High humidity in one spot

[broderp]

The below information will pertain to an Exo Terra 18D x 24W x 36T glass terrarium.
The set up is being made to potentially house a Panther.

ROOM TEMP AND HUMIDITY

• Current room temp is 70 degrees
• Current room humidity is 56%

TERRARIUM TEMP AND HUMIDITY

• Terrarium temp at basking spot is a nice stable 83.8 F. (@"A" in the image)
• Terrarium humidity at the same location is 53%

• Terrarium temp at lower end is a nice stable 67.4 F. (@ approximately the center of E, F, H & Y)
• Terrarium humidity at the same location is 85% (@ approximately the center of E, F, H & Y)

I did re-potting my plants and giving them a good washing so they are some what on the damp side. But it has been sitting like this for several hours.

The sensor is mounted to the foam wall behind the plants and is not in the plants or touching them. I am tracking the temps and sensors with my digital controller as well as my remote temp and humidity sensors. All are within a few percents of each other. (Controller sensor says 87%, remote sensors for same place say 85%)

I started another thread and basically I learned that the humidity is very difficult to accurately track given the tools available and that it is a moving target. I learned that the humidity should best be measured at the same temp that closely matched the room temp. So after a lot of trial and error I found a spot that as close and set the humidity control sensor there (@ approximately the center of E, F, H & Y).

Is this humidity going to he a problem? If so, how do I correct this? Could it be the fact I washed and re-potted the plants?

Or will a high humidity reading normal in this case? Am I wrong in my placement?

Thanks for any help.

 

[xrowdac]

where the heck is "Y"

Terrarium humidity at the same location is [/COLOR]85% (@ approximately the center of E, F, H & Y)
.

 

[broderp]

where the heck is "Y"

I meant to type "I". Sorry for the typo.

 

[broderp]

UPDATE:
I left the terrarium heat running all night as well as the LED's in the hood. (No UVB or auxiliary lighting) I woke up this morning to find the humidity down to about 74%. This is better, but I'm not sure how long it took to drop that far or if it was done dropping.

As soon as I hand misted the plants (taking care not to mist the sensor) the humidity shot up to over 80% in seconds. I only misted for a few seconds, and just to add water drops to the leaves.

Is this normal for anyone else? Is it a concern? How do I get the humidity in the cool spot (room temp) of the terrarium to drop to a lower level that is the same as the outside air?

 

[xrowdac]

WHATs your main concern? dragging yourself & goin gaga insane with this humidity thing... care to explain? if ur hitting 70ish as your average..i dont see anything to worry....

 

[broderp]

WHATs your main concern? dragging yourself & goin gaga insane with this humidity thing... care to explain? if ur hitting 70ish as your average..i dont see anything to worry....

Well the average is about 80 in that one spot. I'm not concerned about a spike at 80 after misting, but a constant 80% there is concerning based on what I know. (Which may not be a lot) I will say this, the spot dit eventually go down to room temp, but that took ALL day. I can't be sure, somewhere's between the hours of 7am and 5:30 it dropped from about 74% down to 67%. One misting and its back up to 80%. So the concern now is that the humidity is slow to drop. Right now it is 10:42 PM and the humidity is still at 71%. (The room is at 55%)

At this rate, I may get one misting in per day to water plants and give a cham a drinking opportunity. More than that I run a risk of standing water and all that mess.

 

[xrowdac]

ohh.. ic i think is mainly due to weather condition in your area...or maybe the air/temp flow inside the your haus varies.. just a guess..... but usually its about the weather...outside..that affects a lot...

 

[RcManChild]

While I agree with @xrowdac. It also looks very heavily planted in those areas. Maybe all you need to do is to trim a leaf or two to allow more air flow to dry out those specific locations.

 

[xrowdac]

yeah thats right @RcManChild .Bingggooo ...the cage is heavily congested....thats why air circulation is goin gaga... maybe give a lil' more room for it to flow thru...
consider it as a experiment see w/c way works for u...

BTW.. any pic of ur cham?

 

[broderp]

While I agree with @xrowdac. It also looks very heavily planted in those areas. Maybe all you need to do is to trim a leaf or two to allow more air flow to dry out those specific locations.

That's true, it is rather dense.

yeah thats right @RcManChild .Bingggooo ...the cage is heavily congested....thats why air circulation is goin gaga... maybe give a lil' more room for it to flow thru...
consider it as a experiment see w/c way works for u...

BTW.. any pic of ur cham?

I will trim this evening and remove a small plant that's in there as well.

No pics, he's not here yet actually he's actually probably going to be prepped for shipment in a few hours....

 

[xrowdac]

CONGRATS man....i know ur pumped...hehehehe....

 

[broderp]

Well, I trimmed a little of my plants and raised them up. It helps a little. I may need to install a fan.

I'm tracking my new buddy, he will be here by 10:30 tomorrow morning. Pumped doesn't describe how I feel. I'm getting the video camera out and everything, my wife says I'm crazy. She just doesn't understand

I wanted everything to be perfect, but have been fighting a ton of crap both at work and at home that prevented me from completing the setup in the time frame I wanted and to give myself a week or so to sort out these issues. oh well, that's how life does you sometimes..

 

[RcManChild]

I had the same issue, I had to abandon my waterfall temporarily. Did you add a drain on the bottom of the tank?

I love the cage design though.

 

[broderp]

I haven't had standing water except for once several days ago and cleaned it up instantly. I have a glass terrarium. Not sure if I can or want to risk drilling it for a drain. Maybe a very shallow false bottom and a small external pump may be in order. But as of 10:15 am today, all construction has halted on my terrarium build for a few days.
I have a new tenant who just moved in.... and he needs a few days to adjust to his new digs. Today has been very exhilarating!