new panther hates misting (low day humidity)

[sketchtone]

I'm not worried about it, but more curious to see if anyone else has experienced it. I chalk it up to stress, since I got him yesterday and he is only around five months old, however, he seems to hate getting wet. He is super startled by it every time the mist king turns on and hides under a leaf. (He's the kind of guy to wait to drink off of leaves until it turns off).
I live in a dry area where the humidity drops in the day to mid thirties without misting (around 3 pm), so I was wondering if since he seems to dislike misting, would it be ok to add a short misting session around then? I think he just needs to get used to being in his new home, but thoughts?? (the humidity will stay around mid thirties, and he hasn't pooped yet, so i'm compelled to wait to check his urates after a poo or two so i can only adjust if necessary, but i just didn't know.)

 

[sketchtone]

• Your Chameleon - Male Panther Chameleon. Unknown age but he's estimated 4-5 months. I've only had him a couple days.
• Handling - Not handled since he is brand new. Waiting around two weeks to settle in before trying to start to train him.
• Feeding - Small-Medium Crickets. I got gut load given with my crickets, and it is store bought. I do not want to use store bought in the future but they were already munching it so I left it in with them.
• Supplements - ZooMed repti calcium is what im using for regular. for D3, I will have him on a schedule of 1st and 15th, starting on the fifteenth, as I do not know his original schedule and did not have him on the first.
• Watering - Mistking for five minutes before lights on and five before lights out, fogging at night. (The fogger I bought broke, and the new (and better) one gets here tomorrow, so I've been up till one and manually misting for a few minutes to get humidity a bit higher at night, though it is lower than desirable.)
• Fecal Description - I have not found a poop yet, but I am searching the cage every morning and night for it. Will update with description of urates once a poo is found.
• History - None

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 2x2x4 DragonStrand hybrid enclosure.
• Lighting - Vivid Chameleons and Habitats 50W basking bulb, Arcadia JungleDawn Plant light, ZooMed ReptiSun T5 HO 24w 22in 5.0 UVB.
• Temperature - Cage floor is usually between 70-75. Basking is 82-85. I have one digital thermometer hygrometers combo nearer to the top but in the middle. I have a temp gun that I do not like since it is a few degrees off.
• Humidity - Ambient humidity in the house is around mid to high 30s. Day time humidity fluctuates from 35-50. Nighttime after misting is around 50-high 60, 75-90 (with fogger) but without it, it has been a bit lower overall (60-70), so I have set the mistking to go off at 9PM for 2 minutes (as i needed it anyway).
• Plants - Philodendron, split leaf philodendron, marigold, (another flower I do not remember the name of but I checked it was chameleon safe, so I know it's good,) Ivy, (a few other plants at the bottom, that again, I can't remember the names of for the life of me, but I do not buy chameleon plants without checking the forums and chameleon academy for safety,) Lipstick plant, and two small bamboo (there's a swirly one surrounding straight ones, so when it gets a bit bigger, he might enjoy hanging around on it.
• Placement - Cage is in my bedroom, which has two outer walls. Its a low traffic area, and I only have the door open when I am in the room or in neighboring rooms where I can keep a check on him (I have three cats, only one seems interested. I'm cat proofing the table soon). There is a ceiling fan and vent (vent on ceiling) and a fan on the floor (I think it's dyson). The enclosure is lifted about 2.5 feet off the ground. I turn on both fans to lower the temp (no aircon yet) and turn off the floor fan when temps drop enough.
• Location - Nevada (desert)

 

[Gloriawood]

Welcome! I won’t do a husbandry review since I am not familiar with panthers. I just want to say that it’s not uncommon for chams to hate the misters many will run and hide from them so I don’t think you have to worry about that. Can we see some photos of your guy?

 

[Steve A]

My male panther absolutely hates everything about the mister. Except the fact the arms with the spouts, he likes to climb on those lol. But I never mist during the day. Even during the winter where the humidity at the top of his enclosure is lower than in the summer. And our numbers are very similar.

Remember you want a gradient anyway. The top of the enclosure should be lower and as you go down, especially where there's more plants, the temps should go down and the humidity should get higher.

Do your plants fill out the enclosure well? What really helps keep the humidity higher in mine is I have a very large pothos in the center (and then a bunch around the outside).

TBH I really don't see an issue with the numbers you've provided. 35-50% humidity during the day is where I'm at as well (at the top of my enclosure only). All winter it's been in the 30-40s but mostly 30s. Again that's only at the top of his enclosure. As he goes down, the humidity rises. So he can get that higher humidity during the day by climbing in the middle section if he needs to. Mine does this all the time.

 

[Beman]

Hey there... Husbandry is pretty spot on. Great job. For the misting issue. Depending on where you got your new baby some breeders do not run automisting systems. If he is used to seeing the human with the spray bottle and that being his warning system then it will take him time to adjust to the mistking. Just keep using it and eventually he will learn when to get out of the way or he will learn to love the water.

 

[sketchtone]

Welcome! I won’t do a husbandry review since I am not familiar with panthers. I just want to say that it’s not uncommon for chams to hate the misters many will run and hide from them so I don’t think you have to worry about that. Can we see some photos of your guy?

i also included a pic of the enclosure!! i’ve got another philodendron to hang when he’s a bit more used to home!

sure!! i have a picture from when we got him (when he’s brightest!) he’s been a bit dark (other than feeding) and i think he is just starting to shed!

the third one was from yesterday before i fed him. i think he’s trying to choose his own basking spot.

 

[sketchtone]

My male panther absolutely hates everything about the mister. Except the fact the arms with the spouts, he likes to climb on those lol. But I never mist during the day. Even during the winter where the humidity at the top of his enclosure is lower than in the summer. And our numbers are very similar.

Remember you want a gradient anyway. The top of the enclosure should be lower and as you go down, especially where there's more plants, the temps should go down and the humidity should get higher.

Do your plants fill out the enclosure well? What really helps keep the humidity higher in mine is I have a very large pothos in the center (and then a bunch around the outside).

TBH I really don't see an issue with the numbers you've provided. 35-50% humidity during the day is where I'm at as well (at the top of my enclosure only). All winter it's been in the 30-40s but mostly 30s. Again that's only at the top of his enclosure. As he goes down, the humidity rises. So he can get that higher humidity during the day by climbing in the middle section if he needs to. Mine does this all the time.

i'm glad he’s not the only one then! i keep getting him plants almost every time i go out! i’ve been repotting them with fertilizer free dirt and putting large river stones on top of that.

(he’s behind the misty spot on the front!)
i moved it there so it didn’t hit his (seemingly) favorite branches in case he was still up there.

 

[Beman]

Looks really good. If those are stickers on your vertical bracing branches try to pull those off. Sticky stuff and chams is not a good combo and those will eventually start pulling off the poles due to the moisture.

 

[sketchtone]

Looks really good. If those are stickers on your vertical bracing branches try to pull those off. Sticky stuff and chams is not a good combo and those will eventually start pulling off the poles due to the moisture.

will do! i’m going to wait until he’s calmer to try to do that! he’s eating right now. thanks for telling me! i didn’t even consider that!