# Reptile Humidifiers



## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I know this is rather off topic, but I know we have quite a few reptile people on here, so I thought I'd ask. (And it's easier to ask here, where I already trust most people, than to try and find a reptile board that seems trustworthy.)

Does anyone know of any good (and not horribly expensive) reptile humidifiers that can be mounted on the inside of a tank? Or, if most commercial ones aren't really worth the money, a good way to make a homemade one? 

The reason I'm asking is because I'm beyond frustrated with my coworkers recently regarding our two ball pythons. I'm not sure that anyone else mists them when I'm not there, and it's hard to tell if anyone does because it's not often enough to make a big difference. The tank needs to be misted several times a day at least in order to keep the humidity even high enough for normal levels, much less shedding levels. I can't guarantee that even I can get time to do this sometimes when we're busy, much less get anyone to do it when I'm not there. There's only me and one other coworker who will even handle them. :roll: And of course, with the crappy humidity levels, both snakes have had issues with shedding, and I'm pretty sure both have sections of stuck shed right now. My manager keeps trying to tell me that it's not that big of a problem and it'll clear up during the next shed...But exactly how does he expect it to do that when the same situation will probably just repeat itself the next time they shed? :roll: :evil: I'm not sure how many times it takes for it to turn into a very serious issue, but I don't really want to find out the hard way. :? 

The cheapest working option is much preferred...I don't actually have the money to spend on this right now, but I'm currently ignoring my common sense on that anyway. :lol:


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Upon thinking about this more, I thought of a way to actually relate it to hedgehogs. :lol: I wonder if these could be used for hedgie cages, to help raise the humidity in cages for hedgies that have major issues with dry skin....Hm. Anyone see any major issues with the idea, or has anyone ever tried it?


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## basmati (Feb 13, 2009)

This is something I wonder about--and with limited experience, my remedies include some cheap/and additional things. 

First--after I clean and rinse off things from the cage, i.e., wheel, tube, ect, I shake them and set them back in with a bit of moisture. I have the thermometre set up with the ceramic heating system. Second, my cage is off of the ground, and I have a huge pot underneath, so, to take advantage of any extra heat energy given off by the ceramic heater, moisture is added slowly to the air. And thirdly, more $$, to speed things up, I include a humidifier. 

I also remember someone mentioning on the forum that they hang their clothes to dry --which adds moisture......could you moisten a towel around the side of your cage with a ceramic heater??

In the store in which you work, how close are the snakes to the aquariums? Hopefully someone can help out on the snake side of things...It would be hard to imagine an oatmeal bath with a python!


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

They have mistinf systems which basically sprays it for you. They are not cheap. 
Just make sure they have a water bowl big enough for them to soak in. If they are shedding or need the moisture they will just climb in


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

There's a couple of large water bowls in there and I try to keep them both as full as possible. I'm not sure they're big enough for one of them to get all the way in, but they could get mostly in and they're the biggest bowls we have. However, I don't think either snake really gets in them much anyway. I've never seen them in the bowls or trying to get in. One of them, when she was having trouble shedding previously, I took her out and gave her a sponge bath and that helped get her mostly clean, but she wasn't too pleased with it. She's the nicer of the two, otherwise I probably would've been bitten. :lol: And the main reason I did it was because she had shedding skin stuck on her head, and her eyecaps were still there and that made me anxious. 

One thing I do still have my fingers crossed for is Rainey got some stuff from our vet that's used with snakes having shedding problems. She's looking for it, but I may call the vet and ask him how much it costs and see about buying it.


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

Easy cheap way to help would be to take a plastic tubberwear, cut a hole in the side, and put wet moss inside (paper towels if u dont have moss). They will use this as a hidebox and it will be veru moist. Skin should come right off. Eyecaps can be a problem. If they dont come off on their own then someone needs to remove them. That should be done by someone experienced


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I'll see if we can fit that in the tank. I know one of my managers has been planning to move one of them into another tank so they both have more room, but I guess he just ordered more animals, so I'm not sure if there's something new getting the empty tank instead. If he does separate them, we'll have room to put a tupperware container in, I think. Otherwise I'll see if I can work one in somewhere...Might be able to take something out in order to put one in. Thank you for the suggestion! And yeah, the one snake's eyecaps did come off after a couple of baths, I was very relieved. Neither of them have had eyecaps (that I've seen) since then.


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

I'm not much help but I can recommend two great reptile communitys that can help a bit. 
iherp.com
ball-pythons.net


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

Feel free to msg me anytime. I been keeping herps for over a decade and have worked with many different species. Sounds like you work in a petstore?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Thanks SUAS! And thanks Mike! I do work at a pet store...Not my best choice for a job, it drives me crazy half the time. :roll:


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

Lilysmommy said:


> Thanks SUAS! And thanks Mike! I do work at a pet store...Not my best choice for a job, it drives me crazy half the time. :roll:


I am curious to what they gave to help the shed?


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## ShutUpAndSmile (Mar 7, 2011)

Also a good way to help with shed is if you have some spare time take them out and put them in some water with a wash cloth in it and let them move around (kinda like hedgie bath deep)
I usually have my water at 85 degrees to start. 
Let them soak for 20mins each or so. It does wonders!


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

jerseymike1126 said:


> Lilysmommy said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks SUAS! And thanks Mike! I do work at a pet store...Not my best choice for a job, it drives me crazy half the time. :roll:
> ...


Aaaaabsolutely nothing. :roll: There is only me and one other coworker (a stocker) that's even willing to handle the snakes. Neither of my main managers will hold them, and the one who knows more about the animals is actually terrified of snakes and hates them. Won't let me come closer than a couple feet if I'm holding one of them (which isn't often, I don't get much time to get them out since I'm a cashier and our animal area is out of sight of the register). I was the only one who noticed the shedding issues or was even concerned about it. My store manager even just said that that was why she quit ordering snakes - the eye caps got stuck repeatedly with every shed until the snake died. :evil:



ShutUpAndSmile said:


> Also a good way to help with shed is if you have some spare time take them out and put them in some water with a wash cloth in it and let them move around (kinda like hedgie bath deep)
> I usually have my water at 85 degrees to start.
> Let them soak for 20mins each or so. It does wonders!


Yup, I did that with the one who was having trouble shedding eye caps. It ended up having to be a sponge bath though, she got scared when I tried to put her down in the water and was trying frantically to get out. She wasn't a fan of the sponge bath method either, but she calmed down a bit at least. I can't remember which one is currently shedding again, I believe it's the more easy-going one (that I bathed before). The other snake is much more defensive and frightens easily, so I haven't tried giving her a bath yet. I work tomorrow, so I'll be able to check on both of them. Depending on how they're doing, I might stay after I get off at four and try soaking the one who's shedding right now, and handle them both a bit.


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

I thought u said they got something for it. Never heard of anything besides water being used. Its a shame that these places get animals but wont hire an animal specialist. Ball pythons are very timid and normally docile animals. If you got a nippy one, hold it behind its head and it cant tag you. Baby's dont have much to their bite so no need to be afraid. 

Eye caps can easily be removed with a pair of tweezers. Mistakes can be bad though


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

Sorry, a friend of mine (she's on here as Rainey, she just doesn't come on much anymore) had something from the vet for her hedgehog, that's usually used on snakes with shedding problems, but I'm not sure what it is. If she finds it, or if I end up talking to the vet about it, I'll let you know what the name is!

She hasn't actually bitten me yet, but she strikes a lot when she's out, and gets easily frightened back into a ball. So I think it's just that she's pretty nervous/defensive. I wasn't sure how hard they could bite, and didn't really want to find out the hard way, so I haven't done much with her yet. Depending on my work shifts, I think I'm going to start getting them out for a few minutes after my shifts if I have the time. I just don't get a chance to when I'm working. 

With what I've read so far on forums and sites, I don't think I'll probably try much to manually take off eye caps, if the situation happens again...Too nervous about hurting them or blinding them. The most I did with the one who had trouble with them was lightly wipe a damp towel over her head to at least moisten them a bit. Even that made me nervous! :lol:


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## jerseymike1126 (Jan 20, 2011)

I would use anything else besides water for helping the shed. Sounds like you work for a petco or a petsmart. I know these places are required by corporate to use a vet when needed. Problem is managers don't always do this. If thats the case tell me the store location and i will write a complaint as if i was a customer who saw this. District manager should make your store manager seek vet assistance


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

It's a Pet Supplies Plus actually, and though we're corporate-owned, in order to get permission to take an animal to the vet, a request to do so has to be filed first. Our particular store is very small, and doesn't sell animals often at all. Most of what we do sell is hamsters/feeder animals/parakeets. Sometimes small reptiles, usually leopard geckos. So according to my managers (and it does make sense to me, as much as I don't like it), even if we did write a request to take an animal to the vet, it'd probably get ignored or denied, unless the animal in question was something like a ferret (i.e. expensive and a more sell-able animal). With our store, our animal sales wouldn't make it monetarily worth it to pay vet bills on a sick animal. Everything comes down to money. :roll: :evil: I've asked my managers a couple times regarding other animals and this is the response I always get. I do what I can, and I've brought animals home with me before (baby bearded dragon) and taken them to the vet (baby parakeet), but I can't do very much. So far, the four main animals I've tried to save have all died (the bearded dragon, the parakeet, a zebra finch, and a leopard gecko).


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