Humidity with mesh sides

[jack_wardayyyy]

Hi everyone!

I have recently upgraded to an enclosure with a mesh door and mesh left hand side. Previously I achieved 100 humidity every night but now I’m struggling to achieve 70 which is not good.

Last night I hung cloth 80% of the way up the viv but it didn’t seem to make much of a difference as I woke up on about 60% humidity. The issue is I can’t just drop a towel over the top as-

1) it won’t be big enough as the viv is about 5ft

2) the top of the viv is unreachable and nearly at the ceiling

Does anyone have any suggestions? Are there any attachable boards I could buy to put on over night to cover the lower mesh?

 

[MissSkittles]

How are you measuring the humidity? Do you have a smart gadget or you just read the display? Putting a smart gadget thing inside would be the most accurate way to track humidity levels during the night. Also, do you have your fogger coming in from the top? Mist is heavier so tends to fall down rather than flow upwards. That would also make a difference, especially in such a tall enclosure. The only thing I can think of to block the screen side, would be to have a shower curtain that you can draw/hold back during the day.

 

[jack_wardayyyy]

How are you measuring the humidity? Do you have a smart gadget or you just read the display? Putting a smart gadget thing inside would be the most accurate way to track humidity levels during the night. Also, do you have your fogger coming in from the top? Mist is heavier so tends to fall down rather than flow upwards. That would also make a difference, especially in such a tall enclosure. The only thing I can think of to block the screen side, would be to have a shower curtain that you can draw/hold back during the day.

Thank you for the reply! I am using a display - not electronic. However, I am ordering a evo connect pro soon so that will be a great upgrade! I have my fogger from the back right at the top but the fog comes down and just falls straight out of the front and left mesh. I’ll give the shower curtain a go and find a way to keep it tight to keep the fog in

 

[Sonny13]

Does your boy have a regular sleeping spot? If so, I would please the fogger tube above him and then I wouldn't be concerned about the humidity. I'm doing the same with my free range chams / setups and don't have any problems in terms hydration / health or shedding. Just make sure he sleeps in the fog itself for those 15 min windows every hour.

 

[Reptar313]

Can use window shrink wrap to cover the left side then a blanket or something to cover the bottom screen you want that removable as you want the air circulation during the day

 

[crosscutts]

I had the same issue , I basically bought a piece of plexiglass in silicone it to the screen then in the front I have a piece of plexiglass that I’m able to put in and out at night

 

[Beman]

You do not need to achieve 100% at night... You need to provide higher humidity which 70% achieves but you need to have moving air and cold air when you do so. You do not want it to be a stagnant box sealed tight. Then there is no air flow which is not recommended. You have to find the balance for your environment. This can be hard in the wild they are getting high humidity but they are out in open air they constantly have air moving around them. So no risk of health issues but in a cage that is sealed up without air flow they can have issues.

 

[jack_wardayyyy]

Does your boy have a regular sleeping spot? If so, I would please the fogger tube above him and then I wouldn't be concerned about the humidity. I'm doing the same with my free range chams / setups and don't have any problems in terms hydration / health or shedding. Just make sure he sleeps in the fog itself for those 15 min windows every hour.

Since he’s only just moved in no and he didn’t have a regular one in the last place he just rotated a handful of area if he settles to a particular spot I will do this for sure as it will make life a lot easier

 

[jack_wardayyyy]

Can use window shrink wrap to cover the left side then a blanket or something to cover the bottom screen you want that removable as you want the air circulation during the day

I’ll deffo look into the shrink wrap as the images look quite good, a few magnetic ones too which would be brilliant! Thank you’

 

[jack_wardayyyy]

I had the same issue , I basically bought a piece of plexiglass in silicone it to the screen then in the front I have a piece of plexiglass that I’m able to put in and out at night

It’s a nightmare! I’ll have a look at the plexus glass and see if I can make it work, thank you!

 

[jack_wardayyyy]

You do not need to achieve 100% at night... You need to provide higher humidity which 70% achieves but you need to have moving air and cold air when you do so. You do not want it to be a stagnant box sealed tight. Then there is no air flow which is not recommended. You have to find the balance for your environment. This can be hard in the wild they are getting high humidity but they are out in open air they constantly have air moving around them. So no risk of health issues but in a cage that is sealed up without air flow they can have issues.

Thank you! I had 100 with air flow as I had top mesh and the window open and it did very well for him but now I have two 4ft sides as mesh it’s proving hard to get past the 50-60% areas at night. Going to keep trying things to reach 70% and then I can relax a bit with it. I had my window shut last night as he’s in my bedroom and it was unbearable because of the humidifier

 

[Beman]

Thank you! I had 100 with air flow as I had top mesh and the window open and it did very well for him but now I have two 4ft sides as mesh it’s proving hard to get past the 50-60% areas at night. Going to keep trying things to reach 70% and then I can relax a bit with it. I had my window shut last night as he’s in my bedroom and it was unbearable because of the humidifier

What temps are you getting down to when your doing this?

You can modify the cage sides. Plastic corrugated panels attached to the outside work well for this.

But just having the top screen open is not enough to have airflow in an enclosed cage. You have to have a bottom panel open to create the chimney effect for air flow. Without this you do not have proper air flow.

Look at my cage... This is a hybrid. So the sides and back are solid pvc panels I attached. Then the door is marine grade vinyl instead of screen along with the top front panel above the door. The bottom panel below the door is screen along with the top of the cage. This provides full air flow with the chimney effect.

I do not fog. I only mist. I can achieve 65-75% at night steady humidity because of how the cage is set up, the low 62-65 degree night time temp, 5 live plants, and longer misting sessions.

Now what I do vs what someone else does in a high humidity environment might not work. The key in this hobby is taking what you learn and need to provide and then and adapting it to your specific home environment. Structuring the enclosure so it works as you need it to for your ambient levels. For me in a very dry environment this works really well and has worked well the last 2 years living here.

I am not trying to achieve 100% humidity. I been there and done that with less than ideal outcomes. Because I ended up over hydrating my chams. Too much of something does not make it better. Again your finding that line of perfection for your species and environment.

 

[Reptar313]

how does the poop look at those humidity levels? Did your chameleon need that 100 percent spike to get hydrated?

 

[kinyonga]

Many years ago,when I first started keeping chameleons, all we could buy for cages in Canada, were fish tank type containers with screen lids….but we needed airflow. I found that, if the lights were placed properly on the top of the screen lid there would be a chimney effect and the air would flow. (I learned about the chimney effect in highschool). I placed the basking light in one corner and the UVB light along one side of the lid.. and airflow would happen…the hot air from the bulb would make the air rise and the cool air would move over to fill the space left by that happening…so we had airflow. When I first told people this is what I was doing, I got a lot of flack from people who lived in Europe saying you have to use all screen cages…but eventually others started using the glass cages as well and eventually manufacturers added vents in the front of the glass cages…and people started writing articles about using glass cages.

Using glass cages also helped increase the humidity for people who lived in dry areas, areas like I lived in in the winters in Canada.

Please read this to learn more about ventilation/chimney effect in all glass cages with screen lids…
” A computer fan placed on the top screen and blowing up or to the side can give extra power to the chimney effect as it sucks air up and pulls it out.”…
https://chameleonacademy.com/glass-chameleon-cages/

“warm air rises. And when the warm air rises, something has to take its place. That would be the air below it. So, you can imagine that if you have an enclosed space – say, a chimney, or a skyscraper, or a solid side cage – you could create an airflow by having an exit at the top for the warm air and an entry at the bottom for cooler air. The warm inside air would rise and draw in fresh outside air. If this intake vent was to be placed near the floor of the cage then you will create an air exchange that goes through the entire cage. In fact, this is exactly what today’s terrariums do.”…
https://chameleonacademy.com/ep-169-keeping-chameleons-in-hybrid-cages/

 

[jack_wardayyyy]

Not to get hydrated but this made his urate white and his poop looked really healthy but he had a dripper which he drank from every morning

how does the poop look at those humidity levels? Did your chameleon need that 100 percent spike to get hydrated?