Husbandry Review

[Delef3]

The best thing I could potentially assist with here (And you may have replies on this already, if so, sorry!) is night time humidity.

If you are struggling with keeping the humidity raised, IMO you should keep the fogger on. Don't let it turn on/off. Just keep it on from 12:30-6:00am. I personally run mine from 1am to 6am.

Your humidity should be shooting up right at the moment your mister+fog turn on together and IMO (at least this is what I do) it should stay higher (80%+) throughout the night/morning. Mine goes from 70s (specifically in his resting area) to 80-99% and stays there the whole time. It does fluctuate throughout the night but it stays higher.

During the winter (we have forced heat/air and it comes from the ceiling) I had to raise my misting times from 1 min each session to 2 mins. Maybe either adding more misting sessions during those night/morning hours or simply increasing the sessions you're misting will help as well. But I would personally let the fogger run all night, and increase it's setting if you can. With your temps reaching the lower 60s at night... it should be just fine to do this. I've done it every single day since I've had Spike and we are approaching 1 year of me owning him soon. He is also a Sambava but I believe the care is the same.

Thanks for the input and advice! This is something I just started implementing. I was initially just doing on and off every 30 minutes. Past two nights have shown better levels, but still not there yet.

 

[Delef3]

What is the highest night time temp that is still "fog-worthy"? Also, how often do you clean your fogger and how deep?

 

[Steve A]

What is the highest night time temp that is still "fog-worthy"? Also, how often do you clean your fogger and how deep?

I believe 68f is the highest you want to see when fogging. I got this off a video Bill Strand did. I believe it was a podcast with a biologist but I can not remember his name.

I actually don't clean my fogger. I use well water that we treat and I constantly keep water in the fogger. I never let it totally drain. I angle my tubing so miminal moisture is left over. Eventually I will replace the tubing with brand new tubing just to be safe. But I don't have any kind of gunk or build up that I can see in the fogger so I rather not use chemicals on it until I see a reason to.

If by deep you mean how big of a unit my fogger is, it's small. It's only 4L. So I have to replenish the water every couple days or so. But because it's smaller, I feel like that's why it's requiring less maintenance because there's less water sitting in the unit for a lesser period of time before it's replenished with fresh water.

 

[jhoncake]

"Thanks for sharing such detailed information about your chameleon's setup! It sounds like you're really dedicated to providing the best care possible. Keep up the great work and I hope your little guy settles in soon without any more stress!"

 

[Delef3]

I believe 68f is the highest you want to see when fogging. I got this off a video Bill Strand did. I believe it was a podcast with a biologist but I can not remember his name.

I actually don't clean my fogger. I use well water that we treat and I constantly keep water in the fogger. I never let it totally drain. I angle my tubing so miminal moisture is left over. Eventually I will replace the tubing with brand new tubing just to be safe. But I don't have any kind of gunk or build up that I can see in the fogger so I rather not use chemicals on it until I see a reason to.

If by deep you mean how big of a unit my fogger is, it's small. It's only 4L. So I have to replenish the water every couple days or so. But because it's smaller, I feel like that's why it's requiring less maintenance because there's less water sitting in the unit for a lesser period of time before it's replenished with fresh water.

So… by “deep” I meant how intense of a cleaning. By tubing do you mean the tubing that came with the fogger? Mine will be all PVC once I am done and I am hoping that will help prevent major build up compared to the flex tubing that comes with the machine.
I just looked at last night’s levels and see that the humidity did not get above 63% except right at the beginning of fogging (when misting was involved) and right at the end (when misting was involved). Then it was above 70%.

I fogged from 1am until 6am with the fan off!

 

[Delef3]

"Thanks for sharing such detailed information about your chameleon's setup! It sounds like you're really dedicated to providing the best care possible. Keep up the great work and I hope your little guy settles in soon without any more stress!"

Thanks. This forum was a “staple feeder” for me years ago, and now that I am returning to keeping chams it is once again - and maybe even more so.

 

[Steve A]

So… by “deep” I meant how intense of a cleaning. By tubing do you mean the tubing that came with the fogger? Mine will be all PVC once I am done and I am hoping that will help prevent major build up compared to the flex tubing that comes with the machine.
I just looked at last night’s levels and see that the humidity did not get above 63% except right at the beginning of fogging (when misting was involved) and right at the end (when misting was involved). Then it was above 70%.

I fogged from 1am until 6am with the fan off!

Yes I mean the tubing that came with the fogger. PVC will serve you well!

Maybe you should start misting for longer sessions, or simply throwing in more sessions.

However... lets check something else out first.

How close is your hygrometer to where your chameleon sleeps? IMO, you should have one RIGHT where he sleeps. As close as possible.

If I am seeing this right in this pic you provided, I am seeing your hygrometer near the top of the enclosure. Is this where he sleeps? If he sleeps elsewhere, I suggest adding another hygrometer to that location specifically....

Because with your schedule and running the fogger continuously I feel there's no way your humidity is that "low".

However, if your fogger is running on say the opposite side of the enclosure, that makes perfect sense that your hygrometer is getting lower readings. And it's quite possible your readings are good (where he's sleeping). When you get a chance, let me know what's going on with this. In my enclosure, I have 3 hygrometers placed in different areas and they will all have different readings from each other because they're not all near where the fogging takes place.

Although 3 of your walls are solid (my enclosure is completely screen), the fog is just gonna likely fall in 1 direction. I am also willing to bet your chameleon is finding the best places for him to be hydrated at night.

 

[Delef3]

Yes I mean the tubing that came with the fogger. PVC will serve you well!

Maybe you should start misting for longer sessions, or simply throwing in more sessions.

However... lets check something else out first.

How close is your hygrometer to where your chameleon sleeps? IMO, you should have one RIGHT where he sleeps. As close as possible.

If I am seeing this right in this pic you provided, I am seeing your hygrometer near the top of the enclosure. Is this where he sleeps? If he sleeps elsewhere, I suggest adding another hygrometer to that location specifically....

Because with your schedule and running the fogger continuously I feel there's no way your humidity is that "low". View attachment 355401

However, if your fogger is running on say the opposite side of the enclosure, that makes perfect sense that your hygrometer is getting lower readings. And it's quite possible your readings are good (where he's sleeping). When you get a chance, let me know what's going on with this. In my enclosure, I have 3 hygrometers placed in different areas and they will all have different readings from each other because they're not all near where the fogging takes place.

Although 3 of your walls are solid (my enclosure is completely screen), the fog is just gonna likely fall in 1 direction. I am also willing to bet your chameleon is finding the best places for him to be hydrated at night.

Thanks! He sleeps directly to the right of the bottom left thermometer/hygrometer. Both units are Govee wireless thermometer/hygrometers.

 

[Steve A]

Thanks! He sleeps directly to the right of the bottom left thermometer/hygrometer. Both units are Govee wireless thermometer/hygrometers.

Ahh ok so just to be clear, THAT hygrometer is only getting to the high 60s low 70s at night, specifically, correct?

 

[Delef3]

The bottom left hygrometer is the one getting the higher humidity reading of the two.

 

[Steve A]

The bottom left hygrometer is the one getting the higher humidity reading of the two.

Ok so if that still is only getting to the high 60s-70s, I would try this. I have no idea how your fogger is currently setup, but if it's not like this already, I would give it a shot and see if there is change overnight.

If you decide you'd rather the fogger just go in the general area that's fine, at least it would be closer to where he's sleeping. But I feel funny about "fogging" my chameleon. As indicated in the pic, I do NOT do that. I'm super paranoid.

Instead, I specifically fog the pothos that's near where he sleeps. Technically, it's the very large pothos in the center of his enclosure. It's really really big so I feel that's a big reason why I am able to get such easy humidity levels.

I would also make sure your automatic mister is hitting those 2 plants at least a little bit. This should help as well.

 

[Delef3]

Thanks very much for the advice. The chameleon sleeps to the right of the hygrometer in the Umbrella plant. The PVC hack has rendered my line of fog dispersal along the back top of the enclosure. There are three equally distributed outputs along the top. So there is no more control of placement. I can send a pic later. I am not comfortable fogging the chameleon either. The mister does hit these plans generally, but I will check when I get home to see if they are getting enough coverage. Thanks again.

 

[Steve A]

Thanks very much for the advice. The chameleon sleeps to the right of the hygrometer in the Umbrella plant. The PVC hack has rendered my line of fog dispersal along the back top of the enclosure. There are three equally distributed outputs along the top. So there is no more control of placement. I can send a pic later. I am not comfortable fogging the chameleon either. The mister does hit these plans generally, but I will check when I get home to see if they are getting enough coverage. Thanks again.

No problem! Maybe if you're not using the fogger on full strength you can try bumping it up a bit. Since you're using that PVC hack... maybe what's happening is the fog is being distributed more evenly (but lessening the area he needs it the most). If you need any more assistance with this just let me know and I will be happy to try to help!

 

[Delef3]

Thank you. So, the fogger has always been at the highest level of fogging strength. Last night the humidity levels were no different, and even a little lower at times compared to other nights. Also, I noticed that last night the top thermometer (not where he sleeps) read at 70F for some of the night. The bottom stayed at 67-68. I hope I am still ok to fog. The only other thing I can think of is to maybe bumping up our dehumidifier to 60-65 at night. We need to keep it t 50-55 during most of the day to avoid issues in the room. The weather is now quickly changing so this will throw another wrench into the mix.

 

[Steve A]

Thank you. So, the fogger has always been at the highest level of fogging strength. Last night the humidity levels were no different, and even a little lower at times compared to other nights. Also, I noticed that last night the top thermometer (not where he sleeps) read at 70F for some of the night. The bottom stayed at 67-68. I hope I am still ok to fog. The only other thing I can think of is to maybe bumping up our dehumidifier to 60-65 at night. We need to keep it t 50-55 during most of the day to avoid issues in the room. The weather is now quickly changing so this will throw another wrench into the mix.

oh ok so you are using a dehumidifier at night? How close to the chameleon enclosure is that? (This can be a DIRECT reason why you are struggling with raising the humidity at night! This is a great thing if this is the issue though. EASY fix.)

Those temps are perfectly fine. Remember it only matters where your chameleon physically is. The rest of the temps will be what they are and will likely differ slightly.

The risk when fogging above 68f (And I believe ppl fog even at 70f anyway), is that your chameleon can get sick from it. However, if your chameleon is physically sitting in 68f, then the 70f across the cage or above etc means nothing in this situation.

I would honestly only run the dehumidifier during the day (if you are seriously struggling with high humidity during the day..... have you confirmed it's necessary to run a dehumidifier with anyone else on here? Or.... do you have to run the dehumidifier for 'non-chameleon' purposes?), then I would have it shut off at night.

If you need to, get yourself a little outlet timer so it can be automatic

 

[Beman]

Yeah do not run the dehumidifier in the room at night. Only daytime. IT not only will pull down your ambient humidity but these do heat up an area as well especially if it is a large unit like a 30 pint.

 

[Delef3]

Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned before, the dehumidifier is a necessity in the basement room where he is. There is no way I can turn it off at night. I can try one night and see, but I doubt I can keep it off. It is also nowhere near his enclosure. It is run for non-chameleon reasons and cannot be completely discontinued. I can try to shut it off tonight and see how it goes with the room in general. A timer is a good idea and I have plenty of them.

 

[Steve A]

Unfortunately, as I’ve mentioned before, the dehumidifier is a necessity in the basement room where he is. There is no way I can turn it off at night. I can try one night and see, but I doubt I can keep it off. It is also nowhere near his enclosure. It is run for non-chameleon reasons and cannot be completely discontinued. I can try to shut it off tonight and see how it goes with the room in general. A timer is a good idea and I have plenty of them.

2 potential options:

1) You could actually try ONLY leaving the dehumidifier off from say 1am to 6am (or whatever it was that you run your fogger). This way you're still getting the benefits you need it for, minus just 6 hours in the middle of the night/early morning.

2) Relocate your chameleon. It is very likely that this dehumidifier is your issue here. I would bet money on it. But since you need it for non-chameleon reasons, it is perfectly understandable it needs to be used. Is it possible for you to move your chameleon to another room by any chance?

To be honest we put Spikes enclosure in our sons room. We have 0 issues (it's a large enclosure 36"x48"x24") with it being in his room despite his bedroom being absolutely tiny. I put the enclosure on a bakers rack, and put it in the best spot I could and it's been great.

Please keep in mind Spikes setup has changed some since this pic was taken

 

[Delef3]

2 potential options:

1) You could actually try ONLY leaving the dehumidifier off from say 1am to 6am (or whatever it was that you run your fogger). This way you're still getting the benefits you need it for, minus just 6 hours in the middle of the night/early morning.

This is exactly what I was going to try tonight. I was thinking to leave it off from midnight until 6am.

2) Relocate your chameleon. It is very likely that this dehumidifier is your issue here. I would bet money on it. But since you need it for non-chameleon reasons, it is perfectly understandable it needs to be used. Is it possible for you to move your chameleon to another room by any chance?

Unfortunately this is the only space that I can house him. Space is limited. We have seven children and a total of four bedrooms so we are maxed out. But his space is quite awesome and perfect for him….other than the obvious issue!

To be honest we put Spikes enclosure in our sons room. We have 0 issues (it's a large enclosure 36"x48"x24") with it being in his room despite his bedroom being absolutely tiny. I put the enclosure on a bakers rack, and put it in the best spot I could and it's been great.

Please keep in mind Spikes setup has changed some since this pic was taken

Whoa. The Mrs. Would definitely not go for that in my case.

 

[Steve A]

This is exactly what I was going to try tonight. I was thinking to leave it off from midnight until 6am.

Unfortunately this is the only space that I can house him. Space is limited. We have seven children and a total of four bedrooms so we are maxed out. But his space is quite awesome and perfect for him….other than the obvious issue!

Whoa. The Mrs. Would definitely not go for that in my case.

Understandable! I hope it works out so that it's okay to shut it off 1am-6am. I feel like that would be the perfect situation here for a solution for you. As long as it's okay for the rest of the room to do that during those hours.