Humidity, please help!!!!!!!

[elsmeke]

I just made a big terrarium with a water fall, with a fog system on it and also a exo terra moonson mist system. The problem is that on the top of the terrarium the humidity is between 32 and 40 % humidity and on the bottom is between 90 and 98 % humidity.

The thing is that my panther chameleon is always on the top because of the temprature.

Should I be worried about humidity?
Thanks

 

[KyleFitzz]

I personally thought the repti fogger wasn't the best out there so I bought a crane cool mist humidifier for about 50 bucks. This works a lot better for overall humidity. Also do you have pics of the terrarium? And do you have live plants at all? Live plants will definitely raise overalls humidity of the whole tank. Another question is, what is your mist schedule like in the terrarium? I have a Jackson's at home and I don't use my humidities anymore, but have a screen cage (2x2x4) and his humidity is 50-70% all day. I also have 4 live plants in there.

 

[ChameleonsByVanGogh]

hey im new to the forum not to chameleons. i have screen cages and we all know that the humidity in them is hard to regulate. i have my heat and light at the top along with my monsoon mister directly in the middle of the top of the cage set to mist for 3min evey 2 1/2 hrs. its good to let the habitat dry up alittle before it get wet again. a chameleon will use the tempature gradient in the habitat to regulate body temp so you be sure to have a ambient temp of around 85 and a hot spot of around 90 i have seen people that have 100 but that makes me nervous. the bottom should be cool but no lower then 70. as long as you have water for them to stay hydrated you will be good. air flow is important! if your chams eyes start to look sunk in and its temperament is more aggressive then normal and you can see lots of hip and rib bones your little guy is not hydrated wet his food and feed and a slow drip at night help..i don't run the monsoon at night. if anyone has anything else to add please fill in my blanks
.the reptifogger will break i promiss i had 3 never again
. i have 3 live plants . it hold lot of humidity.
.i just took a reading im at 60% i have seen it as low as 40% at the peak of the day before a misting
. don't over think it enjoy it...a hobby is suppose to be fun!!!

 

[ReptileLove18]

I just made a big terrarium with a water fall, with a fog system on it and also a exo terra moonson mist system. The problem is that on the top of the terrarium the humidity is between 32 and 40 % humidity and on the bottom is between 90 and 98 % humidity.

The thing is that my panther chameleon is always on the top because of the temprature.

Should I be worried about humidity?
Thanks

Welcome to the forum! would love to see some pics of your panther

i would try putting the hose for the fogger in the top of the enclosure so that it drifts down. you do not want the bottom of the enclosure to be that humid! the cage needs to dry out before getting wet again and with it being that humid it wont be able to dry out properly before getting wet again which can promote bacteria growth in the cage and respitory infection in your cham. the recommended humidity for panthers is 50-70 so i recommend trying moving the fogger hose to the top of the cage so the fog drifts down and seeing what that does for you!

also, it is not recommended to have a waterfall in a chameleon enclosure because they do not recognize it as a water source but they do recognize it as a place to go to the bathroom. so it quickly develops bacteria which is a hazard for your chameleon and a pain to keep clean enough to be safe for your chameleon to be around it! it will not help the humidity very much at all so i recommend taking it out. it is also a safety issue in the way that chameleons cant swim and he could drown if he fell in it.

another thing you could do to keep the humidity more steady is put some live plants in his cage if you dont have any live plants help the humidity stay up and steady as well as provide lots of foliage and highways for your cham to walk on! here is the link to our safe plant list https://www.chameleonforums.com/live-plant-database-2632/

also, here is a link to our panther chameleon caresheet too! its packed with accurate info on their care. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/panther/

Its nice to have to you here on the forum and i look forward to getting to know you and your chameleon! we are here to help all we can

 

[sulley]

my cham is very well hydrated and i let my humidity drop to 40% before i mist.

 

[Jniels84]

I live in a top floor apartment and its very dry and usually 80 degrees in there, so I modified my repti fogger, its been running great for me. what i did was cut a small hole in the top of the cage, insert a hose fitting thru the bottom of screen and secure with a rubber grommit on the top part of the screen, then run plastic tubing to your repti fogger. Sorry i dont remember the exact dimensions of the tubing off hand but bring your tube that came with your repti fogger to Home depot, or the fogger base, you may need to buy some size adapters too. Also any 1 liter bottle that pop comes in will fit on the repti fogger too, that just makes it so you dont have to fill it all the time. The rubber grommits can be bought at any car parts store too, just bring your hose fitting and make sure it looks like it will fit. IM sorry i wish i had a picture to put up but im not able to at the moment. I also put my fogger on a timer to go off every other hour. Good luck!

 

[carol5208]

If your levels are constantly that high, it is only a matter of time with all the moisture that your cage will start growing bacteria and mold. Not a healthy environment for your chameleon.

 

[KingJulian]

I would definitely take the waterfall out. I've heard nothing but bad things about them for chams. I have a 24x24x48 cage for my almost 2 year old panther and an umbrella plant with lots of vines for climbing. We have a little dripper and a monsoon mister, and also a spray bottle. Mist about 4 times a day, I wait until the water dries up and humidity goes to about 40% before misting again. The biggest thing is to make sure you dry up any standing water, bacteria is a killer. I wouldn't let the humidity drive you crazy, because it did with me in the beginning. Just find a routine that works with you and your cham. i also noticed that if I leave the fan on low, it helps keep the humidity up.