Using charcoal to dehumidify?

[StormFalcon32]

It has been raining a lot recently so the humidity in my leopard gecko's cage is really high - around 70%. Before I go and buy an actual dehumidifier, I thought I could make use of charcoal. I read somewhere that charcoal briquettes can lower the humidity but I'm afraid they are toxic to leopard geckos. Has anyone else tried this? I couldn't find whether or not charcoal is toxic to leos.
Thanks

 

[acpart]

Welcome to GF! Interesting idea. I haven't tried it but I've also found that short periods of high humidity isn't a problem. In the summer, the house here gets pretty hot and probably pretty humid and everyone does fine. Don't waste money on a dehumidifier.

Aliza

 

[StormFalcon32]

Well see, the thing is, I just got my gecko so I'm not sure whether it is just for the time being or that is the humidity of the house. The dehumidifier I was looking at was only $20 so it won't be TOO much money. I guess I'll just have to see whether the humidity goes down after a while

 

[acpart]

It does sound like a good cheap price for a dehumidifier. The questions I would wonder about are:
--how long will it last (you get what you pay for)
--how much will the electricity to run it cost?

Aliza

 

[StormFalcon32]

It basically just has rechargeable desiccators so I would expect it to last a while and not use too much electricity. Not sure how much hit would lower the humidity by tho...

 

[acpart]

If it's cheap enough, you could give it a try and see what it does.

Aliza