News, and Question!

[Pepper]

Exo Terra 18x18x24 is on the way!! yayness!

I see a product at our chain pet store called, Hydro Balls, it says it raises the humidity in like tropical rain forest set ups.

Anyone know how they work?

 

[kyahbean]

So jealous of your new tank. I want the long one for Puzzle but it's like $300 LOL.

Have you looked into buying a humidifier to up your humidity levels?

 

[rubym]

Do you know who makes these Hydro Balls? I wanted to check with a friend that owns a pet store and see if she can get some details on them.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

Yep, know plenty about this stuff. It's normally used as a drainage substrate. You normally put a two inch layer of this down, then the polyester mat, then your potting mix. Polyester keeps your potting soil from mixing with the "Hydro Balls" (these folks call it "Terra-Lite"). That website also has some GREAT planted enclosure tips and tricks. With that stuff, you have the start of a fantastic planted enclosure for your crested!

*** One tip though - I wouldn't suggest that you breed in an enclosure like that, or keep an egg-laying female in it. You'll end up digging the whole thing up looking for eggs.

 

[Pepper]

No, I'm only keeping my one boy in it, I think he'll love it

I also ordered a moto mister, because it's a pain in the butt to spray with a regular mister, this one is motorized, mwahaha.

I'm thinking about getting some sort of humidifier/fogger, but we'll see if I can keep the humidity up in the new tank, if I can't I'll get something fancy!

I think the reason I have a problem now is because like, the entire front of it is just a screen, so that's a lot of air flow.

I also ordered him a rainforest UTH, it's lower wattage, and since this is Alaska, he may need a small amount of heat.

Do the hydro balls raise the humidity? I am thinking about getting some real plants eventually.

I like lucky bamboo, although I don't think it does well in soil..

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

No, I'm only keeping my one boy in it, I think he'll love it

I also ordered a moto mister, because it's a pain in the butt to spray with a regular mister, this one is motorized, mwahaha.

I use a regular mister and it works fine with my seven cresteds.

I'm thinking about getting some sort of humidifier/fogger, but we'll see if I can keep the humidity up in the new tank, if I can't I'll get something fancy!

Do your research and ask questions, because some of those foggers used to get REALLY hot. Not sure if that's still the case, but you don't want to risk burning your pet.

I think the reason I have a problem now is because like, the entire front of it is just a screen, so that's a lot of air flow.

I use a regular 20 on its side with a screen top for my breeders and have the same problem, so you're probably right.

I also ordered him a rainforest UTH, it's lower wattage, and since this is Alaska, he may need a small amount of heat.

Believe it or not, he'll benefit more from the UTH being on the side of the enclosure than the bottom. I'd suggest mounting it to one of the sides so he can get away from the heat when he wants to.

Do the hydro balls raise the humidity? I am thinking about getting some real plants eventually.

Those things hold moisture extremely well. You can even put some house plants exclusively in this stuff (i.e., no soil) and they'll still grow! :main_yes:

I like lucky bamboo, although I don't think it does well in soil.

I can't help you much with Bamboo, sorry. Best of Luck, and post pictures!

 

[brian547]

i use bamboo...looks good and easy to clean but its a pain in the *** if they go in it and u try to get them out. i try to cap off the ends with tape.

 

[Pepper]

It's hard to mist for me, maybe I have a crappy mister, but it won't mist unless I am holding it straight up, and I figure it was work the extra 10 bucks to just get a nice steady mister. It will also work great for Watson my baby tiger salamander, who needs a nice cool moist environment.

A lot of the new foggers are outside of the tank now, and just have a tube going inside, or the ones I've seen.

Yeah the 20 long is getting really annoying, I'm having to keep the screen on with duck tape and it just doesn't stay moist past an hour no matter how much I mist it.

Thank you, I was going to ask if it should be on the side.

Thanks for the info on the hydro balls, I can probably put some lucky bamboo in there and some other tall plants.

Can any plants work, like, spider plants, or could those be toxic?

I think he'd be too big to get in the bamboo.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

I'm not really the live plant expert, but as I recall Ficus is a good plant type to put in Crested enclosures. And as a matter of fact, there are Ficus in their native environment. Black Jungle has some great live plant info, and you can do some internet searches regarding New Caledonia plantlife.

Regarding the UTH, attaching it to the side is the way to go for pretty much any arboreal species. Glad I was able to help! :main_yes:

 

[kyahbean]

I dunno what a fogger is, or what you are referring to there LOL maybe it's something like special or something. I just have something like at this link here, but mine isn't all fancy and digital. Mine I think is like $20 or $25 at WalMart. You just put it in the room your tanks are in and is raises humidity in the room. (It also helped *me* a lot, I haven't woken up in the middle of the night with my throat all dry like I usually do all winter long.)

I have Puzzle in our bedroom, and before the humidifier it was like 5%, 8% humidity at the most. Probably because it's winter and winter is drier. (Maybe Alaska is drier too because of the colder weather, could be another factor to your humidity problems) The humidifier brought the levels to 40%-50% within a day. It's adjustable too, so you can monitor the levels if they are too high/low.

 

[Pepper]

The only thing is, I have a lot of other reptiles in my room that can't have high amounts of humidity T_T

 

[kyahbean]

The only thing is, I have a lot of other reptiles in my room that can't have high amounts of humidity T_T

Ooooh. Well that's different. I'm not sure then lol