Chapter 4 of 12 · Manny's Care Guide

Humidity and substrate

Disclaimer: I'm not a veterinarian and I don't hold a degree in animal science or animal care. This is a guide I compiled and use with my own ball pythons. For a sick animal, a reptile vet is the authority.

Humidity

Published targets vary more than people admit. ReptiFiles recommends 60 to 80% by day and up to 100% at night in a terrarium; LafeberVet gives 50 to 70%; VCA gives 40 to 70% [1][2][3]. Too dry and sheds come off in pieces; too wet and dirty and you get skin infections, and stagnant air on top of that brings respiratory disease [3][4].

Our practice: 55 to 70% in the tubs day to day, pushed toward 80% with a humid hide when a snake is going into shed. That's the middle of the published ranges and it gives us one-piece sheds.

Measure it where the snake is. A digital hygrometer at snake level, mid-enclosure, not on the lid; a second probe in the humid hide if you use one [1]. We run a Govee sensor in each adult enclosure.

When it runs away. Fresh substrate can spike humidity into the 90s. If the floor is wet, the air is stale, and you're seeing condensation, dry the top layer, open the vents, and let the humid hide carry the shed instead of misting more. Vet references tie scale rot to wet, dirty substrate and poor ventilation, not to any single percentage [3][4].

Substrate

  • Coconut husk, coconut chip, or reptile-grade cypress mulch. What we use, and what ReptiFiles recommends [5]. VCA leans to paper, towels or AstroTurf and says to avoid wood shavings [3].
  • Never pine or cedar. Cedar is toxic to reptiles (VCA), and ReptiFiles warns against pine oils too [3][5].
  • Paper is a recognized substrate in the vet references [2][4].
Our practice: paper towel for new arrivals and sick snakes, because it shows you every stool, every mite and every regurgitation.
Our practice: 2 to 4 inches deep in enclosures, so the snake can push into it. The depth is our habit; the sources don't give one.

Sources for this chapter

  1. ReptiFiles, Ball python temperatures and humidity
  2. LafeberVet, Basic information sheet: boas and pythons
  3. VCA Animal Hospitals, Snakes: housing and Common diseases of pet snakes
  4. Merck Veterinary Manual, Management and husbandry of reptiles
  5. ReptiFiles, Ball python substrate

Last revised November 2, 2026.