Keeping of Reptiles in Humid areas

[ari]

Hi All

I am after some advise from all you experts in this forum, to make sure I am doing this right.

My reptile room without air conditioning is at about 28 degrees, may drop 2 degrees at night. Remembering its 100 % humidity all the time.

To rectify this I have put the air conditioning unit 24/7 on very very low fan so the room temperature is at 26-27 degrees with only some humidity. I spray the enclosures on the wet end where the damp sand & peat is every night & have small water bowls in each enclosure.

I have a nocturnal heat light on one end which generates a temperature of 29-31 degrees.

Do you guys & girls think this is ok with what I have done to reduce my humidity issue?

Kind Regards

Ari

 

[olivehydra]

What animals are you keeping?

 

[herptrader]

What sort of reptiles are you keeping?

Anything that comes from a locality close by (or with similar humidity and temperature range) should love it ;-)

Repitiles from dryer climates may not cope to well and you may need to do something to de humidify the air.

Given the choice I would be looking at species that enjoyed the conditions you have rather than trying to change the conditions to suit the reptile.

 

[ari]

Geckos

 

[ari]

No choice, most of the geckos up here that are local to the region are to hard to find. Not many breeders.

They are all Nephrurus that I keep. That come from dry hot - none humid areas, however 1 species comes from Alice Springs and the range does go half way upto Darwin from Alice Springs. And the other from Pilbara which is kinda on pa from east to west coast.

 

[herptrader]

I did a bit of a search on humidifiers.

Looking at this link they say that air conditiones will also dehumidfy at the same time: http://www.howstuffworks.com/question76.htm

In Canada you could buy cloth bags full of some chemical which were designed to hang in the basement over a bucket to draw moisture from the air. This was a low cost solution but I doubt you could get them in oz. There are powered units available but the cost. This site is in the US but some of the prices are kinda scary. http://www.allergybuyersclub.com/dehumidifierhelp.html

 

[ari]

Herptrader

You just made my day - I knew I was doing it right.

That link about humidifiers is excellent - thank you so much for that research on your part.

I gathered it was working with the air conditioner because the temp in the room was what I wanted 26-27 degrees with very low humidity. Plus the nocturnal lights on the end of the enclosures at 29-31 degrees gives a temperature range.

And the damp sand & peat at one end gives them all suitable channels.

You really have made my day - as I have been think for the past 2 weeks is this actually right - that link just sums it up. I was actually going to buy a dehumidifier as well - you saved me cash.

Yeh our electricity bill will be high, but its always high in summer as we have all air conditioners on 24/7 so makes no difference, other than the fact that I shut the door to the reptile room so the air conditioners in other rooms dont affect the desire temperature in the reptile room.

Kind Regards

Ari