Night Time Humidity

[Char333p]

Okay so i have a question. At night it gets very dry so i put a humidifier in the room but it only does so much... so i rigged one to pipe into the enclosure... i know chameleons are sensitive to foggers... but with the photos i posted does anyone think this is a bad amount of fog/humidity or just alright enough?

 

[Zilla23]

Do you have a hygrometer to measure the humidity level?

 

[Char333p]

Do you have a hygrometer to measure the humidity level?

Indeed, so you think run it for a hour or two and see what it levels out at?

 

[salty dog]

If it is a screen cage and the water is ro it should be ok for night time only!! My night humidity is 90 my day is 50 but I have screen cages with good ventilatin

 

[Char333p]

If it is a screen cage and the water is ro it should be ok for night time only!! My night humidity is 90 my day is 50 but I have screen cages with good ventilatin

I have the clearside dragonstrand. So it has one side and top screened. My day is higher then nights lol. Ill work this out, my main concern was the super fine mist on my guys lungs.. but its not completely filling out his enclosure so i think itll be ok.

 

[salty dog]

I keep a whole room humid, so I have no experience with plexi sided vivs with a humidity hose directed in viv. In florida, hawaii, kentucky, boston etc... is very, very, very humid fyi

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

I just keep a humidifier running at all times and mist 2min every 2hrs during the day. It's very dry here in Southern Colorado as well. Doesn't help we have the heater running as well. I can never get him above 60%

 

[dshuld]

Okay so i have a question. At night it gets very dry so i put a humidifier in the room but it only does so much... so i rigged one to pipe into the enclosure... i know chameleons are sensitive to foggers... but with the photos i posted does anyone think this is a bad amount of fog/humidity or just alright enough?

I have the clearside dragonstrand. So it has one side and top screened. My day is higher then nights lol. Ill work this out, my main concern was the super fine mist on my guys lungs.. but its not completely filling out his enclosure so i think itll be ok.

I'm curious, why do you say they are sensitive to foggers? What concerns do you have with him breathing in the fog?

 

[Char333p]

Ive read few times the super fine fog/moisture can give them respiratory infections.

 

[Beman]

Okay so i have a question. At night it gets very dry so i put a humidifier in the room but it only does so much... so i rigged one to pipe into the enclosure... i know chameleons are sensitive to foggers... but with the photos i posted does anyone think this is a bad amount of fog/humidity or just alright enough?

Hey there. So I modeled my set up lighting, fogging, misting after Bill Strand's podcast. I use a fogger from 12-3am during the night. And then I have it come on and heat lamp goes off for a 15 minute cycle at noon when he also gets a 4 minute misting. Here is the link for his podcast you might find helpful. https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/

Not sure if you are familiar with his podcasts but they are amazing and super informative. Most have show notes below the player to so you can read through and copy paste info you might need for later use.

 

[Beman]

Oh and Also I have the clearside as you do with 3 clearside panels and 1 screen side and top panels.

 

[dshuld]

Ive read few times the super fine fog/moisture can give them respiratory infections.

Fog/ high humidity and heat cause issues yes. Fog/ high humidity and cool are what you want. As noted above, read/ listen to Bill's podcast on this subject.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Okay so i have a question. At night it gets very dry so i put a humidifier in the room but it only does so much... so i rigged one to pipe into the enclosure... i know chameleons are sensitive to foggers... but with the photos i posted does anyone think this is a bad amount of fog/humidity or just alright enough?

My Nosy Bes viv has a 360* fog curtain running around the top. Sides and front are screen. I run the curtain full blast every night from 12-3 so for those 3 hours he is sitting in 100% humidity and breathing in the fine mist. On top of that I live in southeast Louisiana so relative humidity is about 80%-90% every day! This is known as the naturalalistic hydration technique. I do still see him licking leaves from time to time but way less than before.

Generally we tell keepers to run their fogger between 12am and 5am since that’s usually when their viv is the coolest.

 

[jamest0o0]

Guys foggers are not really natural humidity and can most definitely cause RI and other problems with extended use and no cleaning. Heat and humidity are even worse for sure. That said, they are a great tool for the people that truly need them and are willing to clean them regularly. I've seen foggers cover with mold after a few uses with distilled water. If I can get by without one I'll do that. The chances of harming the animal with a fogger are much higher than just extended misting. Our chameleons aren't living in the mountains of Kenya(which does have natural humidity)...

I saw petr necas report back when it first came out. I get it, everyone's jumping on that. And I've seen his Facebook posts, he's clearly an expert that knows far more than most, but I don't know how we can translate that to captivity since foggers aren't the most sanitary devices. A nice heavy misting when lights go out might be enough to keep the humidity at a good level at night.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Guys foggers are not really natural humidity and can most definitely cause RI and other problems with extended use and no cleaning. Heat and humidity are even worse for sure. That said, they are a great tool for the people that truly need them and are willing to clean them regularly. I've seen foggers cover with mold after a few uses with distilled water. If I can get by without one I'll do that. The chances of harming the animal with a fogger are much higher than just extended misting. Our chameleons aren't living in the mountains of Kenya(which does have natural humidity)...

I saw petr necas report back when it first came out. I get it, everyone's jumping on that. And I've seen his Facebook posts, he's clearly an expert that knows far more than most, but I don't know how we can translate that to captivity since foggers aren't the most sanitary devices. A nice heavy misting when lights go out might be enough to keep the humidity at a good level at night.

I discussed this exact issue with Petr this morning. He says it’s the way to go and I trust him. I agree that excess humidity AND heat will increase the risk of an URI but I’m doing this from 12am-3am when my vivs are about 60*F.

 

[JacksJill]

Foggers used overnight when the cage is cool is safer than using it when the cage is hot during the day. In their native habitat the days are moderate humidity as low as 35% but the nights are closer to 90%. Heat and humidity are more likely to create a swampy environment and potentially lead to respiratory infections. I run my fogger into the cages for 4-5 hours a night. You really need to go by how much humidity you are creating and not the look of the fog.

 

[Char333p]

Gotcha so for few hours in the cooler night is fine. My rig was gonna be a room humidfyer not fogger...which in sure not much different but obly during driest time

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Gotcha so for few hours in the cooler night is fine. My rig was gonna be a room humidfyer not fogger...which in sure not much different but obly during driest time

Discussed humidifiers with him too, he described them as “not ideal.”

 

[JacksJill]

I admit my cool mist humidifier does take some maintenance to keep it and the PVC pipes I run to the cages clean. I empty it, wipe it out completely and let it dry outside in the sun every couple of weeks. My pipes aren't glued so they can be taken apart bleached and dried occasionally.

 

[SharpShooter]

I admit my cool mist humidifier does take some maintenance to keep it and the PVC pipes I run to the cages clean. I empty it, wipe it out completely and let it dry outside in the sun every couple of weeks. My pipes aren't glued so they can be taken apart bleached and dried occasionally.

Mine are the same. I use a bit of PTFE tape on the joints to keep them relatively tight and leak free but can pull apart easily for cleaning.