Has anyone used a misting system for Boas to maintain humidity in PVC enclosures? I need to find a better solution than the in room humidifier. I use paper for substrate, which I know is part of the problem but I don’t want to change that yet. I was looking at the Mist King system.
Any reason why this would be bad for a Boa enclosure?
I have Boaphile PVC enclosures and I have never had any problems whatsoever with humidity and one of my boas is a BRB, which needs higher humidity than other boas. I use unprinted newspaper for the substrate. All of them shed perfectly.
I’ve known some boa keepers that have used mister systems, they quit after a while due to maintaining them, went back to using mister bottles.
How bad is the humidity level you are seeing?
I use a pump sprayer to mist my animals when needed. How often are you thinking you need to have moisture introduced?
I have 10 PVC cages stacked in three columns. The bottom 3 cages are at 30-35% humidity unless I spray them 3 times per day. The middle cages stay in the high 40’s/low 50’s and the top cages are 60-70%.
RHP for heating, water bowl on warm & cool side of each cage.
I have burned through a few humidifiers, running them 24/7 through a very dry winter in the Northeast.
Looking for alternatives to the humidifier, or even a recommendation for a high quality humidifier.
I travel a good amount for work so I need something that can manage the humidity for 3-4 days on its own.
Usually pouring a bit of water on the hot side will raise humidity up enough during a shed cycle to get perfect sheds in PVC cages. I used to run all PVC enclosures for my boas in multiple states. I always used newspaper as my substrate and never had any shedding issues. I make it a general habit to pour a small amount of water on the hot side with my ball pythons as well. It’s possible your environment is dry enough that doing this 1 to 2 times per week could be inadequate but it’s likely sufficient. I wouldn’t sweat the humidity #'s too much if they’re getting good sheds, eat fine, and are otherwise healthy. What are the ambient temperatures in your room?
This is what I do! I use reptichip so it hold the humidity wonderfully.
Ambient temps in the room are 75-78.
I’ve tried spilling water in the area under the RHP, but like misting, it only helps the issue for a few hours.
I’m not too worried about getting the numbers perfect but I do worry that running the lower cages consistently at the 30-40% range will lead to health issues at some point.
One thing I have done in a “hard to keep humidity situation” used a bowl, put coco chips in it and fill it with water, place it on the hot side. You. Might be able to use sponges in the dish. If the heat to to high, you might want to place the bowl just off the heat source. It should last a couple days.
If there are large openings or screens, close them off to help keep the humidity in.
I use two water bowls, one with water and one with coconut fiber bedding with hot water. Then, I put the coconut on the hot side of the cage. My Southern Brazilian BCA would always have bad sheds until I did this.
I really need to get some reptichip soon. I’m using aspen just because that’s what the breeder gave us but it holds humidity very poorly.
Reptichip is a life saver with humidity. Definitely recommended them.
Aspen definitely molds much easier than coconut husk based substrate.
Utilizing coco would be a better option versus a misting system IMO.
