Ideal Humidity??

[JamieEvans]

Could someone please tell me the IDEAL humidity levels for a Burmese Python.
The caresheets I have read vary quite a bit and with the expert advice I have seen in these forums from most of you I would prefer your advice.
Thanks Alot,

Jamie

[kevyn]

I'd say in the range of 70%-80% RH.

[ReptiZone]

I dont think I have ever put a Burmese Python in a cage over 65% humidity. Only during there sheding phases I boost it up to 75%-80% but then again all my cheap Hygromeaters are in the trash for divers reasons. so I have not seen the actual % in a long time so I could be way off. I use my eye if I spray the cage and one hour later I come back and it look dry but if I open it and can actualy smell my substrat in the air I got it dead on if it still wet like I mean you can still see water then I mesed up big time and dont spray for like 3 days. if it is dry and dusty 1 hour later then I did not spray verry well so I redo it I would rather not spray enugh the first time and re-spray then spray too much and have to deal with scale rot that is a big NO NO in my books I seen it once and it scared the $#!T out of me and that is when I had the hygromeaters in the cage.

So that is when I caled my old child hood friend Oscar to see if he wanted some hygromeater as a wall ornament *If you get My Drift*.

Well that is littel story see if it makes sence with the info you find other the this thread.

MY burm is sprayed 2 times a day (in the morning and at night) and given a bath right after her eyes clear up from her first shed phase then put in a clean cage and sprayed 2 times a day till she sheads and it is almost alwase in one pice so I must be doing somthing right Oh ya she is 8 feet long.

ReptiZone
(Marc Doiron)

[T.O-SK8TER]

I do not spray my cage at all. My burm s cage has a few water dishes in it to keep it a little moist, when he is going to shed I get a bath towel soak it in water and place it flat on top of him, it seems to work cause he seems healthy, his sheds are in one peice and he is vary active.

[JamieEvans]

Thanks Alot for all your help:-)

Jamie

[ReptiZone]

no prob man! A healty, well fed burm is a happy burm and a happy burm is to one of the most enjoyable animals to own next to retic's well tha is if you have the same love for retic's as me lol.

[Jeff Hathaway]

I'm also still curious to know if anyone has a preferred humidity for burms, as I'm intending to have it automatically controlled in the future.

Jeff Hathaway
Sciensational Sssnakes!!

[Edwin]

I like it around 60-70% humidity ambient for burms and retics, and provide a moist hide, or a tub big enough to soak in.

[KarlSnake]

I just made some quick measurements in Little Snooky's cage.

Air temp near ceiling at cold / water tank end = 80°F
Air temp at floor of cold / water tank end = 70°F
Temp of water in his tank (heater is off) = 73°F
Temp near ceiling of hot / heatlamps end = 103 °F
Temp at floor of hot / heatlamps end = 95°F
Temp of Little Snooky's topside skin = 88°F
Temp down in his coils = 86°F
Temp underneath his belly = 85°F

Humidity = 65% RH (saturation = 100%)
I didn't find any variation among locations.

I used a Type K thermocouple for the air temps & an infrared thermometer with the emissivity set to 0.92 for the skin temp. The humidity was measured with a chilled-mirror dew point hygrometer instrument. All are recently calibrated.

The temperature of the hot / heatlamps end is controlled by redundant thermostats about a foot above the floor.

I don't control the humidity at all. I'm sure it is higher when the waterbed heater underneath his water tank is on, but that is only on when he is in the process of shedding.

Insofar as it is possible to tell, he seems comfortable. He spends about 2/3 of his time in the hot / heatlamp end & 1/3 submerged (except for his eyes & nostrils) in his water tank. He will pretty much stay in his water tank when he is in the process of shedding, during which I have the waterbed heater under it on & set to 80°F. He doesn't have a hidey since he crushed his Dogloo & this doesn't seem to bother him - he never spent much time in it anyway, just on top of it, which is how it came to be wrecked & discarded.

When I opened door #2 to take the measurements, he gave me his "where's the *%^$^@%*%&*^*&^%^ pig" greeting, so I have some VERY bad news for at least one "feeder pig" at next Tuesday's livestock auction.

Humidity requirements are most probably just opinions. IMHO, anything between 50% & the walls turning green is OK. A nice warm tank to soak in is (again, IMHO) a requirement, especially for shedding.

My best guess is that snakes indigenous to tropical rainforrest areas "like" it a bit on the wet side. It sure can't hurt anything to at least try to achieve & maintain the RH somewhere close to what the animal would have in the wilds of its natural habitat.