Trouble keeping substrate moist throughout

[MikeIsGreen]

I am gonna call petsmart in a minute and get a price quote on the items you just mentioned and go there tomorrow and purchase them. I knew from the start that a metal crate lid was not going to hold humidity, but the guy at petsmart said it would along with misting. Thank you for this! Oh and by heat source I assume you mean the heat lamp? Still trying to grasp all this..sorry

[Bedore]

I am gonna call petsmart in a minute and get a price quote on the items you just mentioned and go there tomorrow and purchase them. I knew from the start that a metal crate lid was not going to hold humidity, but the guy at petsmart said it would along with misting. Thank you for this! Oh and by heat source I assume you mean the heat lamp? Still trying to grasp all this..sorry

Correct. You plug the heating device and humidity device into the hygrotherm and it regulates them automatically. I would still recommend a ceramic heat emitter for the heat source, however the decision on what you use for heat is yours.

[MikeIsGreen]

Got'cha! Well, i called and they only had the reptifogger. They don't have anything to regulate the flow. I will go tomorrow and buy the reptifogger and ceramic heat emitter. Will the CHE work in this fixture?

[Bedore]

That looks like the Zoomed mini deep dome. In which case no I would not use a ceramic heat emitter with that particular dome. I believe I read on the box that it was not recommended for use with a CHE. However they should carry a flukers or zoo med dome that is bigger and safe for a CHE. Just look on the box.....I know the Zoomed box says that it will work with a ceramic heat emitter, etc. Something like this: Deluxe Porcelain Clamp Lamp. I have the 8.5", and either that or the 10" would work. Consider buying a stand for it as well.

[MikeIsGreen]

Ok lol...i called back to petsmart and they have "all living things" brand CHE and the fixtures also. BUT I'm not sure how many watts I should get? They have 65, 100, 150 watt all are on sale atm. I'm definitely going to get a reptifogger and CHE and fixture. I will have to order a regulator if I can't get it dialed in correctly. Also, will R/O water be alright to use with the fogger? I'm under the impression that it will, but wanna make sure! Edit - is this what you were refering to? Petsmart doesn't have one and if this is what I need then I will order it from amazon and go ahead and spend the extra money getting he reptifogger tomorrow since it's much needed! Thanks

[Bedore]

Yes, that is the device you can hook both your heating and humidity devices up to. The Zoomed Hygrotherm. As for the CHE wattage, it depends on how cold it gets in your area. I tried 60W but it wasn't enough. For a 10g I would recommend trying 100W but double check that the fixture can handle 100W. I believe most can take up to 150W.

With the Reptifogger you want to use distilled water. Regular tap water has too much hard stuff in it that will gunk up the internals (minerals, metals, etc). Not sure on R/O water as I have no experience with R/O, but I assume it will work. Just read the directions to be sure. When you first hook the fogger up be sure to check and see how often it runs. If it's running constantly it will most likely fail quicker and you have too much humidity escaping, but for now worry about getting everything plugged in and fine tuned.

[GrifTheGreat]

Just so everyone knows it is normal for he surface to dry some. If it never did then there would not be any humidity without misting. Moisture evaporates from the soil no matter what heat source is used. There is always a drying effect. Makes the substrate a little more moist and some of this probkem will go away for a while. Allow it to be moist enough so that when squeazed it will drip some. This will help keep the soil more moist longer.