Humidity issue

[EasternGirl]

Hmmm....I haven't noticed a huge difference with the change in substrate...but I have noticed a bit of a difference. Now I am working on decreasing the amount of ventilation. I have noticed humidity going up when I do that.

[angrygamer]

I am bumping this thread because I would like to know myself if anyone has a definitive answer as to what the ideal humidity is...when I got my new tank set up a few weeks ago I stuck a hygrometer in it...I hadn't done that because I was under the impression that I could use the general humidity from weather reports as a reference...what a newb I am. The humidity inside the tank falls between 22 and 28%. I immediately rigged a household humidifier to the tank to bring it up to at least 50%.

I did this for two reasons: Glyph started showing signs she (still in the dark on whether it's M/F, going to the vet next week) was going to shed, and I have read up on at least 20 or so sources on the 'net as to what the ideal humidity should be, and from what little I could gather, 50% is ideal, and for shedding maybe raise it up another 10%.

I have to really stress this, in all the reading up I have done, it is not addressed very much...heck, the care sheet on this site doesn't address it at all except in the case of juveniles, and even then it is very vague.

Some people would say things like, "well, I have a really big water bowl, that kind of takes care of it."

I am particularly worried about humidity because 1.)I live in the desert. 2.)I live in a studio apartment, and the furnace is a mammoth gas burner, and this causes the air to become very dry.

I DO have a big water bowl and I did set up a shedbox, but Glyph did not want to go in it. Nevertheless, I raised the humidity to about 55% and the shed went very well I am happy to say, in two pieces, the body and about 3 inches of the tail.

I do have a vet appointment next week and I will ask him, but I'd thought I'd bring it up here as well.

And I'll have him do his probing thing too.

[chris-uk]

I don't think there is a definitive ideal humidity. Different people will respond with different ranges.
I'm happy if mine is above 40%, and I struggle to get it any higher at the moment. If it got over 60% I'd be taking steps to reduce it.

[angrygamer]

I don't think there is a definitive ideal humidity. Different people will respond with different ranges.

That's what I was afraid of.

[Light of Dae]

I DO have a big water bowl and I did set up a shedbox, but Glyph did not want to go in it. Nevertheless, I raised the humidity to about 55% and the shed went very well I am happy to say, in two pieces, the body and about 3 inches of the tail.

As for making up a Shed Box, I put mine in and shut the lid with a warm moist towel folded under n over her so that she has to squirm out of it. She doesn't get the option of wanting to or not. I will also just put her in a luke warm bath n let her soak for a few minutes.

[EasternGirl]

I never really got mine up above 40% but my albino checkered had a perfect first shed...all one piece...and albinos are known for having problem sheds from what I understand. I gave up on the sphagnum moss bowls because they weren't making much of a difference and they were becoming a pain. So I just mist and mist more when it's shedding time...and I cover about 1/2 to three quarters of the tank lid with a towel when I want to get the humidity up as well. I try to keep my humidity levels around 30%-40% on average and try to get them up a little higher...aiming for 50% or 60% if I can get it during shed time. It's the best I can do and my snakes seem to be doing okay.

[Selkielass]

My snakes all seem to enjoy my damp basement. (60% or better.) in the summer, but the Butlers seem to enjoy having an even damper area to hide in at night when its available. They sun themselves high in their enclosure most of the morning, and then some seek cooler damp places to hide later in the day or at night.
My eastern and checkered seem to prefer it somewhat dryer (40-70% depending on weather.) and don't appreciate a damp hide unless shedding.

[EasternGirl]

My albino checkered has been sitting high in his vine plant under his red lamp a lot lately. My easterns seem to like to bask under the light most of the time and will seek cooler parts of the tank...I would say about a quarter of the time. The albino always stays on the warm side of the tank...he goes in his hide sometimes, but never to the cool side of the tank. I have been misting all the time in all of the tanks...but the humidity never goes above 50% at the most this time of year....it usually stays around 30-40%. It actually takes a lot of work to get it to 50%.

[chris-uk]

I may have stumbled across a method that raises humidity without any need to mist. Since I rearranged the UK checkereds viv by putting a bigger water bowl in there's a couple of silk leaves dipping in the water. Since then humidity has stayed constant around 45%, before that it was dropping down to low 30s and I was misting to try to keep it up in the 40s.
What I think is happening is that the silk leaves are wicking water and the evaporation from the leaves is raising the humidity.

[EasternGirl]

Hmmm...I just bought a silk plant. I haven't been using though because it's huge and Cee Cee didn't seem to like it...she just stared at it like some big predator in her enclosure...lol. But I just noticed that the humidity in her tank has been staying up...over 50%. I have ecoearth and reptibark in there and I have some of the lid covered and I have been misting a lot since she is getting ready to shed again. I may look into buying some more small silk plants though...because I don't think I'm going to stick with the reptibark. Thanks for the tip Chris!