AUTOMATIZATION

[maveroflecha]

Hi everyone!
I'm trying to automatize as much as possible my chameleon enclosure and I found information about the Zoo Med Environmental Control Center, but actually my lights are doing great just with timers and the mister works great by itself........ but I need soooooooo much a fogger! The Salt Lake City dryness is terrible and I want to put a fogger with a humidity controller but here comes the big problem... I can't find one that you can program a humidity level for the day and another one for the night. The only one that can do that is this Zoo Med Control Center.
The low humidity problem became worst when this cold weather started and I had to change my basking light from 60 watts to 75.

Do anyone here have already figure it out? Do you recommend any kind of humidity controller able to work with two different levels? Does the Zoo Med is so great that it worth the money no matter it would only improve the humidity???

Thanks!

 

[Beman]

Hi everyone!
I'm trying to automatize as much as possible my chameleon enclosure and I found information about the Zoo Med Environmental Control Center, but actually my lights are doing great just with timers and the mister works great by itself........ but I need soooooooo much a fogger! The Salt Lake City dryness is terrible and I want to put a fogger with a humidity controller but here comes the big problem... I can't find one that you can program a humidity level for the day and another one for the night. The only one that can do that is this Zoo Med Control Center.
The low humidity problem became worst when this cold weather started and I had to change my basking light from 60 watts to 75.

Do anyone here have already figure it out? Do you recommend any kind of humidity controller able to work with two different levels? Does the Zoo Med is so great that it worth the money no matter it would only improve the humidity???

Thanks!

Hey there so you do not want to fog at all during the day. Hot moist air can lead to a respiratory infection. You would only fog at night and only if your temps are below 67. IF cooler then that it is better. So most of us will put a fogger on a timer. I use smart plugs but your fogger needs to be stupid to work with these digital ones have a hard time working off a timer.

Per ambient day time humidity most species you would not want over 45%. You can get these levels by making cage modifications, adjusting misting sessions, and having all live plants.

 

[maveroflecha]

Thank you very much! I guess I'll need to cover more sides of my mesh enclosure. I only have the back covered with an acrylic sheet.
When I had the 60 watts basking bulb I was able to keep a day humidity of 30-35%, but now with the 75w, dropped to 18-25%. I was hopping the fogger would help, but thanks for the advice!
I'll close more sides of the enclosure and just put a fogger for the night with a cheap timer!

 

[ERKleRose]

Thank you very much! I guess I'll need to cover more sides of my mesh enclosure. I only have the back covered with an acrylic sheet.
When I had the 60 watts basking bulb I was able to keep a day humidity of 30-35%, but now with the 75w, dropped to 18-25%. I was hopping the fogger would help, but thanks for the advice!
I'll close more sides of the enclosure and just put a fogger for the night with a cheap timer!

Welcome on here! I’ve got a few questions and tips, if that’s all right!
What are your nighttime temps (to make sure it’s safe to fog)? You can also have longer misting sessions at lights on and lights off, and you can add a late afternoon misting if needed after you cover the sides! What is your cham’s (I’m guessing a female veiled based on your profile pic) basking temp, how do you measure it, and what is the distance from her heat bulb to basking branch (she might not need a higher wattage bulb depending on those answers). Last thing is I notice a fake plant in your pic, and those are not safe for veileds, as they’ll eat anything, which can lead to impaction. Replacing her fake plants so she only has live, and specifically safe for veileds, plants will be a two for one! It’ll help with humidity and make her cage safer!

 

[maveroflecha]

Thanks!
When the lights are off at night the temperature drops to 69.
My cham is a female (aprox 6 month old).
The basking temp is between 78 and 80 and the distance is about 9-10 inches. When I put the bulb lower, my plants suffer so much.
The fake plant is gone for good! I bought a couple of pothos a parlor palm and a weeping fig that I rotate when they need a break.
In this moment I have the big parlor palm and one of the pothos in.

I'm a plant killer!
I Have a double dome lamp so since I was only using one side for my basking bulb, I put a compact grow light on the other one to help my plants a little. But I'm not sure if that bulb is harmless for the chameleon. Is a led bulb with most of the leds warm white but there are a few red dots.
What do you think?
Thanks again!

 

[ERKleRose]

If you could get her nighttime temps down to at least 67*F, but preferably 65*F or cooler, you’ll be safe to fog! Is her humidifier cool mist or warm mist?

Her basking temps and heat bulb distances are perfect! Is that with higher or lower wattage bulb? If you didn’t know already, female veileds lay egg like a chicken, no mate needed, so she needs an appropriate lay bin in her cage 24/7. I’ve attached a graphic guide below if needed!

Are the red dots visible? If so, I’d stop using it. A lot of keepers use either a Sansi grow bulb in a dome fixture or an Arcadia Jungle Dawn linear plant light (if you have a T5HO fixture that’s not Zoo Med, like Vivarium Electrics, Arcadia, Pangea, etc, you can use a jumper to run both the jungle Dawn and uvb off of one outlet!) for their plants with great success (including me)! Another thing you can do for the plants is add organic worms casting to the soil, it’s a chameleon safe natural fertilizer! I can send you an Amazon link to the one I use if you want! Do the plant pots have drainage? I, too, have a black thumb, but good plant lighting, worm castings, and drainage have made such a difference for me!

 

[maveroflecha]

Hi again!
My humidifier is arriving today just in case I need it. I have no idea if its cool or warm... I'll check when it arrives.

The red dots are visible and gives a warm kind of pink-ish light. I think I'll buy a sansi one.
My linear light ficture is a Repti Zoo with a Zoo Med reptisun bulb. I always get confused with both brand!
About the basking bulb... I read all the info and can't find anything about the kind of wattage. Here is a screenshot of the bulb.

She has already a bin! Its about 13"x 10"x6". She started changing colors (bright yelow, blue and tones of green) on November 4. She became less interest on food and also started to move a lot all around her enclosure. And also, everytime I opened her screen door to clean or feed her, she rushed to my arm to go out.... the poor thing was looking for a boyfriend, I guess!
Now and for the last 4 or 5 days, she became darker and way less interested on food. And all the process started just when my order of wax worms and black soldier flies arrived... now I have tons of moths and soon flyes because shes not eating them! I'm releasing some moths in her enclosure just in case she gets hungry. Also I put a cricket and a dubia and check if eats them.

This egg laying process is stressful!

Send me your amazon link for the organic worms. Thanks a lot!

 

[ERKleRose]

Hi again!
My humidifier is arriving today just in case I need it. I have no idea if its cool or warm... I'll check when it arrives.

Hey there, and great! If it’s warm mist, return and exchange it for a cool mist one. Another tip is to replace the crinkly tubing that comes with it (if that’s the type of tubing that comes with the humidifier) with either PVC pipe or aquarium/vinyl tubing. They’re more sanitary and easier to clean!

The red dots are visible and gives a warm kind of pink-ish light. I think I'll buy a sansi one.
My linear light ficture is a Repti Zoo with a Zoo Med reptisun bulb. I always get confused with both brand!
About the basking bulb... I read all the info and can't find anything about the kind of wattage. Here is a screenshot of the bulb.

Awesome! Let us know how you like the Sansi!

ReptiZoo fixtures don’t have the best reflectors, so if you don’t want to buy an entire new fixture (I’d get the Arcadia ProT5 6% bulb kit then), Light Your Reptiles, a site sponsor, sells Arcadia reflectors you can swap out with the one in your current fixture! I linked the 2’ one, but there’s also 3’ and 4’ ones available! https://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-t5-22-lamp-reflector/
Just to clarify, you have a T5HO fixture with a Zoo Med ReptiSun 5.0 bulb? If not, please correct me! And if so, how old is your uvb bulb?

That’s the 75 watt, all good, I was just curious!

She has already a bin! It’s about 13"x 10"x6". She started changing colors (bright yelow, blue and tones of green) on November 4. She became less interest on food and also started to move a lot all around her enclosure. And also, everytime I opened her screen door to clean or feed her, she rushed to my arm to go out.... the poor thing was looking for a boyfriend, I guess!
Now and for the last 4 or 5 days, she became darker and way less interested on food. And all the process started just when my order of wax worms and black soldier flies arrived... now I have tons of moths and soon flyes because shes not eating them! I'm releasing some moths in her enclosure just in case she gets hungry. Also I put a cricket and a dubia and check if eats them.

This egg laying process is stressful!

She’ll definitely lay soon then, try to give her privacy. I hope it all goes well! And it’s definitely stressful for both the keeper and the cham, so try to relax some yourself (I know, easier said than done)! Definitely keep us updated on her!
After this clutch, if possible, replace her lay bin with one that is at least both 12” long and 12” wide, and fill it up with 6” of substrate (if you aren’t doing so already). Here’s a great egg-laying blog if you want more info, as well! https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/

Send me your amazon link for the organic worms. Thanks a lot!

Here it is! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ZOEOEY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

 

[maveroflecha]

Exactly, I bought by mistake a Repti Zoo combo (fixture + lamp) that lasted only 1.5 month so when I replace the lamp, I bought the zoo med reptisun 5.0 HO T5 UVB.
I can't put all the blame on ReptiZoo... I think I sprayed a little the lamp when I installed my mister hahaha.

The new one is only a couple of weeks old.

Thanks again for all the info!

 

[ERKleRose]

Exactly, I bought by mistake a Repti Zoo combo (fixture + lamp) that lasted only 1.5 month so when I replace the lamp, I bought the zoo med reptisun 5.0 HO T5 UVB.
I can't put all the blame on ReptiZoo... I think I sprayed a little the lamp when I installed my mister hahaha.

The new one is only a couple of weeks old.

Thanks again for all the info!

With Zoo Med bulbs, remember to replace them every 6 months, unless you have a Solarmeter 6.5 to check exact UVI levels (I couldn’t recommend one enough, it’s literally a life saver!). If you switch to Arcadia 6%, they last a year (again, unless checking with a Solarmeter 6.5). Once you either replace your current reflector or get an Arcadia (or Pangea) fixture to replace your current one, the distance you want from the uvb bulb to her basking branch is 8-9” (unless you use a Solarmeter 6.5 to get an exact measurement)

No problem, hit us up with anything, we’re here to help!