Thank you I appreciate all the help. They are outside with mostly shade and some sun. since it's been pretty hot out I make sure they always have shade. Guess I will only put them outside when it's not so hot out. How long do you recommend spraying them for? I don't want to drown them, but I want them to get enough water.
I have two clutches of babies (
Trioceros quadricornis gracilior) that are about a month old right now, so about the same age as yours. I've been getting them out almost every day even though our highs are in the mid 90s here in South Central Texas. Graciliors are a cool-weather montane species from an area that gets 400" of rain a year, so I have to be incredibly careful with them.
I have my outdoor baby cage (that I rotate the different clutches through) under a tree at the western edge of the canopy of a very big Live Oak tree with the wall of my house directly to the south of the cage. That means the area gets the most dappled shade for the longest period of time throughout the day and the whole area around the cage stays the coolest. You will be surprised at how much cooler it is under a big tree's canopy. I check the babies at least every hour--often every 15 minutes--during the time they are outside. They come in before it gets anywhere near hot. I check where the babies are in the cage--if they have climbed the screen and are not directly in the mist, I move them back down to the dripping plants. Normally, I bring them in after an hour or two.
I have an Arctic Cove patio mister (about $15 from Home Depot--it attaches to your hose) with two nozzles inside the cage and other nozzles spraying around the cage. I keep the misters running the whole time they are outside. I have cut a lot of asparagus fern fronds to spread across the bottom and through the oak branch lattice for them to climb on. I like the cut asparagus fronds because their leaves are so small, they hold a LOT of water. Plus when I go searching for a bunch of tiny babies hiding in the cage (it's big) to bring them in, I can pick up a sprig of fern and see a baby easily. I can pile the cut fern fronds in a corner to systematically find babies. I keep the misters on them constantly and do not put them out if the air is dry. They can dehydrate even when sitting in the middle of the misting spray if the air is dry. Even my adults will dehydrate on a cool dry day, misters or no misters. There is no margin for error with tiny babies.
It is important to realize that open space and sunlight substantially increase the ambient temperature around the cage and drop the ambient humidity levels. I have a lot of outdoor cages set up on my deck. Most of the cages are under the canopy of a big Live Oak tree. My deck is about 7 feet above the ground, so the cages are pretty much inside the tree canopy. I have one cage that is not under the tree canopy. Even though that other cage is surrounded by very large bushy plants with banana plants draping over the top of the cage, I cannot keep that cage cool enough after early morning no matter what I do. The difference in temperature of the area around that one cage and the others which are basically inside a big oak tree is substantial.
I hope that helps. I'm a big believer in natural sunlight and think your getting the babies outside is a good thing, but you have to be super careful with them. Good luck.
