High Humidity causing problems

[mygabriella]

The high humidity has been AWFUL this year. Its been 75-80% humidity for months straight. Its starting to bother my woma python.
Suggestions?

[Starbuck]

how do you know it is causing problems? (what are the problems?)

[smy_749]

More details needed....like starbuck said and also, what is his current setup.

[mygabriella]

Hes simply in a 30 gallon tank with news paper. A hide, water dish, decor. 90 degrees hot side, 82 cool side. Ive never had any issues. This humidity has been out of control so I cant keep him at 40% or anywhere near it.
Hes starting to bubble out his mouth like a respiratory infection

[smy_749]

Hes simply in a 30 gallon tank with news paper. A hide, water dish, decor. 90 degrees hot side, 82 cool side. Ive never had any issues. This humidity has been out of control so I cant keep him at 40% or anywhere near it.
Hes starting to bubble out his mouth like a respiratory infection

How do you heat his enclosure? Where is the water dish ? Maybe get a smaller one and keep it on the cool side?

I'm not far from you, ambient humidity here is in the 70's and 80's all the time as well, and I have no issues keeping my tubs at 40 - 50 % humidity using aspen bedding, a big water dish, and a humid hide. Also I'm using tubs in a rack for now.

[mygabriella]

How do you heat his enclosure? Where is the water dish ? Maybe get a smaller one and keep it on the cool side?

I'm not far from you, ambient humidity here is in the 70's and 80's all the time as well, and I have no issues keeping my tubs at 40 - 50 % humidity using aspen bedding, a big water dish, and a humid hide. Also I'm using tubs in a rack for now.

I dont know whats going on.... Im using heat lamps. on both sides of the tank and his water is in the middle

[smy_749]

I dont know whats going on.... Im using heat lamps. on both sides of the tank and his water is in the middle

Why are you heating both sides? If your using screen top and your house temp is too cool to maintain a cool side without a heat lamp in the summer, your doing it wrong.

In a 30 gallon aquarium 40 - 60 watts of heat on the warm side would give you a good temperature, and a proper gradient without any heat on the cool side unless you have a screen and all the heat is just escaping through the screen :/

Also, you can maintain low humidity levels with a closed cage system, all you need is the right substrate and some minor ventilation as opposed to none.

[mygabriella]

Why are you heating both sides? If your using screen top and your house temp is too cool to maintain a cool side without a heat lamp in the summer, your doing it wrong.

In a 30 gallon aquarium 40 - 60 watts of heat on the warm side would give you a good temperature, and a proper gradient without any heat on the cool side unless you have a screen and all the heat is just escaping through the screen :/

Also, you can maintain low humidity levels with a closed cage system, all you need is the right substrate and some minor ventilation as opposed to none.

Im using a screen top. He has a 75 watt on the hot side and I think a 50 to maintain his 82 degrees on the cool side.
Its stressing me out. I dont know what to do :-/ Should I put him in something else??? Help!

[Starbuck]

high humidity and heat is the 'remedy' for a respiratory issue, no?

maybe try him in a different room? different floor of the house unless you live in an apartment? do you notice any sneezing or other discharge?
sounds weird to me, sorry i cant help more.

[mygabriella]

high humidity and heat is the 'remedy' for a respiratory issue, no?

maybe try him in a different room? different floor of the house unless you live in an apartment? do you notice any sneezing or other discharge?
sounds weird to me, sorry i cant help more.


only one floor and i cant keep him in my room because i keep my room at 60 degrees because i despise humidity and heat.
No sneezing. Just a bubble out his mouth! No crackling.... nothing else. sooo stressed.

[smy_749]

You can't know for sure what the issue with his mouth is until you consult a vet about it. Do you have pictures of the bubble?

I'm stumped as to how you have a screen top, 2 heat lamps and newspaper for bedding and still have high humidity inside the cage. Even if your house humidity is higher, inside an enclosure like that should be dry....something doesn't add up

[mygabriella]

You can't know for sure what the issue with his mouth is until you consult a vet about it. Do you have pictures of the bubble?

I'm stumped as to how you have a screen top, 2 heat lamps and newspaper for bedding and still have high humidity inside the cage. Even if your house humidity is higher, inside an enclosure like that should be dry....something doesn't add up

My herp vet is absolutely clueless about reptiles. He told me once that snakes mouths are supposed to be filled with mucus. Seriously.
And hes the only herp vet around. Im going to put him in a different enclosure. Its smaller but ill see if it makes a difference without a screen top.

[mygabriella]

well thanks you two for the suggestions. I appreciate you not being assholes like most of the people that comment on my stuff.

[smy_749]

well thanks you two for the suggestions. I appreciate you not being assholes like most of the people that comment on my stuff.


Best of luck. Sorry we couldn't be of more help...

[Lankyrob]

The only thing i can think of is to set up a fan that blows across the top of the screentop to increease airflow. Humidity hates airflow generally

[Concept9]

I'm a little confused as to why your heat lamp isn't burning off the humidity.

The humidity here is 74-85% cause of all the rain and heat we have had.

My snake is in a 90 gal. glass tank. He has aspen for substrata, one medium water dish. I heat his warm end one a 150 watt CHE on a thermostat at 90deg.

Even though the humidity here is high, this keeps his enclosure at around 40-50%. CHEs and heat lamps normally dry thing out.

[formica]

My herp vet is absolutely clueless about reptiles. He told me once that snakes mouths are supposed to be filled with mucus. Seriously.
And hes the only herp vet around. Im going to put him in a different enclosure. Its smaller but ill see if it makes a difference without a screen top.

he's not a herp vet if he doesnt know anything about reptiles :wacky:

what about contacting your local animal welfare group, they will almost certainly have reptile specialists on call, and should be happy to give you their contact details or practice address

[Starbuck]

did the OP tell us how she was measuring humidity?

[gonesnakee]

high humidity and heat is the 'remedy' for a respiratory issue, no?

maybe try him in a different room? different floor of the house unless you live in an apartment? do you notice any sneezing or other discharge?
sounds weird to me, sorry i cant help more.

High humidity is the last thing you want with an arid desert species that you suspect may have a RI caused by too high of humidity.
High humidity can cause issues in many species of desert animals across the board, even in people with breathing disorders humidity can be a major issue.
The cause/solution to every RI problem is NOT the same.
Some are most definitely caused by low humidity & low heat but others can be caused by the humidity being too high as well.

To the OP ditch the newspaper ASAP & replace it with aspen that will help considerably right off I'm thinking.
Also go with a very small water dish as Womas do not require one large enough to soak in, some Aspidites keepers do not even use water dishes as the snakes can usually get all the water they need right from their prey.
They don't have access to water more often than not in the wild afterall being from the desert, some never even see it ever.
You can get away with just offering it water every few days & then removing it from the cage.

If you live in a really humid area you may want to consider a dehumidifier in the room where the desert species are being kept.

I would look into finding a REAL vet that has the ability to actually diagnose & treat the animal rather than one that just guesses & not even guessing remotely close, Mark

[mygabriella]

he's not a herp vet if he doesnt know anything about reptiles :wacky:

what about contacting your local animal welfare group, they will almost certainly have reptile specialists on call, and should be happy to give you their contact details or practice address

He is a herp and exotics vet, that's what's scary

[mygabriella]

High humidity is the last thing you want with an arid desert species that you suspect may have a RI caused by too high of humidity.
High humidity can cause issues in many species of desert animals across the board, even in people with breathing disorders humidity can be a major issue.
The cause/solution to every RI problem is NOT the same.
Some are most definitely caused by low humidity & low heat but others can be caused by the humidity being too high as well.

To the OP ditch the newspaper ASAP & replace it with aspen that will help considerably right off I'm thinking.
Also go with a very small water dish as Womas do not require one large enough to soak in, some Aspidites keepers do not even use water dishes as the snakes can usually get all the water they need right from their prey.
They don't have access to water more often than not in the wild afterall being from the desert, some never even see it ever.
You can get away with just offering it water every few days & then removing it from the cage.

If you live in a really humid area you may want to consider a dehumidifier in the room where the desert species are being kept.

I would look into finding a REAL vet that has the ability to actually diagnose & treat the animal rather than one that just guesses & not even guessing remotely close, Mark

Thanks for the suggestions, will do. He looks good today.

[formica]

He is a herp and exotics vet, that's what's scary

contact your local animal welfare/resuce group, they will be able to find you a better vet - or even a local zoo, or your local police as they are often a first contact if someone finds a reptile in their house that shouldnt be there, they will all have specialists on their books

[Derek Roddy]

High humidity is the last thing you want with an arid desert species that you suspect may have a RI caused by too high of humidity.
High humidity can cause issues in many species of desert animals across the board, even in people with breathing disorders humidity can be a major issue.
The cause/solution to every RI problem is NOT the same.
Some are most definitely caused by low humidity & low heat but others can be caused by the humidity being too high as well.

To the OP ditch the newspaper ASAP & replace it with aspen that will help considerably right off I'm thinking.
Also go with a very small water dish as Womas do not require one large enough to soak in, some Aspidites keepers do not even use water dishes as the snakes can usually get all the water they need right from their prey.
They don't have access to water more often than not in the wild afterall being from the desert, some never even see it ever.
You can get away with just offering it water every few days & then removing it from the cage.

If you live in a really humid area you may want to consider a dehumidifier in the room where the desert species are being kept.

I would look into finding a REAL vet that has the ability to actually diagnose & treat the animal rather than one that just guesses & not even guessing remotely close, Mark

This...


Also, if you handle your Woma a good deal....it not uncommon for them to "hac up" water from their heads being below their stomachs.
RI in Womas (particularly) is hard to get rid of and won't go away over night. The fact that you said he looks good today gives me the impression that he might just have been "hacing".

If you're experienced at all...look inside the month and throat to access the situation. If you see mucus, get him to the vet as soon as you can.

After working with Womas for 12 years the one thing I can say that works for RI in Womas (and, about the only thing to knock it out completely) is sunlight.
If you have a way to get him outside where he has both sunlight and shade daily....I'd do that until you can get to a vet.
I just recently had a woma get "stuffy" for the first time since I first got them. I put her outside and with-in 4 days of being put in during the day, she was clear with no signs. Anti biotic's don't even work that fast. haha.

Find out what the issue is first but, a sunny day is good for everyone...including snakes.

D

[Mikoh4792]

This...


Also, if you handle your Woma a good deal....it not uncommon for them to "hac up" water from their heads being below their stomachs.
RI in Womas (particularly) is hard to get rid of and won't go away over night. The fact that you said he looks good today gives me the impression that he might just have been "hacing".

If you're experienced at all...look inside the month and throat to access the situation. If you see mucus, get him to the vet as soon as you can.

After working with Womas for 12 years the one thing I can say that works for RI in Womas (and, about the only thing to knock it out completely) is sunlight.
If you have a way to get him outside where he has both sunlight and shade daily....I'd do that until you can get to a vet.
I just recently had a woma get "stuffy" for the first time since I first got them. I put her outside and with-in 4 days of being put in during the day, she was clear with no signs. Anti biotic's don't even work that fast. haha.

Find out what the issue is first but, a sunny day is good for everyone...including snakes.

D

Nice how long should each "sun" session be a day?

[pdomensis]

Derek, can you be more specific on your advice on putting the snake in the sun for a bit? I'd hate to see the OP to stick a glass tank out on the porch and cook the snake.

[Derek Roddy]

Nice how long should each "sun" session be a day?

Well, first you need to access if that's the issue. If RI is a possibility, then you can put him in the sun.
I like to leave them all day....or at least 4 or 5 hours. Out of the sun in a screen cage (no glass).

It's more about being able to regulate their temps and getting some fresh air. Depending on your cage set up...air has a tendency to get really "stale". Fresh air works wonders for animals that use nature to regulate their temps.

I use chicken wire cages built from 2 x 4's. You can build a fairly good size cage for about 20 bucks. You just need a secure place to put it. Don't want someone walking away with your woma.

Usually with in a few days most snake will over come their RI issues but, as I said earlier, Womas are very difficult to get RI out of for good.

Just make sure the animal is NOT only in direct sun light. I place sun visors around my cages and check em every hour or so, making sure the snake still has a place to get out of the sun if it wants.

Cheers,
D

[mygabriella]

Derek, can you be more specific on your advice on putting the snake in the sun for a bit? I'd hate to see the OP to stick a glass tank out on the porch and cook the snake.


Im not ********! haha

[mygabriella]

He seems good today too... no bubbles, no crackling. Ill keep a close eye on him though

[pdomensis]

Im not ********! haha

Glad to hear it. :) Just thought it better to be safe. It's amazing how many people put their tank outside on nice days.