Is covering 3 sides of cage with shower curtain ok?

[bigant25]

Is covering 3 sides of cage with shower curtain ok?



Hello despite my best efforts I can't keep my RH above 60% to accommodate my subadult Panther Chameleon (Ambilobe) he is in a standard 18X18X36 zoo med all screen cage . I'm in New York and it's cold and dry from now until March . I have a 'Crane' cool mist humidifier with a hose running directly into the cage set on high running 24X7 and I mist the cage heavily at 8:30am / again at 5:30pm (when I get home from work ) and then every other hour when I'm home to try and keep humidity up.




I already covered 2 out of the 4 sides with shower curtain plastic cut to measure and then hot glued around the perimeter

Since covering 2 sides it helps a little but is still insufficient.




Should I .... ??Can I .....?cover a third side and only leave the front open ? Or will this be inhibiting the air flow too much ? As it is I live in a small apt and the windows need to usually be closed to keep out the Cold dry NY outside air. I read on this site that chameleons need a free flow of air to maintain good health / so that leads me to believe covering 3 sides might do more harm then good. but I am in a catch 22 here . Not to mention.. My hot water bill is going through the roof from letting my shower run on hot with the door open to get humidity into the air in my apt/ I resort to doing this at least once a day and it's getting to be too much. I'm wasting a lot of water and gas to run a hot shower and that's terrible for the environment as well.




Thanks for any help
Sent from my iPhone

 

[ZiggyStardust]

I live in the UK and it is pretty cold here at the moment.

I have an XL reptibreeze for my adult male veiled and I have three sides covered with heavy duty bubble wrap, with the front and the top screens left uncovered.

I have two basking spots of different temps and I mist twice a day with a dripper going.

The temps in my cage are fine - 88 at the highest basking spot, 82 at the lower and an ambient between the 70s, with 65 to 68 at the bottom of the cage, where it is shaded with no light.

My central heating comes on for 2 hours in the morning and for 5 hours at night.

The temp in my house never drops below 65 at night.

The humidity in the cage ranges between 55 to 90, depending upon when I mist.

 

[werecat]

Yes, you can cover the third side without worrying about inhibiting air flow. You will still get enough air circulation with the top and front of the cage open. Also, just so you are aware, it is ok for humidity to fluctuate throughout the day. It does not need to be a constant 70%. It should go higher during and right after misting sessions, but will drop a bit in between (mine is currently 63% right now). The room humidifier is a good idea, but once you cover the third side you may not need it going directly into his cage.

Hope that helps!

 

[werecat]

Sorry, didn't see that last line in your original post. A range between 55-90% is fine (although, 90 is a bit high in my opinion). You might not have to change anything. As I said, it should fluctuate. Try for between 50-70%.

 

[ZiggyStardust]

Sorry, didn't see that last line in your original post. A range between 55-90% is fine (although, 90 is a bit high in my opinion). You might not have to change anything. As I said, it should fluctuate. Try for between 50-70%.

Mine only gets to 90 when the whole viv is literally dripping wet... it doesn't stay that way for long...

 

[bigant25]

@werecat

thanks for your reply im going to cover the third side and hopefully this makes my life alot easier.