r/ballpython • u/Playful-Dog-4225 • 23h ago
Heat & Humidity control help needed
I'm a new BP owner and I need some advice. I'm having trouble maintaining high enough humidity (I think in part because the heat in my apartment, which I cannot control, is fairly high.) In addition to her water bowl, and a spray bottle, I've been wetting and mixing the substrate to increase the humidity and that helps, but generally getting up to 60% seems impossible. Similarly, I'm struggling to keep the temperature at the right point. I have tried two different thermostats, neither of which were cutting the temperature at the set point, which really scared me. I've ordered a herpestat 2, with the plan to connect a red light for daytime and a CHE for night. I've learned the CHE gets super hot and I'm really fortunate nothing happened to my girl in the process. I suspect that leaving the lamps on top of the enclosure's mesh top may also be a cause of overheating, so I'm thinking to get a stand from which to hang the lamps so they're a bit further away. Wondering who has dealt with these issues and what you did to resolve them? I fear putting a humidifier may be dangerous with all the electricity for the lights/thermomostat around the enclosure. Lowkey wish the folks at the reptile store had explained a little more this type of challenge, as I would have saved time and money if I knew to buy the right things from the start. Your advice is appreciated 🙏
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u/Interesting_Crab3251 22h ago
He looks very healthy though, I'm sure he'll be alright whilst you adjust everything
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u/Playful-Dog-4225 21h ago
Thank you, and yes, she's in good shape, I just don't want to take that for granted. Thanks for your advice!
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u/TheOneAndOnlySpecter 16h ago
You said you're going to use a red light for day heat and a che at night, correct? Red lights are not recommended and if you're having humidity issues, a che may make things even harder. I recommend an Arcadia deep heat projector or the Zoomed brand "infrared heat projector" for day and night heat, if you aren't using one of those already. I used CHEs in the past but found them too drying, so i use DHPs exclusively now and they have worked much better for me
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u/Playful-Dog-4225 13h ago
Thank you for your advice. You use DHP for both day and night? Do you drop the temp at all at night?
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u/TheOneAndOnlySpecter 11h ago
Sorry I meant to reply directly to you but I hit the wrong reply without realizing LOL
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u/TheOneAndOnlySpecter 11h ago
I just solely use the deep heat projector and I leave it at about 88°F on a dimming thermostat. You can do night drops if you really want to but in all honesty they're usually not needed
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u/Interesting_Crab3251 22h ago
Make a humid hide for the little guy, basically a hide filled with damp moss on the cooler end of the tank and it reaches very high humidity, if he feels like he needs the humidity he will go there.
Smaller ways to keep up the humidity include: large water bowl on hotter side of the tank to increase evaporation
Covering ventilation especially if you have a screen top
Spraying the substrate directly once every few days
Water in the corners of the tank
As for heat, buy an infrared heat gun, adjust the thermostat to a temperature than makes where it's under read 31-34°c, and the cool side will adjust completely.
Open a window where the tank is in or place it under a window so it's away from the heat of the room, or place the enclosure lower because heat rises.