Humidity issues

[nocturnalpulsem]

God only knows why, but the humidity is like a lead balloon around here. I mist before i got to bed and by morning it's dropped 40%! What the bloody hell is going on around here? Plus, I stay in the basement, and I remember quite well that when we used to use a dehumidifier down here it would suck buckets (literally) out of the air. I don't get it. Any ideas why this happens, and/or how to fix it? I want H. lividum this summer, but I need to resolve these humidity issues before I do so. I can't keep the enclosures at over 40% for more then 6 hours...

N.

 

[Buspirone]

Maybe your humidity gauge is inaccurate.

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Originally posted by Buspirone
Maybe your humidity gauge is inaccurate.

Already thought of that. I'm in the process of finding something to mount my other one with. I do have a spare

N.

 

[RugbyDave]

Plus, misting only TEMPORARILY raises the humidity level -- what you also need is to raise the amount of water IN the air level -

i found a FOOL proof method --

on the top of the cage, lay wet, warm paper towels (the absorbant kind, not the elementary school kind) -- make sure to cover at least 90% of the air holes/vents/slits in the top of the cage (or side if its an arboreal) --

make sure the towels are wet, but not DRIPPING DRIPPING wet -- just dripping wet

now, heres the thing -- it could be bad if you just let them sit there, so i take a VERY small clip-on fan (around $10 at walgreens) and face it so most of the oscillations don't hit the tanks directly, but only like the last 10% of the fan turn is hitting the tank-area.. And make sure the fan is on low, and only on for like, amybe 25 or 30 mins, then let the paper towels take over solo!


you know what I mean?

that way the humidity slowly increases, but the air doesn't get all stale and moldy --

seriously, it works.. you increase the humidity in a non-stressful, good way! and also the droplet number in the air.

good luck!
peace,
dave

 

[Venom]

You might have too much ventilation in the tank, which you can fix by covering part of the screen/ ventilation holes. Have you tried watering the substrate? Some substrates, like vermiculite, peat, and peat moss hold water very well, and are great for regulating humidity.

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

The paper towel thing sounds kind of cheesy...

I have tried wetter substrate. Right now I'm attempting the 1/2 dry, 1/2 damp thing. The side with the water dish is saturated (not with puddles, though) and the other half (where the burrow is) is dry. I'll try this for a while and see.

Plan B is possibly a "T. pond" (i.e. substitute water dish for something much wider). Any thoughts?

Had I the money I'd get a humidifier...

N.

 

[belewfripp]

Remember also that if your cobalt burrows or adopts a retreat, the 'ground' humidity isn't what the spider is going to be spending most of its time in. Several of my cobalts are in tanks that spend substantial periods of time nearly bone-dry at the top of the substrate, but deeper down, and especially in the burrow, it is quite higher and the Ts are fine.

Adrian

 

[RugbyDave]

noct- cheesy or not, it damn well works


thats the beauty of this hobby -- you find stuff that works and you use it/build it -- it may not be the nicest looking or newest technology, but its frigginworks, eh?

some people spend hundreds of dollars on tanks for hundreds of T's, other people use spice jugs and the like...

who cares as long as it works, eh?

its cheap and effective.. kind of like the Yankees (baseball) -- not anything amazing, and you REALLY wouldn't want to watch them, but it does get the job done when there's nothing else on, and no sharp things to poke into your eyes

bring on the flames
=D (joshing)

sox and braves all the friggin way!
T's are cool too!
peace,
dave

 

[skinheaddave]

How many Ts do you have? I use a "wet rack" which is a shelving unit covered in painters drop cloth with some vents and a humidifier. I actualy have two shelving racks and the humidity varies from 90% near the humidifier down to about 60%. By arranging my critters, I can quite accurately control humidity.

I do have a question for people, though. For forest scorpions, it is considered a quite common practice to put a layer of gravel in the bottom of an enclosure and keep it flooded. This humidifies the entire enclosure quite nicely. Has anyone done this with their Ts?

Cheers,
Dave

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Originally posted by skinheaddave
How many Ts do you have? I use a "wet rack" which is a shelving unit covered in painters drop cloth with some vents and a humidifier. I actualy have two shelving racks and the humidity varies from 90% near the humidifier down to about 60%. By arranging my critters, I can quite accurately control humidity.
Cheers,
Dave

You know, I did read that in a previous post of yours. I thought it was a cool idea, however, I am seriously lacking in funds. Damn car LoL

N.

 

[skinheaddave]

That's why God invented garage sales. You can almost certainly get a humdifier at a garage sale for next to nothing. You might even get a shelving unit that is to your liking. Drop cloth is pretty cheap.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[invadermike]

The wet paper towles thing does work, it works really well, i'd say, try it, it couldn't hurt. I use this method on a few of my T's works good.
Mike

 

[mebebraz]

Originally posted by skinheaddave
How many Ts do you have? I use a "wet rack" which is a shelving unit covered in painters drop cloth with some vents and a humidifier. I actualy have two shelving racks and the humidity varies from 90% near the humidifier down to about 60%. By arranging my critters, I can quite accurately control humidity.

I do have a question for people, though. For forest scorpions, it is considered a quite common practice to put a layer of gravel in the bottom of an enclosure and keep it flooded. This humidifies the entire enclosure quite nicely. Has anyone done this with their Ts?

Cheers,
Dave

right when I started out with tarantulas, I used to put one inch of gravel on the bottom and a tube in the corner, smaller than the t to pour water down, that worked quite well, now I built and inclosed room in my living room for them, all I do now is put a pot of water in the bottom cupboard of the room, that brings the humidity up to 80% most of the time.

 

[nocturnalpulsem]

Tried the towel thing...

I'll be damned...it works pretty well. I'm not using paper towles, though. We go though those like water around here. I pulled one out of the rag box. That's pretty cool. All I did was dampen it and it stayed at 80% for like 2 days. One cool thing, though, is that the towel being on top of the tank it keeps some of the light out. I have flourescent (spell??) lights and they're pretty harsh sometimes.

Though she's back to sitting in the corner with her legs pulled close to her body. Hasn't moved from that spot in 3 days now...spiders are weird.

N.