Amazon Tree Boa Humidity/Cage set up

Hi there,

I had a couple questions about keeping my Amazon Tree Boa terrarium's humidity level up.

I have a baby ATB (about a foot and a half in length) that's currently in a 20H x 12W x 12D tank. I find it really hard to keep the humidity up. It has a slidable screen top. Right now I can't seem to get the humidity past 65% even after a couple mistings. And it seems to dry out fast as well. I came home one day and found that it had dropped to 35% which I know can be bad for ATBs, and now it has developed the ever so infamous clicking sound, which I read can be the start of a respiratory infection.

I was using a heat lamp sitting on top, but just switched to a controllable ceramic heat emitter.
Any ideas on getting the humidity up to the suggested 70-80% humidity?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

-Sean

Both a heat lamp and a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) really dry out the air. If you can, I would switch to under tank heater or a radiant heat panel, it really does make a world of difference. Cover the screen top as much as possible, you can buy a small piece of plexi or plastic or even use saran wrap. But I think changing out the CHE for another type of heat source will do the trick. You could also use two water bowls, one directly over (or under) the heat source and another in the cool area. To really up the humidity, you could use an aquarium air stone in the water bowl. Good luck!

I just noticed you are also in the bay area, to get a small cheap piece of plastic to cover the top, find your local Tap Plastics, it's a great resource.

Remember to always use a thermostat when using a heat mat, or a Radiant Heat Panel ( RHP ) or Flexwatt.

But you got some pretty sound advice from April

Thank you for the advice!

My friend just told me that the Tap Plastics in San Mateo has a bunch of scrap pieces that they will just give away for free. I'll for sure check that out

I also have a bigger 29 gallon TruVu aquarium that my corns are in currently. I heard that those tanks retain humidity much better, so another option is to put my ATB in that and move my corns into this other terrarium I have.

How much does a water fall help with humidity? I was thinking of purchasing one to help out and to make my terrarium better looking. Also what are your thoughts of the different types of misters/foggers that are out there?

As far as the clicking sound goes for my snake, if I fix the humidity would that help him get better over time? It doesn't seem to severe right now, I just don't want to get it to the stage where I have to use baytril.

Thanks!