that are pretty cheap in Wal-Mart. If you are 100% sure your gauge is correct, you may want to make sure you are limiting air flow in the tank. You may also want to change the litter in the tank to something different like news paper, cyprus multch or bird/reptile litter. Each keeps the humidity well..

Maybe someone else has furth suggestions,..

Good Luck
Steve Clark

[Red]

Re: need more humidity in tank

Tell us every lil' thing about you tank...

What are the temp.
what is the humidity
what type of guages are you using..
what kind of substrate
what kind of cage
If wood what type
what type of lid if there is one.
And anything else that you can think of...
The more info the easyer it will be for the both of us...
Eric aka....Red

[Fonzy]

Re: need more humidity in tank

I had a humidity problem in the past and all the folks here at the forum were great in providing suggestions.  I ended up using the overspill plate/bowl that goes under planters to catch the excess water.  It needs to be ceramic or clay.  Just let it soak in some water for a while, then place it on the warm side of your boa's habitat.  If you don't have the room on the warm side, just get it as close as possible.  The heat will slowly evaporate the water out of the dish causing instant humidity!!  I am not saying that this method is guaranteed to work for you, but given the type of habitat I have (50 gallon aquarium with a half screen top) it has worked like a charm.  You may also want to try using a wet or damp towel and cover the top of your habitat if it has a screen top.  This might help to create or hold in some of your humidity.  I definitely agree with Steve about getting a reliable humidity/temp guage.  I bought the one from Wal-Mart and have never been more satisfied.  I found that my old analog ones were off by more than 10%!!  Hope this helps and good luck!

[kahaj]

Re: need more humidity in tank

I use a typical aquarium-style tank w/ screen top. I have wood chip substrate. I don't know what your set up is like, but with this one I use to have a terrible time w/ the humidity. I was able to solve it in two steps.

1) Use aluminum foil to cover about 80% of the screen top. This allows plenty of air flow, but traps the moisture in, too. (Put the shiny side down so that you don't get blinded every time you look that way. *g*)

2) Put the water bowl partially over the UTH. This will help the water to evaporate more quickly, thus increasing the humidity.

This combination has served me very well.

[BMoore]

Re: need more humidity in tank

b29.gif Hello Everyone... I never realized that humidity was so important. The only thing I have come close to doing about it, is when my snake is shedding I mist her cage with water once a day. Is this right? She shed's all in one peice.
Do I need to get a gauge? Does it go on the floor of the enclosure or on the wall or....? What should it read? Wow, I never new this was so important. I have had my Boa's for a year and never new about this part. I must be the worst newbie in the world! :-/
If you put the water dish over the undertank heat pad, is it bad for the water to warm up? Do R.T.B's usually like their water warm or cold? Mine will sit in her water bowl for hours. I live in the High Desert in Cali so it can get pretty dry here! cwm11.gif

[kahaj]

Re: need more humidity in tank

Misting during shedding can definitely be beneficial, especially during a shed.

I would definitely advise getting a guage. You can get a good one at PetSmart for about $8. You can pick them up at pretty much any pet store chain (and a local store that's worth anything). Use it as you do your thermometer -put it where your snake will be. You can find more info on this in Clay's care guides.

With your water bowl partially on the heat pad, your snake may not spend as much time in it. Mine's never been a water-bowl-boy anyhow. He still drinks out of it just fine w/ it being warm as opposed to cold. Also, if your tank provides the extra space, you can always put a water bowl over the heat pad for added humidity & another in a cooler spot for your snake to dunk in.

[BMoore]

Re: need more humidity in tank

Okay maybe I wasn't doing too bad then. I was looking up some more info on humidity throughout the forum and found a bunch of helpful tips.
On my 4 foot RTB's cage (Jezebel), I have foil on top of the screen of her cage to help keep the warmth in so I guess that is helping for th humidity also. The cage seems on the big side for her size that's why I was trying to insulate it. I will definetly get a gauge for each cage. They are cheaper than I thought. It should read around 60 right? Thanks for the help. It is much appretiated.

[XzyluM]

Re: need more humidity in tank

The humidity and temperature gauges at Walmart are great. Humidity should be around 55-60% and it's not a bad idea to increase a little during shed either.

[MOOZE]

Re: need more humidity in tank

My setup is a 50 gallon tank, paper type bedding(not sure of the name),Cool side is usually 80, the hot side 92/95 during the day. Humidity is ususally 30% to 40%. Yes i have inexpensive stick ons. I will pick up a better one at wall mart. He is thriving, friendly and has great color. But with spraying the tank with a mist bottle and covering the top 3 1/4, it remains at hight humidtys, but not for long. I saw a setup on the net. A guy had a ultrasonic fogger fogger for humidity. He had a setup outside the tank where he modified a tupper wear bowl. He put the fogger in the bowl with tubing. It creates humidty and a fog. It looks safe. Are foggers safe for snakes, if they are kept outside the tank.
thank you

[stormyva]

Re: need more humidity in tank

It appears that your temps are a bit high on the hot side. You want to bring them down to a daytime high of 86°-88°.
What type of heat source do you have? Bulbs tend to dry out the cage faster than some other heat sources.
You may want to switch to a Cypress Mulch substrate, it will hold humidity a lot better and looks great.