Help with humidity levels please

[tarrynh011]

Hi all

I have two veiled cameleons and am batteling with the humidity levels in both their enclosure.
Both are reading 20% which I know is far to low but I dont know where to put the "probe" for the most accurate reading. It is currently placed on the back wall in the middle of the enclosure

In both envlosures I have two live plants a ficus and jasmine. The rest of the decor is plastic plants for now i will upgrade to more live plants later.
I have put plastic on the sides of each envlosure as the mesh is on the bigger side (not fine mesh) i have left a 2cm gap at the bottom for air flow
At the top where the lights are i have also put tinfoil to try and close the gaps between the lights at the top to also try and up the humidity.

I have a monsoon misting system and it goes off every two hours for 15 seconds. (Still dose not bring the humidity up either) reading stays at 20% all day weather the mister mists or not.

I have no idea what else I can do
Please assist me

 

[Beman]

Hi all

I have two veiled cameleons and am batteling with the humidity levels in both their enclosure.
Both are reading 20% which I know is far to low but I dont know where to put the "probe" for the most accurate reading. It is currently placed on the back wall in the middle of the enclosure

In both envlosures I have two live plants a ficus and jasmine. The rest of the decor is plastic plants for now i will upgrade to more live plants later.
I have put plastic on the sides of each envlosure as the mesh is on the bigger side (not fine mesh) i have left a 2cm gap at the bottom for air flow
At the top where the lights are i have also put tinfoil to try and close the gaps between the lights at the top to also try and up the humidity.

I have a monsoon misting system and it goes off every two hours for 15 seconds. (Still dose not bring the humidity up either) reading stays at 20% all day weather the mister mists or not.

I have no idea what else I can do
Please assist me

Hi there... A few things I would remove the foil on the top you need the air flow there. Since you have a glass front you have to have air flow via chimney effect... This would require about 6 inches along the bottom of the side panel to be open so it pulls from the bottom up out the top. WIthout this you get stagnant air which is not healthy for them.
You will put the probe where it is not in the direct path of the spray nozzle.
For the misting sessions 15 seconds is not long enough. Most of us do a 2-3 minute session in the morning and in the evening. You will find the more live plants the better your humidity will be. Daytime ideal humidity for Veileds is 30-40%. So your really not far off at all.

Now can they see each other? Looks to be screen in between their enclosures but is there a divider panel?

 

[tarrynh011]

Hi there... A few things I would remove the foil on the top you need the air flow there. Since you have a glass front you have to have air flow via chimney effect... This would require about 6 inches along the bottom of the side panel to be open so it pulls from the bottom up out the top. WIthout this you get stagnant air which is not healthy for them.
You will put the probe where it is not in the direct path of the spray nozzle.
For the misting sessions 15 seconds is not long enough. Most of us do a 2-3 minute session in the morning and in the evening. You will find the more live plants the better your humidity will be. Daytime ideal humidity for Veileds is 30-40%. So your really not far off at all.

Now can they see each other? Looks to be screen in between their enclosures but is there a divider panel?

Hi there Beman, no I have put a black thick plastic between the two enclosures so they have "privacy" they were both in one enclosure when we got them a week ago thanks to the pet shop with their bad advice. But the male kept attacking the female so we had to make a plan quickly to get them separated. With the help of this forum and researching.
The misting nozzles are in the top left side of the enclosure spraying to the middle of the enclosure and the humidity probe is on the back wall in the middle. Our enclosure is 600 wide so the mister reaches half way.
The monsoon misting system we have only goes up to 120 seconds (which i have just changed) how long in hours should I set it to? Its currently on every two hours should I make it 4 or 6 hours?

I will definitely get more live plants but having to lay out so much money on two enclosures in a space of a week im a bit tapped.

Thank you very much for your helpful advise .

 

[Beman]

Hi there Beman, no I have put a black thick plastic between the two enclosures so they have "privacy" they were both in one enclosure when we got them a week ago thanks to the pet shop with their bad advice. But the male kept attacking the female so we had to make a plan quickly to get them separated. With the help of this forum and researching.
The misting nozzles are in the top left side of the enclosure spraying to the middle of the enclosure and the humidity probe is on the back wall in the middle. Our enclosure is 600 wide so the mister reaches half way.
The monsoon misting system we have only goes up to 120 seconds (which i have just changed) how long in hours should I set it to? Its currently on every two hours should I make it 4 or 6 hours?

I will definitely get more live plants but having to lay out so much money on two enclosures in a space of a week im a bit tapped.

Thank you very much for your helpful advise .

Personally I would set it to 6 hours if possible. You want it to dry out totally between mistings. Make sure you pull up that plastic on the side panels. You want a good 6 inches high by the width of the enclosure to allow for the chimney effect.

Not sure if you got this link yet but I think it is a wonderful resource for new keepers. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

You could also close the screens sides off with pvc, plastic[could even seal with silicon] or garbage bag shower curtain etc. Make your cage more of a hybrid... You wouldn't need to increase mist times and it would ABSOLUTLEY bump your humidity up!

 

[Beman]

You could also close the screens sides off with pvc, plastic[could even seal with silicon] or garbage bag shower curtain etc. Make your cage more of a hybrid... You wouldn't need to increase mist times and it would ABSOLUTLEY bump your humidity up!

They can not close off the sides completely the front is glass....

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

Oh...right and they're side by side ?

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

I also just noticed the inside is wood...Isnt that bad enclosure backing? Won't that harbor bacteria or is it treated?

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

And is there a substrate down there too!? That needs to go if it is unless this is a bioactive, but i take it is not.

 

[tarrynh011]

So the mister just went off for 120 seconds (2 min and the humidity jumped to 44% how ever a few seconds later its now dropped back down to 27%... it hasn't even been a minute since the mister stopped... i have lifted the side plastic as you recommended and have removed the tinfoil from the top. Thank you for your assistance as well as the link I will go and check it out.

I also just noticed the inside is wood...Isnt that bad enclosure backing? Won't that harbor bacteria or is it treated?

Hi Kamikaze,
Its not actual wood its melamine laminated wood. Used to make kitchen cupboards. So the center is wood but then covered with a plastic epoxy coating its manufactured that way and is easy to clean..

 

[tarrynh011]

And is there a substrate down there too!? That needs to go if it is unless this is a bioactive, but i take it is not.

It's not substrate

And is there a substrate down there too!? That needs to go if it is unless this is a bioactive, but i take it is not.

Its wood chips (recommend by the pet shop) to try and improve the humidity. I also have moss aswell.. is this a no?

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

Yes definitely take that out! veilds are notorious for ingesting things like that. You don't need anything, bare bottom. While the moss is good to bumb up humidity it still remains a hazard. I used to do this for my panther b4 i got the sides sealed with acrylic. Its up to you buy i would take it out and just mist more to maintain humidity.

 

[tarrynh011]

Ok thank you i will remove the wood chips and moss

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

Happy to help! It can be tricky to get it dialed in, more live plants will also help keepin the humidity up, just make sure to cover the soil with stones so you don't chance your cham ingesting any ?

 

[tarrynh011]

I have covered the soil with a plastic mesh cut to size and wrapped around the base of the plant covering the soil i did put some wood chips on top to keep it place but will replace the wood chips with stones as suggested

 

[Beman]

You will find that once you add many more live plants this is going to help tremendously with humidity. Like I said yours is not so low that you would need to panic. It is just under the optimal percentage. Your top level is going to be a reduced level but as you go down into foliage the humidity will rise.

watch your basking temps as well. They should not be over 82 and no hotter then 79-80 for your female. Make sure if you put your hand up to the lamp for 10-15 seconds it does not feel overly hot or burn you if it does then you want to raise that fixture up off the top a few inches. Thermal burns from basking fixtures happen very easily with Veileds.

 

[Lennoncham]

It is probably higher humidity more in the middle around the plants. Your light is lowering the humidity around the probe.

 

[RPCV]

I think your meters are messed up. Gonna dive into the weeds a bit.

Assuming your meters are measuring relative humidity (not absolute humidity). Relative humidity is relative to temperature and is an expression of the % moisture capacity of the air at that temperature. Hot air holds more moisture than cold air so if you increase the temperature the relative humidity decreases, even if you have the same amount of moisture in the air. On the other hand, lower temperature holds less moisture so the % that it is "full" increases compared to hotter air. So yes, where you take the readings matters....a lot.

Reason I think your meters are a mess. There are 4 data points in your photos:
1) 50.7C and 20%
2) 38.8 and 20%
3) 47.4 and 24%
4) 25.4 and 24%

Big differences in temperature and not much difference in humidity. If these were taken even somewhat close together then something is out of whack.

If you take 50.7 degree air (this in the basking lamp?) with 20% RH and decrease the temp to 38.8 degrees the RH would be 50%
Take 47.4 degree air with 24% RH and decrease the temp to 25.4 then the RH would be around 76%

I don't fully understand what your photos show so may be off on what the reading mean. The point being, your RH levels should change in the enclosure as temperature changes - if they are locked in and not adjusting either 1) your meter is not working or 2) it is not measuring relative humidity (possibly absolute humidity which is mass of moisture in the air regardless of temperature).