chuka1212
New Member
I am very worried about creating the right amount of humidity and have been shopping/researching humidifiers, misters, etc for the past few hours straight. Doing some research on previous posts in these forums yielded this quote from The Chameleon Company:
"Quote:
If your mist system is being used to provide your chameleon with water to drink and not just to provide a humidity increase then I'd run it for 20 minutes twice a day in addition to any other short runs for humidity only. Many keepers find that it takes 20 minutes to trigger a drinking response and then to drink enough to satisfy his hydration requirements. Twice a day increases the chances of satisfying his needs if he should not be interested in the first watering cycle.
Dave's reply, copied above, started to hit the nail on the head. First off, as I am unsure of your exact reasons for making water available so often, I can only offer that such frequent watering opportunities is not the norm in the wild. As Dave says, twice a day is more than adequate, even in the lowest humidity scenarios.
So, what's the harm in 4-5 wettings per day ? What's the harm in misters (or foggers) ? Both are to be avoided. Chameleons, and their environs, need to dry out well every day, and especially so at night when the chameleon is sedentary. Sometimes this requires the use of a fan to create air circulation, but is mentioned in many websites by keepers/breeders who have dealt with problems associated with too much moisture. Besides being unnatural (it rains in Madagascar, and doesn't fog all that much, much less mist), it causes two frequent and unnatural issues. The first is an increase in respiratory borne infections, or infections that thrive on air too moisture-laden. The second is almost completely unnatural to wild chameleons, but not uncommon in many captive husbandry situations ... skin fungus. It can attack many parts of their skin, and cause significant problems on the bottoms of their feet. It is for this reason that perches need to be a natural product that wicks away moisture, and not a plastic of other non-absorbant material. Drippers are and always have been the best means of delivering drinking water. Your most common pet chameleons, veileds and panthers, deal with humidities lower than 70% all the time, and often lower than 50%. Twice-a-day access to drinkable water will address the chameleon's wildest needs"
END QUOTE-
I had never heard this before... how many of you find this to be the case with your chameleons?
If so, what are your methods for delivering a 20minute misting?
You always hear about super-frequent mistings and rigging up elaborate misting systems but... this quote suggests otherwise, coming from someone who knows a bit about chams.
What do you all think?
"Quote:
If your mist system is being used to provide your chameleon with water to drink and not just to provide a humidity increase then I'd run it for 20 minutes twice a day in addition to any other short runs for humidity only. Many keepers find that it takes 20 minutes to trigger a drinking response and then to drink enough to satisfy his hydration requirements. Twice a day increases the chances of satisfying his needs if he should not be interested in the first watering cycle.
Dave's reply, copied above, started to hit the nail on the head. First off, as I am unsure of your exact reasons for making water available so often, I can only offer that such frequent watering opportunities is not the norm in the wild. As Dave says, twice a day is more than adequate, even in the lowest humidity scenarios.
So, what's the harm in 4-5 wettings per day ? What's the harm in misters (or foggers) ? Both are to be avoided. Chameleons, and their environs, need to dry out well every day, and especially so at night when the chameleon is sedentary. Sometimes this requires the use of a fan to create air circulation, but is mentioned in many websites by keepers/breeders who have dealt with problems associated with too much moisture. Besides being unnatural (it rains in Madagascar, and doesn't fog all that much, much less mist), it causes two frequent and unnatural issues. The first is an increase in respiratory borne infections, or infections that thrive on air too moisture-laden. The second is almost completely unnatural to wild chameleons, but not uncommon in many captive husbandry situations ... skin fungus. It can attack many parts of their skin, and cause significant problems on the bottoms of their feet. It is for this reason that perches need to be a natural product that wicks away moisture, and not a plastic of other non-absorbant material. Drippers are and always have been the best means of delivering drinking water. Your most common pet chameleons, veileds and panthers, deal with humidities lower than 70% all the time, and often lower than 50%. Twice-a-day access to drinkable water will address the chameleon's wildest needs"
END QUOTE-
I had never heard this before... how many of you find this to be the case with your chameleons?
If so, what are your methods for delivering a 20minute misting?
You always hear about super-frequent mistings and rigging up elaborate misting systems but... this quote suggests otherwise, coming from someone who knows a bit about chams.
What do you all think?
and thanks for all the help.
