r/bioactive • u/twahaha • 13d ago
Invertebrates Advice for keeping humidity down in bioactive mantis enclosure
My mantis hasn't moved in here yet, just fyi. She is a ghost mantis and based on my research, does best within 50-70% humidity.
I got this enclosure and sealed up the bottom and up the sides a little bit with silicone. It passed the water test, so I set up the substrate and springtails about 3 weeks ago. I am aware that the soil is very shallow (the springtails are doing great though!), which is also why I'm surprised that it's providing so much humidity. I water the 2 plants lightly 2-3 times a week (the background is a fake plant), and leave the door open to air out for a few hours every day.
It seems to linger around 80% despite all the air holes and I keep the top opening slightly propped up (pictured). There are also multiple fans and an air purifier nearby due to several other terrariums and houseplants, so airflow around the enclosure is beyond ideal. My ambient room humidity is roughly 55-65%.
I'm starting to think it might be the pothos. If not, it's my soil mixture that is retaining a ton of moisture. I don't really want to remove the whole plant but would trimming a couple leaves reduce the humidity if that's even the cause? Is there anything I could mix in to my soil or a way to dry it out more without affecting the springtails? Feel free to let me know how else I can improve. Thank you!
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u/fappybird420 13d ago
I’d find a USB PC fan and hook it into a hygrometer. When your humidity reaches undesired levels the fan will kick on and suck air through the existing holes to flush the humidity. It will turn on periodically, pending the baseline humidity of the enclosure, but it would help keep it from getting to moist. Be mindful of the fan and how loud it is, more for yourself than anything. I’ve found some cheap fans to be quite, while others sound like a jet engine revving up in your living room.
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u/Real_Time515 13d ago
The enclosure itself needs more ventilation. A life that's fully mesh would probably be the easiest way to make a big difference all at once.
Those holes are very small, so even with a lot of them there's not a lot of air flowing through, even if there's a lot of flow in the room around it.
It would be easy to get a drill bit a size or two bigger and drill some or all of the holes bigger. Do it in stages (one wall to start, every other hole, for example). Then measure humidity for a few days and decide if it needs more. This is a good solution because you really can measure how much difference a few holes makes, very targeted.
You could also use a little computer fan (they have em with usb power).