Misting, Humidity help needed

[Roni013]

Ok so I have a little enclosure for my soon to be arriving pygmy and I'm trying to get the last details together. I'm a little confused about misting and humidity control. If I get a good humidifier do I still need to mist? I found some personal small humidifiers but I dont understand how I would get the humidity in the cage without putting the whole unit in there and that doesnt sound safe. Should I mist instead of getting a humidifier? I really dont want to spend a bundle, everything mist system wise seems to be pretty pricey. If you hand spray is that sufficient? What's the best(but not the most expensive) option?

 

[WEGSXXI]

goto home depot or some kinda hardware store near you and you can buy tubes like you use for vacuums and attach it over the hole that the steam comes out and lead it to your cage there pretty inexpensive... use zipties to hold it or if its screen you can cut a hole in the side and put the tubing through (thats what i have)

Misting - i would still mist cuz the humidifier doesnt make quite enough water droplets so you should still mist 2-3 times a day so your cham gets enough drinking water and keeps it hydrated..

hope that helps ya!

 

[WEGSXXI]

forgot to add : yes handsprayers are fine like one from walmart or anywhere are perfect!

 

[wendysjungle]

I just bought a "Little Dripper" from Petco, and even though I heard mixed reviews, I actually like it. You can adjust the rate the drops fall (it's a bit tricky, but if you fool with the valve enough you get the right speed of drops falling). I have it adjusted so the drops fall around 1 per second, and drop onto a leaf on one of the plants, watering the plant and giving Joyce the visual of where her water is falling. I work all day, so cannot possibly hand spray 3 times a day, and this is a good solution for me. I turn it off at night before going to bed to let the cage dry out, and then back on in the morning before I leave for work. At that rate of drops, I need to refill it every 2 or 3 days.

Between the two live plants and the Eco Earth in the bottom of her cage getting wet from the dripper, the humidity is at a good level. If it does not hold when the weather gets warmer (if we EVER see any warm weather this weird Seattle summer) then I will add a humidifier. I agree, keep it out of the cage and just pipe hose in!

 

[Tygerr]

If I get a good humidifier do I still need to mist?

Yes, absolutely. A humidifier does not replace the requirement for a good watering method for your chams. Humidifiers raise the humidity levels, but do not produce enough drinking water for the cham, nor enough to allow the cham to clean itself.
In fact, for most chams a humidifier isn't even required. The humidity created by misting/dripping, and retained by having live plants in the cage, is usually sufficient to raise the humidity levels within the enclosure to acceptable levels. It is always a good idea to have decent digital hygrometer in the cage to monitor the humidity levels. In cases where the humidity is too low (like you live in a desert) or where the humidity requirement for the particular species you are keeping is quite high (like some montane species) you may have to resort to using a humidifier to maintain the right humidity, but that would be in ADDITION to other watering techniques like misting and/or dripping.
In most cases where humidity levels are too low it can be easily fixed before resorting to a humidifier by modifying the cage: denser planting of live plants, or solid back and sides rather than an all-round screen cage.

I found some personal small humidifiers but I dont understand how I would get the humidity in the cage without putting the whole unit in there and that doesnt sound safe.

You're right - it isn't safe to have the humidifier in the cage, nor is it hygienic or good for the longevity of the machine. If you need to use a humidifier, the following article describes the best way to implement it in your enclosures: Humidifiers and Chameleon Enclosures

If you hand spray is that sufficient? What's the best(but not the most expensive) option?

Hand spraying is fine, and it is what most keepers use. But in most cases, one drinking opportunity per day is not enough for a cham, so you need to have the time to be able to provide more than one misting session per day, or supplement it with long sessions from a dripper. A misting session (whether by hand or not) should last for quite a while too - usually at least 10-20 minutes - since initially the chams will generally shy away from the spray of water, and it takes a few minutes of misting to initiate the drinking response from the cham. The amount of time involved in hand misting (especially if you are keeping more than one cham) is usually what prompts keepers to try and automate their watering systems.

 

[Roni013]

A personal mister seems like it could work if rigged up correctly but they all seem to be used to help people cool off. Would using something like this make the poor cham too cold?
Does anyone know a misting system thats for small enclosures and not super expensive because I cant find one.

 

[LaserGecko]

Don't buy a Habba Mist because it's cheap.

It is cheap...and it shows. Unfortunately, it's not cheap to make high pressure water. If you have a water outlet in your cham room, all you need is a solenoid. You don't need an expensive misting pump! If you can plumb a line or a piece of tubing, you're good to go.

 

[Day Man]

If you can't afford an automatic system you can use a cheap hand pump sprayer for misting. They are like $5 at lowes. It makes spraying a little less tedious and i've heard chameleons respond better to a constant mist rather than short bursts.

 

[WEGSXXI]

http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=72 <<< thats what i did for mine it works great!