Running a fan to gently blow air across the bottom of te cage

[WayneL333]

Hi everyone, what do you guys think about running a small fan to blow air across the bottom of the cage to help speed up water evaporation? Most of the water evaporates from the bottom of my cage between mistings, but barely. Will the fan bring down the humidity too much? Thanks in advance.

 

[ChameleonMom]

I'm certain the more experienced keepers will chime in but I wouldn't suggest you do this as it may increase the chance of a respiratory infection in your chameleon. If you have a humidity problem I would suggest you cover 2 to 3 sides of your enclosure with shower curtain vinyl. This will help with your humidty problem without it becoming a health issue for your chameleon.

 

[cigdoll]

Hi everyone, what do you guys think about running a small fan to blow air across the bottom of the cage to help speed up water evaporation? Most of the water evaporates from the bottom of my cage between mistings, but barely. Will the fan bring down the humidity too much? Thanks in advance.

How is your misting set up? What are your hour intervals and time in each misting session? Do you have substrate of any kind and if you do, I would suggest removing the substrate and try to have a clear ground or some type of drainage system to help avoid puddles of water. From the problem I think you have, maybe you should adjust to shorter misting session or have longer intervals between each misting session. I hope this helps or someone with more experience can further suggest ideas.

 

[Decadancin]

You could try it, if humidity is a problem, but I would also have the fan on a timer. I wouldn't want it running all night long if not needed. Not sure how your misting or enclosure is set up, but you could try it for a while and see.

 

[buddy912]

Hi everyone, what do you guys think about running a small fan to blow air across the bottom of the cage to help speed up water evaporation? Most of the water evaporates from the bottom of my cage between mistings, but barely. Will the fan bring down the humidity too much? Thanks in advance.

im also thinking the fan might not be the best idea either i wld be afraid of the cool draft, but i do have the same prob sometimes with the drying, so what i do is b4 i mist again i will go in there and actually dry his bottom of the viv so what ever water didnt drain out or dry i just do it my self. yes i do have to buy extra paper good for this but i just get cheap cases of toilet paper and use that. works out great for me, if u have the time you should give it a try b4 the fan.

 

[WayneL333]

How is your misting set up? What are your hour intervals and time in each misting session? Do you have substrate of any kind and if you do, I would suggest removing the substrate and try to have a clear ground or some type of drainage system to help avoid puddles of water. From the problem I think you have, maybe you should adjust to shorter misting session or have longer intervals between each misting session. I hope this helps or someone with more experience can further suggest ideas.

I have a mistking setup to mist 3 times a day for 4 minutes at 4 hour intervals. I currently do not run a drip system yet. I don't have any substrate on the bottom and the the cages are on a slight incline with a half inch hole drilled in the bottom for drainage.

 

[BocaJan]

I think that you should put more plants in your enclosure to catch the water. The water will stay on the leaves giving your animal more access to it and you won't need to overwater and have puddles in the bottom of the cage.

How long and how often do you spray? Can we see a pic of your cage please?

 

[Sticktongue]

I think that you should put more plants in your enclosure to catch the water. The water will stay on the leaves giving your animal more access to it and you won't need to overwater and have puddles in the bottom of the cage.

How long and how often do you spray? Can we see a pic of your cage please?

I agree. Some pictures may help us. Do you have fake or real plants?

Fans are a bad idea. It would/will cause a draft and could/would eventually lead to an RI. So, the answer would be a better draining system. Which is where the picture will help us to determine what you could change to help.

 

[Psychobunny]

I have a 18'' fan hanging from the ceiling in my dinning room, with is way away from my chams, so they cant actually feel it.
It just keeps the room air moving so it does not get stagnent and start smelling like I'm growing mushrooms

 

[laurie]

I do what works for my chams, normal isn't normal for me unless it works for my chams - not for someone else. i do use fans, i use them for air flow, but I am sure they also help dry out my cages.I use them on any cage that might need more air flow. If you want more info pm me. Mine all plug into the same timers that run everything else. I are tiny fans, they are make by ThermOcool. Mine do not come with a plug but hubby wires them. If you put your hand on the underside of the fan the is no draft at all but above the fan you can feel the air. Mine are maybe 3 or 4 inches square and work like chams, they are designed to go into computers. The only cost about $10 each. I buy 10 at a time.

 

[Turningdoc]

Link from a dart frog addict (in addition to chams of course!)

http://www.coolerguys.com

They have both fans and power supplies under fan accessories cheap and reliable.

 

[EvilLost]

Hi everyone, what do you guys think about running a small fan to blow air across the bottom of the cage to help speed up water evaporation? Most of the water evaporates from the bottom of my cage between mistings, but barely. Will the fan bring down the humidity too much? Thanks in advance.

Can you clarify on your setup a little more?

The answer will change depending on a few things. In general, I would suggest using an alternate collection method rather than trying to increase evaporation like this though (but as I said, it depends on your setup)

 

[WayneL333]

Thanks for the replies guys. Here are some pics of my setup. Sorry for the background light, but one of my reef tanks is behind my cages. As I mentioned before, I have a mistking running 3 times a day for 4 minutes at 4 hour intervals. I don't know if you can see by the picture, but I have a half inch hole drilled in the middle of the floor. What I did today was put 5"x5" egg crate squares underneath the corners of the cage to create a large gap between the bottom of the cage and the shelf. That way, the center of the floor sags a bit more so water can drain a little quicker.

Underneath the egg crate and on top of the shelf is a plastic liner and you can't see by the picture but there are shims underneath the wooden shelves to create a slope so that the water drains into the ghetto gutter I made.

My four cages, only am using 3.

It's hard to see in this pic but there is a half inch hole drilled in the middle of the floor:

Cages sitting on top of the egg crate spacers:

2'x2'x4' Cage:

 

[WayneL333]

Oh yeah, I don't know if you can see from the pics, but I have the dual mistking nozzles mounted on the top left and right corners of the cage to get better coverage with the spray.

I think I'm gonna try this fan:

http://www.marinedepot.com/Sunlight...g-Sunlight_Supply_Inc-SL2911-FILTACAF-vi.html