| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| vrysius |
Posted - 18/05/2009 : 22:33:04
Hey everyone, I just want to preface this post by saying that I do not have my snake yet.
I just bought a sheet of plexiglass, and cut it around my lights and put it on top of my screen lid tank. It did nothing. I am pretty suprised, because I have heard that doing this works wonders. Misting brings the humidity up by about 5% for like 10 minutes, but then it goes back down. What else can I do to raise the humidity by 20%-ish for long periods of time?
Also, I will be getting my ceramic heat emitter in the mail tommorow, I'll try putting a water dish under it to see what that does.
Thanks |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kazerella |
Posted - 04/06/2009 : 17:07:08
All posts are always welcome, that's why we are all here  |
| ifelloverboard |
Posted - 04/06/2009 : 09:14:33
Vrysius, you live in the United States. When you get about $50 - $100 go to Lowes and make your own tank. The most expensive part is the Plexiglass which will run you about $30 - $40 a sheet. The lumber will only run you $10 - $20 between 2x4's and plywood. The nice thing about Lowes is that they will cut everything for you. I would love to run a table saw in my apartment at 3 a.m. but I can't really do it.
I'm new here (just joined a few minutes ago) but that is what you need to do if you want true control over your humidity. You have absolute and relative humidity. In order to jack up your relative humidity you need to bring up the container of absolute humidity. Absolute humidity is controlled by temperature. The hotter it is the higher your absolute humidity container is and thus the higher your relative humidity can be.
The reason why a tank that you bought is not ideal if you're having humidity issues is that you do not have control over all of the variables. From what it sounds like it's the air flow. You're doing everything correct for increasing and stabilizing the humidity but if your heat is escaping anywhere, including right around the hole you cut out for the ceramic you may be losing your humidity right there.
You build your own tank, use sealant around the top (my large plexiglass window on the front is the door for mine) and make your ventilation on the bottom of the tank. That may make it far too stuffy but remember you can always drill holes in the top, move stuff around but without 100% control you're always going to be fighting a battle.)
Think of what I'm saying about the air like the water filter in a fish tank. Once you control the air flow you will be all set.
I'm not much of a snake owner, I have a Colombian Rainbow that's just a baby that I've had for a month. First snake I've owned. I'll take some pics of his new cage that I'm building once it's all pieced together.
Hope that helps. (I apologize if you know all about absolute, relative, and thermodynamics but figured I would post it anyway) |
| Kazerella |
Posted - 02/06/2009 : 13:30:27
Looking forward to seeing them  |
| vrysius |
Posted - 01/06/2009 : 22:42:56
I will be looking into some in-tank humidifiers, maybe I can find one that will work. I got the snake saturday, she's very pretty, very well-tempered and ate when I fed her. She's about to go into shed, so I'll post pics after she takes care of that. |
| Kazerella |
Posted - 31/05/2009 : 13:48:09
Have you put some live plants in? They seem to help with the humidity too.
Good luck with getting your new snake. Can't wait for the pictures |
| vrysius |
Posted - 26/05/2009 : 23:42:19
Well I got this genius idea to cut a hole in the side of the tank, install a vent, then run a duct from the vent to the fan of the humidifier, essentially pumping humidity in. The problem is it will cost $40 to get the stupid hole cut, plus whatever the vent and ducting cost, which will be subtracted from my snake fund. (which I am still waiting for a quote on)
Things are looking like I'll be getting my snake this weekend, which is good. |
| vrysius |
Posted - 23/05/2009 : 17:48:51
Well, the moss is helping, I can get it up to 75 for about 2.5 hours. I also put a tiny plastic dish in, put sphagnum moss in it and filled it up with water to completely saturate the moss, then put it under my light. It helps a little. I also have a flat rock that I spray and it evaporates the water quickly. |
| Kazerella |
Posted - 23/05/2009 : 17:03:55
No, moss does stink. You should smell my egg incubator. It stinks |
| vrysius |
Posted - 22/05/2009 : 23:25:59
I moved the humidity and temp gauges down closer to the ground, and the humidity guage away from the basking area, it is a little better, but on the ground the temp is fine, so I won't be switching to a lower wattage. I have nearly all the ventilation blocked. I ran the humidifier all day on high, but it didn't help, I also threw bits of sphagnum moss in to hold moisture, they dried up. I'm running out of options... :(
Also I stuck my face near the cage, the moss is making it smell kind of strong. It is also very strong in the humidity hide (that's all I have in there). This won't be harmful at all will it? |
| Kazerella |
Posted - 22/05/2009 : 09:32:33
Is there anyway you could block some of the ventilation?
Rainbows will need cleaning out more often without ventilation, but it wil help keep the humidity in. |
| vrysius |
Posted - 22/05/2009 : 00:16:15
I'm pretty sure the gage is accurate, it reads about the same as the relative humidity that the weather channel says. I might get A digital one anyways, just so I have two thermometers. Could there be a problem with the placement? It's about halfway up the wall of the tank (which is glass, by the way), if the substrate is moist the humidity would have to be good on the ground, right?
I'll also be getting a lower wattage incandescent bulb, my 75 watt is heating it up too much, I'll put a 60 in and see if that helps any.
Also, would switching substrates to sphagnum moss be beneficial? I could do that, but I don't think the problem is the substrate, because cypress is supposed to hold humidity well.
I can't get a new terrarium, I don't really have the funds or the time to build something like that right now. I'm just wondering where all the humidity goes. I spray it and it goes up to 75%, but then it quickly equalizes with the relative humidity. There are only small spots where the plexiglass doesn't cover the screen, maybe covering those up somehow would help. |
| Brittany |
Posted - 21/05/2009 : 22:03:57
I would recommend a digital hygrometer (great because it reads both temperature and humidity). You can buy one online. I just recently got cypress mulch as a replacement for the newspaper I had been using, and I recommend it, my humidity stays around 80-90+ now. Though be sure if you use any other barky substrate to feed your snake in a different container or on paper or something so they do not swallow it.
Is your vivarium wooden or glass? I've heard that wooden enclosures hold humidity much better. I also use a ceramic bulb, but only a red one - the light one dried up the air too quickly, and it was a little useless anyway, as it burnt out by the second week. |
| Kazerella |
Posted - 21/05/2009 : 11:10:36
I agree. I had 2 dial humidity gauges and both registered different humidity in the same place. Buying a digital one was the best thing I ever did.  |
| gingerpony |
Posted - 20/05/2009 : 21:59:41
is it dial or digi? digital are definitely best! |
| vrysius |
Posted - 20/05/2009 : 19:45:11
I have the petco brand, but I'm beginning to think that it isn't the most accurate. I did place it in the middle (height-wise) of the tank wall. The ground is literally damp from the misting but it will still only read like 60%, I can't see how it's possible for it to be that low. |
