Enclosure Ready - need advice

[PraxRX7]

Good Evening!

So my enslosure is completed. All plants are in, vines are setup, mister is going, everything is complete. I live in a very dry climate (Edmonton, Alberta) so it is proving difficult keeping the humidity higher. I have installed a humidifier in my home to keep the general humidity in the house at 30% (humidifier running full all day long every day for the last 4 weeks).

I have installed a misting system (ExoTerra RS400 Monsoon) and have set it to 2 minutes every hour. Even with the plants here are the results:

Mid Cage Humidity
Humidity High: 45%
Humidity Low: 30%

Top of the Cage Humidity
High: 40%
Low: 25%

BottomCage Humidity
High: 70%
Low: 55%

Temp High: 85F (Mid-Day top of the cage) (90F in the basking spot)
Temp Low: 70F (Night)
(Mid-Cage Peak Temp: 78F)

I just want to make sure that the gradients are enough, I am having a really tough time keeping the humidity levels up. The mister and all lighting is on a 12 hour timer so there is no misting at night currently.

I have an Ambilobe Panther that will be moving in in 2-weeks and want to make sure everything is perfect for the little guy (7mos).

Thoughts?

 

[VeiledChams]

I would suggest WAY more foliage in there that way the cham feels safe. Also, what are the dimensions of the cage?

 

[ken2414]

to top it off, get a nice umbrella plant. that would seem to finish it off with a bush to sleep/hide in. i did the same thing as you, as in put in the vines, but then dropped a potho and umbrealla/schefferla in to make it that much more dense.

 

[PraxRX7]

size

the cage is 3'x2'x4'

i have a hawaiian umbrella, hibiscus, and pothos in there. those are the biggest ones i could find locally...i might have to pick up something more from the sounds of it! it just seems that all of the greenhouses around here only have very small tropical plants available.

 

[VeiledChams]

The more plants you have, the easier it'll be to keep up the humidity. Since idk where you live, I cant suggest a specific store.. but usually Lowes and Home Depot carry some descent Scheffleras

 

[ken2414]

do you have like a home depot or lowes by you? if worst comes to worst you could get one offline, although it wouldnt be to good cuz you wouldnt knw the size of it exactly

 

[PraxRX7]

home depot

i got the umbrella from home depot...it was the biggest one they had...the other ones they had were just freshly sprouted...i will hunt around some more home depots the next week or so to maybe find another umbrella.

thank you!!! im new to all this so it is fun and interesting with a nice side of challenging!

 

[ken2414]

you can ask when there plant shipment comes in, and they should be getting some more in for the season. that happened to me, where they just had like one footers, and I asked when they would get more, and it turns out they were getting a shipment the next day.

Oh and just some advice, it's always better to get a smaller one and let it grow into the cage, than have one bursting through the sides, which it then eventually dies. i have done this countless times where i think the cage is bigger than it is and get one that literally gets crushed in the cage. learned my lesson now.

 

[bluedanky]

cage

i have made many enclosures like that and my advise is u need a drain and a container to catch the water ,ur temps are fine .if u make a planter area at bottom u can plant ur plants.all the water from ur mister will go to the dirt.excces water drains from botom.that way ur humidity will be good.no need for humidifier. also if u dont want to use dirt use a capillari mat or coco mat at bottom of ur cage so its not like a water slide that ur crikets will drown and cant walk away from. i have done this in a desert area in california.but if u use humidifier it builds up bacteria spores that can eventualy cause u problems.with dirt its more self sustained.dead crikets can even be mixed with dirt ecc.i would put florecent tubes on each side going up and down. so he will have uv up and bottom of cage. if u need more info pm me. peace and hope it works fine for u

 

[bluedanky]

cage

a pic of inside a cage like ur size it has a coco background