Is fogging necessary?

[Ta2Smitty]

I’m returning to chameleons after a 8 year break and keep seeing info of fogging. This wasn’t a thing last time I was in this hobby. Is fogging really necessary?

 

[jannb]

I think it depends on where you live and the species of chameleons you will be keeping. When the fogging first came out we lived in the FL Keys and my husband hooked up forgers on everybody. After a few months he had to take back down. It’s humid in FL anyway and our bathroom towels would never dry and then our kitchen cabinet doors started swelling up and would not close properly. We only fogged from 3 am to 5 am in the mornings. I keep veileds and panthers. Personally, I believe to high of humidity is not good for veileds and could cause an RI.

 

[Anisa.corp]

I’m returning to chameleons after a 8 year break and keep seeing info of fogging. This wasn’t a thing last time I was in this hobby. Is fogging really necessary?

This kind of depends on a lot of things some people say that its necessary at night because they want 100% humidity and it will also help hydrate your chameleon at night another reason to fog would be if your humidity is to low but I personally have a veiled chameleon and the humidity in my house is fine for him so I don't fog

 

[Pearl Fields]

I think it depends on where you live and the species of chameleons you will be keeping. When the fogging first came out we lived in the FL Keys and my husband hooked up forgers on everybody. After a few months he had to take back down. It’s humid in FL anyway and our bathroom towels would never dry and then our kitchen cabinet doors started swelling up and would not close properly. I keep veileds and panthers. Personally, I believe to high of humidity is not good for veileds and could cause an RI.

exactly, i agree with this. our humidity dosent go below 50% even in winter, summer its like 65% and a little higher. i dont fog mine and his urates are totally okay, bc it is working alright, (and yeah im keeping a lookout for RI) i sorta dont want to fog because i tried it and the next day it was so humid like i could feel it in the air, which probably increased chances of RI lol. so i personally dont fog, no issues yet, but if i do notice something then i can always get a fogger
edit: i mist him REALLY WELL (2 hours after heat lamp goes off) and he will drink when he needs to.

 

[Beman]

as others have said totally depends on where you live and your ambient conditions. What you can and can't create. I live where there is very high humidity 60% without doing anything additional. Due to this I run a dehumidifier during the day for my Veileds to get humidity back down to 40's. But at night I run two longer misting sessions prior to lights off. This kicks my humidity up to 80% and stays there all night.

Your cage type matters as well. Even though I live in a more humid area and need lower daytime levels I still use hybrid enclosures by dragon strand with solid sides. I am still able to achieve the exact levels I want and the boys need but the hybrid enclosures I have found give me much more control and ability to have more stable temps and humidity gradients throughout the enclosure.

So there is no right answer. you will find in this hobby there are multiple ways to achieve the same results. So base things off your species requirements and the ambient levels you have then adjust from there to get them perfect.

 

[Ta2Smitty]

Thanks everyone, I didn’t have problems in the past. I’ll just stick to what worked for me then no sense in making it more complicated. Plus I’m already planning on doing night mistings.

 

[CasqueAbove]

I think it depends on where you live and the species of chameleons you will be keeping. When the fogging first came out we lived in the FL Keys and my husband hooked up forgers on everybody. After a few months he had to take back down. It’s humid in FL anyway and our bathroom towels would never dry and then our kitchen cabinet doors started swelling up and would not close properly. We only fogged from 3 am to 5 am in the mornings. I keep veileds and panthers. Personally, I believe to high of humidity is not good for veileds and could cause an RI.

I would agree with this as well. I don't think it is a canned straight answer. In nature it is defiantly a means of hydration, but captivity where we have already removed nature it can be tricky.
As an example:
My female is in the master bath, the humidity there tends to stay a little higher. I do not fog every day here, but about 4 days a week from 12am to 5am. She always looks great.

My male is in my office, it is much dryer on average. He had stuck shed and though his urates were fine he simply looked like he had dryer skin. I now Fog daily in here and drop the temp to 65. He looks better and is more active than ever, and no more stuck shed.

So there is the confusion. One house two separate solutions.

 

[nightanole]

Its all fun and games till your hydrometer goes nuts on sunday and first dries out everything, then over compensates when the lights go out and just drenches the entire cage in 100% for hours...

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

?

 

[Decadancin]

Here’s a link to my blog on fogging. I like it for some situations, but not all.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...s-through-the-fog-without-dispelling-it.2400/

I think it can be a great addition if done the right way.