Water & Misting System

Water & Misting System

Living in Colorado presents quite a challenge in maintaining humidity in our Basin cages. The typical year round humidity in our snake rooms ranges from 60 to 70 percent. The humidity range we need to maintain for the Basins is in the 60 to 80 percent range. Consequently, we designed a misting system using misting heads from Kimist, programmable digital timers from Intermedic with multiple zones and pumps from Pro-Products and Reptile Basics. We generally mist the substrate (not the animals) once a day for 1 minute at 8:00 AM when the lights come on and the Basins start (actually end) their day. Each cage has its own digital hygrometer/thermometer for visually checking the humidity level and double checking the temperature against the Johnson Controls thermostat readout. We use a range of Kimist nozzles that are tuned to the individual cage. Some cages require a higher flow (gpm) nozzle to maintain humidity in the desired range.

In order for the misting system to perform consistently over time, we use a reverse osmosis system to filter out any minerals or particulates in the water. Removing the minerals and particulate matter through reverse osmosis prevents the nozzles from becoming clogged and will provide several years of maintenance free operation.

Humidity is maintained in the cages through constant evaporation from the water absorbed during the misting of the disposable underpads used on the cage floor as a substrate. The disposable pads should be changed approximately twice a month or whenever any signs of soiling are present.