Humidity reduction

[Hawkeye]

I have a little issue with high humidity with my enclosure. I am pretty sure its due to damp Breeders choice and yes it is drying out now. I cannot get the humidity below 90% however for any period of time. My water bowel is as far away from the ceramic heat lamp as is possible and even with opening the enclosure doors it only gets to about 77%. I am not that keen about changing the entire cage BC load and was wondering if people have used any commercial dehumidifying agents (like you put in cupboards) to reduce the humidity? I am mainly worried about safety with the snake as I don't really have a lot of places to put him while this drys out.

Cheers Hawkeye

[almaron]

I imagine you could safely use a desiccant product of some sort, provided it was not accessible by the snake. The stuff I've used in industrial drying applications is good stuff. It comes in pellet form, and will remove a lot of moisture form the air. Then you just heat it to above about 300F to release that moisture. If it were me, I would take a coffee can or something, poke a bunch of air holes in the lid, fill it with desiccant, and put it in there. Then to dry it out, just stick in the oven for 30 minutes or so.

Just a thought, but maybe you could swap out but save the substrate. You could just repeat each time it got to damp. Maybe though you are saying that it'd just be a pain in the butt to swap out at all?

[Nicole]

Just a tip. If BC substrate gets wet, chuck it out.
I find that you can tell what is clean and what is not by looking at the BC. If it has been wet, even just a litttle, it swells and starts to fall apart. Even if some of it has been wet and is then dried out before I get home, I can still see where an unclean spot on the floor is and I can then clean that spot up between full clean outs.

Also if in a larger enclosufre, try newspaper under your layer of BC. It is easier to lift the paper and wrap all the BC in it when cleaning.

I had a circulation issue with one of my enclosures, rectified by adding two more air vents closest to where the water bowl sits.
_______________________

Bwoooooork

[Barney]

G'day Hawkeye,

As Spilota_Chick mebtioned you may have a VENTILATION problem .
Where does your snake like hiding ?
Wat type of bowl are you using reason ?

The reason why I asked as I have Jungle carpet that loved geting UNDER THE WATER BOWL ! Which inturn spilled the water out !

He developed blisters due too the high humidity & laying wet damp area but as soon I recterfied the problem , by putting in a ceramic water bowl that he coulded get under all WAS FIXED! The fluid blisters disappeared quickly .



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[Fangs]

Hey Hawkmeister,
I assume that the pellets are getting moisture from the air?
Just as a measure the humidity in our critter cages is always around 65%.
How big is the water bowl in his cage.I cant remember what sized vents are in the cage you have but it does seem ventilation is the problem as has been pointed out already or has there been a water spill.
If you like I would be happy to drop around and take a look.

cheers

[Artie]

If the B/C pellets weren’t actually moist when you put it in, or there was no spillage, it defiantly would not be the cause of the problem. On the contrary, I know some breeders not using it for the reason of making the enclosure too dry.

I love my BC
staples and all :wink:

[Hawkeye]

The enclosure is a fairly standard one and David (Lutz) has the same with no problem. The water bowl is quite large area but not rediculously so also there has been no spillage that I can see at this point.

I think it is the breeders choice as it felt a little damp prior to insertion (I though I could 'cook it off" with the ceramic lamp and it would go via the vents. It has 4 reasonable size vents so that doesn't seem to be the problem.

Also thanks for the idea about the paper under the BC it seems like a good idea.

I'll remove the BC I think and try and dry the rest of the packet externally ( I hate waste).

I may just stick the little bugger on newsprint for a day or so and get the humidity down.

As for where he sits in the cage, really all over the place. On his hide (not in) up in the heat lamp wiring, at the front, side and back of the cage. No real pattern really.

Cheers Hawkeye

[africancichlidau]

What is the temperature outside the enclosure? If more than a couple of degrees lower than the internal temp and you are NOT getting condensation on the inside of the glass and other areas your problem may just be a faulty Hygrometer. By the way, what is BC?

[Artie]

Breeders Choice Cat Litter ( Recycled Paper)

[Fangs]

lol artie,
me thinks MrAfricaThingyMaBob was takin the mickey :wink:

[Artie]

Hmmm, what a smart ***

[africancichlidau]

Yeah but it's cute as well as smart Artie Lol sorry mate

[Hawkeye]

Initially there was a lot of condensation on the glass (inside temp 24-36 depending on side) and the house is kept at about 21 degrees C (airconditioned with climate control) but that seems to have gone now. I think what is happening is that the humidity is falling (I open both doors when I get Chili out) and it is just on the cusp of falling.

Will get him out some more tomorrow as he is 3 days post feeding.

Cheers Hawkeye