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Maintaining humidity

aleria

aleria

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I have my hog island boa in an Animal Plastics T3 (36L x 24D x 12H) with sliding glass doors and a 20" rectangular cutout screen on top where my light sits. I have a digital thermometer/hygrometer and I'm really having trouble getting the humidity level to stay where it needs to be. The hygrometer stops sensing humidity lower than 30%. I have 2 large water dishes, one on each side of the cage and I need something that will either automatically mist or fog the cage because the dishes seem to have no effect. I am also using a radiant heat panel that is attached to the top inside of the cage on the hot side. I see that ZooMed has released a new fogger that looks like it may possibly work:
http://www.bigappleherp.com/Zoo-Med...m-Humidifier?gclid=CIaIpKrelpgCFRKLxwoddXuSmw
So I'm looking for opinions. If you have a similar cage, what are you using to keep the humidity where it needs to be? And does that fogger look like it may work for what I need with this particular cage?
 
There are haba-mist machines, but I mist twice daily and it stays just fine.

Remember, too, that they're animals, levels don't have to be at 60.004% My boss says, "'Perfect' is the enemy of 'Good'" (except when things go wrong). If you're always striving for 'Perfect' you'll never get 'Good'.
 
Even spraying everything down completely twice a day didn't raise the humidity up to at least 30%
It should at least stay above that right?
And is misting any different/better than fogging?
 
Hmm. I don't have too much experience with snakes, but I have found when my ball python is shedding and needs more humdity, I flip his water dish in the tank. It raises the humidity immediately, and you can leave it for a couple days. I'd try using the amount of water in one of the water dishes and pour it as close to the lamp's most concentrated point. I don't know if your snake sits on branches or anything under the lamp, but to keep it from getting itself damp, that might help, too. Make sure the hygrometer isn't being retarded (I have bad luck with tech, so I check my stuff often). Hopefully, if this stuff doesn't work, you find a good way to do it. Humidity is a pain in the butt to deal with, so just roll with the punches and see what works. Good Luck!:)
 
I had actually tried that method for a while and it did work pretty decent. But I hated missing the start of a shed and having to deal with the aftermath of a bad one. I actually did bite the bullet and buy the newest zoo med repti fogger and thus far it has been great. It wouldn't work for someone with a ton of cages obviously being that it's meant to be outside of the cage, but for the single large animal plastics cage I have with a large screen on top works perfect with it. One fill with it set to keep the level at around 35% lasts an entire day. I was planning on using it for a month or so and writing up a review on it in the review sections so maybe someone else with a hobby setup can use it.
 
aleria said:
Even spraying everything down completely twice a day didn't raise the humidity up to at least 30%
It should at least stay above that right?
And is misting any different/better than fogging?
Click to expand...

Spraying everything down twice a day doesn't get it above 30%?

Cover part of the screen top with a wet hand towel or something similar.

Remember, too, that you need humidity cycles. If you are spraying and then looking at it 2 hours later, it will be different. It should be above 30% though.

Cover part of your top, I've used small towels (dampened, they absorb humidity like mad) or cellophane.
 
The cage is in my bedroom, and when I'm home that's usually where I am since that's where my computer is and even with misting multiple times a day and covering part of the screen it still couldn't keep the humidity at 30% for any length of time. Most of the time it wouldn't even get it to 30% at all. It wasn't quite as hard to maintain the humidity in the summer since down here in louisiana it gets super humid, but once winter hits it's just as dry as the north. I even have a separate humidifier in the room for myself and that didn't make any difference with maintaining the humidity in the cage.
Switching back and forth between a/c and heat in the apartment due to the rapid changes in temperature throughout the night and day probably doesn't help. But thus far this little fogger I bought seems to be working. During the day when the temps in the cage are higher the humidity sits at about 37-40% and at night it sits around 30-35%. And the fogger itself has a dial to adjust the amount it outputs. On max it put the cage around 55%, so I turned it down to about 1/3 to keep it in the 30% range.
 
I agree with Erik, you need to cover up that huge screen. I know you said you covered it partially but that probably was not enough.

I don't know what your humidity requirements are for that snake, but I would cover the entire opening and see what happens. Once you establish that this is working and it is not something else, like your hygrometer not working properly, then back off the cover until you reach the desired level.

If your heat panel is not on a thermostat, keep a close eye on the temps while you are doing this.

The animal will get enough air around the door opening while you are testing.

Hope this helps.
 
Covering the entire screen ended up pulling the humidity into the 65-70 range using the fogger. I was able to adjust the dial on the fogger to get the level to sit between 55-65 for most of the day. I did also use a second hygrometer to make sure that the probe in the cage was reading correctly and they were showing the same readings. So covering part of the screen seems like the best way to keep most of that humidity in coupled with the constant flow from the fogger. If anything I"ll find something to put permanently over the part of the screen I was covered rather than the towel I used. I'll probably cut out a piece of plexiglass to fill in that area of the screen so it will lie flush.
Thanks for all of the extra suggestions. I know it's impossible to get things perfect but at least I can get them close.
 
I've seen this fogger at a show, and it seemed good. I couldn't tell how quiet it would be in a quiet room however. Before this came out, my friends used an ultrasonic humidifier years ago, but that required plumbing sorta. This is the best unit so far in the industry for fog. The other model is terrible.

I'd like to know how it is for noise.
 
It is absolutely silent. I don't ever hear a noise even at night once everything else in the room shuts off. And it has turned out to be amazing. I only have to fill it once a day, the bottle is so easy to just take in and out and uses a screw on spring top to keep the water from spilling when you turn the bottle upside down to place it on the machine. The flexible tube is also a really awesome feature. I've been able to place it at different angles to obtain a steady humidity level throughout the entire cage rather than all of the fog coming from just one side.
I can't say enough good things about this one after paying more for the other ultra sonic ones and having them burn out on me and I also noticed that the small circular metal one that they sell heats the water that it's in up to super hot temperatures right around the device. I burned myself one time reaching in to center it in the dish of water it was in and that was only touching the water itself, I hadn't even put my finger on the device yet. Definitely not safe when you have a snake that likes to take a dip or soak in it's water or at least get a somewhat cool drink.
So if you're considering one it's definitely the one I'd recommend.
 
Hey thanks for that input. In a crowded hall, you just can't tell about the sound haha.

Well, perhaps finally the industry came up with something that really DOES work for a change. How long is the flexible hose? I wonder because I have 24" tall Exoterra setup, that would really benefit from such a device. I will look into this with more interest.
It surprises me that you have problems in LA, I lived in AL right next door pretty much, and it's humid there, but not as much as LA. I never had a real problem with my ball or boa. Very interesting.
 
I did a quick check and it looks like the flexible hose is about 35" long fully extended.
And yeah it surprised me too that it would get so dry here. But in the summer the a/c can dry a place out quick and in the winter it does get nearly as dry as the northern states even without the snow. And I don't have their cage setup in a room that has it's own special temperature compared to the rest of the house. I actually have my setup in my main bedroom.
 
I know exactly what you mean with regard to setup..Someday I hope to have a special reptile room with it's heating/humidity zone. My dream!! Thanks for the info!
 
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