Help do I Heat Tank on Misting System

[dutchess]

So we just got our Panther Chameleon Yesterday And we will be getting our Pro-mister next Wednesday and was wondering if I should be heating up the water in my 5 gallon bucket that holds the water for our mister and if so how warm does it need to be. Plus I was wondering how long I should mist and how many times a day I should mist. Right know I'm doing it a few times a day by hand until we get the mister. Any help would be nice, Thanks

 

[JackP308]

I stuck a heat mat to the side of my 5 gallon bucket. Its getting chilly out and the bucket is always freezing cold water .

 

[KarmaChameleon1337]

You can use fish tank heaters I've heard.

 

[williamsrx]

I put a 50 Watt submersible aquarium heater in my bucket, it suctions to the very bottom and lies across the diameter of the bottom. I turned it to about 82, but when the mist comes out it still feels cool, so I might turn the temp up more on it. I think that when the mist droplets come out they almost instantly cool to the temperature of the room, so I'm not sure of the value, but since I bought it I'll keep it. I also notched out a hole so the electrical cord can come through the lid at the edge.

 

[Azaria]

In my experience, even with a generic spray bottle, the water has to be literally hot for the mist to come out anything close to warm.

 

[dutchess]

Our Little guy does not even like to get misted from the spray bottle he just try's to get away from it, He goes right for the top of the cage and hangs out under the Heat and UVB Bulbs. He some times even turns Dark, so I was hoping if I was to heat the water that might make it easier for him.

 

[whereswaldo]

its common.

Our Little guy does not even like to get misted from the spray bottle he just try's to get away from it, He goes right for the top of the cage and hangs out under the Heat and UVB Bulbs. He some times even turns Dark, so I was hoping if I was to heat the water that might make it easier for him.

lots of chams hate misting mine does ive heard warming it up helps not for my guy still gets all spotty and runs blindly i literally had to catch him from running off a branch lol

 

[JonRich]

In my experience, even with a generic spray bottle, the water has to be literally hot for the mist to come out anything close to warm.

I find myself misting with almost hot to the touch water to get a warm mist. My Chams will stay in the mist stream when it's this temp. Any cooler and they are on the move.

I used a bottled water last week that was room temp, and it actually brought the cage temp down about 6* and my Cham turned almost solid black.

 

[dutchess]

So If I was to get a heater and warm the water up it won't work that good? I was thinking about getting a fish tank heater and warming the water to about 90 or so. But I don't really want to wast money if it's not going to work that good. So the water temp is really going to have to be about 120 or so for them to like the water?

 

[JackP308]

def not 120f ... If its warm it'll come out slightly cooler. You do not have to have scolding water to come out warm.Unless your house is 40f. What is warm to us is hot to them. My zoo med heat pad works just fine on my 5 gallon bucket. sticks right to it. Im good on dropping a bunch of cash and sticking electronics in the water.


My chameleon poops on command when sprayed with warm water. lol

 

[ktravelet]

My chameleon poops on command when sprayed with warm water. lol

LOL!!!

I use a 75w submersible tank heater set to 90 deg. It definitely doesn't come out warm to touch, but it much better than no heater at all.

 

[dutchess]

So about what temp does your water run at in your bucket. I was told today by the person I ordered the mister from, that a heater won't work for me because the mist that is going to come out of the nozzles will be so fine that it will either cool down or warm up a degree of the Ambient Temp. I got a Fish tank heater today on sale but I don't know if it is going to work or not. It says it can only go up to about 88 to 89 Degrees.
He also told me, If you run a heater even if you filter your water, you still run a risk of growing Bacteria in your tank and lines and that they will need to be replaced more frequently.

 

[Azaria]

Bacteria in water kept warm was my concern too.

I personally just microwave the water, when I can be bothered to. My cham hates being sprayed as well, but warm water only changes her mind so much, so I don't always.

 

[EvilLost]

i'm confused why you are all suggesting the heater at all?


I always use room-temperature (or if the bottle is empty, then cold) water personally, but my ambient temps never drop below 65F (rarely below 70F).


Maybe if it gets REALLY cold....but then wouldnt you need to heat the entire room? I don't see why you need to heat the water specifically




In regards to water temperature VS misting ....the reason for this is that a (GOOD) mister will turn the water into REALLY TINY particles. Because the particles are so small, they have a very high surface area:volume size and thus gain/lose heat much faster than a large blob of water kept in a bucket. If you wish to make your mist "warm" this means that the water source(bucket) has to be sufficiently hot so that the temperature loss from the nozzlepoint to the point of contact with the animal is taken into account....


the reason I do not think this is a good idea is that it is nearly impossible to tell exactly "where" the water will hit the animal, and since the mist droplets are SO tiny and can change temps so fast you can't really "predict" it. If you heat your water WAY up it may be able to shoot further from the misting nozzle and still stay warm....but it will likely lower the life of your nozzle and tubing, and IF the cham is too close to the nozzle when it goes off he may be burned because not enough of the heat had time to be lost.