Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrate?

[clone]

To increase humidity or will the water cause mold build up.

[Damian]

Re: Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrat

a wet substrate is never a good idea. breeding ground for bacteria.

[Doug]

Re: Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrat

HI,
I usally do this when the cage humidty is less than 50% in the cage, I will  splash a cup of water on the  6 layers of newspaper over the UTH, what Ive noticed is the water rapidly spreads until its just barely damp never wet for more than a couple mins or its to much water,that wicking effect of paper ,the UTH under the glass or flooring will heat the damp paper and the humidity will shoot up almost instantly, I change the paper in my cage every time we have a urate or poo.. Ive never had any mold and this helps the shed thing . I don't like or use any wood barks in my cages. to hard to clean ... Been doing this a couple years never seen or smelled mold in any cage  its just to raises the humidity.
 
  I splashed a bit next to the water dish in this cage, I then change the water in the dish after sticking my hands in it.. They like that water clean and cool. I try and check the humidity daily in my cages during the winter its only about 33% in my snake room, Dang gas heat I have four fish tanks in the house numerous housplants and two humidafiers going one upstairs and one down.
after an hour the paper  dosen't look damp , thats the neat thing about newspaper, ps many repitile vets feel newspaper has antibacterial properties that prevent many problems , the humidity will hold in the cage for about 24 hours unless you have a screen top then its gone in three to four hours . but you need about 4-6 layers of newspaper to hold that moisture.
doug

[LORI]

Re: Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrat

I actually wouldn't reccomend dumping any water on the newspaper in the snake's cage...especially if you are refering to a snake such as a BCI/BCC at all. First thing that comes to mind is the snake could get scale rot from being on that wet newspaper ..UGH. Find another way to raise the humidity if you have to that doesn't carry any risk of promoting a health issue for the snake at all.

[justinlarsen]

Re: Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrat

I ussually just use a hot spray bottle and spray the cage down along with the snake if its not in the hide box. I do this whenever the humity gets low. during sheding time i spray down once to twice a day. The humity normall stays right where i want it thou so i rarly have to do this.

[LORI]

Re: Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrat

I ussually just use a hot spray bottle and spray the cage down along with the snake if its not in the hide box.

Please tell me that you really are NOT using a HOT bottle of water to spray down the snake actually. ??? The water should be like room temp or a tad on the warm side...NOT hot. You could burn your snake with hot water ya do know right ??????

[eViL_KaRoT]

Re: Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrat

Actually, Hot water, when in a fine mist will actually feel almost room temperature once it touches the skin. Think about your shower, in a heavy stream from the faucet it seems very hot, but how many times have you gotten directly into the shower to find yourself turning up the hot water or turning down the cold. It's because in tiny droplets or thin streams, the water cools down much faster. So it stands to reason that in a fine mist, the water would be pretty cool, just a degree or two above room temp.

But as far as the original question. I would not recommend wetting the Newspaper down either. One of my boas continuously spills her water all over the place. So, without taking her water completely out of her cage, I can't get away from wet newspaper. But I don't recommend leaving it wet for more than a couple of days. Good thing I have a constant supply of newspaper, I have to change her floor every other day, the paper is completely soaked by that time. What a PITA!!!!!!

[Larry]

Re: Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrat

I still find the best way to keep humidity up is to have a tupperware container filled with damp sphagnum moss. I do this for all 3 of my snakes and never have a problem. During sheds, they will usually use this container instead of a hide box and all the sheds are perfect.

Hope this helps.

Larry
Waynesboro, VA

[ClayEnglish]

Re: Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrat

Actually using hot water in a fine mist spray bottle is perfectly acceptable.   Now we are not talking about boiling water, just normal hot tap water.  The water will be lukewarm when sprayed.  Perfect temperature for our reptile friends.  Try this on your hand first to make 100% sure if you don't want to take my word for it.

I would never use cold water.  This will actually be a "shock" treatment to our boas.

Hot water in a spray bottle, mists out lukewarm. Perfect.

Now I would not pour water on the newspaper, but I have misted the boas and newspaper many many many times. The normal misting will evaporate fairly quickly and the newspaper does not remain wet for long.

We do not ever want to create a permanent wet substrate, for it leads to many problems.

[eViL_KaRoT]

Re: Is it safe to dump water on newspaper substrat

Hey clay that's what I said!!!!! LOL, I guess I know more than I thought I did!!!!! Thanks for reassuring me!!!