low humidity

trailblazer295 · 12-21-14, 09:05 PM

Hey everyone

I have a 2x2x1 pvc cage. I bought my first BP a week ago and all week I'm not able to maintain proper humidity. I've sprayed in the inside of the tank on both floor and side wall and 7hrs later it drops from 50% to 35-40%. I've sprayed it morning before work and at night before bed and everytime I check it again it's dropped. It being winter the air is dry, the humidity in the house is around 40%. I'm looking for a new substrate for my BP to help maintain proper humidity in winter. I'll try aspen come summer as it might be useful. With ecobark and similiar how often should it be changed to avoid mold? I'm intrigued by the use of towels as a substrate. How well do they work? What's the impact on humidity?

Flybit · 12-22-14, 08:01 PM

Subbing as I am having the same problem!

trailblazer295 · 12-23-14, 06:13 PM

When talking to a guy at the reptile store I've been going to he suggested I try coconut husk. I was in picking up another rat for feeding so I haven't yet taken the aspen out. I didn't want to disturb my BP who has fed twice for me in the 9 days I've had him.

Flybit · 12-23-14, 08:03 PM

The humidity seems to stay around 65. He has his appetite still as he ate 2 decent sized mice today. I bought some moss and put a bigger water dish in today to see how that works. The bottom half of his shed came off but he's been out and active all night for 3 nights in a row now rubbing on things to try to get the rest of the shed off. I feel like a bad mom =(

kwhitlock · 12-24-14, 05:01 AM

If you are concerned about mold, I would suggest Cyprus mulch as it doesn't mold. Reptibark isn't bad either, I use it for my rainbow boa (~90% humidity) I have yet to have to mold. Either work well.

pdomensis · 12-24-14, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

Hey everyone

I have a 2x2x1 pvc cage. I bought my first BP a week ago and all week I'm not able to maintain proper humidity. I've sprayed in the inside of the tank on both floor and side wall and 7hrs later it drops from 50% to 35-40%. I've sprayed it morning before work and at night before bed and everytime I check it again it's dropped. It being winter the air is dry, the humidity in the house is around 40%. I'm looking for a new substrate for my BP to help maintain proper humidity in winter. I'll try aspen come summer as it might be useful. With ecobark and similiar how often should it be changed to avoid mold? I'm intrigued by the use of towels as a substrate. How well do they work? What's the impact on humidity?

I keep only arid species because I don't want to deal with this. A drop from 50 to 35% over 7 hrs doesn't sound unreasonable to me, especially this time of year. Couple questions: where is your hygrometer located? up on the wall or down near the substrate. Where are you spraying in relation to the hygrometer? if you're spraying on it or close to it, you will get higher readings at first.

trailblazer295 · 12-25-14, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdomensis

I keep only arid species because I don't want to deal with this. A drop from 50 to 35% over 7 hrs doesn't sound unreasonable to me, especially this time of year. Couple questions: where is your hygrometer located? up on the wall or down near the substrate. Where are you spraying in relation to the hygrometer? if you're spraying on it or close to it, you will get higher readings at first.

The sensor is located in the center of the cage taped to the top. I've switched subsrate to coconut husk. Now with all my vents open I'm maintaining at least 60% in the cage, it does go higher over time as the husk is drying out a bit so I just open the door to lower it back down to around 60%. I'm in the process of researching a radiant heat panel which will also help dry things out. Eventually I'll have everything stabilized in the right ranges.

Rattlehead · 12-25-14, 10:33 AM

I would recommend you to put your snake in warm water for a couple of minutes to help her with the rest of the shed while you replace the substrate too

trailblazer295 · 12-25-14, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rattlehead

I would recommend you to put your snake in warm water for a couple of minutes to help her with the rest of the shed while you replace the substrate too

I think he will be starting the process soon, while holding him today I saw a bit of blueish colour on a few scales on his head. I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days. He isn't scheduled to be fed until mon or tuesday. I'll delay if he it's clear he is starting the process. I'm still having to open the door sometimes to lower the humidity but he isn't in a dry environment now. His shed should go smoothly, he has a large water dish if he wants to soak himself. I'm happy despite the conditions not being ideal by the book he seems to be quite happy. When holding him he is active and explores and doesn't curl into a ball. I'll get everything dialed in properly as soon as I can. In the short term it seems to have no ill effect on his behavior or stress levels.

nyjon · 12-30-14, 09:26 PM

im not a pro python carer but i used to track my bp humidity and then i stopped. i used to keep it at 80+ and then he would go in his water and spill water everywhere and then it would go over 100... or he would piss and crap all over the place and back to over 100. i keep mine in a 54qt tub with a 10-20 gallon zoo med heat pad and a hydrofarm thermostat set to 92. when i see he is going into shed i spray a sheet of paper towel with water and set it over the heat pad under his warm hide. this creates a moist hide with condensation and hes never had a bad shed. i believed i used a western digital cigar hygrometer and that was pretty accurate. but again, it always changed when he wet his tub or pissed so it made the whole thing irrelevant. hope this helps.

and i use a sheet of newspaper (no color) as substrate.

here are my setups

DSCN3627 by k20jonny, on Flickr

i use chips for my king and milk

DSCN3617 by k20jonny, on Flickr

10-20 gallon uth on a 54qt sterilite tub

**Aaron_S** · 12-31-14, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

I think he will be starting the process soon, while holding him today I saw a bit of blueish colour on a few scales on his head. I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days. He isn't scheduled to be fed until mon or tuesday. I'll delay if he it's clear he is starting the process. I'm still having to open the door sometimes to lower the humidity but he isn't in a dry environment now. His shed should go smoothly, he has a large water dish if he wants to soak himself. I'm happy despite the conditions not being ideal by the book he seems to be quite happy. When holding him he is active and explores and doesn't curl into a ball. I'll get everything dialed in properly as soon as I can. In the short term it seems to have no ill effect on his behavior or stress levels.

Don't feel you need to open the door to lower humidity. It's okay if it goes above every once in awhile. It won't hurt him.

Sounds like you're doing well. Keep it up.

trailblazer295 · 12-31-14, 01:58 PM

I've got the humidity stabilized now around 60%. He still hasn't started shedding so must have been the way the light reflected. His skin still feels and looks the same. He was eager to feed this week, was moving in his hide before I could get it out of the box. Now I just need to increase the ambient temperatures. I'm order some radiant heat panels from pro products.

**Aaron_S** · 12-31-14, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trailblazer295

I've got the humidity stabilized now around 60%. He still hasn't started shedding so must have been the way the light reflected. His skin still feels and looks the same. He was eager to feed this week, was moving in his hide before I could get it out of the box. Now I just need to increase the ambient temperatures. I'm order some radiant heat panels from pro products.

It's been 4 days since you posted that the snake may be in a shed cycle. It takes a good week for the process to go from start to finish.

However, without seeing the animal, you very well could be right as they do some times have an irridesence.

trailblazer295 · 12-31-14, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

It's been 4 days since you posted that the snake may be in a shed cycle. It takes a good week for the process to go from start to finish.

However, without seeing the animal, you very well could be right as they do some times have an irridesence.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/pytho...ng-advice.html

I think he is ready to shed soon.