How to lower humidity?

[catUK]

My beardie is curently hospitalised at the vets receiving treatment for a mild case of pnemonia / upper respiratory infection. The vet ( a very good exotic specialist) says that the x-ray showed just a slight shadow on the lung and wasn't concerned so didn't need more extensive treatment other than a couple of injections, he said that she is in great health overall- good bone density etc (thank god!!) and she was showing bright colours. She comes home on thurs after her last injection Anyway, my temps are fine: 109 basking spot, 94 warm end, 84 cool end and 72 at night. i'm thinking it may have been humidity levels that caused the illness. I do not have a water bowl in the viv and i mist out of the tank and always make sure she's fully dry then straight onto her basking spot after a warm bath so thought humidity levels would be ok (i feel really bad now). Could it be that the room i keep her in could be humid? (i keep her in the dining room next to an open kitchen, behind an enclosed front porch with the living room in the back. Therefore there are no windows to open. i have a couple of questions:

1. I am going to buy a hydrometer: is the digital one with remote sensor the best or will a stick on one be enough?

2. could it be the room with lack of ventilation causing the problem? would a humidifier in that room help? (there is no where else really in the house that i could fit her cage)

3. are there any other ways to lower humidity if i find that the levels are too high?

Thanks for any advice

 

[BadCon]

Good ventilation in the tank can lower humidity, though its probably an issue with your climate and or house. A dehumidifier in the room would be the ideal solution, and a portable A/C unit would also lower the humidity level. But without a hydrometer to get a baseline humidity level, you are really taking shots in the dark. So establish your humidity level first, and go from there. You dragon might have gotten sick for unrelated reasons...who knows.

There are products like DampRid, which are basically house sized desiccant bags. They can lower the humidity in a space, though they wear out after awhile. I'm not sure if DampRid is available in the UK, but there should be an equivalent. I am not sure about the toxicity of these products (fumes), so you'll have to do your homework. But assuming they don't outgas, and assuming the animal can't open the container and eat the stuff, then placing it in the tank would be a decent solution to lower humidity. You'll just have to remember to replace it every few months. Here is a nice tutorial on making your own desiccant bags - http://rumkin.com/reference/desiccant/


But like I said earlier, get a hydrometer first and make sure humidity is actually a problem before you go sucking the moisture out of everything . Good luck!

 

[catUK]

Thanks very much for the reply, it was very useful. Your right, i'll start with the hydrometer and go from there (and do my research). Thanks again