measuring humidity...

[kellygirl]

how exactly do you do it? on most caresheets, there is a percentage for humidity level but i dont know how to measure it! is there a special instrument and if so where can i get it? is it something i stick on the side of each of my cages or can i get one and use it to measure all of them? i know how to keep humidity up but i just want to be a little more specific so i can keep my Ts healthy!

kellygirl

 

[Devildoll]

any pet store will sell humidity gauges. just ask. a decent one w/ a dial will run around $5. just stick it in the inside of the enclosure and Wala!

 

[Vys]

And speaking of humidity, don't mix up relative humidity with humidity. For those who would.

 

[danread]

I'm a bit dubious of the accuracy of the cheap plastic dial hydrometers, i think its a good investment to buy an accurate digital one with a probe. That way you can move it around between enclosures and use it for all your T's, and they usually do humidity and temperature all in one. I think they cost about £25 in england.

 

[arachnopunks]

My husband has been keeping tarantulas for 9 years and I have been keeping them for 4 years. We never have and never will use a humidity gauge for any of our tarantulas. The most humidity sensitive tarantula we have now is a T. blondi that we raised from 1 inch to maturity without any humidity related problems. In the last issue of the ATS Forum Magazine, Stan Schultz wrote an interesting article about how we tend to over-do it when it comes to humidity. He mentioned, as I have always believed, that tarantulas go through natural fluxuations in temp. and humidity in the wild. We tend to try to keep them at a steady 70 degrees and are set humidity level all the time. I think that having too much moisture in the enclosure can often lead to bigger problems such as mold, mildew, and mites, than too little humidity. We have had great success simply using a good size water dish and keeping it filled. For our adult T. blondi, we just have one large waterdish (about 10 inches) which he uses to drink from. We also have a second smaller waterdish that sits on top of his burrow (about 4 inches) just to keep humidity up.


-Jill

 

[atavuss]

Originally posted by arachnopunks
My husband has been keeping tarantulas for 9 years and I have been keeping them for 4 years. We never have and never will use a humidity gauge for any of our tarantulas. The most humidity sensitive tarantula we have now is a T. blondi that we raised from 1 inch to maturity without any humidity related problems. In the last issue of the ATS Forum Magazine, Stan Schultz wrote an interesting article about how we tend to over-do it when it comes to humidity. He mentioned, as I have always believed, that tarantulas go through natural fluxuations in temp. and humidity in the wild. We tend to try to keep them at a steady 70 degrees and are set humidity level all the time. I think that having too much moisture in the enclosure can often lead to bigger problems such as mold, mildew, and mites, than too little humidity. We have had great success simply using a good size water dish and keeping it filled. For our adult T. blondi, we just have one large waterdish (about 10 inches) which he uses to drink from. We also have a second smaller waterdish that sits on top of his burrow (about 4 inches) just to keep humidity up.


-Jill

for aphonopelmas, grammostolas, brachypelmas and a few other "dry" sp. I do not worry about humidity once they reach 3" legspan or so. I keep them on bone dry substrate with a water dish. I do keep the humidity up with lings of all sp. and a few other adults that I have that are more humidity dependant (m. robustums for instance and amblypigids, etc.). I have a thermometer/hygrometer from radio shack that gives me a general idea of the herp/invert room temp and humidity. I have a bunch of those cheap stick on humidity gauges in a drawer somewhere, I don't trust them as far as accuracy.
Ed

 

[Botar]

I have the same approach as Avatuss. I have a digital therm/hygro from Wal-mart that gauges conditions in my spider room. It has a probe for an additional reading. I keep the meter on the top shelf and the probe on my bottom shelf. The meter keeps a record of high and low levels of both heat and humidity. I check it each day and clear the meter of the high and low settings. I make any adjustments necessary on my supplemental heat and humidity. The humidity stays pretty consistent since I have a 100 gallon stock tank in the room with a bubble fountain for my blue crawfish. The supplemental heat is provided with an oil filled radiant heater.

Botar