New member from central Indiana

Viralvegan

Viralvegan

Member
Hey Everyone!

I just registered to become a member after gently obsessing over chameleons and chameleon care for the past few weeks! I have learned so much from these forums and I'm excited to learn more. I don't own a lovely lizard friend yet because I want to be sure I am fully prepared for what is to come. As someone that has only ever had fur babies, I am completely ignorant to the ways of keeping babies of the scaly variety. I've read over the care guide provided here, ordered multiple care books (that unfortunately won't arrive until after the holidays...), and watched dozens on enclosure videos but I still have questions!

Are there any other members from the midwest that are willing to give me some handy tips on how to keep chameleons in our climate? I'm very concerned about keeping the humidity high enough for my future friend during the winter months. Help!

Thanks
 
janjan20 said:
Welcome! Soooooo glad you are doing this the right way lol! We will hook you up with lots of great info and what to buy for cage set up, supplements, etc. This will save you money when you get the right stuff from the start. :) I live in Florida so keeping humidity is not a problem for me. @AnamCara @CamoChameleonsHuman @kinyonga @GoodKarma19 @Kaizen are a few members I know live in drier colder climates.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for responding to my post! I'll be sure to check out those members
 
jamest0o0 said:
Thought Indiana was humid? I'm in pittsburgh pa, very humid here outside of dry heaters running in the winter.

Edit: OH AND WELCOME
Click to expand...

We are very humid in the summer, but it's the winter I'm really worried about. I don't blast my heater in the winter, but based on how ofter I need to apply lotion to my hands I can't imagine there's much moisture in the air. Do you have any difficulty maintaining humidity during those cold months? I plan to get an automatic mister and dripper, plus there will be live plants in my enclosure. Should I also add a humidifier to the room?
 
Viralvegan said:
We are very humid in the summer, but it's the winter I'm really worried about. I don't blast my heater in the winter, but based on how ofter I need to apply lotion to my hands I can't imagine there's much moisture in the air. Do you have any difficulty maintaining humidity during those cold months? I plan to get an automatic mister and dripper, plus there will be live plants in my enclosure. Should I also add a humidifier to the room?
Click to expand...
You ask deep questions. What species are you looking at?
 
Viralvegan said:
We are very humid in the summer, but it's the winter I'm really worried about. I don't blast my heater in the winter, but based on how ofter I need to apply lotion to my hands I can't imagine there's much moisture in the air. Do you have any difficulty maintaining humidity during those cold months? I plan to get an automatic mister and dripper, plus there will be live plants in my enclosure. Should I also add a humidifier to the room?
Click to expand...

I used to have that problem when we had heat from the furnace. We have a hot water heater where we live now so my humidity stays at a perfect 40-50%. My cham is in the garage too so I actually have to use a dehumidifier to keep it down lol. A mistking, going off especially before night, and a lot of live plants+bio substrate will keep the humidity where it needs to be. An ultrasonic cool mist fogger aimed into the cage for a few hours at night also helps a lot. A cage like the solid side DS atriums would be nice for keeping humidity in while also allowing ventilation for the summer months. Don't humidify the whole room and only worry about it being high at night. Overall, it's an easy problem to solve. You'll be fine (y)
 
jamest0o0 said:
I used to have that problem when we had heat from the furnace. We have a hot water heater where we live now so my humidity stays at a perfect 40-50%. My cham is in the garage too so I actually have to use a dehumidifier to keep it down lol. A mistking, going off especially before night, and a lot of live plants+bio substrate will keep the humidity where it needs to be. An ultrasonic cool mist fogger aimed into the cage for a few hours at night also helps a lot. A cage like the solid side DS atriums would be nice for keeping humidity in while also allowing ventilation for the summer months. Don't humidify the whole room and only worry about it being high at night. Overall, it's an easy problem to solve. You'll be fine (y)
Click to expand...
I'm really glad you brought up a solid sided cage! That's another thing I have questions about. I understand that chameleons need good air flow, so most recommend a mesh cage, but I've been curious about putting up a glass panel or two in winter to help keep that humidity in. Are there any threads about this? I haven't found much with my searches but I might just be using the wrong search terms...
 
Viralvegan said:
I'm really glad you brought up a solid sided cage! That's another thing I have questions about. I understand that chameleons need good air flow, so most recommend a mesh cage, but I've been curious about putting up a glass panel or two in winter to help keep that humidity in. Are there any threads about this? I haven't found much with my searches but I might just be using the wrong search terms...
Click to expand...
Glass, screen or some combination thereof are all fine options. The challenges for screen are, like you said, keeping in humidity. The challenges of glass are airflow, and weight, the hybrid cages are great options: 2 or 3 solid sides with screen on the others. In my view, any of these can be made to work. Just know your numbers: target daytime humidity/heat, target nighttime humidity/heat.
 
Further to my last,

I’ve heard a lot of people using an ultrasonic humidifier (e.g. A fogger) at night, misting just before lights on, and just after lights out, and a daytime dripper. This, as I understand it, can be implemented in any style enclosure provided proper drainage and airflow are maintained, and the enclosures are allowed to dry out during the day.
 
Kaizen said:
Further to my last,

I’ve heard a lot of people using an ultrasonic humidifier (e.g. A fogger) at night, misting just before lights on, and just after lights out, and a daytime dripper. This, as I understand it, can be implemented in any style enclosure provided proper drainage and airflow are maintained, and the enclosures are allowed to dry out during the day.
Click to expand...
Other than for preventing mold and fungi growth, are there more reasons why you would want to allow drying during the day? Is that just a more accurate representation of their natural habitat?
 
So my original cage set-up was all screen (hardware clothe to be exact) and my initial humidity readings were very discouraging. I live in Alaska and the winters up here are BONE DRY. I'm talking >10% at times. You couple that with base board heating and it presents a big challenge in maintaining the appropriate levels. I finally came to my senses and realized that this endeavor would not bare fruit unless I used some Visqueen (poly film/vapor barrier) to shore up the entire back wall and half way up the two sidewalls. The difference has been palpable to say the least.

I supplement the two heavy misting sessions a day by running a humidifier all night with the door to the room he's in CLOSED. This brings night time humidity up and keeps it at 80%. During the day when I'm at work I let the humidifier run all day but I leave the door 1/4 open. This keeps it at a comfortable 50% during the day. There is of course the spikes that occur with misting to 100%. In short, I run a humidifier 24 hours a day. You can look at the pictures I have on my profile page for reference.

In the summer I would only run the humidifier for about 4 total hours a day as I don't run the heat in the house and the outdoor humidity here in the summer hovers at around 80%.

Lastly, WELCOME!
 
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