chameleon hydration (misting, fogger, drip system)

[haileyreich]

i am a beginner chameleon keeper. i have a juvenile panther chameleon. i know the humidity rate is high for them. i have a fogger and i run it all day. do i need to have a drip system with the fogger if i spray down the cage twice a day? i don’t have a misting system that does it automatically, i mist it with a spray bottle in the morning and at night

 

[Carloscruz]

You do not want to have a fogger on at day.

 

[Fchamel]

Hi! You only need to run a fogger at night time. Humidity during the day is different than at night. It rises in the evening. A drip system you can use, it is definitely good for hydration. But, spraying twice a day for a couple minutes is necessary.

I will tag some others to help with temp and humidity ranges as well as how long to run a fogger for. @MissSkittles @Beman

 

[Lpsouth1978]

Definitely do not run the fogger during the day. High Humidity and heat are a recipe for respiratory infections. I like using a somewhat naturalistic method for hydration. Check out this link for some great information on hydration.

https://chameleonacademy.com/basics-hydration-for-chameleons/

I mist a couple of times a day for 3 minutes, and run the fogger for 4 hours from 1am-5am. This seems to keep my boys hydrated and happy.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Do you have any pictures of your Cham and the enclosure? I’m going to tag in @MissSkittles because she’s the expert on panthers.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Do you have any pictures of your Cham and the enclosure? I’m going to tag in @MissSkittles because she’s the expert on panthers.

Thanks for the compliment, but I am by far not an expert on panthers or anything else. Am just another member who enjoys helping others with what I do know and learning from everyone else along the way.

 

[Beman]

Start reading through every module in this link, it will teach you the correct way to have the cage set up and husbandry for the cham https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

 

[haileyreich]

i have more branches and fake plants to put in that i got today. and i need to fix his basking branch. he seems pretty happy with the set up. my main concern is the temperature and humidity. my heat lamp got up to 77 but that was it. it is a 100 watt bulb. i’ve been told that the temperature needs to be 80-85 for them. also i’ve been told that the humidity should be 50%-60% during the day and 70% of higher at night. what should the night time temperatures be? i am a beginner and i just want to make sure that i am doing all i can for him and fix my mistakes right away. i appreciate all the help.

 

[wanabthemoon]

Looks like you have done a really great job for your beginning set up! I'm sure there are lots of ways to continue to improve, but this is a great start!

 

[Lindasjackson]

Fake plants really aren’t good. Live plants are much better and add to a more natural enclosure as well as being safer for your Cham. If he decides to take a bite out of a real plant, no problem but if he takes a bite out of a fake plant it could cause impaction. Live plants also boost the humidity which is good. Night time temp should be in the 60s or even lower. Basking temp during the day can be in the 80s but the rest of the enclosure can be in the 70s. It’s hard to believe that a 100 watt bulb didn’t send your basking temp through the roof! Are you sure this is a halogen or incandescent bulb and not an LED bulb? LEDs are lower wattage but can say thing like “ Equivalent to a 100 watts” or something similar. They don’t get as hot as regular bulbs. It can be hard to find real incandescent or halogen bulbs now because LEDs are taking over because they’re energy saving. Also moss is not recommended because it also is an impaction risk so that will need to be removed.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Some smaller diameter branches would be good to because they’re used to gripping them in the wild.

 

[haileyreich]

Some smaller diameter branches would be good to because they’re used to gripping them in the wild.

thank you so much. i am going to check the humidity levels tonight and see if i need to add a live plant. i am hoping that tomorrow is the last time i will have to mess with his enclosure and then i can leave him alone. it is very overwhelming but i am glad i finally have him and i can get help from people who know a lot more.

 

[Lindasjackson]

I would take out all the fake plants and the moss and get some live plants like a big center plant and then some smaller ones around it. If tomorrow is the last time you want to disturb him you better do it all at once. I understand not wanting to stress him out. When I first started I got all the wrong stuff and when I joined here I found out all the mistakes I had made and it seemed like every other day I was messing with my cage and stressing my Cham out so I get it but those things in your cage really need to go not just for humidities sake but because they are not safe for your chameleon!

 

[haileyreich]

ok thank you

 

[Beman]

i have more branches and fake plants to put in that i got today. and i need to fix his basking branch. he seems pretty happy with the set up. my main concern is the temperature and humidity. my heat lamp got up to 77 but that was it. it is a 100 watt bulb. i’ve been told that the temperature needs to be 80-85 for them. also i’ve been told that the humidity should be 50%-60% during the day and 70% of higher at night. what should the night time temperatures be? i am a beginner and i just want to make sure that i am doing all i can for him and fix my mistakes right away. i appreciate all the help.

How are you actually testing your temps? a 100 watt bulb will produce much hotter temps then needed typically. Unless your ambient room temp is that cold.

 

[haileyreich]

our house is older so it does get really cold especially with the colder and windy weather coming in. i am using a digital thermometer for now until we can find our heat gun.

 

[Beman]

our house is older so it does get really cold especially with the colder and windy weather coming in. i am using a digital thermometer for now until we can find our heat gun.

so a heat gun is only going to measure the surface temp. I do not use them because of this. Your air temp is what your needing. Using a temp gauge with a wired probe at basking on the branch is more accurate. If it is reading 82 at the branch then where your cham rises higher will be a few degrees warmer. With a 100 watt directly on the screen and being closer to the branch the worry is a thermal burn. Even if it is too hot the cham will typically just stay there. They do not realize that they are burning themselves.

 

[haileyreich]

so a heat gun is only going to measure the surface temp. I do not use them because of this. Your air temp is what your needing. Using a temp gauge with a wired probe at basking on the branch is more accurate. If it is reading 82 at the branch then where your cham rises higher will be a few degrees warmer. With a 100 watt directly on the screen and being closer to the branch the worry is a thermal burn. Even if it is too hot the cham will typically just stay there. They do not realize that they are burning themselves.

what would be the ideal basking temperature then?

 

[Beman]

what would be the ideal basking temperature then?

So your looking for 80-85 range no hotter. So if at the branch it is 80 then the cham is in the range it should be because where he rises up will be more like 83.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

i am a beginner chameleon keeper. i have a juvenile panther chameleon.

Based on your pics, questions, & answers thus far, I think you have some reading to do.
The Chameleon Husbandry Program will answer most questions. In the short term, you can refer to the care sheet, but please do not rely on that solely—there is much to learn.