Monsoon rs400 cycle, need help.

[Effykins]

I feel like this is a dumb question, as I can not for the life of me find info on this anywhere..

I bought the rs400 in a pinch, I recently moved my panther chameleon to an all screen cage, but was/still am having trouble keeping humidity up. Since moving him, he's gotten more and more dehydrated. I was hoping this misting system would help with both of those problems. I think I would like it to run every 30 mins for 30 seconds each. I know this is a little excessive but I would like to present more opportunities for my little guy to get a nice drink without flooding the cage while I'm at work. Then when he's back to normal, reduce the misting to a normal cycle. I have read the instructions and understand the example given, but the inconsistent numbers on both dials have thrown me off apparently.



TL;DR: Can the cycle timer be set to go off 30 seconds every half hour?

 

[deerharvester]

First, you need to get a separate timer. The monsoons timer is very unreliable, and by that i mean not reliable at all. Second, 30 seconds every 30 min is way too excessive, besides there is no need for it to go off at night. If you don't let it dry out you will create bacteria which is not good. In the winter mine goes off 5x a day, 3 x for 1min, 2x 2min. But, it is very dry here in the winter. Panthers unlike montane species don't need high humidity all the time.

Scott

 

[Effykins]

Yes, as I said I realize that is very excessive but I'm not sure how else to get my cham to drink. He will only drink if the droplets are rolling down the leaves and will very rarely lap them up if they are stationary. I dry/clean up all the water every morning and every day when I get back from work so I'm not worried about that. I don't believe having them run that frequently will harm him.. I was using a dripper as a watering method but found that the water would run out before his lights came on. I have him on a 9am-9pm cycle and I leave for work at 6am. I have taken him to the vet a few times to be rehydrated and have caught him drinking once in the past week. His urate are still very orange though which is odd because he looks fairly healthy, has a strong grip, big appetite. I'm running out of ideas here.

Sorry, this has now sort of become a health post..

But yes, thank you for the timer suggestion.. Do you have any recommendations on a brand?

 

[deerharvester]

Home depot or whatever hardware store that is local to you will have one. 30 seconds every 30 minutes isn't as good as longer mistings spread further apart. The cage should dry in between mistings naturally. Also, chams can be very secretive and often won't eat or drink in front of you.

Scott

 

[JamesBryan]

Yeah, 30 seconds every 30 minutes wouldn't really give the enclosure chance to dry out in between.

2 minutes every 2-3 hours would be better.

Have you still got the dripper going as well as the mistings?

 

[Effykins]

Alright I will try that...

No, I stopped using the dripper as it wasn't doing anything except making a bigger water mess. Relying on this system as well as hand misting but my cham doesn't like the spray bottle much. Accidentally blasted him one or twice when he was young, blended right in, didn't see him until it was too late haha. Oops.

Not sure how anyone is able to get their cages to dry up naturally? I've got a 4'x2'x2' screen cage with a plastic bottom insert. Even have my heat lamp positioned so it avoids most of the foliage hoping it would help with that. It doesn't. I am thinking I'll have to resort to a homemade drainage system?

 

[ridgebax1]

The Monsoon is crap. I had one that had to be replaced 3 times in less than a year. I invested in an Aquazamp with a raindome. I had the mister set to come on 4 or 5 times a day with longer mistings in the early hours of the day. I had an increase in the water consumption, had to fill the reservoir more frequently but the amount of water draining out of the cage was much less! I think that more moisture stayed in the environment with a higher humidity and more water available from the raindome for the chameleon to use for drinking.

 

[JamesBryan]

Alright I will try that...

No, I stopped using the dripper as it wasn't doing anything except making a bigger water mess. Relying on this system as well as hand misting but my cham doesn't like the spray bottle much. Accidentally blasted him one or twice when he was young, blended right in, didn't see him until it was too late haha. Oops.

Not sure how anyone is able to get their cages to dry up naturally? I've got a 4'x2'x2' screen cage with a plastic bottom insert. Even have my heat lamp positioned so it avoids most of the foliage hoping it would help with that. It doesn't. I am thinking I'll have to resort to a homemade drainage system?

Bottom drainage is almost always required when using a misting system really.

In the event of an error and the pump constantly running, your cage will flood and water will go everywhere in your home. So you'll want a large enough catch bowl underneath that is slightly more than the capacity of your water reservior.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

I have him on a 9am-9pm cycle and I leave for work at 6am.

so if his lighting is on a 9am - 9pm schedule, and you leave at 6am, when do you feed him?

I have my chameleon's lights on 8:30am - 8:30pm and leave for work at 5am. an auto mister and dripper keeps him hydrated all day, but I can't feed him until I'm off at work at 3:45 or 4:45 and get home 15 min after I'm off work. I know feeding in the mornings is recommended but unless I put my little man's lights on super super early, I just can't do morning feedings except on weekends. so he gets fed at like 4 or 5 pm. ..... I know I can't be the only one who does this, it just frustrates me that there isn't anything I can do about it :-(

 

[brownie64]

I agree that the longer misting sessions in fewer times would be best. It takes a while for your cham to say to himself Hay this is water maybe I should drink. At least it's always been my experience. The shorter misting times might not be long enough for him to make that realization.

 

[addicks]

so if his lighting is on a 9am - 9pm schedule, and you leave at 6am, when do you feed him?

I have my chameleon's lights on 8:30am - 8:30pm and leave for work at 5am. an auto mister and dripper keeps him hydrated all day, but I can't feed him until I'm off at work at 3:45 or 4:45 and get home 15 min after I'm off work. I know feeding in the mornings is recommended but unless I put my little man's lights on super super early, I just can't do morning feedings except on weekends. so he gets fed at like 4 or 5 pm. ..... I know I can't be the only one who does this, it just frustrates me that there isn't anything I can do about it :-(

You could always throw a few crickets in before work and let him free hunt while at work.

 

[trickedoutbiker]

You could always throw a few crickets in before work and let him free hunt while at work.

id still be waking him early in the morning before his lights come on. then when I leave, it is super dark in the room he is in, and he wouldn't be able to hunt them for another 3 hours when his lights come on at 8:30. id be a little worried they might bite him in those 3 hours.... :-( not only that, but if he cant see them to hunt them for 3 hours then most of the calcium powder they get dusted with would probably be off of them by the time he wakes up and eats them.

uggh.... I wish there was such thing as an auto feeder.

 

[Gwendalyn.brock]

so if his lighting is on a 9am - 9pm schedule, and you leave at 6am, when do you feed him?

I have my chameleon's lights on 8:30am - 8:30pm and leave for work at 5am. an auto mister and dripper keeps him hydrated all day, but I can't feed him until I'm off at work at 3:45 or 4:45 and get home 15 min after I'm off work. I know feeding in the mornings is recommended but unless I put my little man's lights on super super early, I just can't do morning feedings except on weekends. so he gets fed at like 4 or 5 pm. ..... I know I can't be the only one who does this, it just frustrates me that there isn't anything I can do about it :-(

I leave for work at 530 so I set my lights from 5-5 and put crickets in there before I leave. I think if you put some crickets in there with an apple or carrot they will leave the chameleon alone and she can hunt after she wakes up. I used to feed mine at 6 or 7 but somebody told me that I could put crickets in there earlier as long as the crickets had food.