Lighting & Misting Scheduling...

[gotwqqd]

I'm looking to make my life as easy as possible.
My thinking is having my lighting(uvb/basking/growth) hooked up to an astronomical timer where they go on/off 30 minutes after/before the daily sunrise/sunset.
The misting would go on at the same times every day regardless of when the lighting is scheduled.
I would use the extremes(seasonal sunrise/sunset) to determine what times the misting would be scheduled.
So during the year it goes on at the same time every day(no change for DST).

Anyone see an issue with this?
What would be the earliest misting you would have in regards to lights on? Latest in regards to lights off?

I've looked at some times/dates.... Issues are sunsets are vastly different. Is there any issues with instant lights on/off? This was one of the reasons I was going to do this. So it would be seemingly more gradual to the animal.

Is shorter than or longer than 12 hour cycles okay? Where misting are not 10 hours apart but only 7 hours in the winter?

 

[gotwqqd]

Okay, after going over the charts...
In the Chicago area(where I live) dawn is about 35 minutes before sunrise.
Latest Sunrise in winter is at about 7:20, earliest in summer about 4:20.

I plan to have lights on 40 minutes after sunrise.... So animal has gradual increase of light.

So we have a 3 hour difference.
Would there be an issue if during the winter misting comes on 30 minutes after lights on; and during summer it comes on 3 1/2 hours after lights on? Misting @ 8:30CST every day.

Given a six hour difference of the seasons I think lights off will be based on summer hours and during winter it will be instant dark, with misting an hour or two before lights out. Misting @ 17:30CST and lights off @ 20:00CST every day.

This gives a 9 hour break between mistings, with 90 minutes to dry up before lights out in evening.

Looking at this my biggest question is...
Is 3 1/2 hours between lights on/basking and misting detrimental to the animal in any way?

 

[gotwqqd]

Still looking for answer about if waiting 3.5 hours after lights on is too long.
Also is 30 minutes after lights on too SOON for misting?

 

[oneillchameleons]

As long as they are getting the same amount of misting throughout the day it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not sure how the seasons affect daylight in Illinois, but in Alberta, Canada the seasons change so much it wouldn't even be worth taking the time to set this up. I did rig up a small moonlight bulb to go on half hour before, then the basking bulb 15 mins after, then the UVB/plant grow bulbs to go on 15 mins later. This gives the illusion of sunrise/sunset without having to rely on the actual seasons.

 

[Decadancin]

One thing I learned is that no matter how much I tried to mimic the lighting outside with all the lighting inside the enclosure is that my chameleon did not care . The lights go on now around 6 am (it is still totally dark outside) and they go off about 6 pm (almost totally dark). I generally have the first misting go off after about two hours and the last one about three hours before lights out. I have blue LED lights that come on first, followed by the two plant bulbs, followed by the first basking bulb, followed by the other plant bulb and UVB, followed by the other basking bulb, and then a reverse shut down later in the day, and do you know what I found out?

My chameleon is very active when the lights come on, and is generally already in his resting spot for the night at 3pm . I stopped trying to mimic the outside conditions and life is a lot simpler now .

 

[gotwqqd]

As long as they are getting the same amount of misting throughout the day it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not sure how the seasons affect daylight in Illinois, but in Alberta, Canada the seasons change so much it wouldn't even be worth taking the time to set this up. I did rig up a small moonlight bulb to go on half hour before, then the basking bulb 15 mins after, then the UVB/plant grow bulbs to go on 15 mins later. This gives the illusion of sunrise/sunset without having to rely on the actual seasons.

I'll only mist in morning and at night. Two minutes each.

As I posted in original two, summer has 6 more hours of daylight. I'll be basing lights on with sunrise(timer has the schedule) lights off will be a constant 8:00 pm CST.

My only concern is morning mistings... If it's important to have them writhing a time frame of lights on.

 

[Decadancin]

I generally have the enclosure and basking site warm before the first misting. I also like to have most of the lights on for a little while still after the last misting so the enclosure can dry out a bit before lights out. I don't want it too damp overnight.

 

[gotwqqd]

I got my Levitron timer in the mail today and have everything set up for lighting and misting...

Something I didn't really take into account......when do you typically feed the beast?
does it matter if its before or after misting? or how soon after sunrise?

 

[alphakenc]

I got my Levitron timer in the mail today and have everything set up for lighting and misting...

Something I didn't really take into account......when do you typically feed the beast?
does it matter if its before or after misting? or how soon after sunrise?

In the morning is better so they can eat and bask to help their digestion system,some of the chams might like to eat later,it really depends on the cham itself and how you raise them.

 

[Carlton]

I got my Levitron timer in the mail today and have everything set up for lighting and misting...

Something I didn't really take into account......when do you typically feed the beast?
does it matter if its before or after misting? or how soon after sunrise?

They won't be too interested in eating until they've warmed up for the day. You also don't want to feed too late in the evening or they end up with a belly full of undigested food all night.

 

[Carlton]

One thing I learned is that no matter how much I tried to mimic the lighting outside with all the lighting inside the enclosure is that my chameleon did not care . The lights go on now around 6 am (it is still totally dark outside) and they go off about 6 pm (almost totally dark). I generally have the first misting go off after about two hours and the last one about three hours before lights out. I have blue LED lights that come on first, followed by the two plant bulbs, followed by the first basking bulb, followed by the other plant bulb and UVB, followed by the other basking bulb, and then a reverse shut down later in the day, and do you know what I found out?

My chameleon is very active when the lights come on, and is generally already in his resting spot for the night at 3pm . I stopped trying to mimic the outside conditions and life is a lot simpler now .

And, really, how often and how much you mist should be dictated by the humidity levels in the room, not only because of daylight.

 

[gotwqqd]

do you find feeding after misting or before better?

maybe ill simply trash the mistking timer and get another Leviton so I can keep the misting come on after the same number of minutes after sunrise regardless of the season.

 

[Cheeky]

If you have the lights coming on at 5am in the summer, he will probably be asleep by 3pm, 2 hours before you give him his second opportunity to drink and 5 hours before the lights go out.

 

[gotwqqd]

If you have the lights coming on at 5am in the summer, he will probably be asleep by 3pm, 2 hours before you give him his second opportunity to drink and 5 hours before the lights go out.

Well, that is when the sun comes out.....He is going to be in my kids bedroom
I can always have the misting times closer which has benefit of drying out more completely
or add a short misting in between?

I'm a cork tube and a chameleon away(plus feeders).