Is a misting system a must have?

[chameleon.girl.1101]

I have my male veiled chameleon in a large bird cage that he loves.But i was wondering if I need a misting/rain system in his tank beacuse his humidity fades down fairly quickly and i end up having to spray his tank very often and i have to use a lot of water.What is the best way for me to keep his humidity up without drenching him and my hard wood floors?

 

[JGuinan007]

Misting system in not a must have but makes things easier. Having your cage packed with lots of cham safe plants will drastically improve humidity. Putting panels or plastic around the outside of cage can help retain humidity but too much can restrict needed airflow.

 

[ChamDE86]

Get a Mistking and implement a draining system. Other than my chameleon, it's the best purchase I've made since becoming a keeper. I have a 10 gallon bucket and only have to re-fill about once a month. It makes everything so much easier, especially if you go on vacation for a few days, no need to worry about spraying his cage.

 

[nightanole]

In the winter some cham keepers use a shower curtain material around half-3/4 of the cage to keep the humidity in and prevent massive air flow.

In my opinion a misting system is not going to raise the humidity in an all wire cage much, its just going to keep things wet for a while.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

In my opinion, yes. It makes things much easier for you and more consistent for your chameleon. I do feel it helps with humidity in combination with live plants. I keep my cages wrapped on 3 sides with shower curtain to help with it too.

 

[Virgil1972]

I would say yes they are a must. They mist much longer than you can by hand, and they can mist when your not home.

 

[BryanP]

A must have? No
You can use any number of manual misting options available to you. a dropper, bug sprayer, spray bottle... again, any number of ways.

A nice to have? Yes
I bought the mist king. anything that I can do to make my life easier is worth the money to me when it comes to automation.

Now if I had to lobby my parents or beg someone for the $150 the mist king costs I could see how it's a hard sell when I bug sprayer is $10.

It's really up to you and how dedicated you will be.

My mist king is set up to mist 4 times a day.
Once for 8min30sec.
3 times at 3min30seconds
1 time right before lights out for 30seconds.

That's almost 20 minutes a day misting... I could not imagine standing there for 20 minutes a day especially since I work during the day

 

[Virgil1972]

One thing to consider when thinking about this is that the mist is not just for hydration and humidity but also so the chams can clean out their eyes. So if you hand mist you also have to make sure they are getting misted enough to clean out their eyes.

 

[chameleon.girl.1101]

Misting system in not a must have but makes things easier. Having your cage packed with lots of cham safe plants will drastically improve humidity. Putting panels or plastic around the outside of cage can help retain humidity but too much can restrict needed airflow.

What kids of plants can i put in that will hold the most moisture and are chameleon safe?

 

[JGuinan007]

If you look on the resources tab there is a a link for plants, it has a list of common plants that are cham safe there are more but you will have to do some searching and homework to make sure they are safe the list is still in the works

 

[rminnis]

Pothos, Ficus, Hibiscus, Shefflera, are some of the best common ones just to save you some time from looking through them all

 

[rminnis]

Also a humidifier is another option much cheaper than an over priced misting system.

 

[rminnis]

I looked into mist king didnt look like you got much for your money just that its the best of whats out there.

 

[Decadancin]

I looked into mist king didnt look like you got much for your money just that its the best of whats out there.

I disagree with this. Compared to the comps, you get a better quality product. As for me, I have NO complaints and love this system.

 

[Theveiled]

I looked into mist king didnt look like you got much for your money just that its the best of whats out there.

Time is money though! Standing at the cage misting is very time consuming and if you work, there is no time during your working hours to do it. Monsoons are about $100 and brake easily. Mistking (at least the one I am planning on getting) is around $175. Buying replacements is way more expensive than buying a mister one time that will last very long

 

[Virgil1972]

Humidifiers do not do the same as a misting system.

 

[JGuinan007]

I looked into mist king didnt look like you got much for your money just that its the best of whats out there.

I disagree I use Climist system and think it's just as good as or better than MistKing and is cheaper too.

 

[Bwian]

Depends on where you live, climate varies greatly, if you need to heat the viv it's going to reduce the humidity, it's a subjective question. In winter heating will reduce the ambient humidity. If you want a consistent environment then you need a mister hooked up to a humidistat if you don't live near the equator

 

[DaSlackMan]

Get a Mistking if you can. Have had one misting my PDF vivarium for years. Great product and customer service. I'll be purchasing/installing another one to mist my two new Cham enclosures.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I have used Mistking for years with no complaints. Absolutely worth the money in my opinion! Reliable product, the basic pump worked with 6 cages easily, good customer service, and the time saved by not having to stand there and mist (or while I'm on vacation or at work and cannot) is worth a lot to me. I'm not familiar with the other product mentioned. There are certainly options as with any market so do some research to find what fits best for your budget and comfort level. I've even seen people make their own from scratch and parts from Home Depot.

I do not think a humidifier is adequate by itself. I had a humidifier hooked up to PVC piping to go to multiple cages and I did help with humidity but not with hydration or allowing chams to flush out their eyes like a misting system does.