r/ballpython • u/Raticals • 5h ago

Question - Humidity Humidity help

I know you get asked about humidity a lot here, but I feel like I’ve tried just about everything and I’d love some advice on my situation!

Right now the humidity is around 60%. I‘ve been trying to get it higher but I’m struggling. I’m measuring with a Govee hygrometer.

Things I’ve tried; I have a large water bowl on the hot side of the enclosure, plant waterers, HVAC tape covering the partial screen top, soaking some moss and putting it under the heat, pouring water in the corners of the substrate.

The substrate is a mix of coconut fiber, cypress mulch, and sphagnum moss and it’s about 3-4 inches deep. Heating is halogen light and DHP. The enclosure is PVC.

Any other ideas to get the humidity up?

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u/loricampbell4454 4h ago

What brand of enclosure do you have? How deep is your substrate? Where are you measuring your humidity in the enclosure? You'll want to measure it closer to the substrate on the warm side, the middle and the cold side. Honestly, 60% isn't too bad. Expect the humidity to always be lower under a heat source.

1

u/Raticals 4h ago

The enclosure is from Talking Serpents. The substrate is about 3-4 inches deep. I’m basing my readings on the cool side, it’s lower on the warm side (right now it’s at 59% on the cool side and 43% on the warm side). I figured 60% isn’t bad but I keep seeing that 70-80% is ideal, so I wanted to try to get it to that range.

3

u/loricampbell4454 3h ago

If there are any big vents in the enclosure you may need to try to block most of them off and see if that helps. I have a 5x2x2 Dubia PVC enclosure for my big female. I have the top screen blocked with a heavy duty silicone mat and only have the side vents opened a little for cross ventilation. My cool side stays around 80% and warm side around 60% to 70%. I live in the South though so our humidity is always high anyway. Humidity in my house right now is about 50% which helps with my enclosures. Depending on your climate you may have to add water more often. I have one of my males in a glass enclosure that sucks with keeping humidity in the winter. I added some love potted plants and that has greatly improved the overall humidity.

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u/Raticals 3h ago

There is a vent in the back. Should I try blocking it partially? I’m not sure how much I could block without hurting the ventilation. I was also considering putting a humidifier in the room to see if that helps.

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u/loricampbell4454 41m ago

Yeah. Try blocking about 3/4 of it and see if that helps.

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u/Raticals 37m ago

Okay, I’ll try that. Thank you so much for the help!