Moisture Ideas for Dry Rooms/Dry Piggy Skin

[3piggles]

Half the world is going into summer, and the rest of us are entering the dry, cold days of winter. When the air around the pigs gets too dry, piggy skin gets dry and itchy. If the dryness is severe enough, pigs can scratch until they get open scrapes and sores. Humidity much below 35% causes itching and related issues. Humidity can get down into the 20% range in my house, during the winter, as I have forced hot air heat, which contributes to the dryness.

In the past, I have used a humidifier near the cage to add the moisture the air needed to keep the pigs skin from getting dry and itchy. Do to all the remodeling we're doing this year, I haven't dug the humidifiers out of storage, but I did bring in all the house plants and other annuals I had outside, because overnight temps are dropped below freezing.

Before I brought in the plants, I noticed the thermometer on the wall was reading very low humidity. Since I brought in the plants and set them up on a table by the window, and watered them all, the humidity level has increased noticeably. So I thought it would be good to start a thread of ideas for adding much needed moisture to dry winter air, and keep piggy skin moist.

I don't think it's even necessary to have a plant, as it's the wet dirt that is adding moisture to the air. I think any method of keep something moist so the the water can evaporate into the air would work. Some methods I've used or considered are:

Humidifiers
Plants with moist dirt
Plant pots with large sponges kept wet
Pots of water placed on or near radiators.

I'd love to hear ideas from other people, so please feel free to comment

[Bean]

All great ideas! We don't have a problem with the air being too dry in our house - if anything it's the contrary and I use a dehumidifier when I have washing inside. But all the changes with suddenly not opening windows as much and having heating and fires on can definitely affect our furry friends, so it's always worth bearing in mind if things are as comfortable for them (for example if their cage is near a heater that's been off all summer but is suddenly coming on), and making sure you don't change things too suddenly.

[2skinnys]

Fantastic topic idea! I've been noticing the boys have a bit of dandruff and dry skin, and was wondering if the humidity had anything to do with it...

[jolovespiggies]

We are pretty OK here hun but thanks for a very good and helpful article.

Hugs

Jo xx

[3piggles]

Just a quick update. I checked the humidity in the basement family room, where the pigs are. It's at 45%, which is why the pigs aren't itching any more. Keeping the dirt in the plants wet seems to be doing the job!

The attic is the driest room in the house, and we're debating using a couple of large pots full of sponges to moisten the air. We go through a humidifier per year trying to keep the moisture level decent in the attic.

[jolovespiggies]

That is great love, I am glad you have found something that works and little piggies have stopped itching.

Hugs

Jo xx

[margaret6]

We get condensation in the shed, mainly on the roof but only when I don't have a heater on. It's not near cold enough to heat the shed buy I notice bit small fungus on the roof. Hubby has some insulation he is going to put on the roof and fill any drafty areas as I want to cut down with the heater and use the microwave heat pads as the heater cost a fortune last year. Hubby's also going to insulate their sleeping area in the hutches to help. Xx

[3piggles]

We had a company come in and seal up our condo, last summer, and last winter was definitely the first winter it was warm and draft free. It is supposed to be bitterly cold this winter, so that will test the insulation, but I think it will be okay. Probably just sealing the cracks and insulation will make it cost a lot less to the use the heater, even if it's really cold.

[alfonzpig]

We thankfully pay an all inclusive rent, so we don't have to worry about heat costs lol. If it gets dry in here though, I will be putting potted plants in my room, but mostly my turtle tank keeps the humidity pretty level here.

[cavyabbyprincess2]

Thank you for this post. I was looking for something like this. Many thanks to you 3piggies.

[3piggles]

Just a quick update. I have tried both the potted plants/wet dirt, and the buckets with sponges. The plants/dirt work very well, but I do have a whole lot of plants. I currently have 8 plants in pots at least 8" across, so that's a lot of wet dirt. The sponges kept drying out completely on the air side, and staying wet on the water side, so needing to be constantly flipped. I wouldn't call that a success at all. So the equivalent of a bucket of dirt kept damp seems to do the job, but the sponges were a bust!

In a pinch, even a bucket of water left by the cage to evaporate, should really help with dry skin problems!