Substrate Dampness

[Princeofpita]

Hi all, once again dealing with humidity issues with my Halmahera. So for some reason I can't seem to keep the humidity up. I feel like I have tried all the different tricks I have seen (mister, covering ventilation holes, substrate changes, humid hides, larger water dish, etc.) and still can't seem to keep it above 70% for very long. Currently I have cypress mulch and coco fiber substrate with sphagnum moss scattered throughout, a mister set to spray for 30 seconds every hour, spraying twice a day and a humidifier in my room to boost the ambient humidity. My issue seems to be that with the mister operating all day the substrate gets too wet and doesn't have a chance to dry out at all but the humidity is still too low. Any thoughts on how to remedy this? I obviously don't want the substrate to be wet all the time but I am also worried that the humidity will drop too low.

[rixusaku]

Maybe you can try getting a new humidity reader and compare the results?? Seems like it might be broken if you've tried all of that and can't get above 70%. I can easily get to 80-90% by accident in my humid hide without it being wet in there, it just has a little moisture in the substrate that's dried out overnight before putting it in the hide. It's really strange to me that after everything you've tried, including the substrate being wet, is only reading at 70%.

[splashy07]

Post a picture of your setup.

[Herpin Man]

Have you tried soaking the substrate on the hot end of the enclosure?

[Princeofpita]

Sorry all, I will post a picture when I get home. To clarify I can get it up into the 80s after misting by hand on the hot side but drops down into the 60s a few hours after.

[Princeofpita]

For reference, in the drop down there is a 100w heat emitter for hot spot and young ambient temps. The cool side stays wet, not damp with the mister running at 1 hour intervals spraying for 20 seconds. Top mesh is covered. Middle probe measuring heat and humidity. Hot side probe measuring temps. Don’t mind the ugly wiring and routing. Just trying to get parameters right before solidifying everything.

[pongpaeng]

What is your enclosure made of?

[splashy07]

Better off with a standard bulb. Heat emitters dry the air out very fast.

[Princeofpita]

Better off with a standard bulb. Heat emitters dry the air out very fast.

So I’ve actually switched it up slightly and put a fogger in to raise the ambient humidity any time it drops below 80%. Swapped out the CHE for a bulb and have been misting it daily in the morning and evening for humidity spikes. That seems to be doing the trick. Thank you all for the suggestions!!

[Princeofpita]

What is your enclosure made of?

It’s made of a high density plastic.