Introduction and a question!

[RyanAMP]

Hi all I just got a baby ambanja panther cham from screameleons on Tuesday. I bought there setup kit as well so far so good but I do have some questions. Pertaining to humidity I have read that it needs to be around 40% to 50%. Whats really weird is that mine gets to that range in the evening and then when the cage kicks on in the morning it hovers around 20-30 all day. I bought a humidifier and it doesn't seem to help at all. I can't seem to find any of the plants to buy cause most of the stores aren't carrying them till later in spring. Any additional information would be awesome!

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[Texas Panther Man]

Hey Ryan, congrats on the new cham and joining the forum.

First off get rid of the analog humidity & temp gauges. Those things are almost always wrong. Go to HD or Lowes and buy a digital temp/humidity gauge combo unit. They cost about 10 dollars and are worth every penny. They have a cord that you attach to the chams basking branch and that will give the basking temp & humidity inside the cage.

Most homes in the US range in humidity from 30 to 60 percent depending on the part of the country you live. So I wouldnt freak over the humidity or lack there of yet. Get the new gauge and see if it gives you a higher more reliable reading first. Panthers dont need that high of humidity requirements, anything over 40% is perfectly fine.

 

[Sticktongue]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your new animal. First off, where are you measuring your humidity from? If its in the basking spot, it will read lower because of the heat. it will read higher in the middle of the cage or else where.

To help bump it up, you can go to the store and get clear (or any) shower curtain or plastic. Cut it to size and hot glue it to 2 or 3 sides of the cage. That will help it a lot. I do that. I cut it to that their is 2 or 3 inches on top and bottom that it doesn't cover for air ventilation.

Also are you misting?

 

[RyanAMP]

I have the habba mister set to go off every three hours for 30 seconds. The problem may be that I'm using a cheap humidity gauge and that I have it mounted by the basking light so I'll move it and see if that helps. I do think I will be going to Lowe's in the future to get one of those digital ones, they sound better!

 

[ph34r]

ill have to disagree with that anlog hygro comment ive bought 3 diff digital gauges and theree all complete garbage

 

[Davonat]

ill have to disagree with that anlog hygro comment ive bought 3 diff digital gauges and theree all complete garbage

Yeah... Me too. I went thru more than 3. Got all the top brands, none of them said the same thing ever. I broke down & bought an expensive cigar hygormeter and tested the Zoo Med double gauges.... I had 3 of those. Guess what? all 3 said the same within a degree or 2 and matched the expensive unit.

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

Most homes in the US range in humidity from 30 to 60 percent depending on the part of the country you live..

Winter in my house, 5% humidity.
Its miserable for anything that needs sustained humidity. Plus my Monsoon rain system just died..

Needless to say, NH winters are not the best for chams, Seal cracks and close out drafts. I try to keep my rooms humidity around 50-70 if i can.

 

[blackhawk007]

I'm not sure where you live, but I got my plants from Home Depot on Friday. I was actually able to get the Gardenia just after they unloaded them. My cage is 24X36X48 and the larger tree is 24 tall and 20 wide. I bought 1 misting nozzle and happened to have a pump for my water filter on hand. I have it spray a fine mist for 7 min 3 times a day. Honestly the faucet water pressure is enough to get the nozzle to mist just fine. Already having a pump on hand just speeds things up for me. My humidity read 30 before I started any of this and now it holds at about 75. I hope this helps.