Screencage or Terrarium because of Humidity

[Antibus]

I am new to the forum and read a lot over the last couple weeks before I want to get me a veil chameleon.

Like the name says. I have a problem with humidity.
I live in New Mexico and humidity is non existent in our air.
I went with a screen cage and can not keep the humidity up. I spray and get it almost to 50% and 30 minutes later it is down to below 10%. I don't want to spray literally every 30 minutes a ton of water to keep the humidity up.

I covered 3 sides and the top with plastic to see how the humidity would be with it.
It took it then 90 minutes to reach 10%humidity, but even then I was not able to get with spraying above 60%.

I had once crested geckos and hat a zoomed terrarium and could keep the humidity pretty constant without the use of to much water.

I am thinking now to get a skyscraper from zoomed (18x18x36) to keep the humity up.

Now my question. What is more important?
This so highly defended airflow of screens, where I think that a terrarium has enough airflow too.
Or a constant high humidity.


I know the humidity problem can be solved with more spraying, but is this then really the best choice?

Please do not let this threat get to a screen vs. glass fight.
I just want to know which of the two choices is the lesser bad solution.

Thanks for the answers Antibus

 

[KRuehle]

Something you have to consider with glass is that they can see their reflection in this glass, which is, to them, a predator always watching. It can be a source for constant stress. Something to keep in mind.

 

[ispeedonthe405]

Given the circumstances and what you've already tried, it's either your plan or the diy route.

 

[Kevlar03]

I live in wny, so even though we tend to have humidity outside when it snows, inside from heat, is dry. I was only able to keep humidity around 20 to 30 % . so we used a fogger over the winter. Directed into the back corner of the cage, it worked great!

 

[wavingsnail]

One problem to consider with the skyscraper is that it just won't be enough room for an adult male veiled chameleon.

I live in a very dry climate as well, and will probably be going with the XL breeder series from dragon strand. The back and two sides are solid, while the top and door are screen.

Might want to look into that.

 

[Carlton]

I had once crested geckos and hat a zoomed terrarium and could keep the humidity pretty constant without the use of to much water.
Now my question. What is more important?
This so highly defended airflow of screens, where I think that a terrarium has enough airflow too.
Or a constant high humidity.
I know the humidity problem can be solved with more spraying, but is this then really the best choice?

Well, having lived at high altitude in the CO Rockies I get it! I had as many as 5 chams there. Yes, maintaining humidity is a real chore in 10-20% RH. It can be done without a completely glass terrarium. Thankfully there are modified glass terrariums on the market now that do work for chams. When I lived there they didn't exist. I found that adding an ultrasonic humidifier into my systems really helped. Remember, you don't need constantly high humidity, but periods of higher and lower humidity during a daily cycle. I used a combination of covering sides of my large screen cages with plastic, used a timer-controlled misting system, really stuffed my cages with live plants, and still had trouble maintaining the humidity I wanted. The ultrasonic humidifier was the missing link. Foggers can re-humidify a cage without flooding it or using a lot more water. Adding a fogging period between my usual misting cycles helped keep the humidity from bottoming out so fast or so far. The misting system produced water droplets for the cham to drink from and clean its eyes. The fogger saturated the air with moisture but didn't produce so much water the cages needed more drainage. Chams can dehydrate in very dry air even if they can drink regularly. They are not that efficient in conserving body moisture because they evolved in climates where it wasn't necessary. I controlled my humidifiers with multiple-setting plug in timers so they would fog for 10 minutes or so in between hand spraying or misting cycles. A good humidity gauge (not the little analog gauges from pet shops) helped me track and work out the frequency and duration of the fog cycles. I can be done!

 

[mvad]

An option is a humidifier for the room the chameleon is in. You live in a dry climate so your husbandry will be more challenging then a person in a not so arid area. Glad your doing this BEFORE you get a chameleon.

 

[pgr7]

Dragonstrand clear sided enclosure with misting system will solve this issue

 

[Jefe The Chameleon]

You could always get plexiglass to cover a screen cage to save you money. If there is a lot of reflection, you can just cover that up with some material of sort (like a sheet or something).