humidity levels

Hey guys me again, I was just wondering how you guys keep the humidity soo high (living in canada) and what is the best way to keep the humidity up i have a 160 watt sb mega ray light in the enclosure ( it looks like a freaking spot light) my cham loves it hes got about 15 diffent basking temps to choose from but it eats up all my humidity, i will post pics in a few hours in another post to see if my encloser withh suffice, but for now.... humididty go! also i have a ficus tree and a umbrella plant in there. is 2 by 2 by 4 feet high 6" by 12" hole in the bottome front meshed off and a 16" by 12" hole in the side... also 4 2 inch holes in the dop for drippers and a 1/4 inc gap around the door ......... any tips...

The light may be too strong for the size of cage... Meaning it will continuously dry up the moisture quickly. You can try misting more but if it seems like your misting too much switch the bulb out...

http://www.reptileuv.com/megaray-sb-160-watt-self-ballasted-flood-uvb-lamp.php

this here is what im using in a 2' x 2' x 4' wood enclosure with 4 holes on the top 1 foot by 16 " hole in the side and bottom and a 1 inch gap around the door.... i also live in cana da....

I use a regular tungsten incandescent household lightbulb for the basking light - about 60watts.

Humidity can be increased by misting, having a dripper, live plants, humidifier in the room, fish tank in the room, etc.
What is the humidity in your chameleons enclosure?

usually 40 average... but just after spraying hieks up to about 7080 then slowly back down... what do you use for uvbulb. i use a froxen water bottle with ice when im gone cup of water if im home... mist 3-5 times a day... depending if not home more drippers... live ficus and lice umbrella plant..

I personally dont like the idea of dripping icewater - I just think its too cold and unnatural.

40% is okay for the low humidity, but ya aim for higher, 50% ambient (when not misting i mean)

I use either a ReptiGlo 5.0 or a 8.0 linear tube, or ReptiSun 5.0 linear tube.

What type of Cham do you have? Humdity needs are diferent for various species.

My humidity levels keep going back down, it's very frustrating... I am hopping once the Zoo Med fogger arrives, it will help! We mist constantly, just to keep it at about 50%, which is not enough!

Our enclosure is in sort of a strange set up at this moment, hard to describe...Alex is working on a larger setup for her right now, we're making our own..

The bottom part is a 20 Gallon tank we had previously...(he originally wanted a chinese water dragon that could dive for its food & such) We purchased the fresh air terrarium 18 x 12 x 20.. We had originally thought it was bigger, and would completely cover the top of our tank.

There is a mesh screen topper on the aquarium, and my boyfriend cut a hole in it the size of the fresh air habitat, and mounted it it in place securely.

Yes, there is a water fountain in there, but only because originally, when we bought her, they told us she drinks from the fountain, and we would need one. We keep it on the side, to where her waste cannot drop into it. Also there is a fine mesh, the prevents her, or any feeders from getting into that side of the tank, we have a light to go over it, to help increase the humidity of the tank.
The substrate is a temporary thing, (another thing we were told she would need) until we have other methods of increasing humidity, it has been picked of any large peices though. I have several ground coverage plants to prevent her from accidently eating it, or really getting on it. I keep a good eye on it...once we have other means, I intend to just put the plant pots directly on paper towels. I thought that by keeping the aquarium on the bottom, it will act more as a rainforest really would, moist, damp and thick at the bottom ..and at the top, airy, light, and breezy with fresh rain. Once we have a fogger we will drop the fog to the bottom and hopefully that will really help til we can get an automatic mister..(zoo med reptile fogger that sits OUTSIDE the cage - we are STILL on the search for our humidifier, stored in a closest somewhere around here)

All feeders are fed in the fresh air habitat, and monitored carefully, to ensure they do not find their way to the tank bottom, that's a major no no . LOL...


The moonlight is never on, I just turned it on to brighten up the bottom of the tank for the picture...Normally it's just a regular daylight, 60. So it doesn't get too hot in the bottom. If it's a cold night, we have a ceramic heater that sits underneathe the cage, it's a tall fat one, you can slightly see it in the reflection. but I've been playing with the timer and wires down there, trying to figure it all out. LOL




The large fake leaf in the back of the fresh air,is for the water drip, it falls directly into the ledge , into the drip cup, it worked out perfectly to prevent water falling into the aquarium.
I will add more jungle vines soon, that vine I have curved to go to the top of her tree, by the water drip leaf, and her feeder bowl.

The "wood" dish, lol..is meant for her feeder worms, so they do not fall to the bottom, she yums them right up as soon as she sees them lol.


Assortment of real plants, made for ground coverage, and one branch of fake leaves, to help dry and evaporate any water that falls onto the fabric.

i got a vieled at night damn it spikes like 65-70 and about 18.6 degrees.

50 to 70 percent is fine do your best, dont let it discourage you, im just coming out of winter here and got my humidity back, in the winter i cannot keep it any better then 40 to 50% humidity, nothing i can do 8 mistings a day. summer 2 to 3 mistings a day gives me 70% consistantly, anyway point being he/she will be ok just do your best and mist often...

Hey there Dawn Love...there are a few things about your cage that should be changed. Firstly, Id get that substrate out of the tank...you little guy/girl can choke on that stuff.

Secondly, raise the basking light to the upper screened area. Try to keep lights on top for more natural effect.

Thirdly, it seems that your intentions of having the half glass half screen is to have better micro-climates...as of now you may be getting high humidity at bottom, but the cham will hardly benefit due to their arboreal nature.

Would it be possible to turn the glass tank on its side tall ways. making your whole cage even taller. This way the glass can be on the bottom, with the top screen part as one of the sides, then attached to the that, the screen cage, which will give you your low humidity top part. This would require taking out a side of glass from the tank but will result in your desired micro-climates...

Pieces said:

i got a vieled at night damn it spikes like 65-70 and about 18.6 degrees.

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are you saying the humidity is higher at night? Perhaps your home heating is taking moisture out of the air during the day, and if you turn the heat down at night that's why the humidity is better then?