50% Humidity on Dial Hygrometer???

So humidity has always been a problem for my beardies enclosure and it FRUSTRATES ME. I live in Southern Clai, so humidity typically stays pretty high. Im just scared that my beardie is at a high risk of respiratory infection. I have a 50 gallon that is hard to maintain humidity but I've done a lot of things to try to remedy it.

I have a sock full of rice inside his tank.
For his tank cover, I have holes cut into it to try and increase ventilation.

If there's anything else I can do or if what I'm doing now should be alright, please let me know. I would appreciate it!

Hi there,

50% really isnt even bad. And anyways dial hygrometers are not usually too accurate anyways. I wouldn't worry about it.

-Brandon

Thats very reassuring, thank you Brandon, you've been a very big help for me today!

ChrisKim1010047":818r52u4 said:

I have a sock full of rice inside his tank.
For his tank cover, I have holes cut into it to try and increase ventilation.

Click to expand...

Aside from nearly spraying my computer screen with coffee from the mental image of a sockful of rice hanging in an enclosure... that may be self-defeating. Ventilating air coming into the enclosure is going to be whatever your house's ambient RH is. I don't know if rice could keep up. :dontknow:

If it were me, I'd dump the dial hygrometer. Even the digital ones are ±5% so the dial type must be what... ±10%? The good news is that as the temp goes up, the RH goes down (and verse vica), so if your house RH is 50% and the enclosure is warmer than that, the RH inside the enclosure should be somewhat less than 50%--naturally. RH should also be lower on your upper floor/story (if that applies).

[EDIT]
Now that I look, apparently there are such things as reptile enclosure dehumidifiers... Who knew? :lol:
[/EDIT]

Yeah, the humidity in my room is already unfavourable, so the ventilation might only make it worse. As of now, I have two, 75 watt bulbs over his hot side.

The gradient for the hot side hovers from 90° to 95°. His basking spot, hovers around 100°. I have a digital thermometer and left it there for about 10 minutes and it didn't increase.

Cool side ranges from 75° to 80°.

Humidity has dropped to about 40% which makes me a little less stressed. But do you guys think it's alright to have 2 heat bulbs running at once?
I used to have one, 150 watt running for only his basking spot, but realized quickly that it was way too hot.

I've gotten rid of all water dishes, and seeing that he likes Kale, I guess that's where he'll get some moisture. I take him out a few times a day and put a dropper to his mouth in case he is thirsty.

You can have 10 heat bulbs running at once as long as your temperatures are proper. That's not an issue

50% isn't bad. 40% isn't bad. But I do agree, letting more airflow into the tank will just make it more likely to match the RH of the rest of your house.

-Brandon