Humidity and Temp

[White Owl]

OK. im planning on setting up a Mantis room...and buying a couple of hygormeters and thermometors for the walls in the room, and some tanks. whats the perfect level of humidity. I know it varies from species. I have a giant indian, african, and thai flower mantids.

 

[White Owl]

also, what is substrate?

 

[hortus]

subtrate is a layer of material in the floor of your mantis cage

 

[White Owl]

oh I thought substrate was actually the name of something you put on the floor in your tank. heh

 

[Rick]

I keep giant indians really humid and africans really dry. Get a hydrometer and set it up in your room and see what the normal room humidity is. It's easier to regulate the humidity in each cage than it is to do the whole room. I don't pay much attention to it other than putting a layer of moist spaghnum moss in the bottom of the cages of mantids who need higher humidity. Then I mist all mantids once a day. Don't get all wrapped up in what the humidity is because it will drive you crazy trying to get it perfect which you won't be able to do.

 

[Johnald Chaffinch]

just a quick question about humidity -

when people state humidity dont they always need to state the temperature that it's corresponding to? because the same amount of water in the air in a warmer place is stated as much lower even though it has the same amount of water in the air! if this is right, shouldnt people be using a different method that just tells you how much water is in the air

( the reason i ask is because sometimes people state humidity level to keep mantis at but without the temp!?! )

 

[Samzo]

If you spray a container loads then make it air tight it will be 100% (or close to) humidity regardless of temp. You only really notice high humidity in jungles because its so hot you feel the warm water particles etc.

 

[Johnald Chaffinch]

yeah but wouldnt 100% in a warm conatiner be different to 100% in a cooler one?

if someone says keep this species at 60% humidity it would be ambiguous because it would depend on the temperature a great deal.

for example a warm room may have 50% humidity and when it's much cooler it would have 70% humidity - yet the amount of water in there would be the same

 

[bruty2fruity]

ive noticed that aswell. my room temp is fairly stable...just the humidty. a spray of water usually cures that

 

[Peekaboo]

yeah but wouldnt 100% in a warm conatiner be different to 100% in a cooler one?if someone says keep this species at 60% humidity it would be ambiguous because it would depend on the temperature a great deal.

for example a warm room may have 50% humidity and when it's much cooler it would have 70% humidity - yet the amount of water in there would be the same

100% humidity is 100% humidity regardless of temperature. Humidity is a measure of how much water is in the air, but can be affected by temperature.

I think I understand what you are trying to get at, so I will do my best to explain. 70% humidity at 86 degrees is the same as 70% humidity at 40 degrees. The only difference is the amount of available water in the enclosure. For 70% humidity at 40 degrees, you will need a lot more water than at 86 degrees. This is because cold air doesn't hold as much water as warm air. This might seem contrary to what you'd expect since warm air causes water to evaporate far more quickly than cold air. But that's exactly what humidity is ... water in the air.

And because humidity and temperature are related, it's why breeders and hobbyist can go bat-$h!t crazy trying to master humidity and temperature. Generally speaking, when someone mentions keeping an insect at a certain level of humidity, they're assuming that the insects are being kept at the appropriate heat.

 

[13ollox]

makes sense to me ! lol . i guess this is why you dont have exact humidty settings for a certain type of thing . because it is slightly affected by the temp ! which is why people say things like between 50-70% !

Neil