# Humidity and substrate



## lizardboy101 (Oct 20, 2007)

Ok quik couple of ?'s. How deep should an adult red's bedding be? How do I keep all the humidity in a 8x4 enclosure?


----------



## RehabRalphy (Oct 20, 2007)

I would use about 12" of substrate or more. Give them something to dig in.

You can keep up the humidity by placing a large water bowl near the heat source.


What I did was modify a humidifier (placed PVC on the output hole) and put piping up into the 8'x4'x4'. This way it keeps it humid. 

Also, try making the cage with materials that wont let the humidity out. Lessen the amount of open holes, screen, vents, etc.


----------



## dorton (Oct 20, 2007)

RehabRalphy said:


> What I did was modify a humidifier (placed PVC on the output hole) and put piping up into the 8'x4'x4'. This way it keeps it humid.



I might have to try that.


----------



## AB^ (Oct 22, 2007)

I keep my cages plenty humid just moistening down the substrate once every couple weeks.
Once it starts to dry up on the top layer just mix it into the damper stuff on the bottom and it raises the humidty back up, works well on solid topped cages.


----------



## Der-Boa-Lieber (Oct 23, 2007)

I have been misting my enclosure 2 times a day now and it never get above 30% humidity. I can not use the idea for the humidifier because the cage im using for my baby Albino is a boaphile cage, completely made of a plastic. even with it having the min. amount of openinings, just enough for air flow, the humidity never stays in there.

Any ideas? I use Orcherd bark.


----------



## Mike (Oct 24, 2007)

I use a mix of cypress, dirt, coco fiber, and leaf litter for my tegus. I just hose down everything and close the lid. I only have 2 small vents . I have never had shedding problems or any other humidity-related disorders.


----------



## DaveDragon (Oct 30, 2007)

I keep the cypress mulch damp by wetting with a sprayer and mixing it every couple of weeks. The enclosures have a screen front and top. I make no attempt to hold in the humidity. The Tegu's spend most of their day below ground in the damp substrate so I don't think maintaining a moist environment is required. We've never had any shedding issues.

What other humidity issue can you have??


----------



## COWHER (Nov 10, 2007)

RehabRalphy said:


> I would use about 12" of substrate or more. Give them something to dig in.
> 
> You can keep up the humidity by placing a large water bowl near the heat source.
> 
> ...



Can we get a picture of that humidifier setup? maybe i will do something like it I'm having humidity problems lately i cant seem to get it above 60% I'm thinking of getting some fogger discs or mounting a humidifier right in the enclosure but I want to do my home work first :roll: :lol:


----------



## AB^ (Nov 10, 2007)

IMO the cage humidity doesnt need to be much above 60%. if the bottom substrate layer is moist then the tegu will have plenty of oppurtunity to be where it's more humid while it's burrowed. I have never had any shedding/humidity issues with my tegus.
Also unless your cage is lined with FRP or something similar that much humidity will kill the cage pretty quickly


----------



## DaveDragon (Nov 11, 2007)

I agree. I lined the bottom of our enclosure with cheap vinyl flooring and sealed the seams with silicone.


----------



## COWHER (Nov 11, 2007)

it has floor tiles on the wood areas so im not worried about the cage. here is an idea i had lemme know what you think.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100006752&N=10000003+90401&marketID=401&locStoreNum=8125">http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... reNum=8125</a><!-- m -->


----------



## DaveDragon (Nov 11, 2007)

That looks to be overkill. I've found you want the moisture under the surface, where they burrow. Misting the top just makes it stick to him. Unless you really soak it, the water doesn't penetrate more than a inch. Wet surface substrate may lead to scale rot.

What do you guys think?


----------



## greentriple (Nov 11, 2007)

I find a good misting every morning is all he needs. The heat and natural dry climate we have is a problem, but for the most part a misting seems to keep things ok. I also give him a good soak a couple 2 -3 times a week. I'll see how things go in the future. I'm also changing my substrate at the next cleaning, i'm experimenting to find what works best.


----------



## DaveDragon (Nov 11, 2007)

What substrate are you using and what are you going to change to??

If you mist every day you should turn it to get the moisture below the surface where he sleeps.

Don't soak him too much or you'll remove the oils in his skin (so I've heard). We recently bought Benson & Sons Snake Oil and put a few drops in their bath. http://store.worldpetstore.com/bensonsnakoi.html We bought it at a local pet store. It works great!


----------



## COWHER (Nov 11, 2007)

thanks for the snake oil thing I'm going to look into that.


----------



## HazedandGauged (Apr 18, 2008)

This might work

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bigappleherp.com/Habba-Mist-Misting-Machine-With-Free-Products;jsessionid=0a0104451f4313297d91ad524e97990dbc1a6268eb6c.e3eSbNmQaheLe38Re0?sc=2&category=10">http://www.bigappleherp.com/Habba-Mist- ... ategory=10</a><!-- m -->


----------



## DaveDragon (Apr 18, 2008)

HazedandGauged said:


> This might work
> 
> <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bigappleherp.com/Habba-Mist-Misting-Machine-With-Free-Products;jsessionid=0a0104451f4313297d91ad524e97990dbc1a6268eb6c.e3eSbNmQaheLe38Re0?sc=2&category=10">http://www.bigappleherp.com/Habba-Mist- ... ategory=10</a><!-- m -->


Interesting! http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=320 The reviews say it is noisy and more of a rain machine, not a mister. I'm planning on using an ultrasonic humidifier piped into the enclosure to make a hanging fog that will spread around. I can put it on a timer to have it run for 5-10 minutes every hour during the day.


----------



## jose2187 (Apr 18, 2008)

I made this video ,hope it helps
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve-ScBDQjcE">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve-ScBDQjcE</a><!-- m -->


----------



## DaveDragon (Apr 20, 2008)

That looks like a great system!! Unfortunately we need to mist (3) 7ft x 3ft enclosures. In the couple of reviews I've read it sounds like it's capable for your application but it's not recommended for large enclosures. Misting 2 or 3 is out of the question.

I found a few other possibilities on this page. http://www.zeuscat.com/andrew/personal/info/misting/

We're going to the White Plains show today. There is a vendor that sells misting systems that we'll check out.

Can we have some detail on what tubing, fitting and nozzles you used?? Close up pics?? I love the way your Tegu was walking around behind you trying to get into his enclosure!

Or maybe I should just mist twice a day??


----------



## jose2187 (Apr 20, 2008)

Thank you, I will take some close up pics and post them along with some detailed info on all the components


----------

