Hoe do bamboo flutes hold up in a dry climate? Do they need any special care to keep them from cracking?
Hi,
Yeah, you need to keep the flute a little moist. A little plastic container with holes punched in it and put a scrap of damp cloth inside: keep this in the flute’s container.
Also, I think its good to keep the flute in a sealed plastic bag.
Regards,
Harry.
I think the best thing for flutes is to be sure and play them frequently.
I don’t do anything else for my bamboos. But I don’t disagree with Harry
that there are safer ways than my approach. 
Where are you located?
Doc
i have a few cane flutes that i don’t do anything in terms of maintenance/storage care. no problems so far and it’s been a few years now. otoh, my tale of woe:
i acquired a bamboo (root) shaku a couple years ago. the seller, who deals in shakus, said to leave the shaku in a plastic bag with a damp sponge or something similar inside the bag and then seal the bag which i did by folding the top of the bag over the top of the shaku and then wrapped a rubber band around it. well this past winter i didn’t play it at all, and didn’t bother to check on it for a couple months. oops bad mistake. the rubber band snapped leaving the bag not-so-airtight. the poor shaku now has a gaping crack. ouch!