Change in misting schedule/behavior

[Prince of Duval]

So my juvenile panther has been on the following misting schedule since I got him about a month ago:
-2am for 2-3 minutes
-5am for 2-3 minutes
-5pm for 2-3 minutes
-Dripper during the day

This worked well and he was typically asleep during misting sessions and basking on and off most of the day. His urates have all been white and I saw him shooting water drops from his dripper and then gulping drops from a branch it was dripping onto just the other day. The past few days, I’ve added a 12:05pm misting session for 1 minute with his lights cutting out at 12:00pm and back on at 12:15pm to help signal to him it was about to rain. I have not observed him at the exact time of this misting, but will typically find him resting in the lower part of his cage for the rest of the day showing his lighter pastel colors as if he’s going to bed.

Just wondering your thoughts on this behavior. Has anyone else experienced similar? Should I remove the noon misting and revert to his old schedule when things seemed fine? Thanks!

 

[nightanole]

"when it rains, they go hide and goto sleep, they do not drink" - field report. So congrats, your mid day soak triggered a natural response

I would change a few things personally.

Good 3-6min soak maybe 30min after the lights come on and he is "up"

then you could do your 1min soaks a few times during the day "if humidity drops below 50%"

Good 3-6min soak maybe 30min before his normal time of returning to the sleeping stick.

Good 3-6min soak maybe 30min before "you" go to bed, to keep humidity levels up overnight.

 

[Prince of Duval]

"when it rains, they go hide and goto sleep, they do not drink" - field report. So congrats, your mid day soak triggered a natural response

I would change a few things personally.

Good 3-6min soak maybe 30min after the lights come on and he is "up"

then you could do your 1min soaks a few times during the day "if humidity drops below 50%"

Good 3-6min soak maybe 30min before his normal time of returning to the sleeping stick.

Good 3-6min soak maybe 30min before "you" go to bed, to keep humidity levels up overnight.

Thanks for the feedback. Humidity is usually fine during the day as I’m in Florida.

 

[Grayson Payne]

"when it rains, they go hide and goto sleep, they do not drink" - field report. So congrats, your mid day soak triggered a natural response

I would change a few things personally.

Good 3-6min soak maybe 30min after the lights come on and he is "up"

then you could do your 1min soaks a few times during the day "if humidity drops below 50%"

Good 3-6min soak maybe 30min before his normal time of returning to the sleeping stick.

Good 3-6min soak maybe 30min before "you" go to bed, to keep humidity levels up overnight.

How do you feel about misting after lights go out and they're asleep? I want to keep humidity up at night but I don't have a humidifier

 

[Prince of Duval]

How do you feel about misting after lights go out and they're asleep? I want to keep humidity up at night but I don't have a humidifier

I think it’s fine. Bill @ Chameleon Academy does two overnight misting sessions with fogging in between and another misting session after lights out with a dripper during the day. That’s kind of what I was doing initially without the fogger.

 

[ajs]

Hmm, I implemented a similar schedule today while I was at work (except it was at 3:45pm) with lights off and a good 5 minute mist to simulate a good rain. I only have this going twice a week at the moment (Mondays and Thursdays at or around 4pm).

My other mistings are an hour before lights on and hour after the lights are off and one more at 2am for about 1.5mins

I unfortunately have to be at work from 9-5 and he is always in his sleeping spot when I get home so I cannot observe how he reacts to this. I am hoping that since I only do it twice a week, it will not adversely affect him.

 

[Beman]

They adjust to their schedules... So one change throws them off. I did have a mid day misting but Beman hated it. I too implemented basking going off prior and then coming on after. I ran it this way for a few weeks but he too would start to tuck himself in earlier. I took the mid day out. I went back to having my mistings coordinated with my t5HO quad and when basking was off. I do not run basking all day. I run mine from 9am-3:30pm. My quad I run from 8am to 6:30pm. Most of the time he is tucked in by 5. I run 2-3 minute mistings 4 times a day. prior to basking kicking on at 9 am I have two run and then after basking kicks off and before the quad kicks off I have two more. This has worked really well for him. Then I fog overnight for 5 hours between 12am-5am. I think it is important to structure what works best for your cham and your environment. He has now been on this schedule for a year now.