[kairo]

I picked up my first snake yesterday. A little 2 month old Corn snake. I've got his cage all setup as per various instructions. Even got him to eat his first dead baby mouse this afternoon . He seems to like being held (not holding him for 48 hours after he's eaten) and he is alert and seems to be in good health.

The one thing I'm having a tough time with is keeping the humidity in the cage regulated.

He's in a 10 gallon tank, with bark substrate. I have a heating lamp and pad under one end (lamp during the day, pad at night) Since I live in a high desert our ambient humidity here is around 35%

I can keep the tank around 50% during the day with the water bowl, and a wet washcloth on top of his hiding log. At night, I cover more of the top and the humidity seems to go up to about 75 - 80% which is more ideal.

Is this going to bother him too much? I've got the heat pretty well maintained. At the cool end of the tank it's a consistent 80* during the day, and 70* at night. I leave the lamp on in the day, and it gets close to 100* on the warm side, but he goes in and out of the heat if he's warm or cold.

How can I keep the humidity regulated, or is it ok with the fluctuations?

[chance_p]

when i used newspaper substrate for my python i had a hard time keeping the humidity consistant (bounced from 50-70 throughout the day). I switched to bed-a-beast from petsmart (4.99 a brick, 1 brick does my 40 gallon breeder), and now my humidity is very consistant. 70-72 in the day and 62-64 in the night. If you don't want to switch substrate then try getting a water bottle and misting the back wall of the cage every 12 hours. it worked for me before i switched substrates. I don't like my humidity to fluctuate more than 10%, and that is based off of absolutely nothing, it is just how i prefer it to be. this is my first snake and I have only had him for a month but so far he seems to be happy and healthy.

[isezumi00]

Cigar storage is all about humidity and temperature regulation...I would say, when in doubt look for an analogous system.

[XtrailratedJ]

Cigar humidors are usually somewhat sealed as to not let air flow in and out. With a live animal, you typically need to provide fresh air. That being said, I live in FL and the humidity here is usually pretty high. I have 2 pythons in a 40 gallon breeder. Just keep a large water bowl in there. If the humidity drops too low, the snake will just go for a swim to better hydrate its skin.

[Xander]

A humidor would not be recommended. When I had mine I used lizard litter and it worked great. Keep in mind that I' was in central IL. But as chance stated, the bed a beast or something like it would work best for you in your situation.

[Indy]

Run a humidifier in the room he's in, or get an ultrasonic piped into the cage to fog him periodically.

[LandRover]

Bizzare Guitar in Reno won't sell Taylor Guitars because they use a very thin soundboard on the spruce models, and they had problems with them cracking in the non-humidity controlled portions of the showroom. Dude in there told me the average humidity in Reno was in the single digits...7 or 8 percent. I think your 35% estimate might be high.

You could use a humidifier in the room the tank is in also. Rather than just humidifying the tank, humidify the whole room.

[kairo]

Originally Posted by LandRover

Bizzare Guitar in Reno won't sell Taylor Guitars because they use a very thin soundboard on the spruce models, and they had problems with them cracking in the non-humidity controlled portions of the showroom. Dude in there told me the average humidity in Reno was in the single digits...7 or 8 percent. I think your 35% estimate might be high.

You could use a humidifier in the room the tank is in also. Rather than just humidifying the tank, humidify the whole room.

you're right. The outside humidity is typically less than 10%. In the house though, it seems to stay around 23-35% *shrug*

[kairo]

Also, his cage is in the living room which is open and connected to the kitchen and dining room. It would take alot of humidifier-ing to get it to stay correct. Plus it'd feel like I was walking around in a jungle

[Dryfter]

You could also give the tank less airflow to increase humidity. Just don't cut off airflow.

[ozjeep]

Originally Posted by Dryfter

You could also give the tank less airflow to increase humidity. Just don't cut off airflow.

I did this on my python's lid with tinfoil. Covered it all except for about a 6" x 6" hole for the heat lamp. Did this for to conserve heat and to conserve humidity. My snakes cage needed the extra insulation due to it being next to a window which keeps his cage a little on the cool side. It'll be like this till I move back in with the parents.

Taylor