Mist King System Settings

[bechsgaard]

Hi, I was wondering what would be a good setting for my mistking misting system for my baby panthers, in their 16X16X20 cages. There is 1 nozzle in each cage. dont worry about how it affects my other cages as per 3 square feet of cage i have 1 nozzle. anyway right now i have it set at 45 seconds of spray every 4 hours.

 

[ChameleonsInMyHouse]

Hi, I was wondering what would be a good setting for my mistking misting system for my baby panthers, in their 16X16X20 cages. There is 1 nozzle in each cage. dont worry about how it affects my other cages as per 3 square feet of cage i have 1 nozzle. anyway right now i have it set at 45 seconds of spray every 4 hours.

i personally think any misting system is over-doing it for babies. like, how old of a baby are we talking about?

anyways, short mists like you have it set up now seems ok, but i would go back and use luke warm spray bottle water if they are legit baby babies, JMO

 

[bechsgaard]

oh sorry, yes im a breeder, not baby babies, juviniles of just over 4 monthes, i used to have a homemade misting system but the ammount of water ejected was much higher

 

[Olimpia]

I would mist a minimum of a minute, with 2-3 being better, personally. Many think that my 10-20 minute misting sessions for adults are overkill, but you don't know the times I come back and they are all sitting there under the water the entire time. Maybe not drinking, but they're just sitting there willingly, when the other half of their cage is dry. So they love it.

For babies I wouldn't do that but perhaps a minute or two would be good. That's what I would do anyway, maybe even up to 5 minutes. As long as they have a corner of the cage where they can go to to escape the water if they aren't in the mood, I'm all for providing long misting opportunities.

 

[bechsgaard]

i generally agree with you although i have heard of flapneck chameleons who over hydrate themselves, i think with adequate drainage i will figure out what my guy's needs are.

 

[bechsgaard]

how often per day do you think i should do it, i always water at night, im nto sure if its nessesary

 

[Olimpia]

With mine, when they were 3-4 months old they were on a similar schedule as the one I have now. Mind you, this is just what I do, I am by no means telling you you have to mist this much. But mine love it and it's been great for them.

8am - 15/20 minutes
1pm - 5 minutes
5pm - 20 minutes

So I use a lot of water. But I think that you could do maybe a few 3 minute mistings during the day and one longer one, maybe 5-10 minutes in the afternoon. Again though, a lot of water if you don't have a good drainage system in place. You'll have to see what works for you.

 

[bechsgaard]

i think i will add 2 short mistings at night to keep humidity up

 

[Ta2Smitty]

so I guess my 2 minutes on the hour from 8am-4pm is a bit much?

 

[bechsgaard]

probably, you might be more at risk for mold, you should get you chameleon a fecal exam

 

[Olimpia]

so I guess my 2 minutes on the hour from 8am-4pm is a bit much?

Not necessarily. The point to keep in mind is that as long as your cage dries out between mistings, it's not a problem. 2 minutes isn't too much water, especially if you have where to drain it away to. But it you find that you are getting things too wet too often, you might want to cut out a couple mistings. Maybe do it every 2-3 hours?

There're really no wrong way to mist except to do it too little, but the schedule and amounts you just have to work out by ear. If your chameleon is hydrated properly then you might not need any extra water. If he's not, then decide how much you want to mist and how long each time.

 

[bechsgaard]

indeed, but 2 minutes of water every hour is aprox 1 litre per hour, that would barely give enough time for the cage to dry up in arizona

 

[Olimpia]

Forgive me but I'm not good at math. You're saying it's spraying a liter every minute the mister is on? I don't think that's true, I mist almost 45 minutes and I don't go through a 5 gallon bucket in less than 3-4 days.

My cage dries, and I'm in a much more humid place than Arizona. I'm not arguing with you, but as long as the cage dries you can mist as much as you can, in my opinion.

 

[imcurt]

i personally think any misting system is over-doing it for babies. like, how old of a baby are we talking about?

anyways, short mists like you have it set up now seems ok, but i would go back and use luke warm spray bottle water if they are legit baby babies, JMO

I DISAGREE!!! I start new hatchling on 10sec no spray bottle on the market can spray that fine! 1 drip from a bottle can drown a neonate At 3 weeks i bump it to 15 secs at 6 weeks i bump it to 30 sec. at 2 months they get a full min. I know all my babies are getting hydrated while im at work.When sombody get a baby from me they are used to a misting system and are not afraid of being misted directly! that being said we all do things a bit diffrent phil:cute veild baby pics

 

[Zen Reptiles]

It's a trap!

A lot of people say 2-3-15 minutes. I was doing 30 second-1 minute sprayings, several times a day for my babies and juvies.

Then I took the advice of the forum and was doing 2-3 minute mistings.

I lost a juvie female to a respiratory infection. This is in a screen, drained enclosure, it was just too much moisture for her and I lost her within 3 days of doing the 2 & 3 minute mistings.

The adults, YES absolutely do 2-3-15 minutes. Any chameleon under 7 months, IMO and experience, should be no more than 1 minute mistings.

From 1-3 months I hand spray, or misting is set up for only twice a day, 30 seconds.

From 3-5 months it's 5 times a day, 30 seconds to 45 seconds. For 5-7 months old it's 1 minute or so, 3-4 times a day, and for adults it can be whatever you want.

 

[Olimpia]

Zen, this is going to sound rude without tone so forgive me, but I have a hard time believing that your female got an RI and died from it within a 3 day span. Chameleons take a long time in getting infections and a long time in getting over them, due to their metabolism. She likely had it brewing for a week or more before the misting times were changed.

 

[bechsgaard]

sorry when i said 1 littre its because my cages are immense and have 6 nozzles in each one

 

[bechsgaard]

also zen.... ive had 2 chameleons who have had respratory infections from over hydration. the misting system maufunctioned and it was on for 24 hours. The chams didnt die for 10 days