Humidity Issues

[KatelinLovesCommah]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 4-5 Month old, Vield, Male.
Handling - Once daily, if that.
Feeding - Gut loaded small crickets, trying to introduce Dubia roaches, mealworms 1-2 times weekly.
Supplements - Flukers.
Watering - Small water accumination in corner of cage, fogging 30 minutes ever 1 & 1/12 hours, misting manually once in morning & once at night.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? - Not that I know of.
History - Hes a pet store baby.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen/Glass combo.
Lighting - UVA/UVB light on 12 hours, Black light on 12 hours over night.
Temperature -
Day cool spot: Hovers Around 80
Day basking: 90-100
Night: 60-70
Humidity - Ranges from 50-80%. Sometimes drops below 40 randomly (see "Current Problem")
Plants - All artifical.
Placement - On stand, away from vents/air currents/etc.
Location - New York. Pretty cold nowadays.

Current Problem - My humidity continuiously drops at random points. I have a fogger set off to go off for 30 minutes every 1&1/2-2 hours. I also manually mist every morning, and 2 hours before bed. The fogger runs from 10 am-10 pm, then once over night. I had to have it go off once overnight because I would check in the morning and his humditiy would be close to 30%. Sometimes I check the humidity and its between 50-80% (where I was told it should be) but sometimes I go over and its closer to 40%. Im confused why this is happeneing.

Not sure if im just worrying too much, or if this is a real concern. Thanks.

 

[Carlton]

Handling - Once daily, if that.
Supplements - Flukers.
Watering - Small water accumination in corner of cage, fogging 30 minutes ever 1 & 1/12 hours, misting manually once in morning & once at night.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen/Glass combo.
Lighting - UVA/UVB light on 12 hours, Black light on 12 hours over night.
Temperature -
Day cool spot: Hovers Around 80
Day basking: 90-100
Night: 60-70
Humidity - Ranges from 50-80%. Sometimes drops below 40 randomly (see "Current Problem")
Plants - All artifical.

Current Problem - My humidity continuiously drops at random points. I have a fogger set off to go off for 30 minutes every 1&1/2-2 hours. I also manually mist every morning, and 2 hours before bed. The fogger runs from 10 am-10 pm, then once over night. I had to have it go off once overnight because I would check in the morning and his humditiy would be close to 30%. Sometimes I check the humidity and its between 50-80% (where I was told it should be) but sometimes I go over and its closer to 40%. Im confused why this is happeneing.

Not sure if im just worrying too much, or if this is a real concern. Thanks.

A few suggestions:

Ditch the black light at night. It's not necessary unless your room gets below 55 at night. The light produces heat which contributes to drying out your cage.

Use live plants instead of artificial ones. Live plants humidify the air a lot because the soil and the living surfaces trap and hold moisture and the plants' transpiration also releases water vapor back into the air.
What's the humidity level in the room itself? If your indoor house air is very dry (often the case when you have to heat during winter), the cage won't stay humid either. The moisture will just dissipate faster. To make up for a dry room you'll have to increase the amount of misting, fogging, etc.

Another suggestion about your supplementation: It wasn't very clear but may need improvement to avoid health problems down the road. Is the Flukers your gutload? If so there are much better ones for chams. Also I didn't see anything about calcium or vitamin dusting. I'd also suggest not handling him as much. Most chams don't like that much interaction.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Its good to worry. I would do away with the fogger and just increase your mistings to 4-5 times a day. They do not need to be misted or fogged at night since it can cause health problems. I live in southern California and the air is very dry. My enclosures get down to 30% in the morning and then I mist for the first time and it goes back up into the optimal range. The fluctuation of the humidity is going to happen as the result of misting and drying. You want the cage and leaves to completely dry out before you mist again.

 

[Carlton]

Its good to worry. I would do away with the fogger and just increase your mistings to 4-5 times a day. They do not need to be misted or fogged at night since it can cause health problems. I live in southern California and the air is very dry. My enclosures get down to 30% in the morning and then I mist for the first time and it goes back up into the optimal range. The fluctuation of the humidity is going to happen as the result of misting and drying. You want the cage and leaves to completely dry out before you mist again.

Misting (unless you have a misting system) that often may be difficult if the OP works. One nice thing about foggers is that you can control higher humidity periods by plugging the fogger into a multiple setting lamp timer. It can help bridge the humidity gap between misting sessions.

 

[Psychobunny]

Just get a few warm mist humidifiers.

 

[KatelinLovesCommah]

A few suggestions:

Ditch the black light at night. It's not necessary unless your room gets below 55 at night. The light produces heat which contributes to drying out your cage.

Use live plants instead of artificial ones. Live plants humidify the air a lot because the soil and the living surfaces trap and hold moisture and the plants' transpiration also releases water vapor back into the air.
What's the humidity level in the room itself? If your indoor house air is very dry (often the case when you have to heat during winter), the cage won't stay humid either. The moisture will just dissipate faster. To make up for a dry room you'll have to increase the amount of misting, fogging, etc.

Another suggestion about your supplementation: It wasn't very clear but may need improvement to avoid health problems down the road. Is the Flukers your gutload? If so there are much better ones for chams. Also I didn't see anything about calcium or vitamin dusting. I'd also suggest not handling him as much. Most chams don't like that much interaction.

I'm replying from my cell; so bear with me.
I use a night lamp because its below freezing at night. I was told to only uae it in the winter, so ill elliminate it in the summer.
I'm planning on using live plants, but don't have them yet. Next paycheck
I use my own gutload from Sandras blog. My calvuim supps are from Flunkers.
I always calcium dust everything he eats, sorry i disnt mention that.
And I know I need to cut out the handleong. I'm just so crazy about him! Haha.
Thanks for the imput!

 

[KatelinLovesCommah]

Misting (unless you have a misting system) that often may be difficult if the OP works. One nice thing about foggers is that you can control higher humidity periods by plugging the fogger into a multiple setting lamp timer. It can help bridge the humidity gap between misting sessions.

Great advice! I'll redder try it out!
Yeah, mosting 4-5 times a day is unrealistic. I work 12 hour days

 

[SouthCaliChameleon]

I use a Reptifogger and have it on a timer... works pretty good.. somedays like yesterday and today the air is very dry, and it gets down to 30% RH... but like you.. at work for 10hrs a day you can't mist every 3-4 hrs.... so i have that to fill in... i know it's not the best but gives me piece of mind and some humidity for my guy... he can lay under it if he needs to.. Also my cage has a glass bottom for so.... no drainage I will be updating someday...

 

[Carlton]

I'm replying from my cell; so bear with me.
I use a night lamp because its below freezing at night. I was told to only uae it in the winter, so ill elliminate it in the summer.
I'm planning on using live plants, but don't have them yet. Next paycheck
I use my own gutload from Sandras blog. My calvuim supps are from Flunkers.
I always calcium dust everything he eats, sorry i disnt mention that.
And I know I need to cut out the handleong. I'm just so crazy about him! Haha.
Thanks for the imput!

It gets down to freezing in the room at night? Really, you don't need a light at night unless the temp drops below 55....check it with a thermometer. Any VISIBLE light that bulb creates will disturb your cham as they have full color vision. If you absolutely feel it necessary to heat the cage at night you should use something that does not emit visible light and you want something that may only raise the cage temp a few degrees (to reach 55 F). More heating just dries out your cage more.

 

[KatelinLovesCommah]

Me and my fiance are in upstate NY. We live in the second level of a mother-daughter type house. Its almost like a made-basement. Its 37 degrees outside and probably less than 60 inside. I'm just trying to be more safe than sorry. He deff. sleeps at night- he conks out as soon as his light goes out. If I should just try it...I will. I just know it will only get colder this winter. Like I said before, in the summer that light will be eliminated. I just think he needs it right now...?