Why do we mist?

[jamest0o0]

I get the benefits of misting, but we always go for the finer the mist, the better. Mist kings are practically a fog. This isn't like rain in nature though(or maybe I'm missing something in madagascar?). I can see how the mist helps them I'm not arguing it, but wouldn't added rain drops of some sort be more natural? My Chams all respond to drinking better when I lightly spray drops of water manually, rather than when I have a fine mist going. They are even less freaked out by it. its just been a question on my mind for awhile. So I'm wondering what some of you experienced people here think about this?

 

[werecat]

An interesting question. I'm not sure the practicality of the super-fine mist. Perhaps the finer mist allows for a larger spray pattern and thus the most coverage?

I personally use a rain dome. I've always felt it provided a more natural experience. However, the down side is that I'm only able to make it rain on a small section of the cage. This still works for me because it allows the chameleon to get away from the water if they choose.

I've been using a mister on one of my other chams as well as my geckos. I still prefer the larger drops from a good soaking rain. I feel I have to run the mister longer to get the build up of drops I want on the leaves.

Curious what others have to say about this.

 

[jamest0o0]

Yeah I have the mistking rain dome thing, and it's nice for getting a balance of both on my one cage, but I'd like to do something like that for my free ranges. I've heard the fine mist is good for cleaning their eyes, but wonder then what they do in the wild. I'd imagine a mix of both would be ideal. With everything else we try to go so natural with, Idk why we don't try to simulate actual rain more often.

 

[NHenn]

We have the mistkings set up on the top of all our cages that then spray down into them. This allows some mist to enter the cage as well as building up droplets on the screen top which then "rains" into the cage. I found this to be the best setup possible and wouldn't recommend anything else besides natural rain outside

 

[jamest0o0]

Yeah that's exactly what I do with my one panther that's in a cage. Gives the rain droplets and mist, best of both worlds. Going to find a way to do this on my free ranges because I like the way it looks. I can see how the misting benefits them, but I wonder how natural it is. Is the rain where they're from a fine mist like that?

 

[nightanole]

I cant rain dome a 2-3sqft area. id love to rig up some kind of shower head for big drops vs a fine mist.

 

[jamest0o0]

@nightanole what about having monsters spray the top of the screen, which would form droplets and replicate rain?

 

[jamest0o0]

Meant to say misters, auto correct... but monsters works too.

 

[nightanole]

@nightanole what about having monsters spray the top of the screen, which would form droplets and replicate rain?

My "cage" is 6.5ft tall, with only 18" or less clearance, and the screen is 1/2" mesh, not the normal screen door mesh. My only option would be to try to mount the mister to the ceiling, and have it spray onto a window screen layed on top of the mesh.

 

[laurie]

My "cage" is 6.5ft tall, with only 18" or less clearance, and the screen is 1/2" mesh, not the normal screen door mesh. My only option would be to try to mount the mister to the ceiling, and have it spray onto a window screen layed on top of the mesh.

I like your cage already and have never seen it! How about pictures? How do you keep bugs from getting out of 1/2 inch screen? I am guessing cup feeding. I hand feed my parson, Titan - he is just a tiny bit spoiled.

 

[Remkon]

I think smaller drips means more surface area in total.
More surface means more will be absorbed in to the air which results in higher humidity.

 

[jamest0o0]

Okay so that makes sense, the misting is more for the humidity then? And their natural habitat already has high ambient humidity.

 

[Remkon]

Humidity and drinking/cleaning opertunity

 

[nightanole]

I like your cage already and have never seen it! How about pictures? How do you keep bugs from getting out of 1/2 inch screen? I am guessing cup feeding. I hand feed my parson, Titan - he is just a tiny bit spoiled.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/diy-pvc-cage.150585/#post-1274210

 

[jamest0o0]

@Remkon I get that, but I'm sure they aren't being misted in the wild, so how do they clean? And wouldn't rain drops be more likely to incite drinking in that case?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, just understand. We seem so insistent on having very fine mistings.

 

[nightanole]

@Remkon I get that, but I'm sure they aren't being misted in the wild, so how do they clean? And wouldn't rain drops be more likely to incite drinking in that case?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, just understand. We seem so insistent on having very fine mistings.

A fine mist increased humidity.

As for rain drop induce drinking...

If you want a sick cham or any reptile to drink, Do you hit it with a spray bottle till it starts drinking, or do you drop water drops on its head till it starts drinking?

I have always just sprayed them in the face unless they were dropper trained.

And when misting with fine mist, misters, my guys just hang upside down and drink the water as it rolls down there lips.

Im not saying one is better than the other, but space and technology limits big drops to small "watering" area, vs fine misting a whole cage.

 

[AZChamFan]

I've wondered this same thing for a long time. Thanks for making a thread about it - interesting to see the comments. I use a combination of automated misters and hand misting, but one of my biggest gripes about automate misters is I always felt they are simply too powerful for the average enclosure. There is no need or advantage to this. It is just more likely to scare a cham away. We see countless posts about the cham hiding from the mister. A long time ago I put a needle valve on the outgoing line of my pump so I could reduce the pressure my misters are receiving. It worked extremely well. Now I can mist two to three times longer while using the same amount of water. The mist is nearly identical in pattern and droplet size but the volume is reduced and not nearly as powerful when it hits the cham. Therefore they don't run from it. The longer misting time gives them more time to drink and the mist still gathers on the leaves and drops off creating a raindrop effect which can also now last longer. Every system is different but this sure helped me. I know this isn't exactly related to the original question but I do get more of a natural type misting/raindrop effect buy slowing down the volume from the misters. We don't need to pressure wash our chams and that's what the automated misters tend to do in smaller cages if the cham is too close to the nozzle!!!

 

[Remkon]

@Remkon I get that, but I'm sure they aren't being misted in the wild, so how do they clean? And wouldn't rain drops be more likely to incite drinking in that case?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, just understand. We seem so insistent on having very fine mistings.

Arguments are healthy.

Nights are cool so in mornings there will be a condensation/fog over the land causing drips on the trees which they drink. I also think in the wild there is a more constant high humidity while in captivity there are more spikes of high humidity and lower humidity on average causing their eyes to irritate more easily.

I'm no expert either tho, I dont want to anger any biologists if I'm wrong.

 

[jamest0o0]

Arguments are healthy.

Nights are cool so in mornings there will be a condensation/fog over the land causing drips on the trees which they drink. I also think in the wild there is a more constant high humidity while in captivity there are more spikes of high humidity and lower humidity on average causing their eyes to irritate more easily.

I'm no expert either tho, I dont want to anger any biologists if I'm wrong.

That actually makes a lot of sense. And if arguments are healthy then I'm all set and can skip on the workouts.

But in this case I just wanted to have a friendly discussion

 

[Andee]

I think having a mix of both at the "correct" times of day would be the best for them.