Keeping moist hide moist

[Pepper]

I'm afraid my moist hide may not be keeping very moist..
It's one of those little coconut things, and I have paper towel and moss in it that I mist and such, but it doesn't seem to stay moist for very long, and I'm afraid when he has his first shed with me, something is going to go wrong, thanks to all the horror stories on here and gruesome pictures of bad sheds......

Is there something I can do to prevent bad sheds, and keep a humid hide humid??

Yes I'm a first time worrying parent......!:main_laugh:

 

[LizMarie]

Lol @ being a first time parent...

Does that coconut hide thing have a bottom? like is it enclosed with a just the entrance/exit?

Which side is your hide on?

 

[Pepper]

No, the coconut doesn't have a bottom, but I use the paper towel as a bottom and moss on top.

I'll show a pic, I just remember I took some pics a few days ago! It's nothing elaborate right now, due to the lack of our chain pet stores equipment!

The big hide on the right is over his UTH, and has a lot of cracks and step ups in the hide, it's awesome haha.

Then he has a large crystal purple clear rock that covers a large part of his tank, a water dish and then a large rock hanging over which serves as another hide and basking/belly heat.

On the left he has a plant that he can hide under/in when he gets too hot, I've seen him sleeping behind it for a little while. Then he has the coconut which he is in right now, but I know the paper towel and moss is bone dry, so he's probably in it to cool off.

The toilet paper is where he goes to the bathroom, which is soo cool he only goes in one spot.

I was thinking if I start to see him get pale, to put some moist moss in his hot hide since its soo big just put it in one of the corner, but I don't know...

I had it set up like this a few days ago...

Then purchased a nicer shallower water dish and was able to make a 3rd hide.
I do have a red light on that emits some heat on one half of the tank where is UTH is, I turn the light off at night, but leave his UTH on so he can digest his food.

This is the coconut, would it just be better to try and find a better hide?

He's a baby so he's only in a 10 gallon.

 

[LizMarie]

Cute tank i have a 10-gallon tank but I have an adult.

Just a little advice you might want to put the Humid Hide over the UTH so it can build up moisture. You might also want something enclosed like a plastic container or you might want to glue some plastic to the bottom of your hide. The wetness that helps build up the humidity could be getting sucked up by the paper towel and out into the enclosure. I don't see how much moss you really have in there but it seems like you can put a little bit more and mist twice a day.

I personally use a tupperware container with paper towels but with paper towels you have to mist it a few times a day to get the moisture up there but I plan to use moss soon ( i hear it's one of the best humid hide substrates). I also keep mine over the UTH and can see the condensation on the inside of the container.

 

[Pepper]

Yeah moss holds moisture pretty well, it just doesn't seem to in his tank, for my tiger salamander it has to stay really moist so I use organic soil with moss that I've soaked and rung out over the top, and I don't usually have to wet it again until the night.

 

[Snowy & Petra de Gecko]

Yeah

It has or should be over the warm spot. Also it should be an enclosed container.:main_yes:

 

[voretaq7]

It looks like you have repti-carpet, so I think the water is wicking out through the paper towel, into the carpet and evaporating away. If you put a waterproof bottom on the hide it will probably help -- the bottom of a cool whip / country crock / etc. container would fit the bill.

Personally I took a country crock container, cut a leo-sized hole in the side and stuck wet paper towels in it - I get 2 days before I have to mist, and I could go 3 in a pinch.

It's definitely not as nice looking as your coconut, but my tank is still in the "this is ugly, I need to do better" stages so I'm putting up with it for now If you start with a country crock container (grey-brown) and wrap vines or something around it you could probably get something decent looking out of it.


(If you go the plastic tub hide route a few seconds with a match or lighter will make the edge of the entrance hole smooth. You can also use a mild abrasive/polishing agent like Soft Scrub or Barkeeper's Friend and a little elbow grease to get the logos/lettering off the container - just be extra-specially-super-paranoid about washing it out when you're done )

 

[Snowy & Petra de Gecko]

Very Good VoreTag7

That would work and is a great idea to keep the costs down.

Don't worry about an ugly tank as long as your Leos are healthy.

 

[LizMarie]

I plan to make a new hide out of a "I can't believe it's not butter" container. My plan is to glue sand on to it then glue some plastic plants around it once I re do the tank.

 

[laurlaur12]

I know that this thread is a couple days old, but i had success with a new (new to me anyway) method. I was going to be out of town for about 4 days, right when i though Newton woudl be shedding, and i didnt want her hide to dry out. It's a tupperware with a hole cut into it lined with paper towel, but i put a soaked sponge under the towel, and it stayed wet all weekend.

 

[kyahbean]

My moist hide is an upside-down tupperware container. I soak paper towels and let the water drip out of them mostly, then put it on the lid of the container and put the container in upside-down. Sara, you probably saw this in the shedding pics of Puzzle I recently posted.

It works really really well. The plastic allows the moisture to bead up on the sides, and he drinks that. It stays humid for days, no need to mist, just change the paper towel every couple of days. Puzzle loves it and spends hours and hours in there. Plus he has had a successful shed.

 

[Lady_Kiya]

I had this same problem so this is what I did. I took a plastic tupperware container and cut a hole big enough for Kiya to get in into the lid. I then used a lighter to make sure the edges would not be too sharp for her. Then from there I pu tthe the paper towl, dampened it and put it in. I pu the coconut on top of the container, with the exit facing outward. I find it retains moisture longer when the coconut is over the hole in the container.

 

[Pepper]

Yeah, I have done that now, haha, it's in my new and improved again, thread

I just used a Tupperware container and the coconut is now on the cool side for another hide.

It is working really well, I have some organic soil, wet paper towels, and moss in it, and it is staying quite humid.

 

[kyahbean]

Excellent.