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Planted tank

Still trying to find the best way to control humidity. I use to have a small high speed exhaust fan connected to a timer. When it was on, it would create a good wind storm and air things out really fast, but once it cut off the humidity would quickly rise again. Now I'm trying a larger lower speed fan and I have it on 24/7. With this set up I can just barely feel the air circulating and it keeps the humidity at 70% or below. Is it ok to have a very slight breeze on all the time?
 
Slight breeze, sure. Can't say I've heard of any negative effects of good air circulation. I'd rather have a slight breeze and lower humidity runnin through my girls enclosure than have the humidity too high, especially without the constant circulation.
 
I've just put my Okeetee corn Isis into a 40 gallon planted bioactive vivarium and she has explored it but spends most of her time burrowed into the substrate. I got her from a breeder so I'm guessing this is the first time she has had a chance to burrow properly. I would like to set up a similar tank for my Thayer's kingsnake Ra but I'm not sure if that will work for him as he is a desert species. I do keep a leopard gecko in bioactive with humidity in the 50% range which seems to work well and has really improved his shedding problems so I don't see why it shouldn't work with appropriate low water plants, but I wanted to check because I am worried the increased humidity will give him respiratory problems. Does anyone here have experience of planted/bioactive set ups with species that require lower humidity?
 
Karen, I'm curious to see what answers you get! I've wondered the same thing. There was a time that I daydreamed about having everyone in bioactive vivs, including the arid climate Rosy boas I had at the time, but often worried about whether it would work/be healthy.

I did once try using eco earth for a Schneider's skink as kind of an early "test" to see if live plants could be accomplished, but found this little arid burrower quickly began developing scale rot-like spots whenever the substrate became at all moist. So back to dry aspen or cypress. :(

That's an arid lizard from Africa, though, so probably not the best comparison to an arid snake from NA. I seem to recall The Art of Keeping Snakes touching on arid climate bioactive vivs in a couple chapters, so it may be worth the read! I'll have to see if I can track down my copy tomorrow...
 
Thank you Floof, I had forgotten to check the Art of Keeping Snakes! It recommends either sandy soil or BSS so I will give a go using plants with low water needs and aim to keep the humidity under 50%. First though we have to clear space in our rec room for the tank - which could take a while as it is has become a kind of general dumping ground for unused furniture, boxes and my husbands half done projects....
 
KarenL said:
I've just put my Okeetee corn Isis into a 40 gallon planted bioactive vivarium and she has explored it but spends most of her time burrowed into the substrate. I got her from a breeder so I'm guessing this is the first time she has had a chance to burrow properly. I would like to set up a similar tank for my Thayer's kingsnake Ra but I'm not sure if that will work for him as he is a desert species. I do keep a leopard gecko in bioactive with humidity in the 50% range which seems to work well and has really improved his shedding problems so I don't see why it shouldn't work with appropriate low water plants, but I wanted to check because I am worried the increased humidity will give him respiratory problems. Does anyone here have experience of planted/bioactive set ups with species that require lower humidity?
Click to expand...
What about Bromelids? I love pothos for my gecko planted tanks, and have started adding the Bromelids to a couple of them.
 
Thanks Heather. I've planted a couple of small Cryptanthus in my cornsnake's tank and so far they seem to be doing OK despite the fact I've had to replant them a couple of times because of Isis's burrowing activity. I use bromeliads (the potted kind you can buy at Lowes and Home Depot planted into the substrate, plus Tillandsia airplants on the branches in the tanks) in the tropical set ups for my rhacs and they thrive in the very humid atmosphere, but I'm not sure how well they would do in a drier environment as they are rain/cloud forest plants. I guess there is no harm experimenting as most have very small root systems so it would be easy to remove anything that didn't work out without messing up the substrate too much.
 
A couple other ideas, the ZZ plant, which I do not know much about, other than they are pretty hardy and do pretty good with neglect, so they would probably do ok in drier soil.
Or maybe something like Aloe Vera...?
 
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