Can’t raise humidity and not sure what to do

[MTcham17]

I have a 5 or 6 month old panther chameleon whose new home is in Montana. I have a large screen enclosure with live plants, a little dripper dripping water most of the day, I mist frequently (3 or 4 times a day) and I purchased a humidifier to raise the humidity. I have a zoo med humidity gauge telling me that the most humidity I can get is about 35-40 percent. I tried blocking the back and one side to keep humidity in but doesn’t seem to work. I had a digital gauge that quit working but registered humidity levels higher. I guess I’m wondering if as long as I have all this going and I’m using a humidity spray should I be ok? Also, is it ok to leave a humidifier going for a long period of time if the humidity levels aren’t high? Any suggestions or advice anyone could give is greatly appreciated. I attached a picture of my terrarium to show what I have.

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Looks like you got a good setup there. The live plants do wonders for the humidity. I have a screen cage as well, and I struggle with the humidity sometimes. I have cut and fitted a plastic dropcloth with an opening for the door/s that is taped onto the top and bottom of my cage. It keeps the humidity and water in quite well. It also might help to mist a few more times per day, perhaps with an automatic misting system. I have a Monsoon Solo and as long as you change out the nozzles every once in a while, or at least clean the ones you have, then that should work fine. I use tap water in mine, which I know is not suggested (distilled is the best) because the mineral deposit builds up, but I clean mine every month or so, and replace it. Honestly, the tap water doesn't clog up the nozzles at all even when I don't clean it, but it is just more beneficial to use distilled. I also have a humidifier (warm mist, to keep the temperature up as well) that I have distilled water in. I close the door of the room I have my chameleon in when I run the humidifier, and it significantly raises the percentage. If you keep doors and windows closed anyway, heat and humidity will build up naturally if you have a heating system (which I do, and it runs most of the time, especially because it is winter). Hope those tips help. I know that high humidity can be a struggle, and since I live in a very dry area, I have all kinds of tricks Good luck!

 

[DarinD]

I’ve been running a humidifier in the room with the enclosures, combined with my MistKing to maintain the levels I want. I have a few hygrometers in the room to monitor ambient humidity, as well as the hygrometers in the enclosures themselves.

 

[MTcham17]

Looks like you got a good setup there. The live plants do wonders for the humidity. I have a screen cage as well, and I struggle with the humidity sometimes. I have cut and fitted a plastic dropcloth with an opening for the door/s that is taped onto the top and bottom of my cage. It keeps the humidity and water in quite well. It also might help to mist a few more times per day, perhaps with an automatic misting system. I have a Monsoon Solo and as long as you change out the nozzles every once in a while, or at least clean the ones you have, then that should work fine. I use tap water in mine, which I know is not suggested (distilled is the best) because the mineral deposit builds up, but I clean mine every month or so, and replace it. Honestly, the tap water doesn't clog up the nozzles at all even when I don't clean it, but it is just more beneficial to use distilled. I also have a humidifier (warm mist, to keep the temperature up as well) that I have distilled water in. I close the door of the room I have my chameleon in when I run the humidifier, and it significantly raises the percentage. If you keep doors and windows closed anyway, heat and humidity will build up naturally if you have a heating system (which I do, and it runs most of the time, especially because it is winter). Hope those tips help. I know that high humidity can be a struggle, and since I live in a very dry area, I have all kinds of tricks Good luck!

I’ve been running a humidifier in the room with the enclosures, combined with my MistKing to maintain the levels I want. I have a few hygrometers in the room to monitor ambient humidity, as well as the hygrometers in the enclosures themselves.

 

[MTcham17]

Sounds like I need to invest in a mister! Thank you all for the info!!

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

Totally! The Mist King is definitely the one to go for if you can afford it, but it is pretty pricey. As mentioned before, the Monsoon should work because you also have a dripper. Good luck!

 

[Flamegurl]

I have a towel hanging on one side, and spray 3-4 times daily in to side the towel is hanging, it helps keep moisture around, as well a a bucket to catch dripper and a live plant...would any of that help?? Montana seems cold..much colder than Texas

 

[JacksJill]

Replace your digital hygrometer and see what levels you get. They are far more accurate than the other kind. You may just need to replace the batteries in the one you have to get it working.

 

[Syreptyon]

Is the fogger what you're using as your only humidifier? If so, those usually do almost nothing for screen cages because it all just falls and disperses. I started with one of those because I liked the fog effect, but it didn't help with humidity at all. If you don't have one, I definitely recommend an ultrasonic humidifier! I have low humidity in my house, too, and I run one of those 24 hours a day and it works great. The fog is cool, but just for show imo

 

[CamrynTheCham22]

I agree with @Syreptyon , you need to have an actual humidifier or else the 'humidity' that the fogger releases will just disperse into the air, regardless of anything that supposedly keeps the humidity in. The ultrasonic humidifiers are very beneficial

 

[MTcham17]

Thanks all for the advice! So what I did was wrap the cage on three sides with that window wrap you use to help keep cold out during winter. It actually works great! I bought a better monitor to measure humidity and a higher wattage bulb for heat and I’ve mananged to keep the humidity between 60 and 80 percent. I set the humidifier on a timer and it seems to be working well. Montana is a pretty dry state and I don’t think I’ll be able to get it higher than what I have right now. Does anyone think I’ll have any problems? Talking to some pet shops in the area they have told me that they have personally owned chameleons and they have lived long healthly lives with a relatively low humidity.

 

[MTcham17]

I have a towel hanging on one side, and spray 3-4 times daily in to side the towel is hanging, it helps keep moisture around, as well a a bucket to catch dripper and a live plant...would any of that help?? Montana seems cold..much colder than Texas

Thanks for the thought! I have lots of vines and real plants in my enclosure and I mist quite often. I ended up closing three sides with plastic and a humidifier running on a timer...seems to be doing the trick! And yes Montana is cold! Especially now! 24 degrees and snowing as I wrote this post! ️️

 

[MTcham17]

Replace your digital hygrometer and see what levels you get. They are far more accurate than the other kind. You may just need to replace the batteries in the one you have to get it working.

Done! And yes it helped to buy a better one!

 

[MTcham17]

Is the fogger what you're using as your only humidifier? If so, those usually do almost nothing for screen cages because it all just falls and disperses. I started with one of those because I liked the fog effect, but it didn't help with humidity at all. If you don't have one, I definitely recommend an ultrasonic humidifier! I have low humidity in my house, too, and I run one of those 24 hours a day and it works great. The fog is cool, but just for show imo

I think mine is an ultrasonic humidifier? It does have a little bit of an issue getting the humidity all the way through the cage but I bought a piece of plexiglass and attached a pvc bushing to it the same diameter of the humidifier hose and drilled a hole through both and velcroed the plexiglass to the top backside of the enclosure so that hose was as close to the screen as possible and blows out moisture towards the front and down the whole enclosure. It raised the humidity levels up between 50 and 80 percent so I think it might be working? I ordered my humidifier off amazon and the box doesn’t say anything about ultrasonic so not sure how I’d tell?

 

[kinyonga]

As long as you water your chameleon well for now it should be okay that you can't get the humidity up until you get a system.

 

[MTcham17]

I have live plants, a dripper going all day and I mist at least 4 times a day so hope this will work until I can get a mister.

 

[Rango.tango]

Mist manly with a sprayer 3 times daily that will do the job

 

[MTcham17]

Mist manly with a sprayer 3 times daily that will do the job

Been misting at least four times a day and with the humidifier it seems to be doing the trick! Love the name! Rango is the name of my little guy!