View Full Version : Can you over fog a snake?
I still can't upload pictures so a Video it is!
https://youtu.be/drBu00Juu4E
bigsnakegirl785
11-11-16, 02:43 PM
Not sure what species this is for, but usually high humidity is not a problem so long as there's no condensation.
The problem with foggers is that it doesn't really impact the humidity all much. When it turns off, the humidity will drop drastically. The other downfall is that water is going to drop your temps, which are a tad bit more important than the humidity. Both are important but low temps can kill or make them seriously ill.
The best way, by far, to raise humidity is to lower ventilation and use a high-humidity bedding like EcoEarth. I do not have experience with ReptiChip yet, and both cypress mulch and ReptiBark are poor humidity retainers in my experience. Plus, cypress is banned in a few places and its use negatively impacts the environment.
The humidifier keeps the room at 70% which should be enough but, Fred "My Taiwanese Beauty Snake" has been hiding in his cardboard hide for days now and since I got this thing in a deal, I thought I'd help him shed a little better... It does drop his cool side down to 75 degrees so you are right on that... But I have just been giving him a blast of it now and then...
I got to get him a proper hide... It's just that I had shoe boxes and he likes them and I like them, until it soaks up his urine... I can get a 6 pack of plastic hides for about $60.oo but I am running out of stuff to sell to support my addiction...
I'm not a big fan of EcoEarth or wood chips of some sort... So as soon as one goes to the bathroom i'd clean out the whole cage and start over... Sorry... I have a little OCD when it comes to clean and spotless cages... I like the paper towels; they work great for me...
Thanks for the advise... Maybe the fogger is a little to much... It's that extremism in me... More is not always better.... :no:
Well he finally shed; Came off like pieces of wet crate paper... Ya... I over fog him... But at least he got it all off by his self... I don't think it really hurts him but it's a little much...
dannybgoode
11-12-16, 01:13 AM
You've lost me a little on the substrate. You can spot clean just fine with ecoearth etc and it's more natural for your snakes. Aesthetically so much more pleasing also.
I don't even have a humidity hide in my setups-don't know many people that do-never had anything but a perfect shed from any of them.
bigsnakegirl785
11-12-16, 06:48 AM
Well he finally shed; Came off like pieces of wet crate paper... Ya... I over fog him... But at least he got it all off by his self... I don't think it really hurts him but it's a little much...
He shed in pieces because the humidity wasn't high enough, not because you "over-fogged" him. It's because foggers do not help humidity all that efficiently. The best way to raise your humidity is in the way I described above.
You've lost me a little on the substrate. You can spot clean just fine with ecoearth etc and it's more natural for your snakes. Aesthetically so much more pleasing also.
I don't even have a humidity hide in my setups-don't know many people that do-never had anything but a perfect shed from any of them.
Agreed. Just pick up the feces/urates and the bedding surrounding it. It's completely unnecessary to remove all the bedding every time they use the restroom. EcoEarth at least does very well at containing stray liquid, assuming you're not leaving the bedding bone dry 24/7.
The humid hide was a suggestion on my part since they seem unwilling to use a particulate bedding to maintain humidity. Which, unfortunately still doesn't help much unless their relative humidity is at least minimal to maintaining health. A bone dry enclosure with just a humid hide won't do much, but it's an attempt.
dannybgoode
11-12-16, 08:24 AM
Oh I appreciate why you have recommended a hide in this instance bsg. I was just illustrating that with the correct set up you really don't need one.
My concern with a fogger is that it would just make the reptile wet which is completely different than raising humidity. A reptile that is wet for any period of time is potentially heading towards an RI. I agree that it really should not be used in this way.
A good substrate in a good overall setup. Job done...
My snake room stays at 70% humidity as long as I run my humidifier 24/7 and that should be enough... But before I got the humidifier my guys would get stuck in shead and I would have to soak them... The Fogger was a extra I got in a deal, and just a toy at this state, and I thought I would try it out... Didn't work like I had anticipated, so we'll move on...
As far as the Eco Earth goes... My main concern would be smells and replacement... My George can stink up the whole room with just his urine! I swear he's eating asparagus behind my back... The paper towel thing just works for me, what can I say!
Fred is like a different snake this morning... He's been hiding in his hide every since he went into blue... I even pulled him out a few times just to make sure he was ok... but this morning he's slowly moving about, Using his sweat box, then he took a soak, and at one time he was in both his sweat box and water dish just chilling... He's move back to his hide for a nap now... I watched him for hours this morning... He is so beautiful... What an amazing animal!
dannybgoode
11-12-16, 01:14 PM
The humidity in your room can be very different to the humidity in the vivs as they are essentially a microclimate.
Do you have a good digital hygrometer in each one to be sure they're at or near the 70%.
bigsnakegirl785
11-12-16, 01:32 PM
My snake room stays at 70% humidity as long as I run my humidifier 24/7 and that should be enough... But before I got the humidifier my guys would get stuck in shead and I would have to soak them... The Fogger was a extra I got in a deal, and just a toy at this state, and I thought I would try it out... Didn't work like I had anticipated, so we'll move on...
As far as the Eco Earth goes... My main concern would be smells and replacement... My George can stink up the whole room with just his urine! I swear he's eating asparagus behind my back... The paper towel thing just works for me, what can I say!
Fred is like a different snake this morning... He's been hiding in his hide every since he went into blue... I even pulled him out a few times just to make sure he was ok... but this morning he's slowly moving about, Using his sweat box, then he took a soak, and at one time he was in both his sweat box and water dish just chilling... He's move back to his hide for a nap now... I watched him for hours this morning... He is so beautiful... What an amazing animal!
If you humidify the room and they shed a whole shed that's fine, but if they don't something else needs to be figured out. It's unclear whether you've had sheds since humidifying the room, but the latest one didn't turn out too well.
EcoEarth heavily reduces smells. The only thing I've found that will break through it are regurges done after 4 days, and poop left to stew in a water dish. Regular poops don't smell at all until removed from the enclosure (if they smell at all). If you have a species that pees a lot or poops a lot, you will have to change it more often, but a snake like a boa constrictor or ball python that hardly excretes extra liquids and poops every few weeks or months, you shouldn't have to change the bedding more than a handful of times a year.
The humidity in your room can be very different to the humidity in the vivs as they are essentially a microclimate.
Do you have a good digital hygrometer in each one to be sure they're at or near the 70%.
I have one I move from cage to cage...
If you humidify the room and they shed a whole shed that's fine, but if they don't something else needs to be figured out. It's unclear whether you've had sheds since humidifying the room, but the latest one didn't turn out too well.
EcoEarth heavily reduces smells. The only thing I've found that will break through it are regurges done after 4 days, and poop left to stew in a water dish. Regular poops don't smell at all until removed from the enclosure (if they smell at all). If you have a species that pees a lot or poops a lot, you will have to change it more often, but a snake like a boa constrictor or ball python that hardly excretes extra liquids and poops every few weeks or months, you shouldn't have to change the bedding more than a handful of times a year.
I like the idea of the EcoEarth but I'm not ready to go in that direction until everybody gets their permanent enclosure... I need a couple cages that are more arboreal for Moe and Fred... And then George's cage will take the place of all the tables they sit on now... I can get them from a local guy who builds them out of Melamine for about $1000.oo... It may be a while!
bigsnakegirl785
11-12-16, 09:54 PM
I like the idea of the EcoEarth but I'm not ready to go in that direction until everybody gets their permanent enclosure... I need a couple cages that are more arboreal for Moe and Fred... And then George's cage will take the place of all the tables they sit on now... I can get them from a local guy who builds them out of Melamine for about $1000.oo... It may be a while!
Understandable, and yeah it can be hard to get that money together at one time. I'm sure they'll all enjoy it when you do get them. :)
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