Humidity levels and montane species

[Deevo]

I was wondering if your opinions on if hand misting daily with the use of a fogger would be sufficient for a montane species like kinyongia?

As of right now I have only been hand misting with the use of a dripper as well. I was leaning towards a fogger in combonation with hand misting as I like the control over an automated misting system and my cham really doesn't like the heavy droplets.

I think he prefers the licking the moisture up from the leaves in smaller droplets from the fog.

 

[rshewfel]

I have very little experience with kinyongia species, but I have years of experience with several montane species from camaroon and tanzania. In my opinion a misting system with good drainage is the most important purchase for chameleons. I use a fine mist, no big droplets involved. I run it for several minutes twice a day. I honestly don't know what my humidity is. Living in colorado, I gave up on trying to get the perfect humidity. My cages are a mixture of plastic and screen. Plastic to keep the water from the mister in, and screen strategically placed for ventilation. This method is by far the best I have tried over the years.

 

[Deevo]

did your guys hate getting wet or any kind of mist of them as much as my cham does? I try my best not to spray him directly but he still notices and will run. I have use different water temps as well and still the safe effect. I see him drink but that is really my main reason I was leaning towards a fogger for automated moisture.

 

[rshewfel]

My guys love it. I use warm to hot water. With the fine mist, the water cools before hitting them. Sometimes they will move out of the way to lower ground but usually they just sit there and lap the water off their face. I noticed a dramatic difference in the health of my chameleons after I switched to a misting system

 

[Carlton]

I was wondering if your opinions on if hand misting daily with the use of a fogger would be sufficient for a montane species like kinyongia?

As of right now I have only been hand misting with the use of a dripper as well. I was leaning towards a fogger in combonation with hand misting as I like the control over an automated misting system and my cham really doesn't like the heavy droplets.

I think he prefers the licking the moisture up from the leaves in smaller droplets from the fog.

As you heat your house for winter you may find a fogger is going to help you maintain the relative air humidity in your cage between hand misting sessions. It is hard to predict if an auto mister as well as a fogger will be even better. I think I'd try the hand misting you already do, use the dripper if he has learned to drink from it (not all chams do), pack the cage with a lot of live foliage as K. fischeri don't really like being blasted with water directly anyway, and try an ultrasonic fogger that cycles on and off with a lamp timer. You will have to do a bit of testing to find the best combination of cycling, so have a good humidity gage too.

 

[rshewfel]

Lol. This has got to be the most confusing forum for people. Two answers, two opposite answers.

If I hand spray my chameleons with room temperature water they hate it and make a run for it. The water is either to cold or the droplets are to big. If they are sprayed with warm to hot water through my high pressure, fine misting, automatic system, they love it. Worst case senerio, they walk to the lower areas of the cage. Usually they sit there and absorb it.

I hand sprayed my chameleons the first 8 years I kept chameleons. I thought my husbandry was good and my chameleons were healthy. Then at a show I met an individual that was as serious as I was. When I was able to view his collection, I was embarrassed at how much healthier his chameleons were. The one difference was that he had an automated misting system and soaked his chameleons daily. I changed my ways and had more success the last 2 years, than the first 8. So again, in my opinion, the hands down most important item is an automated misting system. I can't speak for a fogger but I experimented with a humidifier and decided is was not worth the trouble. There are several ways to keep chameleons, this is just my way. Good luck to you.

 

[Deevo]

That makes sense. I recently got a heater for my room and since its above the garage its gets a little colder. I was getting day temps in the 68-69*F range and 61*F at night (this was just recently as of last weeks snowfall). Now with the heater I get daytime temps of 74*F and night temps of around 69-70*F. But along with that it dries up the air quicker now and my humidity drops sometimes to around 40% when I can't be there to hand mist. I am hoping the fogger can help keep the humidity up. I have a nice dense umbrella tree in the centre with fake foilage zip-tied to the sides.

I am a student and moving to a new place soon for the winter semester and I think the room will be a little easier to keep regulated. The zoo-med fogger is only 49.99 and being a student I don't want to fork out 100+$ for the monsoon which I've heard bad reviews about. I'd like to invest into a mist king system eventually.

 

[Carlton]

That makes sense. I recently got a heater for my room and since its above the garage its gets a little colder. I was getting day temps in the 68-69*F range and 61*F at night (this was just recently as of last weeks snowfall). Now with the heater I get daytime temps of 74*F and night temps of around 69-70*F. But along with that it dries up the air quicker now and my humidity drops sometimes to around 40% when I can't be there to hand mist. I am hoping the fogger can help keep the humidity up. I have a nice dense umbrella tree in the centre with fake foilage zip-tied to the sides.

I am a student and moving to a new place soon for the winter semester and I think the room will be a little easier to keep regulated. The zoo-med fogger is only 49.99 and being a student I don't want to fork out 100+$ for the monsoon which I've heard bad reviews about. I'd like to invest into a mist king system eventually.

I find the little terrarium foggers don't last all that long. If you want to try a humidifier to help with humidity I'd get an ultrasonic room humidifier with a removable spout. They are sturdier, the reservoirs are larger, and you can direct the fog wherever you want around the cage with some pvc pipe or flexible tubing attached to the spout. I like foggers because they can raise cage humidity without flooding the place.

 

[Carlton]

Lol. This has got to be the most confusing forum for people. Two answers, two opposite answers.

If I hand spray my chameleons with room temperature water they hate it and make a run for it. The water is either to cold or the droplets are to big. If they are sprayed with warm to hot water through my high pressure, fine misting, automatic system, they love it. Worst case senerio, they walk to the lower areas of the cage. Usually they sit there and absorb it.

I hand sprayed my chameleons the first 8 years I kept chameleons. I thought my husbandry was good and my chameleons were healthy. Then at a show I met an individual that was as serious as I was. When I was able to view his collection, I was embarrassed at how much healthier his chameleons were. The one difference was that he had an automated misting system and soaked his chameleons daily. I changed my ways and had more success the last 2 years, than the first 8. So again, in my opinion, the hands down most important item is an automated misting system. I can't speak for a fogger but I experimented with a humidifier and decided is was not worth the trouble. There are several ways to keep chameleons, this is just my way. Good luck to you.

Yes, as in most things the answer is (maddingly) "it depends"! All we can do is relate what's worked in our own situations.