Fogging as a Chameleon Hydration Method

[DeremensisBlue]

This thread is for the general discussion of the blog entry Fogging as a Chameleon Hydration Method. Please add to the discussion here.

 

[GrannyK]

My fogger has been down for sometime and I can see the affects in my Cham. We have increased misting during the night to try and compensate but it’s definitely not the same. Without the fogger he comes in the morning for a good misting shower and drink(by us manually spraying). I know the shower does not help too much due to skin absorption being 0 but he seems to like it for now. This discussion with Petr came at the perfect time for me. I was dragging my feet to get it back up and running due to adding another cham to the family soon and trying to make the current fogging system work for both enclosures along with tubing upgrades for it. Between the the blog and noticing some very minor changes in my guy’s behavior, it reinforced how important fogging is for my situation. I know not everyone fogs and maybe it works for them but I have seen the difference. One thing I will be look out for is how long it takes him to eventually find the fog for sleep when we get it going again. That will be neat, because he was an in the fog sleeper prior to it breaking. within 14 days I’m guessing.

 

[nightanole]

On a side note, has anyone got a good cleaning method for the fogger that doesnt produce the dreaded pink slime? I guess you could use 100% distilled water and light proof reservoirs (aka "misters" do not get pink bacteria).

Its currently the only thing holding me back. Run a fogger in the winter, and the entire "team" gets URI and most soft plastics in the room get coated in a protein film that looks and smells similar to cheese.

I even tried using solid hydrogen peroxide (the stuff they use to keep fish farms and fish tanks sparkely clean, and a sub ingredient of oxiclean) in the reservoir.



The solution should not be "just clean out reservoir and all tubing every few days". Thats the same advice as "you can use standing water just fine, just empty and wash the bowl every day".

 

[DeremensisBlue]

On a side note, has anyone got a good cleaning method for the fogger that doesnt produce the dreaded pink slime? I guess you could use 100% distilled water and light proof reservoirs (aka "misters" do not get pink bacteria).

Its currently the only thing holding me back. Run a fogger in the winter, and the entire "team" gets URI and most soft plastics in the room get coated in a protein film that looks and smells similar to cheese.

I even tried using solid hydrogen peroxide (the stuff they use to keep fish farms and fish tanks sparkely clean, and a sub ingredient of oxiclean) in the reservoir.



The solution should not be "just clean out reservoir and all tubing every few days". Thats the same advice as "you can use standing water just fine, just empty and wash the bowl every day".

I would be very interested in how you solve the pink slime issue you are seeing as that would be valuable information to pass on to anyone that runs into the same problem.

 

[Beppo]

My fogger has been down for sometime and I can see the affects in my Cham. We have increased misting during the night to try and compensate but it’s definitely not the same. Without the fogger he comes in the morning for a good misting shower and drink(by us manually spraying). I know the shower does not help too much due to skin absorption being 0 but he seems to like it for now. This discussion with Petr came at the perfect time for me. I was dragging my feet to get it back up and running due to adding another cham to the family soon and trying to make the current fogging system work for both enclosures along with tubing upgrades for it. Between the the blog and noticing some very minor changes in my guy’s behavior, it reinforced how important fogging is for my situation. I know not everyone fogs and maybe it works for them but I have seen the difference. One thing I will be look out for is how long it takes him to eventually find the fog for sleep when we get it going again. That will be neat, because he was an in the fog sleeper prior to it breaking. within 14 days I’m guessing.

You should definitely check out the DIY fogger by @crosscutts … game changer!

 

[DeremensisBlue]

My fogger has been down for sometime and I can see the affects in my Cham. We have increased misting during the night to try and compensate but it’s definitely not the same. Without the fogger he comes in the morning for a good misting shower and drink(by us manually spraying). I know the shower does not help too much due to skin absorption being 0 but he seems to like it for now. This discussion with Petr came at the perfect time for me. I was dragging my feet to get it back up and running due to adding another cham to the family soon and trying to make the current fogging system work for both enclosures along with tubing upgrades for it. Between the the blog and noticing some very minor changes in my guy’s behavior, it reinforced how important fogging is for my situation. I know not everyone fogs and maybe it works for them but I have seen the difference. One thing I will be look out for is how long it takes him to eventually find the fog for sleep when we get it going again. That will be neat, because he was an in the fog sleeper prior to it breaking. within 14 days I’m guessing.

I am glad the interviews helped at the right time! Unfortunately, fogging is at a very primitive level when it comes to the equipment we have available to us. I look forward to the day where we have better foggers for reptile use. Any entrepreneurs out there want to take this one?
I, too, notice the difference with and without fogging. It will be a slow transition for the community, but more and more people are seeing the same success.

 

[GrannyK]

You should definitely check out the DIY fogger by @crosscutts … game changer!

I did watch that one online! Thanks so much, It was great right!!! I’m hoping to do that at some point. I know now is probably the best time but just got done setting up for a new little panther coming in the next few weeks so that’s going to be my fall project maybe. My previous fogger lasted almost a year so hopefully I’ll get a few months out of this one running both enclosures.

 

[GrannyK]

I am glad the interviews helped at the right time! Unfortunately, fogging is at a very primitive level when it comes to the equipment we have available to us. I look forward to the day where we have better foggers for reptile use. Any entrepreneurs out there want to take this one?
I, too, notice the difference with and without fogging. It will be a slow transition for the community, but more and more people are seeing the same success.

I watched the video of the homemade fogging system someone else here on the forum made I think you recently shared. That’s got my wheels turning for a fall project.

 

[Beppo]

On a side note, has anyone got a good cleaning method for the fogger that doesnt produce the dreaded pink slime? I guess you could use 100% distilled water and light proof reservoirs (aka "misters" do not get pink bacteria).

Its currently the only thing holding me back. Run a fogger in the winter, and the entire "team" gets URI and most soft plastics in the room get coated in a protein film that looks and smells similar to cheese.

I even tried using solid hydrogen peroxide (the stuff they use to keep fish farms and fish tanks sparkely clean, and a sub ingredient of oxiclean) in the reservoir.



The solution should not be "just clean out reservoir and all tubing every few days". Thats the same advice as "you can use standing water just fine, just empty and wash the bowl every day".

I have yet to deal with any sort of slime or anything like that and most the time I just clean my reservoirs with watera

I did watch that one online! Thanks so much, It was great right!!! I’m hoping to do that at some point. I know now is probably the best time but just got done setting up for a new little panther coming in the next few weeks so that’s going to be my fall project maybe. My previous fogger lasted almost a year so hopefully I’ll get a few months out of this one running both enclosures.

Oh how exciting!! I hope you will share pictures and when you do make one in the future you’ll be so happy! I get the feeling the projects never end

 

[Beppo]

I have yet to deal with any sort of slime or anything like that and most the time I just clean my reservoirs with watera

Oh how exciting!! I hope you will share pictures and when you do make one in the future you’ll be so happy! I get the feeling the projects never end

I did not mean to post the above comment about the pink slime. Just pre coffee rambling …

 

[nightanole]

I would be very interested in how you solve the pink slime issue you are seeing as that would be valuable information to pass on to anyone that runs into the same problem.

Well so far i have made 1 progress in my humidifier. If i use 100% the DI water that is on tap at work, and keep the humidifier away from all light(aka the closet), i did not get pink slime for 2 months of use, and i ran 20 gallons through it. But i also just had the "fog" coming out the top, not through tubing.

Im guessing that the combo of tubing and fog creates sort of a waterbong filter (like the rainbow vacuums) and all the unfiltered air sticked to the tubing and feeds all the grublies that are making the pink slime / mold/ etc.

 

[GrannyK]

Oh how exciting!! I hope you will share pictures and when you do make one in the future you’ll be so happy! I get the feeling the projects never end

Oh definitely will share and yes these babies and their care are a never ending project!

 

[MAD]

I’m also curious about the best practices for cleaning the fogger. I exclusively use water filtered using Zero Water filters and ReptiSafe conditioner added. I’m leery of using any heavy chemicals due to the aerosolized particles the fogger creates. Is this as simple as rinsing with hot water? I’ve seen videos and other stories where they use hydrogen peroxide, ammonia or other cleaning solutions that I feel could be fatal if inhaled due to incorrect dilution, rinsing, etc.

 

[crosscutts]

On a side note, has anyone got a good cleaning method for the fogger that doesnt produce the dreaded pink slime? I guess you could use 100% distilled water and light proof reservoirs (aka "misters" do not get pink bacteria).

Its currently the only thing holding me back. Run a fogger in the winter, and the entire "team" gets URI and most soft plastics in the room get coated in a protein film that looks and smells similar to cheese.

I even tried using solid hydrogen peroxide (the stuff they use to keep fish farms and fish tanks sparkely clean, and a sub ingredient of oxiclean) in the reservoir.



The solution should not be "just clean out reservoir and all tubing every few days". Thats the same advice as "you can use standing water just fine, just empty and wash the bowl every day".

I’ve heard of this, but I have three separate systems . Not a single one of them has gotten any slime. When I filled them up. I do use boiling hot water. But all my systems are completely enclosed the only air coming in as I need to get into the tubing at the top of the cage. And whatever the fan blows in when drawing air to push it up. I generally only check my systems every six months. At this point I have zero algae slime or any signs of anything on the TV or in the units .

 

[nightanole]

I’m also curious about the best practices for cleaning the fogger. I exclusively use water filtered using Zero Water filters and ReptiSafe conditioner added. I’m leery of using any heavy chemicals due to the aerosolized particles the fogger creates. Is this as simple as rinsing with hot water? I’ve seen videos and other stories where they use hydrogen peroxide, ammonia or other cleaning solutions that I feel could be fatal if inhaled due to incorrect dilution, rinsing, etc.

Cant talk about the other chemicals, but the hydrogen peroxide is safe unless you are using lab grade concentrate. You can run your fogger with straight cvs full concentrate and its 100% safe. Now if you go from the 3-5% stuff from cvs to the food grade 35% stuff, yes its quite dangerous. But otherwise all the h2o2 is doing is making contact with organic compounds, and oxidizing them, or in bacteria's case, it sucks up the h2o2 along with the h2o, and explodes

 

[nightanole]

I’ve heard of this, but I have three separate systems . Not a single one of them has gotten any slime. When I filled them up. I do use boiling hot water. But all my systems are completely enclosed the only air coming in as I need to get into the tubing at the top of the cage. And whatever the fan blows in when drawing air to push it up. I generally only check my systems every six months. At this point I have zero algae slime or any signs of anything on the TV or in the units .

So you have a mister system that fogs? How does that work, is it ultra high pressure and just atomizes the water to such a degree that instead of water droplets you get drops so small they are the size that comes out of the ultra sonic misters?

 

[crosscutts]

So you have a mister system that fogs? How does that work, is it ultra high pressure and just atomizes the water to such a degree that instead of water droplets you get drops so small they are the size that comes out of the ultra sonic misters?

No, my 27 gal reservoir does both I have a mistking hooked to the bottom of it a Hydro heaven floater and a fan system on top I’ve used a 2 inch drain in reverse attach 2 inch PVC and ran it up into the cage into a T .

 

[CalamityCrow]

Question about foggers, since I'm not super sciencey - will distilled water even work in them?

I thought that foggers had to have some sort of particles in the water for the electricity to work in them so it can aerosolize the liquid into a fog/mist. I had a DIY mini fogger for a while that did NOT work well with distilled water. I mostly use distilled water for my misting system so swapping to something else for a fogger would be something I'd need to consider.

 

[SteveH]

Question about foggers, since I'm not super sciencey - will distilled water even work in them?

I thought that foggers had to have some sort of particles in the water for the electricity to work in them so it can aerosolize the liquid into a fog/mist. I had a DIY mini fogger for a while that did NOT work well with distilled water. I mostly use distilled water for my misting system so swapping to something else for a fogger would be something I'd need to consider.

I use distilled water in all my foggers/humidifiers. Tap water that has sat 24hrs uncapped will also work.