[porkchop]

Hi all,

I have a couple questions about my tokay cage.

1. The humidity is almost always above 60% and when I mist it can reach 90%, the viv has 5 live plants that are planted in a mixture of finely shredded coco fiber and fertilizer free soil, over this is a layer of jungle mix by zilla. Underneath that is about a 2 inch layer of hydroton (LECA). My question: Would this hold in too much moisture in the soil? I'm concerned about mold and fungus.

2. I have a small CPU fan on the viv lid to help circulate fresh air, should it be set to push air in or pull air out? I know seems like a stupid question, but I just want to be thorough. Thanx.

Below are some pics.

[Riverside Reptiles]

You're probably just going to have to kind of wait and see how everything does and adjust as needed.

[porkchop]

Should humidity be allowed to drop to allow the cage to "air out"??? And if so, have much should I let it drop?

[Archie]

I find that whenever I set up a new tank my substrate gets mould on it especialy if I mist heavily....I find that after about 2 weeks it has disapeared all together. Ive used coco fibre and peat moss in the past and posth get mould...evan wood chips

My Tokay setup has a CPU fan in it just to circulate the air inside the tank....I believe that once I added this the mould disapeared more quickly, I have other setups without the fan and it has taken a while longer for the mould to disapear....I am considering adding another fan that will draw fresh air in to the tank and have it timed for only during the day.

Call it a cycling period if you will as the substrate compacts and your plants (if you have any) start to take root they start to use up much of the nutrients that the mould would have fed off (thats my theory anyway)

I would think 60% is too low (gotta watch their sheds)....I would think that its best @ 70%-90%....IMO....

[Elizabeth Freer]

Do you guys have any experience using Habba Mist, the misting unit marketed by Zoo Med? It is a compact unit with 1 hr, 3 hr, 6 hr, and 12 hr frequency settings with variable lengths of misting as well from 15, 30, 45, and 60 secs spray durations.

[Archie]

I mist manualy....would like to go the automated misting route one day....I was looking at the mist king sytem.....I like the features etc

[porkchop]

@ Elizabeth,
I don't have any experience w/ the habbamist, but I do use ZooMed's fogger, I forget the name, but I have it set on an external timer ( it doesn't come w/ an internal one like the habbamist) for two minutes @ mid day. I mist manually in the am and @ around 7:30 pm just after the lights shut off.

On a side note, does anybody know if isopods would be safe in a naturalistic tokay setup? To clarify, if a tokay ate one would it be ok?

[Riverside Reptiles]

isopods are fine.

[porkchop]

@ Riverside,

Thanks for the info.

[Elizabeth Freer]

@ porkchop ~ Appreciate your feedback!