Difficulty with humidity!

feks

New Member
Hi guys,

I am having a lot of difficult to increase the humidity in my cham enclosure.

I am misting manually 30 minutes before the lights on and 30m after lights off, even at night the humidity does not stay more than 50%.

I tried to create a Dripper using a bottle, however the mesh is blocking the water.

I am thinking to buy a Mist King and a Fogger, or just a Mist system can save me the humidity?

Follows pic of my enclosure.

thanks
A369AEDA-3395-40AC-B769-019D93D66D23.jpeg
 
how long do you mist for?
what typical temps and humidity measurements are you seeing during the day and at night?

Consider adding more live plants to the enclosure, you can get the dragon ledges so you can mount them at different heights to get better coverage.
 
What kind of Cham do you have? I can’t tell from the pictures. You’ve already got some good advice on wrapping 3 sides of your enclosure with plastic. I would suggest a misting system like a mist king that you can set to go off at intervals during the night and that will help as well as maybe a few more live plants. You might even be able to wedge a couple between your branches. Have you filled out the how to ask for help form in the health clinic forum? It’s pinned at the top of that forum and just fill it out and paste it here and with more info on your setup and your Cham we’ll be able to help you better.
 
What DocZ said... (y)

IMO, an automatic mister is well worth it. Not only can you mist more often at night (in some cases eliminating the need for a fogger) and not have to watch the clock, you're also assured of misting the same volume of water each time/day.

Another large plant on the floor—and a few climbers/trailers will also help.
https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/

When you take your humidity readings, where are the probes?
 
Oh and your dripper not going through the mesh, I had that problem to. You need to raise it up off the cage a little and then it will drip through. I used a little plastic bin from the dollar store, trace the bottom of the cup I was using as a dripper onto the bottom of the bin, cut it out with an xacto knife, turned the bin over and pushed the cup into place then set that on top of the cage. The cup of course has a pinhole in it. Works like a dream!
 
Today I decided to bought the MistiKing.

Which one is the best schedule to use it?

My schedule is:

3 minutes of water 30 minutes before lights on. (08:30 AM)

3 minutes of water 30 minutes after lights off (9:30Pm)

30 seconds of water at 2:00AM.

However , even using the Mist I am not keeping the humidity over the 50% at day and 70%+ at night.
 

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Today I decided to bought the MistiKing.

Which one is the best schedule to use it?

My schedule is:

3 minutes of water 30 minutes before lights on. (08:30 AM)

3 minutes of water 30 minutes after lights off (9:30Pm)

30 seconds of water at 2:00AM.

However , even using the Mist I am not keeping the humidity over the 50% at day and 70%+ at night.
What kind of hygrometer are you using? Have you checked humidity levels in different areas of the cage?

Also, do you know the ambient humidity in the room he is kept in?
 
Last edited:
I am using a digital hygrometer fixed on left side of the cage.
I will get another hygrometer to check the room humidity, but he is on the most hot room.
I am thinking to keep him on the basement, however the basement is cold (20 degrees)
 
I am using a digital hygrometer fixed on left side of the cage.
I will get another hygrometer to check the room humidity, but he is on the most hot room.
I am thinking to keep him on the basement, however the basement is cold (20 degrees)
You could move the hygrometer around to see if you get a different reading in other parts of the cage. Right now it looks like the probe is placed in the open air near the lights. It would be good to check in lower areas of the cage & around the plant.

Knowing the ambient humidity in the room might help give you a good baseline. For example, if you live in a particularly dry climate, you can adjust your misting/ fogging schedule accordingly.

you said your basement is 20 degrees, is that C or F?
 
Typically their lights should be 12 on 12 off. So if the lights go on at 8:30 they should turn off at 8:30.
 
So @CBee7726 is spot on... We need to look at your ambient levels in the house. This gives the baseline. Temps at night really should be 60-65 F max when your increasing humidity. What species of cham do you have? These are very accurate for temps and humidity they just can not be placed in the path of water. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07R586J37/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The shrink wrap that @DocZ linked is going to work better then the shower curtain.

Another thing I see... It does not look like you have anything for water run off. So you need a drip pan of some sort... Or your going to get damage to the area around the cage not to mention having the electrical outlet there without a pan is dangerous.
 
This is the biggest issue with screen cages and I almost think that the community should not blindly recommend them anymore.

I used to live in a west coast city and my ambit humidity was around 60 year round. The screen cage was perfect.

I moved to a an inland valley and I just assumed that I would be fine since my chameleon (panther) thrived in the same enclosure for 3 years. Well... 6 months later he died and I did everything I could, shower curtains (that never really sealed the enclosure, Mist king, etc. but I could never beat mother nature. My average humidity is about 40% here.

Long story short, if you're having issues with humidity, look into either replacing your enclosure with a glass one or dragon stand PVC walled style.

Or

You could get some expanded PVC sheets, cut them to fit the sides of your screen cage, and hot glue or silicon them on the back and sides. Then replace the door with some plexiglass instead of screen.

My new enclosure will have a setup just like that.

If I need more air flow I will add a fan controlled via a wifi socket to move some air but as it stands now that's my plan.

How this helps!
 
This is the biggest issue with screen cages and I almost think that the community should not blindly recommend them anymore.

I used to live in a west coast city and my ambit humidity was around 60 year round. The screen cage was perfect.

I moved to a an inland valley and I just assumed that I would be fine since my chameleon (panther) thrived in the same enclosure for 3 years. Well... 6 months later he died and I did everything I could, shower curtains (that never really sealed the enclosure, Mist king, etc. but I could never beat mother nature. My average humidity is about 40% here.

Long story short, if you're having issues with humidity, look into either replacing your enclosure with a glass one or dragon stand PVC walled style.

Or

You could get some expanded PVC sheets, cut them to fit the sides of your screen cage, and hot glue or silicon them on the back and sides. Then replace the door with some plexiglass instead of screen.

My new enclosure will have a setup just like that.

If I need more air flow I will add a fan controlled via a wifi socket to move some air but as it stands now that's my plan.

How this helps!
I totally agree. And most do not take into account the natural ambient humidity levels. This goes both ways IMO. I lived in northern Cali on the coast... Very very high natural humidity 60-80%. I love the hybrids and used them successfully there but I had to run a dehumidifier during the day to drop my ambient levels so that the cages were better. Now I am in AZ and my hybrid is perfect. Taking 0-10% natural humidity and turning that into 38-50% daytime with plants.

Another note... Because I modified one of my cages as you mentioned above with the PVC sheets. I used 20 gauge clear marine vinyl on the door rather then plexiglass. This way I was able to rescreen the door panel with the vinyl.
 
I used 20 gauge clear marine vinyl on the door rather then plexiglass.
That's actually so smart. You could almost sell precut kits I bet it's such a great idea!

My new enclosure I'm making is a hybrid, 2'x4'x4' and will have screen only on the top and a baffled vent 18" up on the front. Everything else will be solid PVC or glass.

Like I said, you cant beat mother nature.
 
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