what is the potential healthy risk of low humitity level

Teletubbies

Member
Since my condo switched the AC from cool to heat last week, the humidity level of my chameleon enclosure dropped to 55% at night, the mistking system works 1 min every 1.5h, it could increase the humidity level to 80% but after 30min, the humidity level will be dropped back to 55%. I think my chameleon is fine this week but I'm concerned the low humidity level might cause health issues to my chameleon.

Chameleon Info:


  • 4 months CB Nosy Mitsio chameleon, I got him 1 month ago. I think is male
  • Handling - Few times a week
  • Feeding - 1/2 cricket and dubia& Surinam roaches, the silkworms and bsfl.I feed him every day around 10 am with 10-12 feeders. I’m using carrot and repashy bug burger to gut loading crickets and roaches.
  • Supplements - Arcadia earth pro A every day, Repashy Calcium Plus Low D twice a month.
  • Watering - I’m using a mistkingv5.0 system with a single nozzle. The mist settings are 3 minutes at 7 am and 7 pm, 1min mist every 1.5h at night.
  • Fecal Description - 2/3 black and 1/3 white no Orange urates, no tested for parasites.

Cage Info:

  • Cage Type – Reptibreeze XL,24x24x48, four sides wrapped by window shrink kit.
  • Lighting –Arcadia D-3 forest 6% UVB light, 60w basking light and two LED plant grow light
  • Temperature - I’m using Zoo Med Digital Combo Thermometer Humidity Gauge to measure the temperature and humidity. The temperature is 86 f at the basking spot, 77f enclosure temperature during the daytime,71.5 f at night.
  • Humidity -Daytime 40%-50%, nighttime 55% or lower. I wrapped the front door, back and both sides by window shrink kit.
  • Plants - majesty palm, Schefflera arboricola, Cebu Blue Pathos, Pathos Marble Queen, Marantaceae Nepenthes and Climbing Fig.
  • Placement -In the corner of my living room, low traffic area.
  • Location – Toronto, Canada
 

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Hi there welcome to the forum. I do not have time to go through your help form now but I can tomorrow if no one else has. Please tell me the shrink film is on the outside of the cage and not on the inside... It looks like it is on the inside of the front door. If on the inside you want to remove that and put it on the outside. Last thing you want is a cham stuck in the film or eating a piece of it. Make sure your service door is all screen. You have to have the air flow or it will be stagnant air.

So higher humidity at night is supposed to help with hydration. It can not be the only hydration though. With higher night time humidity you want temps below 67 and air flow. Otherwise you have an increased risk of them developing an RI.

@MissSkittles if you have time to do their husbandry review? If not I can tomorrow morning.
 
If you are getting bloody noses, they are getting bloody noses. If your hands are all cracked, their hands are all cracked.

But on the other hand, lets say you live in the arctic, and manage to get the humidity to 70-80% in the winter. Odds are you have very low air circulation, and will get mold (at least i do). So you have to choose your battles a few times a year. I hit 30-40% at night for 90 days a year.
 
Hi. Your husbandry looks pretty good to my eyes. You have your enclosure set up nicely. As @Beman said though, it does appear that you have the window film on the inside of at least your door. Chameleons are curious creatures and will get into the exact thing that you don’t want or think they will. Applying film to your entire enclosure is ok, but also as was said, you need to leave the service door uncovered screen for air circulation. To boost your humidity at night, you could get a cool mist humidifier and have it ’pipe in’ some fog. There are some made specifically for reptiles like this https://www.amazon.com/PETSPIONEER-...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= Or you could modify one for human use with some tubing. During the day to boost your humidity a bit and provide additional opportunity for drinking, you could add a 1-2 minute misting mid day.
The only other suggestion I have is you could add to your gutloading. Add more fresh greens and veggies and a little fruit. The healthier your bugs are, the more nutritious they are for your chameleon. Yes, btw it looks like you do have a beautiful little boy.
BE4448F9-CE68-4C28-8433-E01F2941A147.jpeg
 
Hi there welcome to the forum. I do not have time to go through your help form now but I can tomorrow if no one else has. Please tell me the shrink film is on the outside of the cage and not on the inside... It looks like it is on the inside of the front door. If on the inside you want to remove that and put it on the outside. Last thing you want is a cham stuck in the film or eating a piece of it. Make sure your service door is all screen. You have to have the air flow or it will be stagnant air.

So higher humidity at night is supposed to help with hydration. It can not be the only hydration though. With higher night time humidity you want temps below 67 and air flow. Otherwise you have an increased risk of them developing an RI.

@MissSkittles if you have time to do their husbandry review? If not I can tomorrow morning.
Thank you, I just put it on the outside. If I placed a humidifier near the cage, will it threaten the health of the chameleon?
 
Chameleon Info:


  • 4 months CB Nosy Mitsio chameleon, I got him 1 month ago. I think is male
    I agree, I think it’s a male too. And he looks great
  • Handling - Few times a week
  • Feeding - 1/2 cricket and dubia& Surinam roaches, the silkworms and bsfl.I feed him every day around 10 am with 10-12 feeders. I’m using carrot and repashy bug burger to gut loading crickets and roaches.
    @MissSkittles covered this very well. Good feeder nutrition = good cham nutrition
  • Supplements - Arcadia earth pro A every day, Repashy Calcium Plus Low D twice a month.
    I like it 👍
  • Watering - I’m using a mistkingv5.0 system with a single nozzle. The mist settings are 3 minutes at 7 am and 7 pm, 1min mist every 1.5h at night.
    You’re using a decent amount of misting at night. And this definitely can be an effective strategy to boost nighttime humidity, although in this case it doesn’t seem to be working the way you’d like it too.
    You’ve covered the sides, you’re using live plants, and you’re misting at night. All of these are good strategies to hold humidity.

    I don’t think you can go wrong with more plants. They can create “walls” to help hold in humidity.
    D481B7A5-AE9A-4C4C-930F-D1BB77628358.jpeg
  • Fecal Description - 2/3 black and 1/3 white no Orange urates, no tested for parasites.
Cage Info:

  • Cage Type – Reptibreeze XL,24x24x48, four sides wrapped by window shrink kit.
  • Lighting –Arcadia D-3 forest 6% UVB light, 60w basking light and two LED plant grow light
  • Temperature - I’m using Zoo Med Digital Combo Thermometer Humidity Gauge to measure the temperature and humidity. The temperature is 86 f at the basking spot, 77f enclosure temperature during the daytime,71.5 f at night.
    These temps are probably fine. Remember the lower you get at night the higher the relative humidity will be. Cool air can hold less water vapor and your RH will always increase as temps get lower and your panther can definitely tolerate (and maybe enjoy) lower nighttime temperatures.
    another consideration is adding more temp/humidity monitoring. It may be that your panther is sleeping in a cooler more humid microclimate it’s found in your enclosure.
    Does your Cham have a normal sleeping area and do you have a temp/humidity monitor in that specific area? It’s possible they’ve found a good humid pocket you’re not monitoring
  • Humidity -Daytime 40%-50%, nighttime 55% or lower. I wrapped the front door, back and both sides by window shrink kit.
    ideally nighttime humidity should be higher. 75+% is a good goal. There is some proposed concern that if the temps aren’t low enough, high humidity could be detrimental to your Chams health and possibly lead to bacterial respiratory infections. I don’t feel like I understand this issue well enough to comment on it, and you should definitely consider it before pushing up your nighttime humidity.
    Fogging can definitely increase nighttime humidity, especially if it’s combined with good nighttime temperature drops.

    I am in support of cool mist humidifiers at night to boost nighttime humidity. This is definitely controversial
    I think maintaining a natural humidity cycle is the first step to adequate hydration. Not a tried and tested rule, just my opinion and I’ll defer to the experts and urge you to examine the issue in more depth and try to make your own conclusion
  • Plants - majesty palm, Schefflera arboricola, Cebu Blue Pathos, Pathos Marble Queen, Marantaceae Nepenthes and Climbing Fig.
  • Placement -In the corner of my living room, low traffic area.
  • Location – Toronto, Canada
Since my condo switched the AC from cool to heat last week, the humidity level of my chameleon enclosure dropped to 55% at night, the mistking system works 1 min every 1.5h, it could increase the humidity level to 80% but after 30min, the humidity level will be dropped back to 55%. I think my chameleon is fine this week but I'm concerned the low humidity level might cause health issues to my chameleon.

I think you’re right to be concerned. What were your nighttime humidity levels before this recent local climate change?
In my opinion, your cham may be put under some stress from this lower nighttime humidity.
I also think that basically all of the rest of your husbandry is good. This begs the question if a properly cared for Cham can tolerate one of its parameters being out of the ideal for a relatively short period of time. As @nightanole noted his chameleons are outside of the “ideal” nighttime humidity for 1/4 of the year, but I’m fairly certain the rest of their care is excellent. I suspect they have no significant ill effects and it’s probably not too dissimilar from what happens for certain periods of the year in the wild

So what do you do? I’ll be very honest in saying I don’t know. I would absolutely ensure everything else is as close to ideal as possible. One out of ideal parameter may be a little stressFul, multiple parameters outside of ideal could be detrimental

Keep taking great care of your Cham. The fact you’re here asking about this makes it obvious you will
 
I think this a good discussion about your current situation. All of Bill Strand’s podcasts offer great insight and also encourage you to consider your cham’s overall health. I do think it’s message creates some urgency to make “every parameter ideal”, but it also illustrates how having a parameter outside of “ideal” could affect your Cham.

https://chameleonacademy.com/ep-158-chameleon-health-points/
 
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