| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| amymay |
Posted - 01/12/2012 : 19:47:07
Hey guys sorry yet another question !!!!
After my royal having a terrible shed dispite a moist hide , spaying and flannel on hide my 2nd royal is having same prob I went and got a new humidity thermometer and it's reading 25% yes 25% !!!!!!! No wonder the sheds are terrible what more can I do to raise this ?????? I'm freaking out as dont want them to get poorly :(
They are both in 4ft stacked wooden vivs with red bulbs , moist hide and hot hide large water dish ect ect . At the top back of viv is a strip for ventilation shall I cover this will that help ???
Temps are ok both vivs are dimmers set at max 95 with stat and thermometer to side of hot hide on substaite .
Where or what am I doing wrong ???
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| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 02/12/2012 : 17:49:11
I think that next time you notice them going blue (keep an eye on their bellies, I spot Duke shedding a few days before he goes blue by his cream belly going pink and that is my cue to raise humidity and it stays raised until he is out of his skin. Of they are looking scruffy covered in bits you'll probably find they will go back into the shedding cycle quite quickly. |
| amymay |
Posted - 02/12/2012 : 10:26:55
Ahh thanks for being so nice lol!!!!
Just would feel terrible if I was making them poorly :(
I don't think it's helped that both my snakes have started to shed so soon after getting them .... My 1st Had blue phase before I got her and then started a horrendous shed three days after I got her home and same with my 2nd snake but day after !!!! And now he's got bits coming off all over the place !!!
Both snakes where in rubs before I got them and are now vivs so I'm guessing these terrible sheds are maybe them getting used to the change from rub to viv ??
Like you said my house is humid lots of condensation on windows ect so I think I'm just gonna take a deep breath and relax lmao apart from the sheds there happy feeding ect :) |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 02/12/2012 : 01:27:16
That will be it, directly under the bulb is where your thermostat and thermometer probes need to be, the hygrometer is a temperamental bit of kit you'll soon throw it in the bin like pretty much everyone does eventually. You do get a feel for it, when you open the vivarium you can feel the air is either dry or humid, the snake as well will feel different. Some snakes do just have a tendency to shed badly, my House snake does, irrelevant of what I try, but the key is to keep trying and eventually you will hit on something that works. If he isn't using the moist hide maybe take away one of his preferred hides, pretty much give him no choice, spray the walls 2 or 3 times daily, avoid soaking the substrate (apart from directly under the bulb, I spray there for an instant humidity kick and it dries quick so no real harm done) for the very small amount of time it takes for them to shed you can raise the humidity as high as possible, it wont do any harm providing the airflow is good (I wouldn't advise covering the vents, they are there for a reason) and the vivarium is clean, humidity is a pig for mould and bacteria growth which is why its not advised to have the humidity so high constantly (that and high humidity setups need a lot of cleaning, just ask my Gecko) but Royals are from a high humidity climate so are quite capable of coping with it.
No need to crawl anywhere, there really is no such thing as a daft question, keeping snakes is relatively simple once you learn the little technicalities. |
| amymay |
Posted - 02/12/2012 : 00:39:49
So I'm guessing as my stat and my thermometer/ hydrometer are under the light source it's just drying it out and humidity is probably fine ? How stupid of me I never even thought of it that way ..... Now feel like a total prat !!!!!!
Thanks for your advice I'm now going to crawl away and die lol x |
| amymay |
Posted - 02/12/2012 : 00:34:52
It must be my thermometer playing up then as my house has no heating at all at the mo .... Recently moved in project lol , so yeah windows in house are dripping in this cold weather !!!!
And when I spray I do get a bit of condensation but its gone in mins ?
I'm gonna go get another thermometer tomoz ,
I was totally miffed as I no normal house humidity is around 50% and my house is cold :s |
| Lotabob |
Posted - 01/12/2012 : 22:35:09
That has to be a duff reading. To get 25% you'd first have to seal your house from the outside as humidity in the air at the moment in the UK is sitting at around the 80% mark. You'd have to dehumidifying like nothing else too. Central heating reduces humidity but not that far, plus most people dry clothes indoors at the moment too which pretty much cancels it out.
Few Questions for you; in the morning does any of your house windows have condensation on them? and when you spray the vivarium does the vivarium glass fog up? Do you run dehumidifiers in the house?
You can affect the humidity in the vivarium but the ventilation in it will draw in the air from the room its in, that room is drawing air in from outside so to get 25% humidity would need very specific conditions, the Sahara desert has humidity levels around that.
To try get a correct reading put the hygrometer probe in the cold side of the vivarium about an inch off the floor at least a few inches away from any vents though, the air flowing past will affect its ability to read. Place it so there isn't direct line of sight to the heat source too, the probes are normally black which means they absorb heat drying them out inside, So if you have any decorations make sure it conceals the probe from the heat source. Pain in the bottom, these annoying hygrometers. |
| amymay |
Posted - 01/12/2012 : 20:19:42
Done all that still low humidity :( I think it's ventilation |
| jbarlow91 |
Posted - 01/12/2012 : 20:18:47
You could put water bowl near hot end when they go in blue that should get humidity up |
| chrisc |
Posted - 01/12/2012 : 20:17:58
yep cover the hot end as thats where the water will be evaporating |
| amymay |
Posted - 01/12/2012 : 20:01:40
If I'm gonna cover half of it which end is best guessing hot end ? :) |
| amymay |
Posted - 01/12/2012 : 20:00:34
Yeah it's like a length of plastic with lots of little holes x |
| amymay |
Posted - 01/12/2012 : 19:59:30
Yep digital one temp & humidity jobby and in other viv a dial one the other viv is warmer as its the top one so humidity is slightly better . |
| chrisc |
Posted - 01/12/2012 : 19:56:19
i dont measure the humidity with any of mine as always read that humidity reader are very inaccurate, is the new one digital?
can you post a pic of the viv?
if its like one i have with a mesh strip along the whole length then they are crap for holding humidity, yes covering half of this will help retain the humidity |
