The 40-gallon terrarium for my 1.5-year old ball bython has sphangum moss, a full water dish, and I spray it down every day, but I can’t seem to get the humidity levels over 30%, when they should be at 40-60%. What works for you guys when getting your humidity to the optimum level? Would a bigger water dish do the trick?
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A picture of your setup would be helpful so we can answer your questions a bit more accurately 
If you have a screen top it might be helpful to put something like cling wrap over it, that helps with humidity especially if you chose to get a larger water bowl. Do you use heat lamps? If so those can dry out the air in your enclosure rapidly and it would be better to get something like a CHE or radiant heat panel if you’re struggling with humidity.
Or you can add humid hides with damp sphagnum moss that will retain enough moisture to keep your BP’s skin hydrated and reduce shedding issues. This wont raise the ambient humidity of the enclosure but it will give various spots where the snake can hide away and take up a bit of that moisture. Again I still reccomend looking into ways of fixing the humidity levels because even with humid hides 30% humidity is still quite low…
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I put some plastic wrap on the top and it increased the humidity to 60%, but the temperature on the hot side decreased from 90 F to 80 F which is too low. I guess I’ll just have to get a higher wattage bulb now. I also put some sphangum moss that was in the open into the hides.
As a side note, I change the bulb in the heat lamp to an infrared bulb at night. I also have a heating pad on the bottom of the warm side.
Take the plastic wrap off the heat lamp. Just put it wrap UP TO the lamp and see what happens
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Some things that might help/recommendations →
I would use foil instead of plastic wrap as plastic wrap is meltable, and just use it on 2/3 of the lid.
Rather than an infrared for night, I’d try a lightless heat source like a ceramic heat emitter. Are both heat sources regulated by a thermostat? I’m not seeing a probe anywhere, and unregulated heat sources are a huge risk for both your snake and as a fire hazard
Also don’t rely on that round sticky guage being accurate, those ones are notoriously inaccurate
And add at least one more hide, they shold have one on both the cool and hot side at a minimum
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Use HVAC foil tape, NOT duct tape, on the outside of the screen top to close it off and trap the humidity and heat in. The tape is safe to use near heating elements, unlike duct tape and Saran Wrap.
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As others have said, remove the plastic wrap first. It will not help, and you don’t want to burn/melt it over the lamp, but I see what you were trying to do.
I encountered similar issues with the same set up and found that covering one side of the lid screen with HVAC tape (aluminum foil tape) was effective at improving humidity. I took sheets of aluminum foil and placed them over one side of the lid screen, then taped over the top with HVAC tape to keep them in place. The aluminum foil sheets over the lid were there to cover the adhesive underside of the HVAC tape so the snake wasn’t exposed to adhesives through the lid screen.
Additionally, if you could change your lamp to a non-light emitting heat source, that could also help. Evaporation of water is influenced by both heat and light, so you may find that a heat emitter without the light may improve humidity.
I would caution against increasing the wattage of the bulb to increase heat with the plastic wrap because you’re also increasing the intensity of light, which will stress your snake. Doing this may also increase the evaporation rate again and bring you back to the same problem you had before.
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Thanks for your help! Here are my current measurements using a digital hygrometer/thermoter with a probe: Warm side: 88 degrees, Cool side: 76 degrees, Humidity: 50%. I posted my orginal inquiry because the snake was constantly probing at the top of the cage during the day time, and despite the fact that my heat and humidity are at the acceptable levels, my snake is still cconstantly poking at the top, usually toward the light. Any ideas what the problem could be now?
Thanks for the details- you’re on the right track, but a few small tweaks could make a big difference. Add a second hide on the cool side so your snake can feel secure while thermoregulating. If you’re using a visible light for heat, it might be causing stress, especially in an open setup. Switching to a ceramic or other non-light emitting heat source, and adding more clutter like fake plants or cork bark will make the enclosure feel safer. A background on the back wall adds extra security, too. Humidity seems better, but a larger water bowl could give it a boost. Constant probing might also be a sign of hunger, so it’s worth offering a meal. Try these adjustments and see how your snake settles in.
To add: It may seem counterintuitive for the snake to move toward something that is stressing it out, like probing near the light, but overstimulation, discomfort, or a learned association with that area as an exit point can drive the behavior. If feeding or handling usually happens from the top near the light, the snake may repeatedly return there, seeking a way out despite the discomfort.
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