misters/humidifiers

[MotherHenna]

I didn't know this site existed, but am glad to run across it.
I've been reading some of the threads about misters/automatic misters, hand misting, humidifiers, ....
Can someone clarify what an automatic mister is? From the posts I've seen there seems to be some sort of pump that (sprays? drips? intermittently spits? ???) water into the enclosure. How is a mister different than a humidifier? What are the pros and cons of one over the other?
I'm in Colorado and right now it's cold and dry. My panther looks good, his colors are consistant and he seems content (but perhaps restless - time to move into the bigger cage).
He has started a bit of eye popping and I noticed him rubbing it on a branch limb tonight but there is no discharge, redness, irritated skin. From his behavior it's possibly irritated but I can't see any visible change in the characteristic of the eye. That's actually how I found you, googling eye popping. I remembered that it was fairly common but the threads here confirmed that unless there seems to be more going on, that it can be normal. But the humidity issue (or lack thereof) could be causing some dryness.
So, back to the question, what are the two systems and the pros and cons of each.
Thanks.

 

[summoner12]

Hope this helps.

Misters and humidifiers serve two different main purposes but can cross paths in some ways. The purpose of both is the add moisture content to the habitat of your animal. The humidifier will create a higher relative humidity without creating very much water run off. A mister is meant to simulate rain and also raises the humidity.

You are better off using both if you have a dry climate and can't maintain proper humidity in your enclosure.

Depending on the mister you build or buy there is usually a timer that turns on the water flow for a set time. You have a panther, so if you had an auto misting system setting it to mist two or three times a day, misting 5-15 minutes each time would be sufficient. The action of water falling, beading up on leaves, vines and branches will trigger your panther to drink. When using a misting system some sort of drainage is needed for the excess water.

A humidifier is useful in a dry climate to bring up the humidity in the room or cage your chameleon is kept in. I use a humidifier on my Jackson's cage. I run it 24/7. The rooms humidity rises but the cage is also at a very high humidity level (which he needs). It does build up water droplets on the plants and vines but I do not rely on this for 'watering' my cham. I still have a misting nozzle that operates throughout the day. A panther will not need a humidifier blowing directly into it's cage unless it is really hard to keep the humidity in your room at a adequate level.

The rubbing and scratching you are seeing might be caused do to lack of moisture. When you see a cham moving its eye around making it seem to pop out... The cham is cleaning the eyeball.

How do you mist your chameleon? How often do you mist?

Today I made a hand pump auto mister for less than $100 from Home Depot. I made a thread about it here. I also have my own misting system I made from scratch.

 

[summoner12]

Hope this helps.

sorry..... double post... second time I've done this today...

 

[MotherHenna]

Thanks.

I think that helps answer the basic question for me. And I love the link to your do-it-yourself mister. I was intimidated by your picture, but your step-by-step at the connected to your name/signature it awesome. I'm not exactly handy, but I'm not exactly a lost Lass either so I think I could figure that out.
Einstein is my second panther. I did well with my first.. until all the trips last year. I use a humidifier (warm, not hot) that feeds directly into his enclosure, plus a dripper. I spray his cage down sometimes too, but in the cold weather, even the warm water will get cold quickly so I worry about him becoming cold. He's still young so I haven't moved him into his adult enclosure yet, though I hope to do that this week. The humidifier system in the larger cage seemed to work better for holding moisture more consistantly and allowed some water vapor to build up but not to the point things were saturated. That may be my next best move.