Humidity drops with ecoearth - doing something worng?

[kiiarah]

I recently switched Shesha from aspen shavings to ecoearth due to difficulty getting the humidity high enough for shed periods. The stuff definitely gets high, after a good misting it will jump to 80% (I am still learning how much to mist to get to the right range) but I have been noticing that it also dries out fast and severely. For instance, I have been misting before bed to bring it to about 65%-70% but in the morning it will be down to 40%. Does anyone who uses this have any recommendations for maintaining a stable high humidity with it? I can mist as needed on days off and when I am here before and after work, but during work hours and overnight I need to keep it from plummeting like this. Could it be that the lower layer is still dry after misting so once the surface dries there is no moisture? Any suggestions would be great, I like it so far I just can't seem to get it to retain the moisture for some reason.

[Tgunz127]

Put a fish tank air stone in the water dish and it will increase the humidity a lot... If u have a screen top cover it with plexi glass or wood to keep heat/ humidity inside

[Obsidian_Dragon]

You could make a humid hide for him, as well.

[kiiarah]

The humid hide is something I will be giving him when he seems to be getting ready to shed, my main concern though would be ambient humidity. I have all but a circle for the heat lamp covered by aluminum foil as it is, so I am not sure how I could get any less ventilation than that. I am not sure if the dramatic changes in humidity over the course of the day is a problem, but I would like to get the ecoearth to hold enough moisture to keep it from drying out completely in just 8 hours. It seems though like if I wet it thoroughly enough that it will stay wet the humidity will skyrocket. I am just not sure where that fine line is.

[BIGT FROM F.B.]

If you put the water bowl over the UTH, it will help with humidity also.

[Aaron_S]

Your heat lamp is drying it out.

[kiiarah]

The heat lamp is definitely not helping. I am just comparing to when the aspen was in there (the lamp was set up the same way then). I would spray to get it up to about 65% and it was usually around 50% when I got home from work 9 hours later. Now with the ecoearth I spray and it shoots up to like 85%, 9 hours later it is down to 45%. I thought the Aspen was supposed to absorb humidity and dry out the air and the ecoearth was supposed to retain it but I am seeing much different results. The light was a problem even with the aspen, but it seemed to have less effect on the aspen than it is having now. I would ditch it entirely but the heat mat cannot keep the ambient temps at 80 by itself in the winter. :sorry:

[Aaron_S]

50% with aspen and 45% with ecoearth. That isn't a huge difference. I would chalk it up to the dryer air in your home as well. I don't know where you live in the States but up here in Ontario when it's winter the air becomes a lot more dry.

Where are you measuring the humidity by the way? And how? Are you measuring the air near the top? half way up the tank? Or on top of the substrate?

[NewSAHSnakeMom]

I'm having to spray now that it's winter too! Because I am using heat lamps because in the summer months an under tank heater was keeping my humidity too high! I live near a man made lake so the humidity is usually high, they lowered the lakes level for winter and my humidity plummeted! I have a screen top so I covered the half not covered by my lamps, and put in a moist box. But even then if I don't spray it's like 20-40% thankfully we are moving soon so the ambient house humidity should level out more. We use reptibark right now, if I was staying here I would switch bedding but we aren't so we'll see how the new house is first. Luckily I actually pay enough attention that now we are back where we are supposed to be ;) but since I stay home I can spray when needed. Hopefully you can find what works for you and your buddy!

[NewSAHSnakeMom]

That wasn't meant to sound rude (the part about paying attention since I'm home all the time) I was going for something along the lines that it was easier since I'm home all the time. But I haven't had my coffee yet so my brain isn't awake yet! Sorry if it came across that way!

[kiiarah]

That didn't sound rude at all. :) I check him obsessively when I am home, even sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and reflexively checking the temps instantly. My husband is at home most of the day, but it would just be nice if we could work something out where we could trust it for an 8 hour period. I live in Arizona so it is dry here to begin with. It may really have just been that the substrate change coincided with the colder weather and the heater in the house being used. I am going to experiment with it some on my days off and see what I can figure out when I am home for a long enough time to monitor it and see how it is affected by different strategies.

Aaron, I am measuring the humidity by acurite all in one. The humidity is measured by the base unit so the unit is secured halfway up the wall in the middle of the back wall of the tank. I had it sitting on the substrate at first but it was reading incredibly high because it was sitting in direct contact with the damp substrate. I had originally moved it to the side wall under the heat lamp but I was afraid that it was being affected by the heat lamp and that maybe the unit was drying out even if the tank was not that low. The back wall seems to get it away from excess moisture from the bedding and the direct heat from the lamp, but if there is a more acurate location you could suggest that would be awesome. I have definitely noticed that the reading is heavily dependent on unit placement.

[Aaron_S]

Try moving it around a few more places. Try an inch or two above the substrate where it currently is.

What you can do is if it's digital anytime you need a reading just move the probe around the enclosure to all the spots needed. A little more work but it should give you a better idea of what's going on.

[kiiarah]

That is a good idea, moving the probe around. I just added som more water to the eco-earth, maybe it will stay damp longer now. Do you happen to know if it will read acurately if it is set on the soil when damp? There is a little opening and some kind of metal chip on the back near the bottom of the unit which looks a lot like a sensor (in fact it looks like the only thing on the device that could reasonably be a sensor). I am just wondering if it can detect the ambient humidity when in contact with something moist. I have to admit, I really know nothing about the technology behind the hygrometers.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Are you just spraying the bedding for humidity? I've found just spraying bedding to be completely useless for EcoEarth, it dries out within an hour no matter how wet I make it.

What you want to do is pour water directly into the bedding and mix it up. Pour in small increments, mix it up, then add more if you need to. It should be damp but still fall from your hand freely without clumping. Doing this, I only have to maintain bedding every few weeks, and I haven't sprayed any of my enclosures since doing this as the bedding gets heated up and releases moisture. It stays steady and drops by increments until the time when I need to pour more water into it.

[kiiarah]

I sort of did this to the best of my ability this evening. Next bedding change I will moisten all of the substrate before putting it in the tank, but for now I just dampened the areas that I could reach in and mix easily in the tank. I just dumped little bits of water and hand mixed it until it was just damp enough for feel slightly cool and moist. The humidity is still going down somewhat noticeably, but I will do this again tomorrow and hopefully eventually it will get wet enough to retain it for a little while.

[NewHerp293]

Now im just a beginner so take this for what it is...how often are you changing out substrate completely and/or parts of it? I know you just switched substrates, but other than a little maintenance for feces it seems you shouldn't really have to be messing with it at all. Also my snake requires relatively low humidity so this isnt an issue ive had to deal with

[kiiarah]

Well apart from spot cleaning, the entire tank is emptied and sanitized once a month. I was nervous about making the soil too damp but oddly enough the humidity only went to about 75% after dampening almost all of it. This morning, 8 hours later it is at 57% so it actually appears to be working.

I am thinking maybe with just misting heavily the humidity in the air was shooting really high, but of course only lasting a short time. Keeping the soil damp seems to keep the humidity release into the air more gradual, so for right now anyway it's looking much much better.

[pet_snake_78]

I just put in a second deli cup with water, that gives me 10% more humidity with a pvc enclosure. I use heat tape though which doesn't seem to dry out environments too bad.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Well apart from spot cleaning, the entire tank is emptied and sanitized once a month. I was nervous about making the soil too damp but oddly enough the humidity only went to about 75% after dampening almost all of it. This morning, 8 hours later it is at 57% so it actually appears to be working.

I am thinking maybe with just misting heavily the humidity in the air was shooting really high, but of course only lasting a short time. Keeping the soil damp seems to keep the humidity release into the air more gradual, so for right now anyway it's looking much much better.

Yeah, EcoEarth does best when it's the source of humidity, and is being heated up to release moisture. You get all that water in the bedding to provide moisture rather than the small bit you spray into the air. Sounds like you have your humidity about where you need it now, just keep an eye on it. I usually re-wet it once it's completely dry or almost completely dry. Letting it go through cycles will keep mold from growing.

[kiiarah]

Hey everyone, just wanted to update this thread. :) The dampened substrate has been working marvelously. Seems that the substrate needs water added every few days, but with the heat lamp running that is understandable I think. I have been misting the surface after the rest is dampened as the surface dries out and it has been working very well. It has still required extra misting the last week or so because he is in a shed cycle and it doesn't like to stay as high as the 70% I have been aiming for. Luckily there is a big storm moving through so for the last three days the humidity has been naturally around 65-70%. Maybe I just need to move somewhere like Seattle lol. I feel at this point like if he has any issues shedding it won't be due to any issues with husbandry, everything has gone very well so far this time. Thank you all for your suggestions, I think he is a happy comfortable snake finally. :crazy:

[bigsnakegirl785]

Glad to hear everything's doing well now! Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature. :)