I am very worried about creating the right amount of humidity and have been shopping/researching humidifiers, misters, etc for the past few hours straight. Doing some research on previous posts in these forums yielded this quote from The Chameleon Company:

"Quote:
If your mist system is being used to provide your chameleon with water to drink and not just to provide a humidity increase then I'd run it for 20 minutes twice a day in addition to any other short runs for humidity only. Many keepers find that it takes 20 minutes to trigger a drinking response and then to drink enough to satisfy his hydration requirements. Twice a day increases the chances of satisfying his needs if he should not be interested in the first watering cycle.

Dave's reply, copied above, started to hit the nail on the head. First off, as I am unsure of your exact reasons for making water available so often, I can only offer that such frequent watering opportunities is not the norm in the wild. As Dave says, twice a day is more than adequate, even in the lowest humidity scenarios.

So, what's the harm in 4-5 wettings per day ? What's the harm in misters (or foggers) ? Both are to be avoided. Chameleons, and their environs, need to dry out well every day, and especially so at night when the chameleon is sedentary. Sometimes this requires the use of a fan to create air circulation, but is mentioned in many websites by keepers/breeders who have dealt with problems associated with too much moisture. Besides being unnatural (it rains in Madagascar, and doesn't fog all that much, much less mist), it causes two frequent and unnatural issues. The first is an increase in respiratory borne infections, or infections that thrive on air too moisture-laden. The second is almost completely unnatural to wild chameleons, but not uncommon in many captive husbandry situations ... skin fungus. It can attack many parts of their skin, and cause significant problems on the bottoms of their feet. It is for this reason that perches need to be a natural product that wicks away moisture, and not a plastic of other non-absorbant material. Drippers are and always have been the best means of delivering drinking water. Your most common pet chameleons, veileds and panthers, deal with humidities lower than 70% all the time, and often lower than 50%. Twice-a-day access to drinkable water will address the chameleon's wildest needs"

END QUOTE-

I had never heard this before... how many of you find this to be the case with your chameleons?

If so, what are your methods for delivering a 20minute misting?

You always hear about super-frequent mistings and rigging up elaborate misting systems but... this quote suggests otherwise, coming from someone who knows a bit about chams.

What do you all think?

This is what I do:

Dripper and 3 short (less than 1 minute) mistings done by hand, per day.
Humidity between 30 and 40%
Dripper runs all day.
This is for calyptratus (no montanes here)

-Brad

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http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
Dedicated to promoting superior care for Veiled Chameleons

I think as long as the misting does not exceed an hour a day (per Dr Ferguson's advice), enough airflow to avoid stale air, and dry time allowance in between mistings, most of the problems will be solved.

Assess things according to your environment and your chameleon behavior.
What works in east coast might not work as well in west coast area.
also, check if signs of dehydration and difficulty in shedding occur.

in the Winter you will probably do more misting since it's dryer than any other season.
40% - 50% humidity usually a good range to keep your veiled + panther chameleon happy.

i did 4 misting a day 5 minutes each.
7 am - 7.05 am
10 am - 10.05 am
1 pm to 1.05 pm
5 pm - 5.05 pm

there are some areas in the cage that my chameleon can escape from being showered.
but most of the time, he will be the one that climb into the wet zone area and drink.

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I agree with what dodolah has to say. I have my misting system setup to mist 4 times a day for 2 minutes each for both my veiled and panther. Humidy seems to peak around 60-65% right after the misting and within the hour the water has dried up and the humidity gos back down to to 40% or so which is fine. As long as you dont have water sitting around all the time, and have some sort of ventilation (i think adding a fan around your enclosures is necessary, the screen cages alone arent enough ventilation) you shouldnt have to worry about uri.

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Thank you so much... humidity was really worrying me. My lizard-less setup stays around 50% reaching 70% with mistings, so that should be fine for most any chameleon right?

I am thinking of a Jacksons or veiled or maybe even rudis. in case anyone has noticed, Sorry about all the posts before I even have a chameleon. Just want to make sure I do this right the first time... and thanks for all the help.

no one here will complain about that.

promise.

i would NOT suggest buying a mountain dwelling chameleon as your first (ie jacksons, rudis). They are in need of much higher humidity levels and i would not suggest it as your first chameleon. There are many species that need much higher humidity levels and the statement "that should be fine for most any chameleon right?" is not true, although i wish it was lol. If you looking for a more affordable chameleon that doesnt need constant humidty i would suggest a veiled, flapneck, verrucosus, carpet just to name a few. Their husbandry is pretty standard and the humidity levels you are experiencing would be great for those species.

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Yup.
80 to 100% humidity for Jackson's and Rudis.

Get a veiled.

-Brad

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http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
Dedicated to promoting superior care for Veiled Chameleons

Or a Flapneck! Chamaeleo dilepis dilepis!

Cheers,
t

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Without me it's only aweso

It's OK to get obsessed, but don't panic about chameleon care for the typical entry level chams. Yes, they are more work and harder to keep than most herps, however once you have the proper setup, it's not nearly as "touch and go" of an adventure as you might imagine.

You're here instead of listening to a typical Petco employee, so you've practically won the battle.

Now, this isn't a guarantee of smooth sailing, but you've already done enough research that you'll do fine...once you get over the "new parent jitters", that is.

I never mist for twenty minutes at a time and I'm in the desert. My dripper is fed from the misting system, so it never runs out of water.

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Jason Creager - jason@herpmist.com
Las Vegas, NV - 702-421-1136 - http://www.HerpMist.com