Are my holes okay? Too much?

Mikoh4792 · 06-10-13, 09:43 AM

This tub is a part of my RBI Iris sweaterbox rack. I worked my way up from 1 row, 2 rows, and now 3 rows. The humidity is still 80%. I have not even tried it with the water bowl yet. If I put any more holes will this affect the temperature gradient negatively? Especially in the Winter?

Before anyone asks, the substrate is 75% aspen, 25% eco earth. I let the eco earth dry for two days, so it's not wet. The mixture is definitely a bit more humid than 100% aspen but should the tub still be this humid with as many holes as it has?

If someone with racks could please show me pictures of their tubs it would be great. I could it use as reference.

**Aaron_S** · 06-10-13, 10:05 AM

It will affect your humidity levels. You should have started with less and added water to the water dish and covered it up for a couple days.

You could have always added more holes.

Mikoh4792 · 06-10-13, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

It will affect your humidity levels. You should have started with less and added water to the water dish and covered it up for a couple days.

You could have always added more holes.

Cover what up? I mean the humidity is 80% when I put the tub into the rack so the top is covered.

I can still add more holes and things will be fine for now, but I'm just worried about the winter when the cold air will seep into the holes. As it's summer right now I don't have to worry about temperatures as much.

I guess in the Summer humidity is an issue and in the Winter the problem is temperature. I need to make a balance in the ventilation system to accommodate for the two seasons.

bcr229 · 06-10-13, 11:09 AM

My BP's in the rack are on newspaper or paper towels. The water bowl alone provides enough humidity normally, and during shed cycles moving the water onto the warm side increases it as well.

I use cypress for the BRB and BCI enclosures.

**Aaron_S** · 06-10-13, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikoh4792

Cover what up? I mean the humidity is 80% when I put the tub into the rack so the top is covered.

I can still add more holes and things will be fine for now, but I'm just worried about the winter when the cold air will seep into the holes. As it's summer right now I don't have to worry about temperatures as much.

I guess in the Summer humidity is an issue and in the Winter the problem is temperature. I need to make a balance in the ventilation system to accommodate for the two seasons.

I use the same holes year round. I don't do anything in each of the seasons.

Summer humidity is a problem? I would think winter would be considering how dry it gets.

Winter temp problems? I guess you don't heat your house.

Mikoh4792 · 06-10-13, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I use the same holes year round. I don't do anything in each of the seasons.

Summer humidity is a problem? I would think winter would be considering how dry it gets.

Winter temp problems? I guess you don't heat your house.

In the Summer humidity is a problem in that it gets too humid. I live in Long Island where the humidity can get pretty high. Humidity in the Winter won't be a problem since it isn't a screen top where the humidity just goes out the window if you don't mist it every few hours.

If you don't mind, could you show me a picture of one of your tubs? I would just like to see how you have your holes done.

smy_749 · 06-10-13, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikoh4792

In the Summer humidity is a problem in that it gets too humid. I live in Long Island where the humidity can get pretty high. Humidity in the Winter won't be a problem since it isn't a screen top where the humidity just goes out the window if you don't mist it every few hours.

If you don't mind, could you show me a picture of one of your tubs? I would just like to see how you have your holes done.

Your only three hours away from me if your in long island. You should check craigslist in your area, theres always racks and vision/neodesha cages up for sale, I just dont wanna drive that far to get them.

franks · 06-10-13, 01:35 PM

Did you implement the heat yet? The heat will start pushing air and change your humidity.
You can always cover holes with packing tape.

**Aaron_S** · 06-10-13, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikoh4792

In the Summer humidity is a problem in that it gets too humid. I live in Long Island where the humidity can get pretty high. Humidity in the Winter won't be a problem since it isn't a screen top where the humidity just goes out the window if you don't mist it every few hours.

If you don't mind, could you show me a picture of one of your tubs? I would just like to see how you have your holes done.

I drill large holes in the front and back. About 6 - 8 per side.

Mikoh4792 · 06-10-13, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franks

Did you implement the heat yet? The heat will start pushing air and change your humidity.
You can always cover holes with packing tape.

Yes I did. I set the heat so that the warm side is 90F and cool side is 80F during the day. With the hotspot being 90F 80F is the coolest it will get. However, I will give it a night drop to about 85F on the warmside and hopefully it will drop down to 75F on the coolside.

Mikoh4792 · 06-10-13, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

I drill large holes in the front and back. About 6 - 8 per side.

Damn. In that case my holes seem like overkill. However my substrate isn't even what most people would consider damp. It just isn't completely "desert" dry and the humidity will stay 70-80%. Do you know how big your holes are? Mine are 1/8th inch. In case this is relevant, my tubs are 24x16

Also is your rack made up of solid walls? I think that may be a reason for my humidity being so high for the number of holes I have in my tubs. Three sides of my tubs are covered by the solid walls of the rack, cutting down on airflow and circulation.

**Aaron_S** · 06-10-13, 06:56 PM

My rack system has solid walls. It's made of melamine. The back is just pegboard though.

Lastly, I use newspaper as substrate. I get perfect sheds all the time. No health issues. No misting at all.

Starbuck · 06-10-13, 07:39 PM

Mikoh, i think you may be over thinking the whole thing. Lots of different set ups work for lots of different people. Maybe you need to keep your thermostat higher than most to get your tubs the correct temp. Maybe you need to mist once/week to keep your humidity correct, maybe i need to mist 3 times/week...
as long as your conditions are correct for your animal, i think it doesn't matter as much how you got there. Run your tubs (sans-animal) for a week, and then report on how they are maintaining humidity/temps, you cant know how well they maintain these parameters if you are taking them apart every day and changing things around.