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Humid hides.

marty.warwick

marty.warwick

Original & Best
Well hello all.
I recently splashed out on the T-Hombre (Thanks for that name, Dean :rolleyes: )

Anyway, one of the products I bought, was the Exo-Terra Snake Cave, which, as some of you know, is supplied with some Sphagnum Moss to create a humid hide.

I was pleased to find that he LOVES it and, I'm not sure if he's actually come out since, but I check everynow and then and he's in there, under the moss.
Now, to create humidity, I soaked the moss on Saturday, and wrung it so barely any water dripped out, but was still damp. It's on the warm side, obviously to get the humid effect I want.
When I check to see if he's in there, and he has been for ages now. there's condensation on the inside, and the bottom is damp too (Water isn't gathering as such, but you can see its wet)
Now, as much as he likes it, should I restrict it's use to when in blue? The increased humidity can be good, but as he's in there all the time, it can't be good to his scales and such.
Maybe I should wet the moss during the shedding phase, and keep it dry the remainder of the time?
Any help would be good. :cheers:
 
I noticed the same with my snakes; they loved to sit in their humid hides! At first, I kept it in there all the time, because I couldn't tell when my snow was going to shed, and because my home is very dry in the winter time. Now that warmer (humid) weather is here, I find that my humid hide needs to have the moss changed more often (things, ahem, grow in it if it sits too long), and I don't want to risk not seeing if it has turned.

I believe there is the risk of respiratory infections, too. I have begun taking the humid hides out, and replacing them when I "think" my snakes are going to shed.

Frankly, I thought to myself "Hmm, they haven't shed in about a month," so I put the humid hides back into tanks. Sure enough, my normal has been in it for two days, and is blue as can be.
 
So far, those Snake Caves (I have two) are the best purchased hides that I have. The snakes love them, to the point that I don't have to look around to find them anymore (they were burrowers)...I just lift off the lid, pick up the moss, and there they are.

Back to the subject at hand.....I would mositen the moss during the blue phase, and let the snakes hide in there for no more than three days...and then I would replace the moss with new dry moss. This should aid the shedding process, but limit the problems that are associated with having too much moisture...in my opinion. This is what I do, and I have had success so far.

:spinner:
 
Cheers for the replies, I can safely say it's the best snake product I've bought!
Okay, So I will use dry moss for most of the time, And dampened moss when in blue, and to be safe I will limit it to no more than a couple of days :)
Thanks again :cheers:
 
:crazy02: OK so most of the time I am a little slow, I thought you were re-creating something from Silence of the Lambs "human hides" :roflmao: susan
 
Oh susan you nut bag lol. I have one for my snake. he only uses it when i put him in when he's in blue. he liked his little margine container from before though lol
 
i have 3 of the snake caves and my one loves them.I use moss when his colours starts fading before going blue.My ones are covered in aspen with only the door way visible :)
 
What I might do, instead of take it out, because he loves it so much, is put some of the substrate (wood chips) in there, and moss when he's in shed.
 
So...is it bad for the snakes to have a "humid hide" at all times? I thought I read somewhere on here that a few people keep humid hides in their vivs at all times :shrugs: ?

I made one today from a small, plastic coffee container. I drilled small holes all around it and in the bottom(which is actually the top as it sits in the tank)with an X-acto knife, cut a hole for her to get in and out of it, and stuck a moistened washcloth up in the top(which is the bottom of the container). She has been in there since I put it in the tank. She LOVES it.

Should I not have the moistened washcloth in there if she isn't in blue?

The reason I made it was because she has had a small patch of dry skin from her last shed(before I got her) on her tail, and I was hoping a humid hide would help it to come off.
 
There's a risk for scale rot if the snake is in too humid of an environment for too long. A humid hide can help to get a shed off, but they don't really need one unless your humidity is much below 40%.
 
Well, she absolutely loves the darn thing. So I will leave it in there, I'll simply remove the moistened washcloth and substitue a fresh, dry one.

Thanks for the response.
 
It depends on the humidity levels in your viv. I used one because I am using an aquarium with a screen top for a viv. That combined with the fact that I live in the desert means that it is difficult for me to maintain any humidity much above 30%, even with daily misting. So, when my snake goes blue, I put one in and let her soak up the humidity inside to help with the shed.
 
unbakedbrownie said:
So do I need a humid hide for my corn, at all, since I live in Louisiana?
Click to expand...

It all depends on your situtation. A humid hide should only be used if you are experience low humitidy problems or usually to aid during shedding. If you've had a bad shed I'd add one to the cage when your snake goes into the blue again and maybe also mist your cage once a day till he sheds.
 
Sorry I forgot to add, that if you use a humid hide and your conditions are fine then you can increase the chances of scale rot...
 
unbakedbrownie said:
So do I need a humid hide for my corn, at all, since I live in Louisiana?
Click to expand...

I doubt it. In Louisiana, the ambient humidity should be well within their tolerance range. If your corn regularly has bad sheds, you might want to add one, but otherwise, you don't really need it.
 
I'm in Florida, and I've had snakes do incomplete sheds. If they like it, and they do, let them have a humid hide for at least the shedding period! And the two guys that I tried damp paper towels on, last shed, hated it, and they are both happily now in moss hides. (I ran out of moss last time.) And, Choco keeps his hide all the time, though I don't add water to it, and he is fine. He loves it in there.

Nanci
 
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