Humidity

[Asutherland]

What humidity should I keep my tank at? I have been getting conflicting answers. The care guide on this site says that in California (where I live) I should keep my tank at 50% humidity. On another post, where I was getting help with a regurgitation problem I had, I was told by a couple people that I should keep my tank at 70%. My tank is consistently between 50-60%, it is very difficult for me to maintain humidity above 60%. Do I need to get it up to 70% or is 50-60% ok?

[SnakeDan]

Re:Humidity

What kind of enclosure are you using?
Aquarium types are very tough to keep higher humidity in. If you can keep it at a minimum of 55- 60% you should be OK.

[sclark]

Re:Humidity

Hey Asutherland,

50-60% is fine. If you notice your guy having bad sheds, just mist every day, and try soaking your boa after he gets in the blue..

Hope that helped..
Steve

[redtailedmel]

Re:Humidity

im in texas and i have mine in between 60 and 65 sometimes ill let it slide at 55 but it gets pretty hot here so i try to keep them from getting to dry

[bigmitch]

Re:Humidity

If your using an aquarium. Place a wet towel over the top of the tank away from all your lights and stuff don't completly cover the top either this will bring you up into the high 60's-low 70's. This is what I do with my aquarium and My boa sheds a complete shed everytime...good luck

[ClayEnglish]

Re:Humidity

Well 50 to 60% has always been the minimum requirement. One of the biggest factors is your local climate. Certain times of the year are better, and some are worse. Maintaining the 50 to 60% range has proven to be a good range.

People in some climates do have to make adjustments by misting or placing water bowls closer to heat sources to get it right.

What we do know is that too high humidity and too low a humidity will start causing health issues.

[Doug]

Re:Humidity

HI,
I noticed in your post you mentioned a tank, I had some problems with tanks and finally went to melanine, formica like cages.
Another excellent cost effective cage is the Boaphile cage.
Many tanks have screen tops with external heat, this causes the air to rise out of the tanks and pulls alot of the humidity with it.
I finally went to a UTH type heat source with a thermostat, and reduced the surface air flow buy placing a towel over the screen. This helps but it will still get rather dry in the winter.
Doug
CHeck out the boaphile cages its proably cheeper than outfiting a tank with all set up..
http://www.boaphileplastics.com/
it comes in many colors with UTH heat and a shelf that can double the available floor space for the boa. All you need is a thermostat, and your humidity problems will be over.

[XzyluM]

Re:Humidity

I prefer to keep the humidity around 55-60% and increase during shedding. If you are having problems keeping the humidity up, a good and natural looking substrate is cypress mulch. It's cheap and does not rot or mold unlike other substrates.

[___LEE___]

Re:Humidity

can u use just any cypress mulch like the one peeps put in gardens though?? and do u treat it by putting it in the oven for 45 min before putting it in the cage? i heard a friend tell me that he was told by a local pet store to bake all his substrate in the oven for 45 min to get rid of any insects or mites. is this true or not??

[XzyluM]

Re:Humidity

You will find it mostly in the garden departments and it must be cured before using it. I used to bake mine, but now I use repel spray. If you bake it, make sure you keep an close eye on it and it doesn't start a fire.