Opinions on misting

[dapozer]

Lot of various opinions on this, some say mist daily, some never mist and just wet the bottom of the tub. I battle humidity in the room my snakes are kept, sitting right now at 21%, running humidifier on high can get me up to 50% but it cannot run the full day without needing to be re-filled (2gal unit). I have a BCI and BCC boa, and 2 SD retics as well as the GTP in this room. The big snakes are in Boaphiles and rarely get sprayed and they all shed perfectly. GTP is new to me and has not shed for me. His cage humidity sits around 30-40 unless sprayed daily. He was not sprayed at the breeder, just a wetted bottom on the tub every few days. I have a monsoon 400 and wondering if I should put him on a daily mist for 30 seconds or so. I was toying with the idea of auto misting as this would allow a set time of day to mist, I could schedule daily, every other day or whatever days I would like, and my biggest thought would be less stress on the snake as the front door would not be opened all the time. His tank is in my room and I keep a eye on everything, maybe a little overly anal on the details at times. I have seen him drink from his bowl and it gets changes every other to every 3 days. He is in a exo terra 18x18x18 tank with RHP. Sides and back are lined with bark cork board from exo terra, eco earth soil with humidity balls.

[Jendee]

I most daily, I have a weed killer pump from Lowes give it a few pumps and give my boas a squirt lol

[Lankyrob]

I keep my GTP at around 80% after misting and then let it "dry" to about 55%, i can do this by misting every three or four days.

Basically you need to mist however often it takes to keep the humidity up, i will be surprised if it sheds properly at 30%, very, very surprised :)

[jarich]

I agree with Rob, your humidity needs to be much higher consistently to keep that GTP healthy. Set up your Monsoon to mist daily for 30 seconds and see what that gets you. Im not sure how much circulation your enclosure gets, and therefore how quickly that will dry out. So give that a try and see what humidity level that gets you to, then adjust up or down accordingly.

[EmbraceCalamity]

If it's anything like my Exo Terra, it holds humidity horribly. If it's all screen on top, you'll need to cover part of it to keep the humidity in.

~Maggot

[jarich]

Just a guess, of course, but it sounds unlikely that it has a screen top with an RHP.

[Corey209]

A guy I know keeps his humidity around 80% with his monsoon set to every three hours

[EmbraceCalamity]

Just a guess, of course, but it sounds unlikely that it has a screen top with an RHP.I don't know what RHP means. But I can't imagine humidity would be an issue if it was all glass like some of the Exo Terras.

~Maggot

[cossiecraig]

I don't know what RHP means. But I can't imagine humidity would be an issue if it was all glass like some of the Exo Terras.

~Maggot

RHP = Radiant Heat Panel ;)

[EmbraceCalamity]

RHP = Radiant Heat Panel ;)Oh, thank you. :D

~Maggot

[cossiecraig]

Oh, thank you. :D

~Maggot

your welcome :)

[dapozer]

Yeah it is an Exo Terra and has screen top. However 85 % of it is covered by a piece of 1.8 inch black pvc, the only left open area is where the light fixture sets. I made some new adjustments as in moving RHP to the left and added the eco earth soil.

[Gungirl]

Why the light? If you have a RHP you shouldn't need the light. Getting rid of that will help your humidity a ton!

[dapozer]

I run a 10w CFL for daylight. The room is dark and I like to see him. No heat from the light

[jarich]

Could be wrong but that looks like a live plant in there, so Im guessing thats what the light is for. Also depends on what kind of light it is. If its a UV/tube light then it shouldnt effect the humidity really.

[jarich]

I would use that pvc to cover the entire top, move the light to the underside of it, so that the entire top is sealed. That way you would only need to spray once every couple days or so with the Monsoon. I have a similar set up with mine

[dapozer]

good thought. I could do a full glass top to fit where the screen is or do PVC and put a led light inside with snake. Could add a few holes for more ventilation if needed. I will do some measuring tomorrow and see what the cuts look like. Thanks

[Strutter769]

I mist my Rainbows daily.

[Lankyrob]

I find those exoterras have verey high air circulation, there are just soooooo many airleaks that holding humidity is a nightmare. Personally i would switch him to a more solidly built vivarium :)

[alessia55]

I mist as much as necessary to keep humidity above at least 65% in mine. I have Boaphiles and barely struggle to keep humidity up. Without misting for a week, humidity still stays around 62%, so I only mist once every couple of days and it raises humidity upwards of 80%, and a little extra when they're about to shed.
Removing the light will help, as would minimizing airflow. Have you considered getting a different enclosure that will give you less problems in the long run?

[jarich]

If you can keep the humidity levels constantly above 65% with the Monsoon, and you should easily be able to, then the circulation is actually a bonus. While it may sometimes make it more difficult for the keeper, it is actually beneficial to the snake.

I had the same thought you guys did and unknowingly questioned one of the best GTP breeders in the US. He quickly corrected me! Havent felt like that much of a noob in awhile. ;) He was very nice about it though, and had some amazing GTPs.

[dapozer]

I have been looking at caging and have a lead on some vision 24x24x24's, Also thought of building my own pvc/hdpe enclosure (will price out this week). I use Boaphiles for my other snakes so I might give Jeff a call also to see what he can do for me. Exo is working for now but I have to pay more attention to it.
thanks