Having trouble keeping humidity up

[Lindasjackson]

The colder it gets here in Maine the more the heat is on in my apartment. I keep it at 69 during the day and 65 at night. The humidity in my Jackson’s enclosure used to be fine but now I’m having a hard time getting it over 70% during the night. I have 3 sides of his enclosure covered with a shower curtain that fits close to the sides. I have all live plants. I have a mistking that mists for 2 minutes every two or 3 hours during the night. I have a humidifier/ fogger that goes on from 1 am to 5 am. What more can I do? Last nights humidity peaked at 69%! I have 4 different temp/ humidity gauges in 4 different levels of the cage. One has a temp probe and humidity probe that I hang in the middle,of the enclosure, the others hang on branches in there. One is a govee and I use that one to check humidity at night.

 

[nightanole]

lower the temperature. Its a jacksons, 69 is "hot". 65 at night is hot. Close the heater vents to the room at night (or even during the day). You would be surprised how much humidity you get with a 5-10 degree drop in temp. 55 during the day with a good basking spot is perfectly fine for a few months.

 

[DocZ]

Window seal on the front door may help too. You might try moving the gauges around to where your Cham tends to hang out in the day and night. There may be humidity pockets they’re using that you aren’t measuring (although 4 monitors seems like plenty)

 

[Lindasjackson]

lower the temperature. Its a jacksons, 69 is "hot". 65 at night is hot. Close the heater vents to the room at night (or even during the day). You would be surprised how much humidity you get with a 5-10 degree drop in temp. 55 during the day with a good basking spot is perfectly fine for a few months.

I realize that but I live in a small one bedroom apartment and Eustis is in my living room. I’ll freeze to death at 55 degrees at night!! I can’t cover the vents because I don’t have vents. It’s a heat radiating baseboard and it’s n all the rooms in the apartment so I keep it at 65 at night and 69 during the day. It’s the best I can do.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

The colder it gets here in Maine the more the heat is on in my apartment. I keep it at 69 during the day and 65 at night. The humidity in my Jackson’s enclosure used to be fine but now I’m having a hard time getting it over 70% during the night. I have 3 sides of his enclosure covered with a shower curtain that fits close to the sides.

IDK if that means hanging loose but close, or taped tight.

I have all live plants. I have a mistking that mists for 2 minutes every two or 3 hours during the night. I have a humidifier/ fogger that goes on from 1 am to 5 am. What more can I do? Last nights humidity peaked at 69%! I have 4 different temp/ humidity gauges in 4 different levels of the cage. One has a temp probe and humidity probe that I hang in the middle,of the enclosure, the others hang on branches in there. One is a govee and I use that one to check humidity at night.

DocZ has a point about pockets. Are any of the humidity probes where Eustis sleeps?

Are you currently using a muffin fan at night to augment ventilation?

 

[Lindasjackson]

Window seal on the front door may help too. You might try moving the gauges around to where your Cham tends to hang out in the day and night. There may be humidity pockets they’re using that you aren’t measuring (although 4 monitors seems like plenty)

Yeah I do move the gages around to see what I get but it doesn’t change much. Tonight I watered all of his plants till the water was running out the bottom into the drainage pan. I thought that might make it a little more humid in his cage but it didn’t make much difference. I got one of those window shrink wrap plastic kits and I might have to use it but I’m not sure how. I’ll have to try to figure it out. I may have to wrap his door in it but leave the service panel clear and put a muffin fan on top of the cage so the air doesn’t stagnate.

 

[Lindasjackson]

IDK if that means hanging loose but close, or taped tight.


DocZ has a point about pockets. Are any of the humidity probes where Eustis sleeps?

Are you currently using a muffin fan at night to augment ventilation?

No I haven’t used the muffin fan yet but may have to if I end up wrapping his door all but the service door part. I’m not sure where Eustis sleeps because I can’t find him when he goes off to sleep. I have moved the gages around to see if it makes a difference but so far it hasn’t.
What I did with the shower curtain is kind of wrap the three sides and pull them tight around the corners and fold over any excess kind of like wrapping a gift if you know what I mean. It is a little loose but not bad.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

No I haven’t used the muffin fan yet but may have to if I end up wrapping his door all but the service door part. I’m not sure where Eustis sleeps because I can’t find him when he goes off to sleep. I have moved the gages around to see if it makes a difference but so far it hasn’t.

With all you're doing, I think you're generating enough humidity. The problem is that that humidity is trying to escape to drier air outside the enclosure. It's very similar to an insulation/heat loss situation. Both need to be fairly tight to preserve the inside conditions.

The window insulation kits usually come with double-sided tape to make tight seals.
Rather than cutting to fit and then attaching to the enclosure, I would apply the DS tape to the frame, apply a slightly larger than needed piece of the film, then trim with scissors. (Just easier, IMO/E)

I would go ahead and do the door as well as long as there's a vent below and the enclosure ceiling.
Natural stack effect should be enough without the fan. If not, there's nothing to say the fan can't be off during those few hours when the fogger is on to keep that critical night RH higher.

I hope these help.

 

[Lindasjackson]

With all you're doing, I think you're generating enough humidity. The problem is that that humidity is trying to escape to drier air outside the enclosure. It's very similar to an insulation/heat loss situation. Both need to be fairly tight to preserve the inside conditions.

The window insulation kits usually come with double-sided tape to make tight seals.
Rather than cutting to fit and then attaching to the enclosure, I would apply the DS tape to the frame, apply a slightly larger than needed piece of the film, then trim with scissors. (Just easier, IMO/E)

I would go ahead and do the door as well as long as there's a vent below and the enclosure ceiling.
Natural stack effect should be enough without the fan. If not, there's nothing to say the fan can't be off during those few hours when the fogger is on to keep that critical night RH higher.

I hope these help.

Thankyou Klyde O Scope! That helps because I had no idea how this window plastic kit worked although I do think you use a blow dryer to shrink it to fit because that’s what they show on the box. I might have to do the door as well. I hate to because I like a clear unobstructed view in there. I worry about stagnant air though. I do have a service panel that I won’t put plastic on and I do have a muffin fan but like you said I don’t want to run the fan at night because it will just suck out the fog I have going in.

 

[Mendez]

The blow drying portion is to get the wrinkles/waves out of the plastic film once it has been applied. I've used the window shrink wrap before and it definitely helps. You should still have enough ventilation without a muffin fan, but having one turn on and off for a few minutes at a time every couple of hours would definitely help. As @Klyde O'Scope mentioned, definitely cut the plastic film larger than you need. It's incredibly easy to trim the edges with a utility knife or razor blade. If you cut it perfectly to size, you are going to have a hard time aligning the film perfectly. A couple of millimeters off at the top and the bottom may not align. I cut mine 2 inches larger on each side. It worked, but I definitely could have gone even larger to make the process more stress-free.

 

[Mountain Dragon]

Idk if someone mentioned this but this is what I do for plants that need higher humidity in the drainage pan of my plant pots/tray I put pebbles and water and it raises the humidity a little

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Thankyou Klyde O Scope! That helps because I had no idea how this window plastic kit worked although I do think you use a blow dryer to shrink it to fit because that’s what they show on the box. I might have to do the door as well. I hate to because I like a clear unobstructed view in there. I worry about stagnant air though. I do have a service panel that I won’t put plastic on and I do have a muffin fan but like you said I don’t want to run the fan at night because it will just suck out the fog I have going in.

YW. We used the shrink film kits for years on the windows of our first house (c. 1901). Once the film is up and shrunk, it's pretty close to invisible. Even if mistakes are made, there's usually enough material for a redo (especially on a small 'window' like an enclosure door), and the kits are cheap.

I really don't think the air will get stagnant as long as at least some of the enclosure is warmer than the room it's in. There doesn't need to be a breeze running through the enclosure. The natural movement/rising of warm moist air should do the trick.

 

[Lindasjackson]

Thank you!

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

 

[Breeannsmom]

we have a baby veiled chameleon and a screen cage my husband bought a large piece of acrylic and cut it to fit three sides leaving the door to open as needed. He taped them tightly to the enclosure with packing tape the kind with threads through it. The three sides fit nice and tight for the winter and can be removed in the summer! We no longer have a humidity problem and the door still opens nicely we mist 3 times daily