Too humid?

[Seattlesky]

My baby sulcatas enclosure has been sitting between 90 and 99 percent humidity and the temp drops no lower than 80 ferenhiet. Is the humidity too high?

 

[Seattlesky]

Sorry 90 and 95 percent

 

[sibi]

Sorry 90 and 95 percent

Yes. It should be no higher than 80% especially if there's a chance that temps inside go below 80 degrees. Too wet and too cold is a recipe for pneumonia in babies. Usually lizards and snakes like it hot and wet, but sulcata babies like it best at above 80 degrees F and no higher than 80% humidity.

 

[Seattlesky]

Thanks, opened the top and humidity is going town. I have the room set at 86 will wait until humidity goes down to 80 and keep a close watch on it

 

[ddaigle]

I maintain my humidity at 79 to 80 %. Night temps at 85 to 85 degrees and Day temps are normally 99 to 100 degrees. I have my sulcata Gator in a 50 gallon tank and I use a mixture of Coco coir and cedar bark. I have a 150w Mercury Vapor Bulb for the Am and a Ceramic Heat Lamp for the Pm. I add water to the substrate atleast once a week. I also bought a sheet of insulated siding from the hardware store and my husband cut it to fit the tank. It helps keep my temps and humidity under control.

 

[Seattlesky]

Thanks, I've been keeping my Temps at about the same, I just have been adding too much water to the substrate too often

 

[Tom]

...and I use a mixture of Coco coir and cedar bark.

Cedar emits toxic fumes and should not be used in a closed chamber or any indoor set up. You should remove it right away.

 

[Tom]

Seattlesky,

How are you measuring humidity?

Those little stick on discs are not reliable, and the newer versions of the $20 Accurite digital ones have not been working well for me either.

 

[ddaigle]

Thanks, I've been keeping my Temps at about the same, I just have been adding too much water to the substrate too often

I try to keep one section of his enclosure swampy. He prefers to stay in that section during the day

Cedar emits toxic fumes and should not be used in a closed chamber or any indoor set up. You should remove it right away.

Sorry I meant fir bark. Its ZooMed reptile bark. Is that ok, or do i need to change that out also? I use about 1/3 fir bark to 2/3 coco coir

 

[Seattlesky]

I use cedar

 

[Tom]

I try to keep one section of his enclosure swampy. He prefers to stay in that section during the day

Sorry I meant fir bark. Its ZooMed reptile bark. Is that ok, or do i need to change that out also? I use about 1/3 fir bark to 2/3 coco coir

Fir bark is fine. I don't know why people want to mix different substrates, but it shouldn't hurt anything.

Personally, I don't like coco coir for baby sulcatas. Too messy. Not harmful though.

 

[Seattlesky]

I use a digital thermometer\humidity measurer.

 

[Tom]

I use cedar

Thats bad. Very bad. If you are sure it is cedar, it needs to be swapped out ASAP.

 

[Seattlesky]

Exo Terra hygrometer

 

[Seattlesky]

I'm sorry not cedar

 

[Tom]

Exo Terra hygrometer

I would not trust anything from Exo-Terra. Everything I have bought from them has been junk.

 

[Seattlesky]

It's fir

 

[ddaigle]

Fir bark is fine. I don't know why people want to mix different substrates, but it shouldn't hurt anything.

Personally, I don't like coco coir for baby sulcatas. Too messy. Not harmful though.

I find it easier for me to maintain my temps and humidity with that combo. I tried both by them selves and it didn't do well. Its also more cost efficient for me to mix them. Gator is 7 months now and weighs 351 g.

 

[Bducks16]

Fir bark is fine. I don't know why people want to mix different substrates, but it shouldn't hurt anything.

Personally, I don't like coco coir for baby sulcatas. Too messy. Not harmful though.

I used coco coir a few times and always ended up having white fuzzy mold start growing on top of it. So I quit using that stuff. Living in Oregon fir bark is cheap. 200 sqft for $20. That's a bulk price. Buying it by the bag costs much more of course.