Asa
Well-known member
That humidity is far too high. Get it at least 30% lower.
super high humidity
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Birdfly
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A good way to increase humidity and keep a good airflow is to buy a good, expensive air pump with multiple out-lets, get a big water proof plastic box and an aquarium heater.
Mount the pump near the top so as it wont touch the water and kill you when you touch it wrong or mount it on the lid, outside with a large enough hole for the pump to draw heated/humid air out of the water container and have this air pumped via aquarium tubes into the desired tank. The heater will help evaperate the water and keep the air above it warm n humid this is then pumped were ever you need it.
But i dont understand why you need to keep it so humid, extreme humidity kills mantids and spiders as easily as no humidity.Lots of condensation on the glass would indicate to me:
1 There is to much water in the air and the exess is condensing on the walls, trickeling down into the substrate and repeating the cycle. Keeping things far too wet, causing moulds, fungus and bacteria to thrive and not much else
2 There is not enough air flow to take the exess moisture away were it'll do less damage.
Spiders living in to humid an environment die at moult time because their skin becomes so elastic that they cannot break out of it, also it promotes fungus and mould to actually grow on them, killing them.
In the wild terrestrial spiders have a long or deep burrow, they move up and down it to keep themselves at the right temp/humidity. You should try to create some thing similar for your captive ones. As you might have a thermal gradient so you should have a moisture gradient. Arboreal spiders have evolved to be better suited to lower humidity, being that they are more exposed usually.
Arboreal spiders like the main stay of mantids do not need exessive humidity, rather more like little and often will suit them best, enough to drink/rehydrate and aid breathing.
The pumped air method mentioned above is a good way to keep humid air from stagnating but it is really unnessasary, esspecially were small numbers of Arthropods are being kept and simply spraying a selected area is good enough.
Warmer air holds more humidity this is why moisture condenses on colder glass or plastic.
If you still want more humidity you may have to:
spray more often,
Decrease ventillation,
Warm & moisten things up, but beware if you get it wrong you could lose your charge
Mount the pump near the top so as it wont touch the water and kill you when you touch it wrong or mount it on the lid, outside with a large enough hole for the pump to draw heated/humid air out of the water container and have this air pumped via aquarium tubes into the desired tank. The heater will help evaperate the water and keep the air above it warm n humid this is then pumped were ever you need it.
But i dont understand why you need to keep it so humid, extreme humidity kills mantids and spiders as easily as no humidity.Lots of condensation on the glass would indicate to me:
1 There is to much water in the air and the exess is condensing on the walls, trickeling down into the substrate and repeating the cycle. Keeping things far too wet, causing moulds, fungus and bacteria to thrive and not much else
2 There is not enough air flow to take the exess moisture away were it'll do less damage.
Spiders living in to humid an environment die at moult time because their skin becomes so elastic that they cannot break out of it, also it promotes fungus and mould to actually grow on them, killing them.
In the wild terrestrial spiders have a long or deep burrow, they move up and down it to keep themselves at the right temp/humidity. You should try to create some thing similar for your captive ones. As you might have a thermal gradient so you should have a moisture gradient. Arboreal spiders have evolved to be better suited to lower humidity, being that they are more exposed usually.
Arboreal spiders like the main stay of mantids do not need exessive humidity, rather more like little and often will suit them best, enough to drink/rehydrate and aid breathing.
The pumped air method mentioned above is a good way to keep humid air from stagnating but it is really unnessasary, esspecially were small numbers of Arthropods are being kept and simply spraying a selected area is good enough.
Warmer air holds more humidity this is why moisture condenses on colder glass or plastic.
If you still want more humidity you may have to:
spray more often,
Decrease ventillation,
Warm & moisten things up, but beware if you get it wrong you could lose your charge
Asa
Well-known member
Just spray it a couple times a week. Nice and simple.
Peekaboo
Well-known member
I'm not sure spraying a few times a week would be adequate enough. Wuwu lives in SoCal, which is typically drier than Virginia. I live in NorCal, and I have to spray 1-2 times a day for moderate humidity.
Asa
Well-known member
Oh you're right. In that case once or twice a day then. :wink:
Birdfly
Well-known member
I see your point.
Might be an idea to invest in a humidifier or depending on how many inverts you keep to perhaps build the humidifier with air pumps from a warm water chamber?
Sorry but i think you are gunna have to experiment with that one..
Still try not to exeed the recomended humidity levels as they are potentially as dangerous as too dry conditions.
If you do build a humidifier with a pump and tank/water container you can play around with the humidity levels by increasing/decreasing the water heater temps, good luck.
Might be an idea to invest in a humidifier or depending on how many inverts you keep to perhaps build the humidifier with air pumps from a warm water chamber?
Sorry but i think you are gunna have to experiment with that one..
Still try not to exeed the recomended humidity levels as they are potentially as dangerous as too dry conditions.
If you do build a humidifier with a pump and tank/water container you can play around with the humidity levels by increasing/decreasing the water heater temps, good luck.
captainmerkin
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I would have thought it was too high myself, but the mantids and millipedes both seem to be thriving in there at the moment..
any mould appearing is devoured on sight by the millipedes and the mantis are shedding their skins very well and on a very regular basis with no problems whatsoever as of yet.
where I work we keep the mantids at around 20-40% (despite recommendations to raise this)
I will keep them as is until it proves to be not so good, because right now they seem fine and very active and dare I say it perhaps content.
Asa
Well-known member
The millipedes eat the mold?! That's awesome! They can't get all of it though...
OGIGA
Dead Leaf Mantis
They do??? I hate millipedes, but maybe I'll get some just to take care of the mold.
Asa
Well-known member
What I was thinking. What kind of millipedes are they?
Nick Barta
Well-known member
Perhaps a wet sponge cut to fit the bottom of the container would raise the humidity.
CHEERS!!!
Nick Barta
CHEERS!!!
Nick Barta
Asa
Well-known member
I use spagnum moss.
OGIGA
Dead Leaf Mantis
Wow, I just changed my moss, went home for the weekend, and now my moss has mold all over it. It grew all over the body parts of roaches that my mantises dropped.
It grew all over the body parts of roaches that my mantises dropped.Asa
Well-known member
I've never had that happen.
captainmerkin
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Yeah the millipedes go round climbing all of the vines and munching off the mould, they seem to do this religiously even when they have loads of food in the tank (cucumber, tomato melon etc..)
But you are right they cant get all of the mould out, the dead bonsai tree I recycled into their tank is getting very mouldy and may need to come out if it doesnt clear up.
The millipdes are giant african black ones.
As for mould forming round dropped roaches, I think that there must be something not quite right there as they would usually just tend to start rotting shortly after being dropped (if not cleaned up), I have never seen mould appear on a dead animal before, have you added something to them or sugar fed them?
Also in terms of keeping my tank clean it has around 3 inches of potting compost and some top soil in it, about 10 adult earthworms, woodlice and devils coach houses that all clean up the dung and churn up the soil (seemingly pretty well), the large beds of moss and tunnels through them and hollow branches are the pedes favourite spot and the mantids tend to hang around the middle section of the tank above where the pedes are fed (flies tend to breed there when I put fruit in).
Its working pretty well at the moment so I am confident that it is just right for them all!
But you are right they cant get all of the mould out, the dead bonsai tree I recycled into their tank is getting very mouldy and may need to come out if it doesnt clear up.
The millipdes are giant african black ones.
As for mould forming round dropped roaches, I think that there must be something not quite right there as they would usually just tend to start rotting shortly after being dropped (if not cleaned up), I have never seen mould appear on a dead animal before, have you added something to them or sugar fed them?
Also in terms of keeping my tank clean it has around 3 inches of potting compost and some top soil in it, about 10 adult earthworms, woodlice and devils coach houses that all clean up the dung and churn up the soil (seemingly pretty well), the large beds of moss and tunnels through them and hollow branches are the pedes favourite spot and the mantids tend to hang around the middle section of the tank above where the pedes are fed (flies tend to breed there when I put fruit in).
Its working pretty well at the moment so I am confident that it is just right for them all!
OGIGA
Dead Leaf Mantis
Really? I see it all the time. I didn't do anything to the roaches. They are fresh from outside. Maybe mold likes humid envoronments because they grow fastest when my sphagnum moss is wet.
captainmerkin
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hmmm.. thats strange news to me, I have never seen mould growing on a dead animal before.
Asa
Well-known member
I only see it when the humidity is high. Maybe you and OGIGA keep your humidity at different levels.
OGIGA
Dead Leaf Mantis
Yeah, when the moss is dry, I don't get anywhere near as much mold.
chrisbrock
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In one of the setups I've built for Manny (Chinese Male) over the last month, I used a sand substrate with a small cup of water with a sponge in it. I also added some nylon screen to the inside lid of the container so Manny had full access to the lid. I noticed as the temp decreased, Manny moved over the cup, and as the temp increased, he moved over the sand. I assume this was to moderate the humidity. I've also noticed that when I put crickets in his cage, Manny will do the same thing with the cup of Flukes Cricket Quencher.
In a small enough enclosure, you can just breath in the cage to increase temp and humidity. Human breath is about 90 degrees F and about 90% humidity.
Now having said all that, in my home, with the AC set to 70, the humidity is naturally around 70%. If I needed to get Manny's humidity up to 80%, I'd just move him outside for a while. Gotta love North Carolina summers
In a small enough enclosure, you can just breath in the cage to increase temp and humidity. Human breath is about 90 degrees F and about 90% humidity.
Now having said all that, in my home, with the AC set to 70, the humidity is naturally around 70%. If I needed to get Manny's humidity up to 80%, I'd just move him outside for a while. Gotta love North Carolina summers
