How to lower humidity?

[Boa'sUnlimited]

Hey

My temps are good, 90 - 93 hot side, 80 - 85 cool side (maybe lower sometimes)

But, my humidity is way to high, its at 72%. How can I lower it?

I took the lid off the tub and its still at 72, maybe its the humidity in the room? Will opening a window help?

Any advice on how to lower the humidity is very appreciated (also please note that the water bowl is on the cool side)

thanks!

 

[Neville]

The place I live in also gets quite humid in the summer. I didnt think about the humidity but I take it they dont like it much coming from such a dry environment?

 

[Boa'sUnlimited]

The place I live in also gets quite humid in the summer. I didnt think about the humidity but I take it they dont like it much coming from such a dry environment?

Thats why im worried

I know they come from desert areas, But I heard they hide in deep holes that are really damp and moist.. soo.. I dunno

I do want to lower it though, any suggestions on how I could do that?

I tried putting holes in the top of the lid, I have 20 holes in the sides, and I have a fan blowing over the tub to dry it out but its still at 70%

Keep in mind this is a digital hygrometer/thermometer so im fairly sure that its accurate

 

[Imperial Geckos]

get a dehumidifier for the room. i dont think any tub can have 70%+ humidity without a lid. Unless the substrate is drenched in water.

 

[acpart]

I can't even maintain that level of humidity in some of my planted tanks (at the top anyway). I find the issue of humidity with desert animals confusing. They do live in a dry environment, but as you mentioned, they spend most of the day in caves and burrows where they may be in a more humid microclimate. A few years ago I had a tank of SW banded geckos who are maintained very much like leopard geckos and come from the SW US. Since they were in the bottom unit of a stacked tank, there was no place for the moisture to go and it was quite humid. They loved it. I guess you could decrease the humidity by installing a dehumidifier but that's expensive to run (I could get air conditioning for my living room to help on the hot summer days but I'm not going to do that either). By mid fall on the east coast the heat will be on and then the humidity will go way down. The gecko(s) will probably be fine either way.

Aliza

 

[Boa'sUnlimited]

get a dehumidifier for the room. i dont think any tub can have 70%+ humidity without a lid. Unless the substrate is drenched in water.

Lol, I have a dehumidifier. but it doesnt work >.<

The substrait is also not drenched in water, its newspaper and the water bowl I have is only like 2 cm high, and a inch or two wide. so even if I dumped it on the newspaper it wouldnt wet it to much

I can't even maintain that level of humidity in some of my planted tanks (at the top anyway). I find the issue of humidity with desert animals confusing. They do live in a dry environment, but as you mentioned, they spend most of the day in caves and burrows where they may be in a more humid microclimate. A few years ago I had a tank of SW banded geckos who are maintained very much like leopard geckos and come from the SW US. Since they were in the bottom unit of a stacked tank, there was no place for the moisture to go and it was quite humid. They loved it. I guess you could decrease the humidity by installing a dehumidifier but that's expensive to run (I could get air conditioning for my living room to help on the hot summer days but I'm not going to do that either). By mid fall on the east coast the heat will be on and then the humidity will go way down. The gecko(s) will probably be fine either way.

Aliza

Its amazing that you cant maintain the humidity like that even in a planted tank :O that really suprises me. I just shows how bloody humid it is here

I also find the issue of humidity in desert animals confusing too :main_huh:

Im just gonna ignore it. I know a few people in my general area who own leopard geckos and none of them even use a hygrometer and thier leopard geckos are fine. They are in the same humidity that mine is in

So its probably not worth stressing over, and like you said, to buy a humidifier and run it would cost way to much (keep in mind, im 16 )

 

[dirtypaulie]

I used to own emperor scorpions years back & had to keep it very humid for them & what I did was get a pc of plexi glass & put it over the top of the tank & misted the tank daily. The plexi I put on top of the screen had 5 holes in it 1 1/2" in diameter. The tank was a 20 long

 

[UnicornSpirit]

Air conditioners also help pull the moisture out of the air. If your house doesn't have central AC then you could always purchase a window unit for your gecko room. They are so cheap and energy efficient these days, too!

 

[M_surinamensis]

I can't even maintain that level of humidity in some of my planted tanks (at the top anyway). I find the issue of humidity with desert animals confusing. They do live in a dry environment, but as you mentioned, they spend most of the day in caves and burrows where they may be in a more humid microclimate. A few years ago I had a tank of SW banded geckos who are maintained very much like leopard geckos and come from the SW US. Since they were in the bottom unit of a stacked tank, there was no place for the moisture to go and it was quite humid. They loved it. I guess you could decrease the humidity by installing a dehumidifier but that's expensive to run (I could get air conditioning for my living room to help on the hot summer days but I'm not going to do that either). By mid fall on the east coast the heat will be on and then the humidity will go way down. The gecko(s) will probably be fine either way.

Aliza

Microhabitat deviating from area habitat.

A really obvious example- many dart frogs.

They come from the South American rain forest. So some people set up a habitat that emulates the Amazon Basin in Brazil, which is perfectly fine for a small number of them that actually originate there but most of them in the pet trade are from higher altitudes. To compound it even further, the microhabitat is not simply "rain forest" it is "ground level in areas with an extremely thick tree canopy that blocks most of the sunlight from ever reaching the leaf detritus." In other words- dark and cool, even though the area itself is hot and bright.

Same thing happens with a lot of tropical species, people subconsciously assume desert means 130 degree shifting windswept sand dunes. That is rarely the case to begin with- and then most desert species adapt to the low moisture content through physical and behavioral shifts (like subterranean inclinations, going down where it is cooler and damper). They go and they seek out an area inside a larger environment where the conditions are different.

Seventy percent humidity for a leopard gecko is high, I suspect prolonged exposure would leave them prone to respiratory infections, but variable microhabitat was the answer to your confusion.

 

[fuzzylogix]

what about this stuff?

http://www.damprid.com/

 

[Neville]

Whats an acceptable level? My dry is at 38 and cold 43. Its a hot damp day out so thats why its a little higher than usual for me.

 

[Alex G]

Are you keeping them in a tub? What are you using for a water dish? I had a similar problem with a cornsnake I kept in a sterilite tub once. I was using a clay flower dish for water not realizing that it was too porous to hold the water, and the plastic trapped the water... It resolved itself once I gave her a shallow, small water dish that was actually MADE to hold water