It’s winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, and with winter tends to come drier air and more challenges keeping our more tropical pets comfortable and healthy. In the few years that I’ve been keeping reptiles and invertebrates, I’ve come across all manner of methods and recommendations for maintaining humidity, some of which have been more effective for me than others. I thought it might be fun and informative for us to discuss what methods have worked best for us (and what methods haven’t).
If possible, please include the species of your animal(s), their ideal humidity range, and what the ambient humidity levels are in your home around this time of year. Someone living somewhere like Florida is probably going to have a much different routine than someone who lives in Arizona, and I feel like the normal climate of your home is something that often gets left out of these discussions.
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I currently have two snakes and three spiders who require humidity significantly higher than my local climate. I live on the southern California coast, and humidity in my home around this time of year is rarely higher than 20-30%.
I have a blood python and boa (BI), both of whom have similar humidity requirements. I aim for 65-75% for each, and might bump it up closer to 80% for a shed. I use coco husk substrate and will add sphagnum moss in the fall, as I’ve found the moss really helps with humidity. When humidity drops down into the low 60s, I’ll pour water over the substrate, concentrating it over clumps of moss, and then mix everything up. This seems to be MUCH more effective than misting. I’d often have to mist two or three times a day just to keep things on the lower end of acceptable, whereas when I pour water in, I usually only have to do that once or twice a week. I also buy or modify enclosures so that there is zero or minimal ventilation on top, but with adequate cross ventilation on the sides. Too much ventilation on the top of the enclosure just makes it impossible to maintain any level of humidity. I also move their water bowls closer to the warm end when things start getting drier, to promote more evaporation.
For my spiders, I create little furrows in the substrate in the corners of the enclosure, then I use a pipet to drip water down those corner furrows. This allows the water to dribble down to the bottom of the enclosure, creating a more natural moisture gradient. The spider can dig down deeper to the wetter substrate near the bottom, or they can avoid that moisture by staying closer to the surface, depending on what they need. For arboreal spiders, it adds ambient humidity without the enclosure getting gross and swampy on the surface of the substrate. I also give them water bowls. Even for my more arid spiders, I’ll overflow their water bowl once a week, so they have a corner of moisture if they need it.
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