How moist is too moist??

[aluras]

I have condesation on the walls of some of my plastic T homes. I was wondering how this affects them. Is the substrate too moist??
Any feedback would be great.
Thanks
~Aaron

 

[calum]

well it differs between species. it could cause problems for desert species.

 

[bigdog999]

best way is with a humidity gauge and check the caresheet for your particular species

 

[dannax]

Yeah, pretty much depends on the species.

 

[reverendsterlin]

as well it could be a problem not so much of being too much moisture but having too little ventilation, not a good thing even for moisture loving T's. Sometimes the balance is hard to reach and adding more vent holes winds up being better than reducing substrate moisture. Still as said different species have differing humidity requirements. Not knowing what type of enclosure your using or what species your keeping makes it difficult to give you any definitive help. Sorry, maybe if you can give us better information our answers will help more.
Rev

 

[aluras]

thanks everyone, what about P.cambridgei? and my OBT, they are the ones steaming up the place.

 

[aluras]

I just got a p.regalis also and I dont want to have problems with it. I dont know much about pokies

 

[reverendsterlin]

thanks everyone, what about P.cambridgei? and my OBT, they are the ones steaming up the place.

your Psalmopoeus and Poecilotheria like humidity, the Pterinochilus likes it dry lol. So substrate dry for the OBT and moist for the cambridgei and regalis, both the Psalmopoeus and Poecilotheria though really want very good ventilation. I finally saw you said you have plastic enclosures so you might should consider adding venting, if they are vented near the top you might add some holes just above the substrate, vice-versa if they are vented near the bottom. Heating a paperclip is an easy way to melt small holes in plastic. If you can post a pic myself or others will help with suggestions. Not a hard problem to solve so don't worry too much .
Rev

 

[aluras]

awsome thanks soo much, I was just using a drill to put holes in it and i guess not enough were used. they are both slings so I was worried about them getting too wet to be able to move.

 

[reverendsterlin]

awsome thanks soo much, I was just using a drill to put holes in it and i guess not enough were used. they are both slings so I was worried about them getting too wet to be able to move.

please note drilling can crack hard plastic, a paperclip over a gas stove will heat up nicely and melt through. Your arboreals will stay up off the substrate if you give them something to climb, your OBT will hate the wet stuff though. Glad to help
Rev

 

[aluras]

thanks for the tip REV, will do next time...cause we all know T´s are more addictive than herion.....

 

[Mushroom Spore]

best way is with a humidity gauge and check the caresheet for your particular species

No, don't bother with either one, they're just a waste of time. Most caresheets are crap - you don't have to worry about having, for example, 70% humidity instead of 75%. Ever.

Really there are species you keep dry (ex: G. rosea), species you keep occasionally/somewhat damp (ex: L. parahybana), and species you keep very damp/high humidity (ex: T. blondi, Avicularia species). Percentages don't mean squat, don't matter squat, and caresheets anger me for perpetuating that unnecessary myth.

Also because half of them do stupid things like advise high humidity for G. rosea, or otherwise get newbies to freak out over humidifying a tank when they don't need to at all.

 

[gvfarns]

Hmmm. Yeah, sounds like a ventilation issue. Is it associated with temperature changes? During the winter the sides fog up when the house cools down at night, for example.

Well whatever the cause more holes either drilled or melted is probably the right solution. When I built my first acrylic enclosure it used to fog up as room temperatures fluctuated, so I drilled holes on the sides near anywhere I saw fog (though not on the front...that would interfere with viewing). Repeated the process until I arrived at my current non-foggy solution.