Humidity

Roachman26

Roachman26

Seventh Instar
My roach/reptile room has been evolving for several months now. I've got substrate in most of my bins now and I've bumped up the humidity in all my other tanks too. As a result the room stays between 40 and 50% RH. I've had to stop misting most of my bins as they started to get soggy.

My question is what is a good humidity level for most roaches? I'm considering running a humidifier in the room, instead of daily mistings. I'm trying to keep it a little dryer in the bins, but still give them the humidity that they need.

If a few odd species need it higher I could always dampen their substrate or mist them more. I was thinking of trying to maintain it around 60% for the whole room.

Keep in mind, I'm still using water crystals for all of them plus fresh fruit or veggies almost every day.

 
I would pass on the humidifier. Sounds like you are on track- no worries about your humidity. Besides- the humidity will only increase with additional tubs/bins/cages... ;)

 
I used to freak out about humidity for all my roaches; After a while you'll figure out what works for you.

 
Zephyr said:
I used to freak out about humidity for all my roaches; After a while you'll figure out what works for you.
Click to expand...
Well, I know for a fact that hissers will do great in an open topped glass tank and single digit humidity. I am, however, a total nervous nellie about all my new species. I'll just try to relax a little ;) .

So, if the room is 40-60% all the time and they have water crystals, damp on one end substrate, and fresh fruits/veggies, do I even need to mist?

 
Roachman26 said:
Well, I know for a fact that hissers will do great in an open topped glass tank and single digit humidity. I am, however, a total nervous nellie about all my new species. I'll just try to relax a little ;) .So, if the room is 40-60% all the time and they have water crystals, damp on one end substrate, and fresh fruits/veggies, do I even need to mist?
Click to expand...
Probably not. :P

-Kyle

 
Much of the time I don't mist most of the species I have, though they all get misted off and on at one point or another. I am currently undergoing a project to automatically mist them, as it is only an extension of my reptile mist/water system.

If you need a pump or supplies for such a thing, I got mine from Mist King in Canada. (www.mistking.com)

The pumps are nearly indestructable and they carry a timer that is programmable to the second, along with excellent tubing, no-clog nozzles, valves, etc. This is not a shameless plug, I am just really pleased with thier products.

 
BugmanPrice said:
What spp. are you getting?
Click to expand...
I was talking about all my current species except the hissers. All of these species are new to me. I've had regular hissers since the early nineties, but just got in to all the others in Sept. Couldn't you tell I was a total noob by my questions? :P

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The only reason I ask is because some species don’t, and this based on my observations, need a high percentage of humidity (like you stated, hissers do fine in a fairly dry condition) while other species seem to need pretty high humidity (seems like the non-livebearing spp. need it in particular, I couldn’t get harlequins to reproduce to save my life).

It seems like you have your long running hisser colony and some Blaberus spp. ...?

 
Ralph said:
So is high humidity actually detrimental to hissers?
Click to expand...
Not as far as I can tell. I separated my dry, 40 gallon tank colony in to six 18 gallon bins with high humidity and they seem like they are racing to see who can overcrowd their bin the fastest.

I did an experiment first in just one bin. I put 4 adult males and 10 adult females in to an 18 gal. bin back in Sept. If it wasn't marked, I wouldn't be able to tell which one it was. It looks just as full as the others.

 
Plus, the bacteria that mites feed on survives at 75% humidity. You wouldn't want to go any higher, or else you might have quite the mite problem. If you begin to see mites in your bins, all you need to do is scale back your humidity.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top