# how to lower humidity



## Chino

is there any good way to lower humidity in a tank ?
at the moment my b.vagans tank is really humid but the temps are about right.









i have tried lowering the water level in the bowl to about half and that had no change, so i made the holes in the lid slightly bigger and that hasnt made any change.


















im not using a heat mat because it is around 70 in my room anyway, i havent misted in the tank since sunday when i got the b.vagans but the humidity doesnt seem to want to drop. any suggestions ?
thanks
chino


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## Hedgewitch

Reducing the water level in the bowl won't affect the surface area of the water in it.

Those dial humidity monitors aren't meant to be any use though.

How damp is the subby?


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## Chino

Hedgewitch said:


> Reducing the water level in the bowl won't affect the surface area of the water in it.
> 
> Those dial humidity monitors aren't meant to be any use though.
> 
> How damp is the subby?


thats true, i didnt think about surface area, i was just thinking less water less humid.
im not sure how to explain it, i would say fairly damp, not overly damp, the T is still eating and walking around but i would like it to be at a better humidity for it.

are you saying that those humidity monitors are not very good ? i only have these at the moment because its coming up to pay day and i was going to get a digital one.


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## mcluskyisms

The only way you can do it quickly is to remove the tarantula and substrate and dry the substrate out completely in the oven. Make sure you remove the tarantula from the substrate before you bake it though...


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## Chino

mcluskyisms said:


> The only way you can do it quickly is to remove the tarantula and substrate and dry the substrate out completely in the oven. Make sure you remove the tarantula from the substrate before you bake it though...


i might try this if it hasn't sorted itself out by the weekend, will the T be ok how it is until then ?


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## Hedgewitch

mcluskyisms said:


> The only way you can do it quickly is to remove the tarantula and substrate and dry the substrate out completely in the oven. Make sure you remove the tarantula from the substrate before you bake it though...


There's another rather fast way: heat mat under one half of the tank. Dries the subby out a charm. If it's only under half the T can avoid that half if it's too warm. This will however temporarily up the humidity.

To add to that: I dunno about humidity monitors anyway, a lot of folk don't really bother, beyond doing it by eye.

Ideally I'd say, as you've given it a nice deep substrate layer, keep the substrate pretty dry, but tip water into one corner so there's a damper layer underneath. That way you keep the top nice and dry, but it can dig down to a humid later if it wants to.

_Edit: or if you're really worried, and are staying in the room, take the lid off, strap some mesh over the top for a bit. A T can go through fabric mesh if it wants but this should keep it from escaping while allowing greater air flow._


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## mcluskyisms

Chino said:


> i might try this if it hasn't sorted itself out by the weekend, will the T be ok how it is until then ?


Should be, if the humidity was really bothering it they'll usually climb onto the side of the glass to get off it. Also maybe try raising the heat a few degrees as that will dry it out quicker.


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## mcluskyisms

Also just read what species you have (scanned the thread too fast haha). _Brachypelma vagans_ will be fine in there, they tend to like it damp so I wouldn't worry at all and leave it be.


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## Chino

mcluskyisms said:


> Also just read what species you have (scanned the thread too fast haha). _Brachypelma vagans_ will be fine in there, they tend to like it damp so I wouldn't worry at all and leave it be.


ok, thanks ill see how it goes then.
thanks
chino


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## kris74

If you spend any time in the room observing then you could leave the lid off the tank for a while and let evaporation do its job or you could treble the amount of holes in the top to increase ventilation. Leaving the lid off has its own issues but if you're on the ball an escape shouldn't really be an issue. You could also add some dry substrate to the stuff you have in there already, I have done this on a few occasions and it works a treat.


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## Chino

kris74 said:


> If you spend any time in the room observing then you could leave the lid off the tank for a while and let evaporation do its job or you could treble the amount of holes in the top to increase ventilation. Leaving the lid off has its own issues but if you're on the ball an escape shouldn't really be an issue. You could also add some dry substrate to the stuff you have in there already, I have done this on a few occasions and it works a treat.


I've left the lid off for about 5-10 minutes now and the humidity meter has dropped to about 82-83.
its amazing how you can just stare at tarantulas for so long and not get bored 
thanks
Chino


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## Stelios

Those gauges are poo. The ideal humidty/temp' unit I have found is this.








The other thing is an infrared thermometer, these are the only sensors that the external probe that picks up humidity and temp' as well as the internal unit, that I have found on the net.
The ones that I used to buy before you had to have then whole thing in the terr', and one for each tank got a bit expensive at 20 squid a pop.
Also over time they used to get grubby from being in the terr'.
Now when I want to check the levels I just plonk the probe in each setup for a bit and Bobs your aunt in drag.


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## kris74

Chino said:


> I've left the lid off for about 5-10 minutes now and the humidity meter has dropped to about 82-83.
> its amazing how you can just stare at tarantulas for so long and not get bored
> thanks
> Chino


Yeah, pretty fascinating just watching them do their thing isn't it. I caught my versi sling setting up for a moult a couple of nights ago. It's my 1st arboreal so I was a bit unsure about it but it's settled down ok, took 6 weeks from getting to moulting. had to rehouse it as I couldn't get the humidity right in the 1st set up. Put it in this new one and a few days later there it was, upside down giving itself a nice new suit  my H.mac which I bought at the same time moulted in a week or so after getting it in a nice dry tub.

If you do the lid thing periodically it should be fine but the humidity will go up again once the lid is back on but should come down in increments. Probably best for the spider as it's not going from one extreme to the other.


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## Chino

kris74 said:


> Yeah, pretty fascinating just watching them do their thing isn't it. I caught my versi sling setting up for a moult a couple of nights ago. It's my 1st arboreal so I was a bit unsure about it but it's settled down ok, took 6 weeks from getting to moulting. had to rehouse it as I couldn't get the humidity right in the 1st set up. Put it in this new one and a few days later there it was, upside down giving itself a nice new suit  my H.mac which I bought at the same time moulted in a week or so after getting it in a nice dry tub.
> 
> If you do the lid thing periodically it should be fine but the humidity will go up again once the lid is back on but should come down in increments. Probably best for the spider as it's not going from one extreme to the other.


yeah the humidity has gone back up too around 89 now, thats was leaving the lid on over night. I'm going to leave the lid off for a few hours tonight and see what happens.
i was originally going to get one of the digital meters, but as it was coming up to pay day i didn't want to spend the last of my money on it, but i got payed last night, so i might go down to the shop and get one today, even just to test it out (i do like getting myself a new gadget ).
Thanks
Chino


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## snowgoose

Stelios said:


> Those gauges are poo. The ideal humidty/temp' unit I have found is this.
> image
> The other thing is an infrared thermometer, these are the only sensors that the external probe that picks up humidity and temp' as well as the internal unit, that I have found on the net.
> The ones that I used to buy before you had to have then whole thing in the terr', and one for each tank got a bit expensive at 20 squid a pop.
> Also over time they used to get grubby from being in the terr'.
> Now when I want to check the levels I just plonk the probe in each setup for a bit and Bobs your aunt in drag.


I have to admit I use the same combometers and must say they are definitely worth the price tag that comes with them :no1:


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## Chino

do you have a link to where i could get one of those combo meters ? and what sort of price are they ?
Thanks
Chino


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## snowgoose

I buy them from here but I don't know if Stelios gets his elsewhere.

I pay £24 each for them, so not cheap.

External Probe Hygro Thermometer


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## Chino

snowgoose said:


> I buy them from here but I don't know if Stelios gets his elsewhere.
> 
> I pay £24 each for them, so not cheap.
> 
> External Probe Hygro Thermometer


Thanks, im going to look at the reptile shop near me and see if they have any of these or something similar, if not i will order one online.
Thanks
Chino


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## freedomisle

Rehome it for a day. Take lid of tank off and place over a heat source. Will totally dry it out and enable you to start over.


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## GRB

Just ignore it. In a few days it'll be fine unless you add more water. Spiders in the wild occassionally get wet and dry periods, it's not a big stress. 

I just do humidity by eye, I've yet to come across an adult spider that will care if the humidity is 88% rather 86% so those digital ones are a bit overkill. 

The exception of course, is for smaller spiderlings or when trying to culture something for the first time (as in, first in the hobby).


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## Chino

hmm, i bought one of the digital hydrometer's its saying 82% on it but the non digital one is still in there and it says 90%.
oh well it seems fine in there for him/her so ill leave it be for now and just keep the lid off for a few hours a night untill it gets down to about 75% on the digital.
Thanks
Chino


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