Humidifiers

[garfield1]

Hello everyone, I had a quick question about my new Holmes HM485 ultasonic humidifier. I ordered one from amazon.com and it stopped working the second day I had it. Amazon was great and over nighted me another one. Inside the base of the unit there are two warning stickers concerning operating the unit. Does anyone know if I need to leave the stickers in place or can I remove them?

 

[roo_71]

Sorry about the bunk humidifer. I have the same one and have had great luck with them. The sticker on the blue filter can be kept on I think - at least I dont remove them and I have been using the these humidifiers for a couple years. Any other labels should be removed though. Also keep an eye on the water level sensor (little metal rod) - scrape off any deposits on it with a hobby knife and remember to change out the filter every so often.

-roo

 

[garfield1]

Thanks for the advise. I seem to be having better luck with the second one they sent me. I am use to a habba mister and have not had a humidifier before. Cam you tell me how long you run yours and on what settings. My set up consists of 2 cages, both are 24x24x48 and I have a male blue on blue ambaja in one and a blue on blue female ambanja in the other. I have live plants in both with jungle vines. I have a 75w heat lamp and the zoomed 10.0 uvb lamp in both. I have not yet found a tub the exact dimensions of the cages, so I do not have a drainage system as of yet. I also feed free range.

 

[Gordo]

I've doing more rsearch and this has been one of my most confusing topics. I had an interesting conversation with a local zooligist. When I showed him pictures of my proposed enclosure he said why would you have that much ventolation in it? That will be impossible to keep it humid which is what Chameleons really like/need. He went to show me some of his enclosures that he makes for his zoo and he said that if you have the majority of the front of your enclosure screened than that is more than enough.

So once again my question would be is is best to have 3 sides open or just the front? I also have a humidifier attached to my furance that keeps the house from getting too dry in the winter here in Canada.

Gordo

 

[Jordan]

The two or three covered sides would seem like a good bet in that type of climate. Some of the wall decorations you see act as insulators too.

 

[hilohi]

Cages

Gordo,

I would be inclined to agree with your local zoologist. Although I use full screened cages, I have multiple chameleons and they are set up side by side with visual barriers in between. Most of my cages end up with only the tops and front sides open to the air, and even with this limited air flow I still have problems with low humidity. I've had to add humidifiers and automatic misters to combat the problem, but humidity is still one of my biggest concerns. However I live in arid Southern California and your climate may not have the same challenges.

 

[Will Hayward]

Gordo, I'm in Canada, I build cages with only the front and top as screen.

I'll post some tomorrow but I'm beat dead atm.

 

[Heika]

I also use all screen cages for my large chameleons, and in the past have had issues with low humidity levels. This year, I have several planted terrariums for leaf chameleons in the room with the screen cages, and humidity has not been an issue at all. If anything, excess heat from all the lights has become a problem. Last year I used a large, whole house humidifier in the room and was able to keep the humidity at a reasonable level.

Every cage presents its unique challenge. An all screen cage will have problems with humidity, but a cage that has three sides covered will produce bacteria more readily because of the lack of air flow. Fully enclosed cages (vivariums and terrariums) are harder to create temperature gradients and also will produce bacteria in higher levels. Using any of the cages above may work well for caging. Good husbandry is knowing the inate risks of each type of caging and working to prevent any harm that may come to the animal because of it.

Heika

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

What humidity levels have you measured in your apartment?

As long as your panthers are getting misted well enough to stay tanked-up on water then humidity levels above 40% are considered sufficient. My three main enclosures (std. "off-the-shelf" 2x2x4 full screen) are in a spare bedroom that measures around 10'x12'. They get automated misting for 20 minutes, twice a day (drainage!). Central heating also pumps heated (think dry...) air into that room from time to time. I keep the room's door open about 4 inches to help balance the temperature/humidity/fresh air levels. Right now, the humidity in that room is about 60%. Lately, it goes down to 50% depending on the time of day. I do have a humidifier that comes in handy when the dry "Santa Ana's" blow and the outside air drops to <25%. It's the kind of cool-mist humidifier that you set the target humidity and just let it decide when to turn on/off. I haven't needed it for many, many months.

 

[garfield1]

I plan to get one of the digital tools to measure humidity, but for now, I use one of those cheap ones that says desert/moderate/tropical and it almost always stays on the tropical setting. Because I have no drainage set up in my cages, I put my Chams in the shower for a half an hour 3 times a week. It seems to be working fine, I have not seen any real problems with shedding and they are always looking and acting healthy. My female is going through a stubborn stage and does not want to eat what I am giving her. She was getting crickets only from the breeder before I bought her, now I am giving her superworms, silkworms, tomatoworms and roaches. I think maybe I am expecting her to eat like my male, who is a pig. I have to watch his weight and make sure he goes outside on almost a daily basis for sunshine and a good romp around.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

Here's a typical combo digital thermometer/humidity gauge for $13 at Lowe's.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=21243-1308-00887GT&lpage=none