Humidity in the Winter!!

[Phatturk]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have found humidity in the winter months to be incredibly hard to maintain. Due to running the heat in my apartment and the natural dryness from the winter I have lost almost 40% humidity. I am running an ultrasonic Humidifier on full blast in the enclosure 24/7 and increased my misting sessions from 10 min 3 times a day to 20 min 3 times a day. But still about 10 min after the misting stops there is a huge drop in humidity. Anyone else have this problem that lives in a cold climate? I am thinking about wrapping the enclosure with plastic garbage bags to try and hold the humidity in better. Anyone see a problem with that?

 

[FL Chams]

Buy a small Humidifier at Home Depot or even Best Buy and set it to 60% in the room. That will solve your problem.

 

[Justin Carl]

what is your ambient humidity?

 

[FL Chams]

I meant to say a larger Humidifier. That will solve your problem right away.

 

[lonomac]

Ya I have the same problem year round. Especially when the heat kicks on in the winter. I have 3 humidifiers going 24/7 just to get 45-50% humidity.

 

[Phatturk]

I will have to check and see what my ambient humidity is I don't have a sensor outside the cages..... yet. I will buy another humidifier tonight and hope that ends this up and down cycle I have going now.

Mostly I wanted to post this so people would know that humidity in the winter is crazy!! I have a super automated setup with data logging, graphs, alarms (automatically sends me an sms if temps, humidity, or misting water level drop too low) and the works. I may not have even noticed if I didn't have the equipment. Most of the drop happens at night while I'm sleeping and there is no misting. So keep an eye out if you live in the snow too!!

BTW - Thanks Mike I just got my shipment notification. Now I really need to get my stuff set right considering I will have a new Toddler in the house!

 

[lonomac]

As a temporary solution, if humidity drops real low you can spray a spray bottle in the air around the room for about 5-10 minutes. It kicks the humidity up well for a bit. Of course you dont want to do this all the time so I'd go to cragislist or something and hook up another humidifier or two.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

I am thinking about wrapping the enclosure with plastic garbage bags to try and hold the humidity in better. Anyone see a problem with that?

Yes. Stagnant damp air breeding mold and mildew in the planters, bacteria and URIs. The canopy dwellers need the air flow. Good luck with the extra humidifier! Let us know how it goes.

 

[christyo2o2]

instead of wrapping the entire cage with plastic.. just do one or 2 sides. that way it helps with the humidity but still allows for air flow

 

[Phatturk]

instead of wrapping the entire cage with plastic.. just do one or 2 sides. that way it helps with the humidity but still allows for air flow

Yep that was the idea all along...I would never completely wrap the cage in plastic although I do realize I did write something like that!

Makes me think of after 911 when Cheney said that everyone should seal their houses with garbage bags incase of a chemical attack!!! Then the next day a couple smart people reminded him that if you do that you'll suffocate!!

 

[dodolah]

Yep that was the idea all along...I would never completely wrap the cage in plastic although I do realize I did write that!

Makes me think of after 911 when Cheney said that everyone should seal their houses with garbage bags incase of a chemical attack!!! Then the next day a couple smart people reminded him that if you do that you'll suffocate!!

lol.. wrapping the whole sides with plastic kinda beat the purpose of using a screen cage, don't you think?
anyway, you can use a shower curtain.
buy one of those replaceable hangers with double tape thing. Stick them on your top cage perimeter to close 2 sides.
That shower curtain help me retain 60% humidity with normal misting during normal day.
The driest it ever get in the winter is 35%. But, i quickly get it back to 60% when i turn on 1 my vicks ultrasonic humidifier.

 

[dectr6]

I also have the vicks ultrasonic. I think it was $39.Got mine at rite aid. Works great and is very quiet. I know what you mean about keeping up the humidity. Even with the humidifier, it's a challenge. We've been getting cold fronts that bring in 25% humidity. All you can do is close the door to the room and put the humidifier on high and keep it full. It took a full 8 hours to get my cham room up to 55%. Good luck. David

 

[eldarado]

my sides and top are screen and my front door and back of the enclosure..are plexi.. even with the space heater in the reptile room.. the humidity stays at least 50% without misting. i live in philadelphia. so I had to do something..

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Hmmmmm.
Well, I live in Denver ... the desert plains, where we have no humidity at all (especially in the winter) and I have to be honest .... aside from 2 or 3 mistings a day and maintaining a well planted all screen enclosure (with no shower curtain ) I don't worry about humidity levels at all ... ever.
For those who may not know, the only chameleon in the house (for the time being) is a male veiled.
I read this thread earlier today and it reminded me that I had a hygrometer ... I couldn't tell you what the humidity has (or hasn't) been here. I just don't pay attention or find it to be all that important.
No humidifiers, no misting system (all done by hand), the dripper does go all day long.
Also have a very healthy veiled chameleon and a very dry enclosure (most of the time).
I would certainly change things around here if I were keeping other species ... but I'm not

-Brad

 

[Sara270]

I don't have a humidity problem because I live near the ocean.

 

[Phatturk]

I got another Ultrasonic Humidifier made by HoneyWell and after about 14 hours of running it I have a pretty consistent 55% humidity and it hasn't dropped below 50% since....so I am happy and my new little veiled seems to be loving his new home....Thanks Mike!

BUT it is also warming up here and the snow has all melted away and started raining so I can't really tell if this will keep my humidity at 55% or above when the snow and cold return. I may need to buy another one but it was only $28 so not too bad.

 

[themonsheshe]

Maybe One thing you can do is try to move your cage into a smaller room. I dunno if thats an option for you as it sounds like youve got a pretty complicated setup and/or you dont have a place to move it to! I moved mine into a small mudroom at the front of my house, and never looked back.....

 

[Phatturk]

Maybe One thing you can do is try to move your cage into a smaller room. I dunno if thats an option for you as it sounds like youve got a pretty complicated setup and/or you dont have a place to move it to! I moved mine into a small mudroom at the front of my house, and never looked back.....

I wish I could do that but it would take so much work I don't really think I can do it. My cage is about 8' tall x 3' wide x 3.5' deep so it dosen't move very easily even though it has wheels. Unfortunately also I live in a small 1 bedroom apartment so not many rooms to chose from. The good thing is that my entire place is pretty small so its not that hard to humidify the place. For some reason I never even thought about buying another humidifier until this post. I kinda thought " hey I got a humidifier why dosen't it work right! " I know thats dumb of me to think, it just slipped my mind I guess.