having a problem getting the humidity level up

vette4life04

vette4life04

New Member
So, i recently bought a Jackson Cham. based on his size, im assuming hes about 4-5 months old. But im having trouble getting the humidity level up in his enclosure. This is my set up. I Have him in a ZooMed Reptibreeze full screen cage 16x16x36. Inside the cage i put a three foot benjamin ficus plant. Ive got a reptisun 5.0 and a ceramic heater on top. Also i have a bottle on top constantly drips into the cage, as well as a HabbaMist that sprays for a minute every hour... The temp. at the top of the cage where i have my thermometer is about 80 degrees during the day time. but i still cant get the humidity above 30 percent. Even after spraying down the entire cage it still wont go any hirer. Any help would be great. Im waiting to change my sprayer over to the monsoon system. just gotta order it. Please help!

Thanks!
 
Humidity

Where is the caged housed at? I would also recommend a new or another plant in the enclosure. One that stays moist. FLChams has a great plant list for chameleons. Just having a live plant in the enclosure should help.
 
you sure the hygrometer or whatever its called, the humidity measuring gauge is working correctly?? It should definitely increase after spraying the whole cage. no?
 
thats what im hoping it is. Maybe the meter is bad? it doesnt really move much after spraying. so ill go down and get a new one on monday and see what that does... i dont know if i really have much more room for another plant. i would like to put a nice exotic plant in there, but i dunno. i know they can be expensive. Maybe when i get a bigger cage ill put in a few more plants. ill get you updated after i change the meter. Thanks a lot!!
 
If it is a full screen cage, you can take a shower curtain and line the 3 sides of your cage with it. You will still have ventilation in the front and up top. This WILL increase humidity.
 
I think one minute an hour may be too wet... What's your location? My advice is to get a misting machine first and if that doesn't work, get a fogger. I have a Monsoon Rainfall System and a ReptiFogger currently.
 
Are you sure your hygrometer is reading properly? People think they have a bad one and toss them when all they need in most cases is to be calibrated!

These things are not very accurate until they have been calibrated. I have 4 of the same brand and could lay them all on the table beside each other and each would be different by various amounts as large as 10% on 1 of them.

How to Calibrate a Hygrometer

After you calibrate an el cheapo version it will perform as good as a high dollar version. Try it and see!
 
Remember, full screen enclosures are already difficult to keep the humidity level high. I think, once you fix your hygrometer, you will still have your issue until you take my advice on my previous reply.:)
 
Doing what PE said will raise the humidity up, but you don't have to cover the 3 side completely. I have been testing the impact on humidity by covering sections of the screen on a 18x18x36.

I found I can keep it in 60% area with covering the back 30% of the sides and with three 5 misting sessions, and one 2.5 foot umbrella plant. I cover them with 6mil plastic sheets from lowes. You can get them in black or clear. Anyways I had the liner around from various projects around the house and had a cage to toy with so why not.

Tape the plastic up on the back and on the sides up to where the bottom of the big door is. This will give you solid levels of humidity (depending on placement in your house and proximity to the AC/heat vents/windows/etc)
 
Ok, so i went out today and i bought a digital hydrometer and thermometer. I moved my old analog hydro/therm down towards the bottom of the cage. its about half down the cage. The digital one is at the top and its reading around 80 degrees with about 19% humidity. The analog one is about 50% at about 70 degrees. My Jackson doesnt seem to like to go up to the top to bask. He generally stays towards the bottom of the cage. Is this about normal? I understand the idea of the shower curtains and am perpared to do so if need be. just wondering if i even need to do that now? ill make sure to calibrate my analog meter. I think its adjustable, so well see how far off it really is. I would also like to get the monsoon system, but if i dont need to then why pay the 130 dollars. let me know what you guys think? Thanks a lot!!
 
There are other things you can do to increase humidity. I understand why you don't like the shower curtain idea.

In that general vein, you can use plastic wrap, which is a bit less obtrusive.

However, you can also do stuff "in the cage" to help.

Is your plant in a clay pot? If not, and if your cage can handle it, repot the plant in a clay (terracotta) pot...that will hold so much water in your cage!

You can also buy "Hydroballs". Buy yourself a package of knee high stockings, fill them with hydroballs, hang around the cage, or put on the bottom....then soak em.

You could even do a similar thing with "cricket water" crystals. You have to make absolutely sure that your chameleon couldn't accidentally eat an unhydrated crystal. But if you get big crystals and use nylons meant to be worn...that should work.
 
is the cage near a vent or in a breezy location? i cant see how getting the full cage wet wouldnt raise humidity unless air is blowing through it.
 
my plant is in a plastic pot. my wife wants to go to a place and get a custom pot made with my kids hand prints in it, since it was a fathers day gift. so eventually ill have it in a clay pot. i put the shower curtain around the three sides like everyones suggested and the humidity level is still down to 30 and dropping. but like i said, the humdity level in the middle of the cage is around 60%, seems like its just the top of the cage. so i dunno if thats ok? or if it should be throughout the entire cage. what do you guys think? The cage is in my loft on a book self. not really a breezy location. i do live in the desert which tends to be rather dry, but i dont think that would make much of a difference in his cage, since its indoors... so let me know what you guys think.
 
Indoors can be even drier than outside sometimes because of a/c and all that. Have you tried a fogger/humidifier?
 
please do not drop 130 on a monsoon system... for the love of gawd! lol look at mist king or aquazamp misters about 99 to start.
 
ive seen the foggers at the local pet store and thought about those, guess im just not very familiar with them. ive looked at the mist king and the aquazamp systems and they seem to cost just as much as a monsoon system, if not more. plus ill have to pay for shipping... so i dunno. ill give it a day or two and see how this shower curtain holds up and if it really makes a big impact on my humidity level...
 
You need to get a good, high capacity cool mist humidifier and put the nozzle right up againts the screen of your cage and turn it way up!!

As has already been said, jacksons thrive on the mist.

Mine will sit in front of it for hours.

Also, unless you are home all day, you need to have a dripping system going
at the bare minimum but the Mist King is highly recommended.

Caring for jacksons is not an easy or cheap task.
You picked the most expensive and most difficult of the 3 popular species.
 
remember to calibrate the dial gauge and trust me digital does not mean its accurate, I just posted a topic about this in general forum and showed an example.

I focus on this because ppl think their humdity is off and they amp up misting etc.. and then the cham gets sick stops eating etc.. and they dunno why. The meters show everything in parameters, but the meters are wrong if they test they will find out the over done it or to little humidity. /shrug
 
Wykd said:
remember to calibrate the dial gauge and trust me digital does not mean its accurate, I just posted a topic about this in general forum and showed an example.

I focus on this because ppl think their humdity is off and they amp up misting etc.. and then the cham gets sick stops eating etc.. and they dunno why. The meters show everything in parameters, but the meters are wrong if they test they will find out the over done it or to little humidity. /shrug
Click to expand...

+1 on that ;)
I figured, if I am going to stay in this hobby, I am going to have NIST calibrated and certified thermometer and hygrometer!!

I'll bet you would like to have your money back on all the cheap ones you have had all your life!!
Line em' all up in a row and see if any 2 read the same ;)
 
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