Humidity issues

[Motherofdragons0727]

So I just got a new hydrometer/thermometer for Godzilla's tank. I put it in the far corner, farthest corner away from his basking spot and the bulb because i figured it'd be most accurate. It's reading 47% and reading at 85.2°F There is no water in his water dish and we live in Florida. His opposite corner where the regular thermometer next to his basking spot is reading 92.3°F. How do I get the humidity down to between 20 and 40% like it should be?

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

So I just got a new hydrometer/thermometer for Godzilla's tank. I put it in the far corner, farthest corner away from his basking spot and the bulb because i figured it'd be most accurate. It's reading 47% and reading at 85.2°F There is no water in his water dish and we live in Florida. His opposite corner where the regular thermometer next to his basking spot is reading 92.3°F. How do I get the humidity down to between 20 and 40% like it should be?

I have same issue with humidity Mother. Very humid and wet here most times year round. So far peeps have suggested running a dehumidifier near his tank and putting rice socks/bags around or hidden inside his cage. It does help some, but on very humid days I still have trouble keeping it down. I end up closing all my windows and running our huge ceiling fans as well as smaller fans near his tank (not blowing on, but near) as well as the dehumidifier to try and get air flow going on high humidity days. Once, we lit a small fire in our wood furnace to try and help bring humidity down in our house. Blah was very warm inside that day. lol I have to mist him outside his cage now and I only keep his water bowl in his tank for about an hour at a time throughout the day. I take it out at night as he sleeps like the dead and barely moves so no need to add to the humidity at night.

Once when I was adding some of his clay around the bottoms of his rocks to keep crickets from hiding under them I used a hair dryer to dry it out and noticed that the humidity in his tank went down a lot. If I'm really desperate I'll put Dex in his bath and will run the hair dryer around his tank while he's soaking. The humidity stays down for a bit after doing this. Just make sure temps are back to normal before putting Godzilla back in if you try this. It raises all the temps up quickly, too.

 

[Motherofdragons0727]

Okay, We planned on a dehumidifier but I'll try the other stuff as well. I'll try the rice sock think as well. Our windows stay closed 24/7 due to litte hands pushing out screens lol I'll have to try the clay trick with the crickets because poor Godzilla always has a time because his crickets like to go behind the big basking spot and he can't get them unless i go in and move it for him. But he did have a goos nights sleep last night. His ceramic heating bulbs came in yesterday so I was able to replace that red light and I checked on him and he was sleeping like a rock!! Lol

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

Okay, We planned on a dehumidifier but I'll try the other stuff as well. I'll try the rice sock think as well. Our windows stay closed 24/7 due to litte hands pushing out screens lol I'll have to try the clay trick with the crickets because poor Godzilla always has a time because his crickets like to go behind the big basking spot and he can't get them unless i go in and move it for him. But he did have a goos nights sleep last night. His ceramic heating bulbs came in yesterday so I was able to replace that red light and I checked on him and he was sleeping like a rock!! Lol

Hope you have more luck than I have. All the above seems to not work some days. Luckily his tank humidity hasn't gotten into the extreme, but high enough I worry about it some days. Our windows are always wide open. We like the fresh air and don't have to have to worry about little hands and screens.

I use excavator clay right now for his substrate. I found I needed to mix a bit more water than they recommended, but it's pretty solid stuff with very little crumble. It's easy to clean, as well. If he poos I grab it up and then all I need to do is wet that very small bit down with a wet paper towel and scrape up the top sliver of clay. All clean. Yeah, I added it all around the bottoms of his rocks. Definitely helps keep the bugs out so he can get at them.

So happy to hear Godzilla is doing well. Dex sleeps like a rock, too. Barely even switches positions from when I check on him before bed to when I peek in when I get up. I think he'd let up huge snores if he could. hahahaha

 

[Motherofdragons0727]

Haha Yeah, We have a desert sand mat. It makes it look like sand but it's not loose so it's safe for him. I clean it the same way without issues. So glad I ordered the heat emitters online though because they want like 30 or 40 at the pet stores and I got a 2 pack off Amazon for $12. Pet store prices are absolutely absurd!!

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

Haha Yeah, We have a desert sand mat. It makes it look like sand but it's not loose so it's safe for him. I clean it the same way without issues. So glad I ordered the heat emitters online though because they want like 30 or 40 at the pet stores and I got a 2 pack off Amazon for $12. Pet store prices are absolutely absurd!!

Sweet. I waffled on what to use for substrate. Read a few articles that said beardies like to dig so settled on the clay. Doesn't have small sand particles, but it can be dug into.

Yeah, very expensive. I caved and had the pet store order my CHE since they didn't have any in stock. The shipping for the ones I looked at online was horrible because of Covid. Would have taken a few weeks for any of them to arrive. Pet store had mine in by the end of the week. I paid $36, but had it quick. lol I ran into the same issue with ordering phoenix worms online. (I'm gonna try a batch of the worms to see if Dex would like them.) None that I could find would arrive any sooner than a few weeks. Sigh. I ended up asking the pet store when I went in on Monday if they could get me some. She said she could have a batch of small ones in by Friday.

 

[Motherofdragons0727]

Yeah, I hear you on Covid affected shipping.. The sole reason I get my stuff offline for Godzilla is only because my Mom pays for Amazon Prime so when we need anything, 90% of the time its 2 day garanteed shipping on top of free shipping. I ordered my husband a father's day shirt in April to ensure it was here for Father's day.. It arrived July 6th. -_- lol My debit card is on my mom's account so we pay for the stuff and get it shipped to our address as you can add numerous cards and addresses on Amazon. If my mom didn't have the annual membership, Id definitely get it as it's sooo much more convenient to make a couple clicks on the internet than dragging 3 kids under 6 into a store for anything. Haha

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

Yeah, I hear you on Covid affected shipping.. The sole reason I get my stuff offline for Godzilla is only because my Mom pays for Amazon Prime so when we need anything, 90% of the time its 2 day garanteed shipping on top of free shipping. I ordered my husband a father's day shirt in April to ensure it was here for Father's day.. It arrived July 6th. -_- lol My debit card is on my mom's account so we pay for the stuff and get it shipped to our address as you can add numerous cards and addresses on Amazon. If my mom didn't have the annual membership, Id definitely get it as it's sooo much more convenient to make a couple clicks on the internet than dragging 3 kids under 6 into a store for anything. Haha

Yeah, I have prime, but for the past few months the majority of the stuff I've ordered doesn't even give the option of 2 day or next day shipping right now. Grrrr When I ordered Dex's banana/strawberry flavored calcium and back up jar of vitamins a while ago I ended up getting a refund and ordering through a different site. I received 2 package delayed messages and finally after 3 and a half weeks a message saying sorry your package is lost. -rolling eyes-

I remember those days of having to drag 3 kids around. lol When we were considering having our last child I asked my best friend (who had 3 boys) how hard having more than 2 was. She said no difference really. She lied. hahahahahaha

 

[Motherofdragons0727]

Haha what type of vitamins do you give Dex? We give Godzilla the calcium powder with the d3 in it. Today's been a day though. My husband went to get more crickets for him today and the pet store is out of those, dubia roaches, etc. The only thing they had was calciworms so he bought those until we can get to the bigger pet store where we bought him tomorrow in the neighboring city. He didn't eat very many of those, not sure if he's just used to his crickets or what because i looked it up and according to my research they can eat them because they're alot softer than meal worms and they already have added calcium in them so we dont need the powder for them. But Wyatt was putting Godzilla back in his tank after having him out for a bit and our UVB bulb decided to go out. This is the second one since we got him so im wondering if it doesn't have something to do with the dome fixture? Anywho, so right now i have his CHE on so it stays hot enough for the little guy but geeze. Today is not Godzilla's day.

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

Haha what type of vitamins do you give Dex? We give Godzilla the calcium powder with the d3 in it. Today's been a day though. My husband went to get more crickets for him today and the pet store is out of those, dubia roaches, etc. The only thing they had was calciworms so he bought those until we can get to the bigger pet store where we bought him tomorrow in the neighboring city. He didn't eat very many of those, not sure if he's just used to his crickets or what because i looked it up and according to my research they can eat them because they're alot softer than meal worms and they already have added calcium in them so we dont need the powder for them. But Wyatt was putting Godzilla back in his tank after having him out for a bit and our UVB bulb decided to go out. This is the second one since we got him so im wondering if it doesn't have something to do with the dome fixture? Anywho, so right now i have his CHE on so it stays hot enough for the little guy but geeze. Today is not Godzilla's day.

Awww Godzilla will be ok til you can get back on track. I give Dex Rep-Cal Herptivite Multivitamins in addition to his calcium. I mix a pinch of the vitamins with a pinch of his calcium into his baby food. About every other day I also add a pinch of the vitamins to the calcium I dust his crickets with. I picked up a batch of the small phoenix worms yesterday that the pet store ordered for me just to see if Dex would like a treat here and there. I put one on his salad and wham he had the thing gone in 2 seconds flat. lol Gave in and let him have a second one. Gobbled it up. Yeah, I did read somewhere that calciworms, phoenix, and silkworms are better to give youngsters because they don't have a hard shell. I plan on only giving as a treat as I still want him to get his daily protein and I think the worms are very fattening. Looks like he likes them though. lol

It's a bummer when stores run out. I think I'm planning on ordering my roaches and worms through the mail going forward. They seem hardier than the crickets and may survive the trip. In between arrivals I can pick up what I need when I make my cricket runs. Our nearest pet store is half hour away so I try to time pick ups with other errands I need to do. So far I've been lucky and they've had crickets and roaches available in small, medium, and large.

Gahh bummer on the light. I dropped a basking bulb once when I was switching to the CHE. I always order 2 of each bulb (UVB and basking) so I have a back up if needed. Good thing. Sheesh! When I replace his UVB in a few months I'll order another to have on hand. I use dome fixtures with a ceramic tip. I ended up buying another fixture so I have his basking light in one and his CHE in the other. Less risk of me breaking another bulb. lol So far they are working great. Hope yours and Godzilla's day got better and stays that way.