Humidity help

[spyder86]

I have two beardies that are about 2.5 months old in identical 40 gallon breeder setups and the humidity had been fine sitting around 30%. Please don't ask questions about temps and so on b/c they are perfect according to advise from this site. Well it started raining here and has made the humid jump to 50%. I already have two home made dehumidifiers (cheese cloth bags filled with rock salt and calcium chloride hung above bowls) hanging above each cage and both cages are up stairs so my question is will my beardies be safe hovering around 45-50% for the next month or so or will it be a problem, and if so any and all tips would be great. Once we get into June and July it will stop raining and start cooking so the humid will drop again.

 

[Embee]

Oh, this sounds challenging.

Do you keep any water in the tank, drinking dish, bath? If so, you may consider taking them out for awhile, as it can decrease humidity quickly and effectively. Just make sure to bathe dragons 2-3 times a week.

Many people (myself included) opt not to place water in the tank for this reason, and also because dragons don't tend to be big "drinkers." :wink:

That is the only thing I can think of...

Best of luck!

Em

 

[spyder86]

no water in the viv, i spray veggies with water but even that is only in there for a little while and doesn't seem to effect the humid.

 

[Embee]

no water in the viv, i spray veggies with water but even that is only in there for a little while and doesn't seem to effect the humid.

Darn, I knew you were going to say that... it was the only advice I had. :wink: It sounds like the rain outside really effect your room humidity, and I wonder if you're going to have to shell out for one of those robo-dehumidifiers.

Hope you find a solution soon (that doesn't cost an arm and a leg).

The best,
Em

 

[spyder86]

I am trying something called DampRid right now, it comes on little close hanger looking things and is meant to be hung in you closed so I figure one hung from the side of each cage should work will report within a day. The rain has pushed the humidity outside up to 95% and the house is from 50-70% so ya it sucks big time.

 

[Embee]

I am trying something called DampRid right now, it comes on little close hanger looking things and is meant to be hung in you closed so I figure one hung from the side of each cage should work will report within a day. The rain has pushed the humidity outside up to 95% and the house is from 50-70% so ya it sucks big time.

Arg, that sounds rough. I hope the DampRid helps. I live in the Seattle area so no stranger to rain, but our house (due to our forced air gas heating) is dry as a bone... sometimes TOO dry for us humans. The lizard certainly reaps the benefits though.

Best of luck!
Em

 

[bayoupig5]

Humidity between 30-50 percent is fine.

Map of current humidity levels in Australia
http://www.findlocalweather.com/weather_maps/humidity_australia.html

FYI-Average Inland Australia Humidity sits between 20-40%

As far as humidity levels higher than this I am not sure what else you could possibly do. Since you already have two dehumidifiers working. Sorry, I can not be of any further help.

 

[spyder86]

DampRid was a bust so I bought a small robo-dehumidifier and it works great, drop humidity down to 35% in the whole house :roll: bit over kill but got to do what you got to do.

 

[bayoupig5]

That's great..35%, that thing works pretty good. Where I live is constantly dry, humidity outside very rarely reaches over 60%, so inside during the winter with the heat on, it can drop to around 20-25%.

 

[Embee]

DampRid was a bust so I bought a small robo-dehumidifier and it works great, drop humidity down to 35% in the whole house :roll: bit over kill but got to do what you got to do.

I'm glad you found something to help. Perhaps it will just be used intermittently then? Yikes... and I thought my house was dry! :shock:

Hopes for continued success!

Em

 

[spyder86]

I'm actually from western Nebraska where the humidity almost never gets above 30% but i go to school at the University of Nebraska which is on the eastern part of the state and it is usually fairly humid here.

 

[TheVirus]

Hey Spyder,

A bone dry enclosure is a harsh enclosure. You don't need to go out of your way to make it harsh. Just because beardies can survive in harsh environments doesn't mean we have to subject them to it. They do better in a good environment. If they couldn't withstand periods of humidity, they would die whenever it rained

FYI-Average Inland Australia Humidity sits between 20-40%

Your taking humidity readings from the harsh environments that beardies are trying to survive in. What you have to take in to consideration is that beardies (all reptiles) seek out micro-environments, with in their environment, to help them cope with the harsh dry climate.

Beardies are masters at conserving moisture. Not only are they designed to conserve moisture, but they do so behaviourally too. Humidity varies with in an environment. The humidity readings you posted is the percent in the air outside in the open. Beardies spend a lot of time in cracks, crevices, burrows, tin sheets. The humidity would vary, in all these areas, from the humidity outside.

 

[spyder86]

I am not makeing it harsh I have to use a dehumidifier to keep humidity between 35-45%, without it the humidity can and does jump to 75-80%. I am NOT trying to get the humidity below 35%. I set the dehumidifier at 40% and it automatically shuts off if it gets below 40%.