cage and humidity questions

[thechurro]

I just got done building my cage and trying to figure out the temps and humidity before I get the chameleon (veiled). The cage is 4' tall with a 2'x3' footprint. The basking spot at the top right is 95°. At about 18” from the top it is usually between 78°- 80° and at the midpoint it is usually 2° above the ambient temp. There are 3 potted plants in the bottom, 2 philodendron and 1 ivy, and a spider plant in the back wall. They all need to grow in a little more. The main problem I have noticed is that the humidity in my apartment is about 33% and with the Habba Mist going for 60 seconds every hour I can only raise the humidity to 44% on occasion most of the time just. Any suggestions or opinions on this matter or with regard to the cage in general would be appreciated.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I have the same issues here in Colorado.
More plants help.
Do you have a drip system?

 

[thechurro]

I do not have a drip system. An example: it has been 45 min since the last misting and there are still multiple drops on many of the leaves and it is only at 35%.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

As long as my veiled always has a source of drinking water (drip system) and frequent misting happens, it seems to be okay.
You could raise the humidity in the room with a humidifier..I don't like them so I don't do that.
The humidity in my enclosure is at 32 right now. I am getting ready to mist again.

-Brad

 

[beni]

What's the background made of?

 

[thechurro]

The back and bottom are both made of styrofoam and concrete.

 

[Jordan]

I think you need at least one good primary plant in there maybe two. Something that can get big like a schefferella or a ficus.

Like the bottom idea. I may try that.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I agree with Jordan.
That will help increase your humidity as well.

-Brad

 

[thechurro]

I am planning on getting a honeysuckle vine as my main plant and that will fill in a lot better than the philodendron, but those aren't available locally until sometime in April.
Also, here are a couple better pics of the back and floor.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Honey suckle is not a good choice for a cham enclosure.
It was brought up one time before and I think determined to be too sticky.

-Brad

 

[thechurro]

Honeysuckle is not at all sticky. Milkweed vines a lot of times get tangled with and mistaken for honeysuckle and those are quite sticky. Also www.bluebeastreptile.com lists it as safe and I have not seen it listed as toxic or even not recommended in any other lists.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Okay.
I have no experience using it. I was just re-stating what had been posted about it before.
I tend to stay away from plants that people on this forum advise against or question. There are so many to choose from that are proven to work well in a chameleon enclosure that I haven't really strayed from those.

-Brad

 

[Heika]

I love your cage wall and floor.. great job on that! Very interesting, please let us know how it works out. What did you do for drainage? I think that you will eventually find that the Habba Mister sucks.. most of us do after a little while. I had one when I first purchased a chameleon and finally gave up out of disgust. I sold mine on Ebay and went with a homemade misting system made from a garden sprayer, timer, misting heads, etc. and used it right up until recently when I switched to a Promist. BTW.. the Promist is amazing, I love it. Anyhow, back to your issue. If you switch over to a misting system that will mist longer than one minute an hour, you should see your humidity go up. One minute an hour really isn't enough for your chameleon anyhow.. do you also mist the cage for him/her? Another thing you can do is use a cool mist humidifier in the room or you can pipe it into the cage. If you do decide to use a humidifier, remember to keep it really clean because bacteria likes grow in them.

Honey suckle will look very nice in there if you can get it to grow.. you may need to add a plant bulb to your lighting system. BTW.. if you don't mind buying online.. it is available from some sellers on Ebay now.

Heika

 

[thechurro]

I don't have much for drainage other than the floor pieces sloping toward the planters. As it is now, most of the water slpashes and spreads out on the concrete enough that it evaprates and the rest is directed to the plants. So far, I haven't seen much more than about 2ml below my false floor and that was dry within an hour or 2. My problem now is that the plants are getting a bit too much water and not doing so well. As far as misting goes, I don't since i don't have a chameleon yet and won't for a while since it is so cold. I think most of my problems will be solved when the plants grow in enough to catch most of the water on the leaves. And the Habba Mist will have to do for now, money gets tight just after tuition time.

 

[Heika]

Ah, I somehow missed the part about you not having a chameleon yet. It is great that you have set your cage up in advance. All of my plants have drains in the bottom that I keep open. That way water won't sit in the pots. I have drain systems though...

Heika