Check out my temps & feedback for humidity support

[elizaann2]

Hi Friends! I am so excited about my night time temps in my Jackson’s room. With the season changing, I no longer need to use the AC in his room and my temps are currently getting as low as the high 50’s. (Literally so excited about this….I know…I know….I’m a nerd)

I’m also struggling with my humidity levels though, not only in my Jackson’s enclosure but also in my other two as well, I feel like a lot of it obviously has to do with the heater always running during the day but even at night with my fog machine constantly running from 12-6 am I’m still not managing to get close to 90% humidity anymore. Humidity levels are also getting really low during the day as well.

I do have a MistKing but it’s not set up yet. Any tips or tricks anyone can share with me knowing I am still hand misting my enclosures?

This is what I’m currently doing:
- all three enclosures are covered on 3 sides with corrugated plastic
- front doors are all covered with the window insulation shrink kit
- service panel and top of enclosure are left uncovered to allow the chimney effect
- hand misting for about 1 minute 20-15 minutes before lights come on (otherwise it dries out before lights come on right now)
- when humidity levels get too low during the day I install a dripper or hand mist (I had to do both yesterday)
- hand misting 30 minutes after lights are out for the night (currently at 7 pm)
- hand mist just before I go to bed (around 10 pm)
- fog machine is on constantly from 12 am to 6 am)

Thanks all!!

 

[Steve A]

Hi Friends! I am so excited about my night time temps in my Jackson’s room. With the season changing, I no longer need to use the AC in his room and my temps are currently getting as low as the high 50’s. (Literally so excited about this….I know…I know….I’m a nerd)

I’m also struggling with my humidity levels though, not only in my Jackson’s enclosure but also in my other two as well, I feel like a lot of it obviously has to do with the heater always running during the day but even at night with my fog machine constantly running from 12-6 am I’m still not managing to get close to 90% humidity anymore. Humidity levels are also getting really low during the day as well.

I do have a MistKing but it’s not set up yet. Any tips or tricks anyone can share with me knowing I am still hand misting my enclosures?

This is what I’m currently doing:
- all three enclosures are covered on 3 sides with corrugated plastic
- front doors are all covered with the window insulation shrink kit
- service panel and top of enclosure are left uncovered to allow the chimney effect
- hand misting for about 1 minute 20-15 minutes before lights come on (otherwise it dries out before lights come on right now)
- when humidity levels get too low during the day I install a dripper or hand mist (I had to do both yesterday)
- hand misting 30 minutes after lights are out for the night (currently at 7 pm)
- hand mist just before I go to bed (around 10 pm)
- fog machine is on constantly from 12 am to 6 am)

Thanks all!!

From my experience (I started hand misting and now use an automatic mister), your issue is very likely due to the fact your hand misting and therefore, not getting enough water in there.

Granted everyones area is different, for example, you hand mist for 1 minute at a time, and I am auto misting for 2 minutes exactly each time. Chances are the auto mister is putting out more water than the hand mister (just a guess though I don't even know which hand mister you are using).

One thing I would suggest that you do (if you can....) is try to hand mist AT / RIGHT before your fogger goes on. This should help (and it'll be easier when your mister is setup so you don't have to stay awake) with your humidity getting higher and being maintained for a bit while you are fogging.

I'd suggest handmisting longer (maybe try 2 mins if you can... I know for a handmister that's probably a lot!) and then once around the time your fogger turns on.

My schedule just for reference:
6:30am 2 mins mist, 30 mins before lights on
7:30pm 2 mins mist, 30 mins after lights off
1:00am 2 mins mist, fog ON
6:00am Fog OFF
6:30am 2 mins mist, 30 mins before lights on (just to show the full cycle)

 

[elizaann2]

From my experience (I started hand misting and now use an automatic mister), your issue is very likely due to the fact your hand misting and therefore, not getting enough water in there.

Granted everyones area is different, for example, you hand mist for 1 minute at a time, and I am auto misting for 2 minutes exactly each time. Chances are the auto mister is putting out more water than the hand mister (just a guess though I don't even know which hand mister you are using).

One thing I would suggest that you do (if you can....) is try to hand mist AT / RIGHT before your fogger goes on. This should help (and it'll be easier when your mister is setup so you don't have to stay awake) with your humidity getting higher and being maintained for a bit while you are fogging.

I'd suggest handmisting longer (maybe try 2 mins if you can... I know for a handmister that's probably a lot!) and then once around the time your fogger turns on.

My schedule just for reference:
6:30am 2 mins mist, 30 mins before lights on
7:30pm 2 mins mist, 30 mins after lights off
1:00am 2 mins mist, fog ON
6:00am Fog OFF
6:30am 2 mins mist, 30 mins before lights on (just to show the full cycle)

Thank you so much for your insight! I totally don't mind misting for longer each time, that should be no problem at all. I'll try and mist a little closer to when the fog machine goes off but thats usually at midnight and i'm typically sleeping by then...I just need to get my mist system set up...I have somethings I need to finish up first before I can get that done so its a project and then a project and THEN I can set up the system...

 

[Steve A]

Thank you so much for your insight! I totally don't mind misting for longer each time, that should be no problem at all. I'll try and mist a little closer to when the fog machine goes off but thats usually at midnight and i'm typically sleeping by then...I just need to get my mist system set up...I have somethings I need to finish up first before I can get that done so its a project and then a project and THEN I can set up the system...

No problem. I hear ya lol It's rough. I didn't hand mist for long. The biggest thing is having to do it at those crazy hours. Screw that. Granted I'm usually up till 1am anymore now anyway. But having the mist system is SO nice. You're going to love it. And, I think you will find it much easier to achieve that higher humidity at night. Remember, SMALL adjustments!

 

[Sonny13]

Hi Friends! I am so excited about my night time temps in my Jackson’s room. With the season changing, I no longer need to use the AC in his room and my temps are currently getting as low as the high 50’s. (Literally so excited about this….I know…I know….I’m a nerd)

I’m also struggling with my humidity levels though, not only in my Jackson’s enclosure but also in my other two as well, I feel like a lot of it obviously has to do with the heater always running during the day but even at night with my fog machine constantly running from 12-6 am I’m still not managing to get close to 90% humidity anymore. Humidity levels are also getting really low during the day as well.

I do have a MistKing but it’s not set up yet. Any tips or tricks anyone can share with me knowing I am still hand misting my enclosures?

This is what I’m currently doing:
- all three enclosures are covered on 3 sides with corrugated plastic
- front doors are all covered with the window insulation shrink kit
- service panel and top of enclosure are left uncovered to allow the chimney effect
- hand misting for about 1 minute 20-15 minutes before lights come on (otherwise it dries out before lights come on right now)
- when humidity levels get too low during the day I install a dripper or hand mist (I had to do both yesterday)
- hand misting 30 minutes after lights are out for the night (currently at 7 pm)
- hand mist just before I go to bed (around 10 pm)
- fog machine is on constantly from 12 am to 6 am)

Thanks all!!

It looks all pretty good and I wouldn’t be too concerned about your humidity. How’re their urates? And how do they shed? If both are good then I leave everything like it is. At least that would be my opinion.

 

[SteveH]

70-75% night time humidity is still pretty good along with them waking up to droplets on the leaves to drink. Daytime humidity can be 30% as you want to give your enclosure a drying out period during the day. I run a regular cool mist humidifier in the house at night which might help a little but it makes me feel better lol

 

[elizaann2]

It looks all pretty good and I wouldn’t be too concerned about your humidity. How’re their urates? And how do they shed? If both are good then I leave everything like it is. At least that would be my opinion.

Ok good to know. They shed just fine and urates are white.

 

[elizaann2]

70-75% night time humidity is still pretty good along with them waking up to droplets on the leaves to drink. Daytime humidity can be 30% as you want to give your enclosure a drying out period during the day. I run a regular cool mist humidifier in the house at night which might help a little but it makes me feel better lol

Ok that’s good to know thank you!

 

[Chameleon_mama]

From my experience (I started hand misting and now use an automatic mister), your issue is very likely due to the fact your hand misting and therefore, not getting enough water in there.

Granted everyones area is different, for example, you hand mist for 1 minute at a time, and I am auto misting for 2 minutes exactly each time. Chances are the auto mister is putting out more water than the hand mister (just a guess though I don't even know which hand mister you are using).

One thing I would suggest that you do (if you can....) is try to hand mist AT / RIGHT before your fogger goes on. This should help (and it'll be easier when your mister is setup so you don't have to stay awake) with your humidity getting higher and being maintained for a bit while you are fogging.

I'd suggest handmisting longer (maybe try 2 mins if you can... I know for a handmister that's probably a lot!) and then once around the time your fogger turns on.

My schedule just for reference:
6:30am 2 mins mist, 30 mins before lights on
7:30pm 2 mins mist, 30 mins after lights off
1:00am 2 mins mist, fog ON
6:00am Fog OFF
6:30am 2 mins mist, 30 mins before lights on (just to show the full cycle)

Question about your schedule, is it better to do the evening most 30 minutes before the lights go off or 30 minutes after? My schedule right now is about the same as yours, but I do my evening mist a bit before the lights go off so he has time to drink water before going to sleep. Or maybe it doesn’t matter? Here’s my schedule (no fogger):

8am mist for 1.5 minutes
8:30am lights go on
7:15pm mist for 2 minutes
7:30pm lights go off
12:30am mist for 1.5 minutes

 

[elizaann2]

Question about your schedule, is it better to do the evening most 30 minutes before the lights go off or 30 minutes after? My schedule right now is about the same as yours, but I do my evening mist a bit before the lights go off so he has time to drink water before going to sleep. Or maybe it doesn’t matter? Here’s my schedule (no fogger):

8am mist for 1.5 minutes
8:30am lights go on
7:15pm mist for 2 minutes
7:30pm lights go off
12:30am mist for 1.5 minutes

I think what you are doing is good so long as your chameleon is hydrated and urates are white.

Since we all live in different parts of the world with different temperatures and humidity levels we all have a different schedule to fit the needs of our chameleons.

 

[Steve A]

Question about your schedule, is it better to do the evening most 30 minutes before the lights go off or 30 minutes after? My schedule right now is about the same as yours, but I do my evening mist a bit before the lights go off so he has time to drink water before going to sleep. Or maybe it doesn’t matter? Here’s my schedule (no fogger):

8am mist for 1.5 minutes
8:30am lights go on
7:15pm mist for 2 minutes
7:30pm lights go off
12:30am mist for 1.5 minutes

I think this really depends on your situation. But for me personally, my mentality is that it should always be 30 mins after. Unless you have extremely low humidity and it needs to be raised while lights are on.

My reasoning for this is because if you hydrate properly.....you likely shouldn't need to supplement water while lights are on. Of course there are probably times when a chameleon just....'likes' to drink water despite being well hydrated. However, I've had my panther for over 3 months now (he's 6 months old, almost 7), and not once have I ever seen him drink. And I watch him all day while I am at work. So I feel pretty strongly about "if you hydrate properly, drinking while lights are on, likely won't be necessary". But that's just me. These chameleons all seem to have individual personalities and minor preferences.

I would give the same advice that others on here give: while having a baseline is nice to start out, ultimately you should adjust your hydration schedule based on your chameleons urates, shed, and by how often you see them trying to drink water during the day (less is ideal. more = needs more hydration, usually).

Keep in mind I will never run my mister during the day, because humidity is typically pretty high here. During the day, Spikes enclosure at the TOP is typically 50-60%+. Sometimes in the 40s, never higher than the 60s. This of course gradually gets higher as you go down into the enclosure with all the plants. At night I am achieving 80-100% humidity throughout the night, with fluctuations. So based on the numbers, and my chameleons urates and shed, he seems well hydrated.

Now if you have a situation where your humidity is SUPER low, you may want to consider an entirely different approach than me. But for me, I only mist when lights are off, and I only fog from 1am-6am and ONLY if temps are below 68f.

Seems like using the AC to bring ambient temps down to 70 achieve this easily (62-65f usually). I'm sorry but there isn't an easier answer on this for me, because the goal = hydration. Not a certain way to get there. You kind of have to figure it out on your own.

I got lucky. I went with the "start here baseline" (2 mins 30 mins before lights on, 2 mins after lights off, 2 mins @ 1am when fogger turns on, and then 2 mins 30 mins before lights turn on again), and honestly it's been so perfect for me. Only thing I've really adjusted has been the misting strength, and the fogging strength. I've turned the misting strength up to about 1/2, and then lately turned my fogger DOWN to 1/2 (it was full strength all summer). It's colder here now and humidity is staying high easier at night than before. I don't even think I need the fogger but the few times I've tried to not use the fogger.... Spike didn't seem to like that lol So now I just turn it down. Sorry for the book.... I hope this helps!

 

[elizaann2]

I think this really depends on your situation. But for me personally, my mentality is that it should always be 30 mins after. Unless you have extremely low humidity and it needs to be raised while lights are on.

My reasoning for this is because if you hydrate properly.....you likely shouldn't need to supplement water while lights are on. Of course there are probably times when a chameleon just....'likes' to drink water despite being well hydrated. However, I've had my panther for over 3 months now (he's 6 months old, almost 7), and not once have I ever seen him drink. And I watch him all day while I am at work. So I feel pretty strongly about "if you hydrate properly, drinking while lights are on, likely won't be necessary". But that's just me. These chameleons all seem to have individual personalities and minor preferences.

I would give the same advice that others on here give: while having a baseline is nice to start out, ultimately you should adjust your hydration schedule based on your chameleons urates, shed, and by how often you see them trying to drink water during the day (less is ideal. more = needs more hydration, usually).

Keep in mind I will never run my mister during the day, because humidity is typically pretty high here. During the day, Spikes enclosure at the TOP is typically 50-60%+. Sometimes in the 40s, never higher than the 60s. This of course gradually gets higher as you go down into the enclosure with all the plants. At night I am achieving 80-100% humidity throughout the night, with fluctuations. So based on the numbers, and my chameleons urates and shed, he seems well hydrated.

Now if you have a situation where your humidity is SUPER low, you may want to consider an entirely different approach than me. But for me, I only mist when lights are off, and I only fog from 1am-6am and ONLY if temps are below 68f.

Seems like using the AC to bring ambient temps down to 70 achieve this easily (62-65f usually). I'm sorry but there isn't an easier answer on this for me, because the goal = hydration. Not a certain way to get there. You kind of have to figure it out on your own.

I got lucky. I went with the "start here baseline" (2 mins 30 mins before lights on, 2 mins after lights off, 2 mins @ 1am when fogger turns on, and then 2 mins 30 mins before lights turn on again), and honestly it's been so perfect for me. Only thing I've really adjusted has been the misting strength, and the fogging strength. I've turned the misting strength up to about 1/2, and then lately turned my fogger DOWN to 1/2 (it was full strength all summer). It's colder here now and humidity is staying high easier at night than before. I don't even think I need the fogger but the few times I've tried to not use the fogger.... Spike didn't seem to like that lol So now I just turn it down. Sorry for the book.... I hope this helps!

That is lucky! I do have to adjust things for my chameleons according to the season. It’s really dry where I live and either super hot or super cold

 

[Chameleon_mama]

I think this really depends on your situation. But for me personally, my mentality is that it should always be 30 mins after. Unless you have extremely low humidity and it needs to be raised while lights are on.

My reasoning for this is because if you hydrate properly.....you likely shouldn't need to supplement water while lights are on. Of course there are probably times when a chameleon just....'likes' to drink water despite being well hydrated. However, I've had my panther for over 3 months now (he's 6 months old, almost 7), and not once have I ever seen him drink. And I watch him all day while I am at work. So I feel pretty strongly about "if you hydrate properly, drinking while lights are on, likely won't be necessary". But that's just me. These chameleons all seem to have individual personalities and minor preferences.

I would give the same advice that others on here give: while having a baseline is nice to start out, ultimately you should adjust your hydration schedule based on your chameleons urates, shed, and by how often you see them trying to drink water during the day (less is ideal. more = needs more hydration, usually).

Keep in mind I will never run my mister during the day, because humidity is typically pretty high here. During the day, Spikes enclosure at the TOP is typically 50-60%+. Sometimes in the 40s, never higher than the 60s. This of course gradually gets higher as you go down into the enclosure with all the plants. At night I am achieving 80-100% humidity throughout the night, with fluctuations. So based on the numbers, and my chameleons urates and shed, he seems well hydrated.

Now if you have a situation where your humidity is SUPER low, you may want to consider an entirely different approach than me. But for me, I only mist when lights are off, and I only fog from 1am-6am and ONLY if temps are below 68f.

Seems like using the AC to bring ambient temps down to 70 achieve this easily (62-65f usually). I'm sorry but there isn't an easier answer on this for me, because the goal = hydration. Not a certain way to get there. You kind of have to figure it out on your own.

I got lucky. I went with the "start here baseline" (2 mins 30 mins before lights on, 2 mins after lights off, 2 mins @ 1am when fogger turns on, and then 2 mins 30 mins before lights turn on again), and honestly it's been so perfect for me. Only thing I've really adjusted has been the misting strength, and the fogging strength. I've turned the misting strength up to about 1/2, and then lately turned my fogger DOWN to 1/2 (it was full strength all summer). It's colder here now and humidity is staying high easier at night than before. I don't even think I need the fogger but the few times I've tried to not use the fogger.... Spike didn't seem to like that lol So now I just turn it down. Sorry for the book.... I hope this helps!

Yes this helps thank you! Yeah luckily where I live the temperature and humidity remains pretty moderate so I think my schedule is working well. I don’t see him drink water often but I do think he likes to climb around right before bed and explore the new water droplets. My daytime and nighttime humidity levels are similar to yours. Thanks!

 

[elizaann2]

Yes this helps thank you! Yeah luckily where I live the temperature and humidity remains pretty moderate so I think my schedule is working well. I don’t see him drink water often but I do think he likes to climb around right before bed and explore the new water droplets. My daytime and nighttime humidity levels are similar to yours. Thanks!

That’s fantastic! What you are doing sounds like it’s working well for your little one!