Misting

[natedog27]

so I live in Colorado where it's super dry.

I've been running the mister and measuring the humidity to find an ideal level but it drops pretty low pretty quick. I'm up to misting for 30 seconds every 3 hrs starting at 9 but it drops to about 30% after the first hour.

Is that okay to let it drop that low? Or should I try and keep it higher. And how often do yall most?

 

[mrgreen22]

Are you using real plants? real plants should retain humidity. I live in Cali where it can get pretty dry as well. I would say as long as your cham is drinking and staying hydrated, you should be good with 3 mists a day. My humidity gauge will drop to the 30-40 range, and ill usually just mist the leaves a bit and it rises to 60-70% range. You don't want to over mist , can cause potential health risks.

 

[Carlton]

so I live in Colorado where it's super dry.

I've been running the mister and measuring the humidity to find an ideal level but it drops pretty low pretty quick. I'm up to misting for 30 seconds every 3 hrs starting at 9 but it drops to about 30% after the first hour.

Is that okay to let it drop that low? Or should I try and keep it higher. And how often do yall most?

I've kept chams in CO too, so know what you mean. I found what worked best for me was a combination of misting cycles and adding some more humid periods with a room humidifier.

Misting: What you need to do is provide as much surface area to trap and hold the misting water droplets as you can. Live plants help a lot with humidity both by providing lots of surfaces, crevices and pockets that hold water, and because they absorb and release moisture through transpiration. Your cham has more time to drink if there's more water available longer. Really fill the cage with plants! You can also cover the sides of the screen cage with clear plastic sheeting (experiment with 1, 2 or more sides). The sheeting will catch some of the spray and will also slow the drying rate down. Your room is still drier than the cage and the cage moisture will dissipate pretty fast without some sort of barriers.

Fogging: Ultrasonic room humidifiers produce very fine mist that does not really soak the cage like misting will, but can raise the humidity level quite a bit. This isn't a replacement for misting, but you will probably need to mist less often during the day. Mist once or twice so the cham can drink and clear its eyes, but add a couple of fogging periods between. It can help prevent the more drastic dry outs.

 

[natedog27]

Just so ya know I don't have the cham yet. Ive kept reptiles for a while and I like to get everything just about perfect before I order an animal.

So letting it drop to that level is okay?

But the cage is full of live plants, so full I already want to start building its adult cage.

And I have a clear shower curtain ready to be put up if all else fails.

 

[Vegas Chad]

Another Colorado chameleon-ish keeper? Very good indeed... Where abouts in CO?

Coming from Vegas I was surprised how dry it is here with the Snow, bodies of water, rivers, ECT. Best I can figure its a combo of the cold and being near the sun!

I have had to increase the number of live plants that I keep in my cages as well as bump up the misting and dripping - like Carlton said that helps alot. An automatic mister is almost a must and something like the reptifogger can't hurt things. Chameleons like Veileds you can mist 2 or 3 times a day, and then go up from that depending on the type.

This dude seems to be OK with his colorado basement home. He gets showers 3x a week, a gallon drip everyday and misting every 2 hours.

What kind of chameleon are you thinking of?