Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

DIABLO · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 2:27 am Post subject: Humidity probs ??

Hi, my humidity at the hot end of the tank is really high (not sure of cooler end as i have not yet fitted a hygrometer). I have a light in the tank during the day which pushes the temp up to about 28/29c at the hot end and the humidity is at about 50%, cool end staying at about 23/24c, the heat mat is on throughout the day and night (on a thermostat). The light is just a 40watt reflector. When i turned the light off 3 hours ago, the humidity has gradually increased and is at about 78% right now, ive moved the water bowl to the cool end to see if that helped. The temperature at the cool end is now 22/23c and the hot end is 24/25c. I have the heat mat placed on the bottom of the tank, i might substitute the substrate for newspaper tomorrow to see if that is the problem. Is that humidity real high or ok for night ?? Personally i think that's too high. Any advice/help will be much appreciated
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mike h · CaptiveBred Addict! Joined: 18 Mar 2006 Posts: 778

hi
royals need high humidity. Just make sure substrate is dry most of the time. they live in very humid burrows. If humidity is to low they will not shed skin properly. When mine are up for shed I bung a load of damp moss in and spray twice a day.
mike

GJ · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:16 pm Post subject:

I use dial hydrometers and place them at the cool end as humidity normally decreases quickly at the warm end. I try to keep it between 40-60%. I do prefer to use digital hydrometer being that their more accurate then the stick on ones.

What kind of viv do you have and what are you using for substrate. I find that plastic or glass vivs fog up easily if there is not much ventilation.

Your humidity level is too hi for a royal. Check to see that the substrate is not too damp.

Another thing to consider is that the snake may of knocked the water bowl over and the heat is drying out the substrate increasing the humidity.

_dave_ · Key Member Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Posts: 449 Location: Kent

my really useful tubs get sprayed a day and get quite humid..

one of my girls is due a shed, so i have tipped half her water bowl over and not disturbed her, the inside of the tub is dripping but it will aid with her shed very well.

King Of Dreams · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 4:47 pm Post subject:

keep in mind that too much humidity is more detrimental than too low. RI can be contracted alot easier when humidity is high. personally i think that 70% is too much, and having condensation on the glass is a sure sign that it's too high, even when shedding.
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Peter Parrot · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:09 pm Post subject:

DIABLO · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:34 pm Post subject:

How happy are Royals on just newspaper ?? If they are cool with it im going to try out newspaper with no other substrate, have the water bowl in there with a hide at either end too. The heat mat is currently on the floor but will it be ok with a layer or two of newspaper on top and then the hide ? For a hide im going to change from bark ones to a terracotta pot cut it in half with round the edges off, if i can find one that is fine as it is ill have that. The Viv is a wooden one with plenty of air vents in. Since i moved the water to the cool end the condensation on the glass has stopped, the substrate does feel damp all over right now though. Could i possibly put a light layer of something over the paper ?? Whats the best substrate going ?? There are so many options !! Im starting to see that getting the viv set up right takes a fair bit of tweaking and fine tuning but its all a learning curve and i dont want to 'wee' her off too much !! Cheers for all your help, (keep any other thoughts coming though) !! Very Happy

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DIABLO · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 5:38 pm Post subject:

Ha ha, i love the change to 'wee', must get out the habit of putting words that are changeable !! On another website i frequent the word for a hand held electric disabling device gets changed to 'jelly baby' !! Sorry everybody Embarassed

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Peter Parrot · Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 6:05 pm Post subject:

Newspaper is fine. Hygenic and easy to replace. It`s just unattractive. An alternative which I also use is lining wall paper. it comes in huge rolls, is very cheap and it`s easy to just cut viv sized sections off the roll. Wink

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_dave_ · Key Member Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Posts: 449 Location: Kent

peter

at the moment yeah it is wet, but as soon as she has shed i will put fresh paper in there so it is quite dry again.. i spray the tubs once or twice a day...

ill try to keep it a bit minimal and see how it goes Smile