"Let the enclosure fully dry between mistings"

martyllian

martyllian

New Member
Is this always necessary? No matter what I do, it is never completely dry between mistings. I'd have to wait at least a day between mistings for this to happen.

I have a dripper going and the enclosure never fully dries out (Especially the floor!)

I do have paper towel to soak up some of the water that sprinkles the bottom
 
well the floor doesnt count...you should work out a draniage system for that...use the, "search" button in the chameleonforums tool bar to locate an existing thread on this.

they mean this as in dont mist 10 times a day and always have the cham and plants wet...this will lead to rot rot, over watering, and a streesed out chameleon. mist for 5 mins if your doing it by hand, and if automatic set up a longer scheldual. when there is barly any water left on the leafs and cham you can mist again. you dont want water sitting on his cage bottom...that will lead to twenty diffrent health proplems.

heres a good hand misting system to follow for a panther or vieled.

8 am mist for 5 mins
12pm mist for 5 mins
3pm mist for 5 mins
5 pm mist for 5 mins
and right before lights out give a small spray for a last chance drink and to keep the night time humidity up a little.

good luck!
 
How humid is it in the cage? How often are you misting and for how long?

Yes you do want the branches to dry out. Otherwise you could get mold, rot, fungus (on the branches and on the chameleon)

If you dont have a drainage system, a simple pan to collect/catch the dripper water will work (empty pan at least daily, more often if needed). A screen overtop of the pan may be advisable if you have a small chameleon or free-roaming insects.
My cages definately do dry out completely between mistings, since I only mist once or twice a day. The drippers provide most if not all of the drinking water. I use aquarium air hose to direct the dripping water. The chameleons drink directly from the dripping hose. The hose ensures the unused drips fall in a controlled manner, to the location of my choice (the collection pan). There's usually a little bit of splash even so - especially if a chameleon decides to stand under the dripper, causing the water to fall all over the show. I use towels (changes out frequently) on the bottom of the cage to capture what doesnt hit the collection pan.
 
I have a drain pain for my dripper. I have a pump that turns on every 5 hours to empty the drip pan (Because, I HAVE forgotten before and Noah would have been proud of the epic flood) The drips do splash and do not always land in the pan though, that plus the misting leaves a moist floor much of the day

I mist once in the morning before work, and once at night when I get home.

Humidty stays around 50%

branches and organic parts of course do dry out. floor stays a little moist with paper towels soaking up most of it. I just wanted to make sure I didn't need to take the "completely dry" thing strictly. I didn't see a way a cham owner like me could get a completely dry cage between mistings. Norman will not drink out of the aquarium tubing. He is picky and wants it off a leaf now.
 
martyllian said:
Is this always necessary? No matter what I do, it is never completely dry between mistings. I'd have to wait at least a day between mistings for this to happen.

I have a dripper going and the enclosure never fully dries out (Especially the floor!)

I do have paper towel to soak up some of the water that sprinkles the bottom
Click to expand...

I will be posting some pictures up soon https://www.chameleonforums.com/drainage-system-24904/
It helps when you have a drainage system going. Mch less work and problems!
 
If the floor has drainage, dont use the papertowel. water wont evaporate from soggy papertowel as well as it will from the floor.
 
The floor will retain some water, but your Cham won't be on the floor. I would suggest misting times of 20 to 30 minutes or so, rather than many 5 minute bursts. Some Chams need more water to move to trigger them to drink.

Nick
 
nick barta said:
I would suggest misting times of 20 to 30 minutes or so, rather than many 5 minute bursts. Some Chams need more water to move to trigger them to drink.

Nick
Click to expand...

Nick brings up a good point. Some chams may require 20-30 min sessions, to stay hydrated. I on the other hand run 8) 3-5 min sessions in a day, and my chams are perfectly fine and well hydrated. I beleive that my chams have adapted to the environment I have provided for them as well. When the misters come on, they go to thier spots and drink until thier satisfied. I have also provided a great amount of foilage to aid in water collection. Pothos and hibiscus leaves allow the water to pool, creating access to water for well over 20-30 mins. The water collecting on the leaves is not my concern, it's the water that sits stagnant in pools on the bottom that does. I spent a good deal of time playing around with watering times to find the correct ballance to provide plenty of water and prevent pooling water in the bottom. When I set up my cages I like to fountain my plants so to say. I have a hanging plant above a larger plant/tree below. The mister fires at the top plant and then flows onto the larger tree or plant below. The excess water is all collected in the plant below. I do keep my cages very clean by removing feces, along with dead feeders, on a daily basis. Beyond that, not much else to wipe up.

-Jay
 
I.. cant get a misting system yet. The water in my apartment sucks. They will not fix the water softener in the building so I get yellow brine too often out my taps. I use Culligan RO refill gallon jug water (.29/gal) until I can justify my own RO unit. (COST) I mist with a garden sprayer twice daily, and a dripper runs all day long onto the leaves of his ficus, then down onto some fake plastic leaves, then on down into the collection pan which has a pump that empties it out every 5 hours. He is well hydrated as His urates are white.


The paper towels are a recent addition, to aid in the removal of poo. easier to remove the paper towel than wiping up the plastic bottom of liquified poo. The pooled water gets soaked up and paper towel is removed twice daily He goes in the same spot every day.

I was just concerned I was doing something wrong. :p

Norman is a Veiled. If I had a panther I think id be running through a LOT more water :D
 
For a calyptratus it's unhealty if you say that the enclosure never dry out. It's no problem for a few days or so, but when this the norm you will definitly have some problems with him.
It's just unnatural that the enclosure never dries out completely.
 
Well, I guess I am unnatural then.:rolleyes:

There is -no- way I can let the floor completely dry out between mistings. None.

Unless I use a blow dryer, and that isn't happening.

The water gets soaked up by paper towels, and those are changed twice daily.
 
He doesn't stress when I remove the towels. I do it when I give him his food, which he waits for from me (comes to the door when I have the cricket cup or his veggie/fruit plate). I give him his food in his feeder cup (or from my hand at night), swap towels, close cage. Happy chameleon. Or as close to happy as they get. Which I observe in his colors staying mellow.
 
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