Tips on keeping humidity up in tank.

[Mavrick]

I live in Adelaide, and it's dry down here... I keep my newly acquired Darwin Carpet in a 4ft Reptile One Saburra tank. It has two vents on each end, one high, one low and the top, back portion is mesh where one wires in heat globe and cage, and sits a battern on top of the mesh for uv. Now, I'm having a lot of trouble keeping the humidity in this enclosure. I've got my hygrometer down low at near ground level, but have also tried up high, and within 30mins of misting, humidity has dropped down to 17% or lower. I have devised to cover up a large portion of the back mesh, using plastic coated cardboard (from Bunnings), leaving just a portion for the battern to fit in, and a hole down the end where my bolts poke up for my heat and bulb cage fittings. It is not a perfect fit, and I have not sticky taped it down to 'seal it'. This has not helped, at the best I'm getting 20%. I also have a large water bowl, right under the heat lamp.

So, do I need to seal up better, should I get an even bigger water bowl, a waterfall device or electronic mister? I have no clue what to do at this point bar block up the side vents as well, which will only reduce ventilation even more.

Learned opinions greatly appreciated.

 

[smileysnake]

i can see you have been a member on this site for a few years thats great im just curious as to humidity questions asked before as to what makes you think you need that much humidity in the enclosure permanately as i have been told this is bad for most pythons they only need this humidity when shedding and a water bowl will be fine just my thoughts and would be interesting to see other comments on this...good luck mavrick

 

[Gonemad]

I use Perspex in my exo terra front sections and have a lamp at back so I put tin foil folded in the area near lamp my humidity is around 80% for around 4 hours of fog.
i take out my Perspex when tank heats up on hot days to let the heat out and mist in the morning on those days as well. You can put an extra water bowl under your heat this also helps.

 

[Mavrick]

i can see you have been a member on this site for a few years thats great im just curious as to humidity questions asked before as to what makes you think you need that much humidity in the enclosure permanately as i have been told this is bad for most pythons they only need this humidity when shedding and a water bowl will be fine just my thoughts and would be interesting to see other comments on this...good luck mavrick

If you've ever been to Darwin, you'd know how much humidity there is even in the dry season. Therefore Darwin carpets require more humidity than some other species. I asked before I got this Darwin (on here) what other keepers of Darwins were keeping their humidities at and I got answers giving me a minimum standard of around 50%. Hence my new thread of ideas for keeping it up. And as gonemad has just illustrated, high humidity is not bad for a snake requiring it, especially in dryer climates.

 

[Mavrick]

I use Perspex in my exo terra front sections and have a lamp at back so I put tin foil folded in the area near lamp my humidity is around 80% for around 4 hours of fog.
i take out my Perspex when tank heats up on hot days to let the heat out and mist in the morning on those days as well. You can put an extra water bowl under your heat this also helps.

Is there any chance you could put up photos or PM some to me to show me exactly what you mean by folding your tin foil near the lamp? As I said I've covered a large portion of my overhead mesh, i may duct tape it in to make a better seal, but please I'd like to see exactly what you're explaining?

 

[Gonemad]

my set up is for gtps ! Hence the humidity! But just cooking foil is used to fit near lamp ( i folded a few times to make it a little heavy so it wont blow away) and so it don't burn, i don't have my foil touching the lamp but near and Perspex is clear so my light still shows through! I hope photo is clear enough.

 

[smileysnake]

sorry mate was just a query thats all and guess i wont be buying a darwin next dont want to have to stuff around with humidity like that

 

[rickshar]

just keep a water bowl near the heat source , not that hard at all

 

[Cypher69]

Maybe even try a simple (fish tank) air pump into the water bowl. The extra aeration would keep the water a lot "fresher" & would also increase evaporation & humidity.
Otherwise a fogger or waterfall feature would also be nice features to increase the humidity.

 

[Pythoninfinite]

Darwins are just like any other Carpet, despite coming from a more humid environment. You won't need to juggle the humidity in the enclosure to keep it healthy, keep it like any other carpet and you'll be fine. If you check around, the pure Darwin albinos now so common in collections around Australia are not mollycoddled in any way - they are just carpets.

Whoever told you that excessive humidity was necessary is wrong... even GTPs only need a spray every week or two, many except where shedding, but even this won't be necessary for a Darwin Carpet.

Jamie

 

[Mavrick]

I disagree wholeheartedly Pythoninfinite, my goal is to mimic natural environments as close as I can with my collection. While doing the bare minimum may not 'harm' the python, I would like to adhere to what their natural standards are for heat and humidity. I don't believe for a second that many opinions all agreeing on seeking a minimum humidity level for a Darwin are all wrong, I believe you are simply offering your opinion, but please do so without downing all the other opinions of others I've sought as wrong. One opinion contrary to a dozen others... I'm far less likely to take your advice than theirs.

 

[Mavrick]

just keep a water bowl near the heat source , not that hard at all

If you had read my first post, you would know that I am already doing this, and find 15% or less humidity resulting not what I'm looking for.

 

[rickshar]

I disagree wholeheartedly Pythoninfinite, my goal is to mimic natural environments as close as I can with my collection. While doing the bare minimum may not 'harm' the python, I would like to adhere to what their natural standards are for heat and humidity. I don't believe for a second that many opinions all agreeing on seeking a minimum humidity level for a Darwin are all wrong, I believe you are simply offering your opinion, but please do so without downing all the other opinions of others I've sought as wrong. One opinion contrary to a dozen others... I'm far less likely to take your advice than theirs.

at the end of the day Pythoninfinite is correct i have numerous darwins , both albinos and standards and dont do anything for humitity and have never had a problem . but each to their own .

 

[Zanks]

I disagree wholeheartedly Pythoninfinite, my goal is to mimic natural environments as close as I can with my collection. While doing the bare minimum may not 'harm' the python, I would like to adhere to what their natural standards are for heat and humidity. I don't believe for a second that many opinions all agreeing on seeking a minimum humidity level for a Darwin are all wrong, I believe you are simply offering your opinion, but please do so without downing all the other opinions of others I've sought as wrong. One opinion contrary to a dozen others... I'm far less likely to take your advice than theirs.

I think Pythoninfinites opinion is probably worth more than a dozen average members on here !!!!

 

[slide]

The aluminium foil near the lamp might not be a great idea for one reason and thats safety- it conducts electricity. I really dont want to hear about anyone electricuting themselves or their snakes so please consider that before doing it.

Also be weary of using duct tape in a way that might lead to your beloved snake coming in contact with the adhesive. Apparently it doesnt tend to end well.

Have you thought of using heat mats as a heat source? The lamps will be drying the air in the enclosure by lowering the relative humidity.

Another way to increase humidity is to increase the evaporation rate of a body of water, this can be done by placing an additional water bowl over a waterproof heat source such a heat cord or if your enclosure is stacked on top of another you could place a water bowl over the hotspot created by the heat lamp below. Similarly you can use a heat mat or cord under the enclosure to create the same effect... Just a few thoughts bouncing around in my head.

 

[Mavrick]

Slide: The duct tape is in an enclosed 'light box' that he can't come in contact with, I too have heard the misery of snakes and tapes. I like the idea of the heat mat, thanks for that.

Daveboots: Where you live can have a lot to do with ambient humidity anyway, all I know for sure is that Adelaide is dry as a stick.

Zanks: As mentioned, each to their own.

 

[saintanger]

i have 5 darwins i treat them as any other carpet python. i don't worry about humidity, as long as they have a large water bowl and a heat light conected to a theromstate set at 30-31 hot end and 24-26 cool end i am happy. if its to dry they get in the water bowl, if they ever have a bad shed i'd mist them. but i have never had any of the have a bad shed and i have never worried about humidity or even misted them.

 

[maddog-1979]

i would take pythoninfinite's advice before 99.9% given here, no offence any else,lol

i have a darwin in adelaide, i just use coco fibre substrate, and dont do anything except mist when he is ready to slough. if you really want higher humidity tho , try sphagnum moss as a substrate, i use that for my gtp and it only needs to be misted once a week

 

[Stuart]

I disagree wholeheartedly Pythoninfinite, my goal is to mimic natural environments as close as I can with my collection. While doing the bare minimum may not 'harm' the python, I would like to adhere to what their natural standards are for heat and humidity. I don't believe for a second that many opinions all agreeing on seeking a minimum humidity level for a Darwin are all wrong, I believe you are simply offering your opinion, but please do so without downing all the other opinions of others I've sought as wrong. One opinion contrary to a dozen others... I'm far less likely to take your advice than theirs.

While a Nobel thought, you would be fighting a losing battle I'm sorry to say. If attempting to mimic their natural environment, heat and humidity would need to fluctuate in extreme ways during the simulated "wet" season whilst during the "dry", you would need to concentrate more on temperature extremes. Keep in mind too that higher humidity and temps that is not accurately controlled can introduce a myriad of other issues not only to the snake, but the enclosure its in as well.

Whilst Jamie has made his thoughts public on an open forum, they voice a pattern of thought shared with thousands of other Darwin owners as well as 50+ years of personal experience so should not be easily dismissed. But if you are intent on attempting to mimic their natural environment, try invest in a fogger system that should help by raising humidity once it drops below a certain level.

However you choose to progress, Good luck.

 

[Bluetongue1]

The first thing I would be doing is taking my hygrometer back to where I bought it and having it re-calibrated. Do know how dry 17% relative humidity is. Adelaide has fluctuated between 30% and 60% over the week, even in the hills.

There is nothing natural about keeping an animal in a box. Ignoring that you provide artificial heat, light, water source, substrate and food, you cannot reproduce the physical complexities or the biological complexities of nature – as mentioned already.

Are you aware that in nature, 90 - 95% or more, of pythons born in nature, die. Under non-natural conditions of captivity we can get 0% death rates leading up to breeding age. Draw your own conclusions.

Animals are very adept at controlling their microclimate through behaviour, so the physical factors they experience can differ very significantly to their equivalent gross climatic components. That is one of the reasons why many reptiles spend a lot of time in hiding and are not always out and about. Also bear in mind that certain aspects of climate are tolerated (with some percentage loss) and certainly not required for survival.

I would think it prudent to endeavour to reproduce in captivity those conditions demonstrated to produce healthy animals, irrespective of what happens in nature. What is it you want to achieve? Answer that question first. Then think about wisdom or persisting to ignore the value of first hand experience offered you.

Blue