Misting System Advice Please

[Iain]

Hi folks.

Just a fairly quick question with regards to misting systems when you get the time.

I have for Godzilla//Mr Hollow Legs/Greedy Git - aka:- Ziggy a misting system for his vivarium and I am still tweaking it (it is a Lucky Reptile Super Rain II - Mist System) and just looking for any pointers as to how often/long it should operate?
At the mo it goes off three times a day for 30 seconds and it looks OK to me and it doesn't bother my boy unless he is right in front of one of the nozzles when it fires up (the first time it happened I was in stitches as Ziggy was so obviously going "What The Hell Was That".

Thanks for any pointers folks.

 

[timw1]

It should mist for at least 2 minutes. I have mine programmed to mist for 2 1/2 minutes every two hours during the day.

 

[Iain]

Thanks for the advice - very much appreciated.

 

[timw1]

No problem, welcome to the forum!

 

[Iain]

I always wonder if I could have done anything to save my first Chameleon - my wee Fiona,

Now I have Godzilla I love him to bits but I still think of my wee baby.

 

[jamest0o0]

I would do a long mist early morning when it's cool and then a another at night before lights off

 

[timw1]

I always wonder if I could have done anything to save my first Chameleon - my wee Fiona,

Now I have Godzilla I love him to bits but I still think of my wee baby.

Study the caresheets: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/ and ask plenty of questions

 

[Iain]

After a long absence I finally am back.

With my two boys (Veiled Chameleons) Ziggy and Zak I have the mister going off for 2mins at 8pm (1hr after their lights come on), on again for 1min at 11am, 2 mins at 1pm and 1min at 4pm. That's when I'm at work usually Mon-Fri. If I'm at home I usually just keep the two 2min cycles going and hand mist as required.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I started by manually turning the mister on until water began running off the plants and down into the drain pan. No sense in wasting any more water, so this is my duration time. Coincidentally, it's 2 minutes.

Currently, I'm misting for 2 min. at 6am (lights on) noon, 6pm (lights out), 9pm, midnight, 3am.
It's been 3 months, and so far everything's copacetic.

 

[Thompson]

I have my mistking set to mist the cages 3 or 4x a day max. The morning and night sessions are the longest so I can maintain humidity levels throughout the day and during the night (low to high is how you want the humidity throughout the day, and higher throughout the night. In between the first and last sessions I throw in one or two 3 minute sessions that just provide more hydration and humidity. When your Chams starts to shed, you'll want to give him time between misting sessions to dry out rather than up humidity levels.

 

[suprdude]

It should mist for at least 2 minutes. I have mine programmed to mist for 2 1/2 minutes every two hours during the day.

I'm curious, how much water does this cycle use? Also how much is lost to plants and evaporation? For example, you're adding a gallon a day but only dumping 1/2 gallon a day.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

I started by manually turning the mister on until water began running off the plants and down into the drain pan. No sense in wasting any more water, so this is my duration time. Coincidentally, it's 2 minutes.

Currently, I'm misting for 2 min. at 6am (lights on) noon, 6pm (lights out), 9pm, midnight, 3am.
It's been 3 months, and so far everything's copacetic.

I'm curious, how much water does this cycle use? Also how much is lost to plants and evaporation? For example, you're adding a gallon a day but only dumping 1/2 gallon a day.

I think it's important to consider that my enclosure is twice the size of many/most: 48"W x 24"D x 48"H. I would think a typical 24 x 24 x 48 would use half of what I do.

For the above schedule, I'm using ~3½ gal./week. Most is lost to evaporation—that's the idea (creating humidity). In my case, the foliage is quite dense, so virtually none is lost to plants—plant watering is done by hand on its own schedule due to different needs of different plants.

It takes several weeks (~a month) for the drain bucket to accumulate ~2 gal., which is where I try to empty it (5 gal. bucket). Some of that drainage is from plant watering trickling out the bottoms of the pots. All together, I'd estimate I "lose" less than 2 out of ~15 gal. of mist water per month to drainage. I probably could recycle that drainage to water the plants (wasting even less), but TBH I didn't think of that until just now.

In addition to evaporation, live plants also add humidity via transpiration.

 

[suprdude]

I think it's important to consider that my enclosure is twice the size of many/most: 48"W x 24"D x 48"H. I would think a typical 24 x 24 x 48 would use half of what I do.

For the above schedule, I'm using ~3½ gal./week. Most is lost to evaporation—that's the idea (creating humidity). In my case, the foliage is quite dense, so virtually none is lost to plants—plant watering is done by hand on its own schedule due to different needs of different plants.

It takes several weeks (~a month) for the drain bucket to accumulate ~2 gal., which is where I try to empty it (5 gal. bucket). Some of that drainage is from plant watering trickling out the bottoms of the pots. All together, I'd estimate I "lose" less than 2 out of ~15 gal. of mist water per month to drainage. I probably could recycle that drainage to water the plants (wasting even less), but TBH I didn't think of that until just now.

In addition to evaporation, live plants also add humidity via transpiration.

This is really valuable information for me, thanks so much for taking the time to describe this in detail. You say no water is lost to plants, but doesn't water spray everywhere including into the soil?

The enclosure I built for my frog is currently being converted for a chameleon. It's 30" tall x22" deep x60" wide, but it's not made of screen so I probably won't lose as much to evaporation. (There are some small vents.)

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

This is really valuable information for me, thanks so much for taking the time to describe this in detail.

​

You say no water is lost to plants, but doesn't water spray everywhere including into the soil?

No, the mist nozzles are at the top front of the enclosure. The foliage is so dense, I'd be very surprised if any mist water made it down through that jungle to the pots—not even the hanging pitcher plant.

It's not as dark as it looks; the camera overcompensates by darkening because the lights at the top are so bright.

The enclosure I built for my frog is currently being converted for a chameleon. It's 30" tall x22" deep x60" wide, but it's not made of screen so I probably won't lose as much to evaporation. (There are some small vents.)

That's a bit on the short side height-wise. You can compensate by putting it on a high table or shelf; chameleons feel most comfortable at or above eye level.

Are you going to have enough ventilation for air-changes? Frogs don't require much but chams do.

 

[suprdude]

That's a bit on the short side height-wise. You can compensate by putting it on a high table or shelf; chameleons feel most comfortable at or above eye level.

Are you going to have enough ventilation for air-changes? Frogs don't require much but chams do.

I forgot to mention it's elevated, so the 30" height start about 3 feet off the ground. Attached is a pic. The whole thing is custom made.

I have two fans to exchange air at whatever rate I choose. Still not sure how often I'll do this. I'll need to test the humidity at various times.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

It looks very nice, but for a chameleon, it needs a lot more live foliage—both for humidity and to provide the cham privacy and places to hide.

Nobody makes a 60" (nom.) UVB, but it looks like a 48" should do. I would center a T5 HO side to side and front to back—either Reptisun 5.0 or Arcadia 6%.

 

[suprdude]

It looks very nice, but for a chameleon, it needs a lot more live foliage—both for humidity and to provide the cham privacy and places to hide.

Nobody makes a 60" (nom.) UVB, but it looks like a 48" should do. I would center a T5 HO side to side and front to back—either Reptisun 5.0 or Arcadia 6%.

It's currently a blank slate and is being remodeled (that's an old pic), so it'll have lot of foliage in the end.

Ideally it would be taller, but at 21 cubic feet, it's bigger than the majority of chameleon enclosures. I agree a 48" UVB T5 HO on the long side would be the best choice