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Humidity

N

nikita04

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I have two six foot long cages that I built, they house a male and female albino boa. The trouble that I am having is that I can spray them down and the very next day the humidity is back down to around 35%-45%. I wanted to know is there a good misting system that would kept the humidity up and not cost me an arm and a leg? Or should I just keep spraying them every other day.

Lawrence
 
Are you heating with a light or ceramic heater. These will suck the humidity right out of the enclosure. Have you tried limiting the ventilation or increasing the size of the water dish?
 
I am heating with a ceramic heat fixture. As far as ventilation, I have two small vents on each cage. The water dish is about a foot in diameter and three inches deep. I did try just heat tape, but couldn't get the temperature where I wanted it.

Lawrence
 
It seems that the ceramic heater is the culprit. I would be concerned about mold and mildew with a mist system. I don't know much about them however. Did you use 12" wide flex watt to heat your enclosure?
 
It was the 12 inch wide flexwatt. I just could never get the temp right. And with the ceramic heater attached to a Johnson thermostat the temps. stay right where I want them.


Lawrence
 
Well BARRs (herpcages.com) has a very inexpensive misting system, works pretty well. It comes with tubing and 3 spray nozzles (super fine mist), and an attachment. What you do is attach the adaptor to one of those pressure garden sprayers (a new, clean one!). You can even get an inline water timer (one of those for sprinklers) so that it will mist at certain intervals. I haven't tried that yet, but the kit is easy to assemble.

And mold isn't a problem as long as you don't have the sprayer going too much. It would be ideal to spray once or twice a day for a very short period. This would give time for the humidity to dry a little bit, so it's not constantly sopping wet. Substrate matters though... if you do notice mold or anything like that, depending on what material you are using for substrate, you might have to change to a moisture-tolerant substrate like cypress mulch.
 
Forgot to mention - you will have to check on the sprayer every now and then and pump it up as the pressure runs out (and check the water level in it). If you're only doing short mist cycles, it should last for a few days at least though. Also, make sure the sprayer is located at a level lower than the cage, because otherwise water could constantly drip out of the sprayer heads.
 
Thank you for some advise on misting systems, I'll check into that one. As far as substrate, I use Aspen, is that just as good as cypress?

Lawrence
 
The aspen could be why you had a hard time with the temps using flex watt. I use newspaper and maintain fine humidity and temps, but I sacrifice aesthetics. That does not matter to me however. Just trying to help. That mist system sounds like a good solution.
 
Aspen is not quite the same - it's a fairly "dry" wood. If you do go the sprayer method, I would change to cypress if you can find it in your area (if you can find untreated cypress mulch at your home center, it's fairly cheap) because it will hold up much better to humidity.

If you can't find cypress, you can try staying with aspen and see how it works. I use CareFresh in some of my smaller cages (including one of the cages that the mister is installed in) and it holds up very well. You can buy it in the small animal section in compressed bales (don't buy colored stuff, it's a lot more expensive than the plain grey/brown stuff). Spagnum moss also holds humidity well and doesn't grow mold easily, but it would be expensive to line a whole cage with it (it's better for humidity hide boxes).

I have newspaper and dimpled Kraft paper in my larger cages. The dimpled Kraft looks better than newsprint and holds up pretty well to humidity (and doesn't get wadded up by my larger boas like shavings would). Just depends on what you want to do. Aspen might stick a little bit when wet, but cypress tends to be a bit heavier (bigger chunks) and so doesn't get pushed around as much as light aspen shavings do).

I don't like aspen personally because one of my boas got a splinter of it embedded in his nose, causing a pus-filled swelling that the vet had to lance, and he has a scar as a result (hence the change to CareFresh).

But I agree with Art - with Flexwatt, you need a thin substrate layer like newspaper. Otherwise, the heat gets trapped underneath the aspen bedding and never heats the enclosure.
 
Couple questions if ya dont mind .....?
What is the cage made of ?
If plywood has it been sealed ?
How deep is your substrate ?
What are you useing to measure temp/humidity levels with ?
Stationary guage? where is it located?
Temp gun? where are you takeing your readings ?
What temp/humidity levels are your trying to maintain ?
You attempting precise temps for both hot and cold sides of the cage ?
When you mist the cage how much water are you actually applying ?

:shrug01:
 
The cage is made of wood, and it is sealed. The aspen is about one to one and a half inches thick. I am using an Accurite gauge to measure humidity, and it is located inside the cage, on the back wall. I am tring to maintain a humidity level of at least 50%-60%. When I spray the cage I use a spray bottle that holds two to two and half cups of water and I use half a bottle on each cage.


Lawrence
 
How big is the cage ?
You say wood ? I'll assume plywood correct"How thick 3/8,1/2 or 5/8 ?
What type of surface sealer did you use ?Paint is not a sealer(not even laytex type)
Not a reference to the joints,but instead to the exposed interior surfaces ?
How close to the substrate is the guage ?
Is the guage set at the end of the cage the snake spends most of its time or on the other end ?
Where ever the animal is the"most" is the "best" area to monitior.
45-50% is fine(with a good in cage water source) for BCI their not tropical animals.(60% + for shed cycles only)
Anything over 80* is fine for BCI,85 is like a perfect world to them.
Just imagine your world without a need for Heat or A/C?

Exactly !!



nikita04 said:
The cage is made of wood, and it is sealed. The aspen is about one to one and a half inches thick. I am using an Accurite gauge to measure humidity, and it is located inside the cage, on the back wall. I am tring to maintain a humidity level of at least 50%-60%. When I spray the cage I use a spray bottle that holds two to two and half cups of water and I use half a bottle on each cage.


Lawrence
Click to expand...
 
The cages are 6' long x 2' deep x one and a half feet tall. The plywood is 5/8 thick and was stained and clear coated several times.
The gauge is about 4" from the substrate and is located on the side the snake spends most of it's time.

Lawence
 
That thick plywood is why your not getting enough heat from the bottom with flexwatt.I can think of several ways to get to the same point and all of them involve getting the flexwatt inside the cage and on the floor of one end.
Useing either plexi or tempered glass as a top laminate to prevent direct contact with flex by the animal.
Until you can generate some in cage temp(heat) you wont have any humidity levels to measure.

As for the humidity,I would try "pouring"2 cups of water down the cage wall,which ever front or back,from one end to the other as evenly as possible. See what humidity levels you get over 24-48-72-96-120 hr periods and try and catch when the levels start to drop off. Cut back or add water till you get close to the desired humidity level(s)that carries the longest thru the week.Make sense ? Youll have to learn what your cage needs in order to hit the levels your after.
Adjust as needed for changeing seasons throughout the year.Relocation of the cage may be of some benifit ?

Just some ideas ...... :shrug01:

nikita04 said:
The cages are 6' long x 2' deep x one and a half feet tall. The plywood is 5/8 thick and was stained and clear coated several times.
The gauge is about 4" from the substrate and is located on the side the snake spends most of it's time.

Lawence
Click to expand...
 
Actually the flexwatt is on the inside, with a piece of plexiglass on top of it, and I still can't get the heat I want.
I do appreciate all of your input. Thank you.

Lawrence
 
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