# New Royal Setup Humidity Help!



## TheHouseofReptilez (Sep 26, 2021)

So I picked up a 7 month old royal on Saturday from a breeder close to me he's been keeping him in a rub which has 4 good size vent holes drilled on both sides the holes are not to small and not to big for the snake to escape and the same sized holes drilled around the top of the lid so I coppied what he did with my rub same size holes same placement,

I added the substrate after setting up the UTH for him I'm using ProRep Bark Chips now I expected the humidity to shoot up which it did all the way up to 99% and at first there was condensation as the days have gone on the condensation started to go I've checked the substrate it feels a little moist but not soaking by any means,

there is a little speckle of moisture below the substrate on the hot side under his hot hide the digital humidity guage is placed on the cool side of the rub and still reading 99% which seems strange,

I've checked him over he looks good he's doing everything he should for a royal so I'm curious is the humidity in his rub to hight or is it just my humidity guage being sensitive?

Any advice is appreciated,

Thanks.


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## LiasisUK (Sep 30, 2019)

It is because the substrate is fresh. It will decrease over the next few days. Add more holes if you're worried.


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## TheHouseofReptilez (Sep 26, 2021)

LiasisUK said:


> It is because the substrate is fresh. It will decrease over the next few days. Add more holes if you're worried.


Was in the process of adding more holes but the drill battery just died so have to wait for it to charge up.


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## The-Jame (Mar 21, 2011)

It won’t help because of it being such a small enclosed space, next time you change the substrate I would go for a less moist substrate or open the bag for a few days to let it dry out before adding to the rub.


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## Art87 (8 mo ago)

If you're going to use a rub with UTH I'd switch to paper towel or incontinence pads so it's dry to begin with and mess with water bowl size to create the humidity you're after. Also it'll be immediately obvious when he toilets and you can address it quickly. Harder to spot on dark substrate. 

Further to that, remember hot air rises so I drill a row of holes fairly low down and another set close to the base of the lid so that as hot air leaves the top row of holes fresh air gets pulled in via the bottom row holes. I do this to the front and back of the rub. I usually avoid putting holes in the lid because then anything on top of it will block the holes. I've included a few photos, the holes are easier to see in the one where the snake is directly behind them for contrast. Also, the first two photos are an 18L rub with a tiny hatchling boa, the last one with a hatchling SD retic is a 64l rub because the snake is bigger - notice the larger water bowl to maintain a similar humidity in a bigger enclosure. This is also what I call "clean humidity" - the hygrometer probe is hanging in the air within the tub, the tub is dry, the substrate is dry, there is no condensation but by adjusting the size of the water bowl and how many holes you make in each row you can easily have humidity from 50%-80%. Humidity is moisture content of the air, keeping a snake on consistently damp substrate will sooner or later cause you and the snake a problem.

To get condensation you're either going above approx 85% humidity, likely in the 90 percentile or your air flow is not good. Neither is desirable for anything but a short length of time such as immediately after spraying. Hope this helps.


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## Malc (Oct 27, 2009)

The other thing to remember is that condensation is formed when warm moist air hits a cooler surface. If the room in which the rub is housed tends to be cold (like a bedroom) then even with the humidity between 50-60 % you will still get condensation, and thus damp substrate regardless.

My preference for keeping snake is in Vivariums as you have more control over the environment, and I restrict the use of rubs for hatchlings up to 6 months


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## Art87 (8 mo ago)

Malc said:


> The other thing to remember is that condensation is formed when warm moist air hits a cooler surface. If the room in which the rub is housed tends to be cold (like a bedroom) then even with the humidity between 50-60 % you will still get condensation, and thus damp substrate regardless.
> 
> My preference for keeping snake is in Vivariums as you have more control over the environment, and I restrict the use of rubs for hatchlings up to 6 months


I couldn't agree more, I just resisted the urge to go down that route because it wasn't what the op asked. I only use rubs for small hatchlings and quarantine or treatment purposes. There's also the issue of space, I really think they should have room to fully stretch out so very quickly even the largest rub becomes unsuitable.


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## TheHouseofReptilez (Sep 26, 2021)

There's no condensation present in the rub touching the substrate it's fairly dry room temp is 24c air humidity is at 50% I've ran my hands across the inside of the rub and the lid with no moisture present I'm unsure if it's the humidity guage itself that is playing up I do have a spare so I am going to try that one and see if it is faulty.


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## TheHouseofReptilez (Sep 26, 2021)

Took the advice switched out the substrate for paper towels,turns out it was the substrate as it's gone from 99% down to 55% currently it is slowly going up.


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