Would warm water be better?

[poppototamus]

So I use a mist king pump system to spray my cages but it seems like the chameleons really dislike being sprayed by the cold water, they move away from the spray ASAP. If I put warm water in a spray bottle and spray them by hand they will sit still to be sprayed. So I started to think maybe I should get an aquarium heater to warm my water reservoir.

Has anyone tried this before? Does it work?
Does the fact that the water already in the tubing on the way to the spray nozzle won't be warmed make it pointless to heat the water in the reservoir?

Maybe more importantly, does it really matter that my chameleons aren't getting sprayed themselves but are only drinking water off the leaves?
Should I just start using a spray bottle with warm water once a day or something?

 

[rionjames]

i use warm water in my hand mister and my guy Cuprian doesnt seem to mind. when its cold, though, he does scurry away. as long as the humidity levels are fine and he is drinking from the leaves or if you have a dripper you should be fine. but chams def dont like cold water

 

[Mike Fisher]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/heated-mist-water-experiment-119504/

 

[Psychobunny]

I tried a aquarium heater in the water tank, and the tank water did get pretty warm, but by the time the water traveled through the 1/4'' tubing and out the spray nozzle, it was only room temp!!

I figured it was a waste, but I do heat my misting bottles.
I just leave them on a heating mat 24/7.

 

[pigglett79]

I heat my misting bucket with an aqaurium heater. I feel the warm water coming out of the nozzle. I do also notice a different in my boys when the water is heated. I tried unplugging the heater for a couple weeks and they did not drink as much. So for me it works and I do it. Not like an aquarium heater costs more thean a few cents to run so why not.

 

[Psychobunny]

How hot did your heater get? Mine only went up to 85F.

Maybe if I had one that went up to 100F or so, may at least be above room temp at the nozzle tip!?

 

[pigglett79]

It's around 100-110. I use a bigger heater to get it warmer. Even if it's a few degrees warmer than the room air they seem to like it. I haven't measured the temp at the nozzle, but I feel it and I see them respond so that's good enough for me.

 

[Garf]

Has anyone tried coiling the water supply line around the shade of one of the lights? My lampshades get quite hot, and are a lot closer to the nozzle outlets than the supply tank.

 

[pigglett79]

Has anyone tried coiling the water supply line around the shade of one of the lights? My lampshades get quite hot, and are a lot closer to the nozzle outlets than the supply tank.

I would be concerned that they would melt, sounds like a dangerous idea mixing water with electrical sockets.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

The one thing you will need to be careful with when using an aquarium heater to heat a bucket of water is that the water will start to produce bacteria rather quickly. You will notice that anything in the water (including the sides of the bucket and the heater) will become slimy. That slime is actually bacteria. If you chose to heat the water this way, you can put a powerhead in the bucket to create water movement. This will help slow the production of the bacteria. Most important you will need to THOROUGHLY clean the bucket, heater, and anything else in the bucket, 2 or 3 times a week.

I have been keeping fish for more than 20 years and have experienced this slimy bacteria A LOT. In an aquarium the bacteria is kept in check through proper water movement, fish, and other things in the tank that eat and disturb the bacteria.

Also, I tried this method for a little while, but I noticed that there was almost no effect on the temp of the water coming out of the misting nozzle. I even tried getting the water scalding hot (as hot as my faucet can get it) and the only result was a blow out. The high heat and pressure caused the tube to explode. The water coming out of the nozzles was so atomized that change in temperature was negligible. Hand misting is a different story all together.

 

[Garf]

I would be concerned that they would melt, sounds like a dangerous idea mixing water with electrical sockets.

There's usually a cheap way around problems such as this. As an experimental algae scrubber (marine tank) I'm used to mixing water and dangerously high voltages

Edit - I'm assuming nobody has calculated the volume of water inside the pipe (ie not being heated in the supply tank) and how much is actually being delivered through the nozzles at each activation.

 

[Garf]

Just done a few rough calculations with my monsoon, seems to show heating the container would be pointless in my case. Please correct me if I'm wrong but;

Pipe ID = 4mm
Pipe length is about 3 meters (1 meter from supply tank to double pipe fitting, then another Meter on each line to the nozzles)

So there is about 37 mls of fluid in the pipework.

Measured a 20 second misting burst at 17 mls (x2 including other nozzle) = 34mls.

So the water in the tank never actually reaches the nozzles on a 20 second burst. I've also put a spare bit of tubing on the lampshade to see if it degrades, melts, bursts into flames.

 

[Garf]

24hrs contact with the lampshade and it does feel a little more pliable but no deterioration so I better restart my artificial rainwater thread

 

[Lpsouth1978]

24hrs contact with the lampshade and it does feel a little more pliable but no deterioration so I better restart my artificial rainwater thread

Be warned... The extra heat softens the tube and increases the risk of a blow out. Making the tube pliable and exposing it to high pressures can make a real WETTTTT mess. I have had it happen. Imagine the water that would otherwise go in the cage suddenly spraying all over the room. It was not a great experience.

 

[Garf]

Understood, thanks I'll keep my eyes peeled when I try it.

 

[poppototamus]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I just got a second chameleon two weeks ago and immediately I noticed that his poo was much wetter than that of my veiled, leading me to realize the veiled was probably chronically dehydrated. They both enjoy warm water spray downs so I've been doing that a few times a day and the veiled is producing much better looking poop. I feel like a jerk for not realizing sooner that he was too dry. Oh well I guess at least it's better now.

The bacterial slime was probably my number one worry. I've never kept a heated tank myself but I worked in a lab where we had lots and they got gross fast. I don't have a huge interest in cleaning my water reservoir multiple times a week so I will probably stick to hand spraying, at least for now.

Keeping the bottle on a heating pad is a really good idea too!

 

[MSAquatics]

Had to chime in. Its a very bad idea to wrap water lines around your light. They will melt when the water isn't moving, and if they didn't, they would just cool down as soon as the water started moving. It takes much more heat than any lamp used for reptiles can produce to heat moving water. Im a plumber, and I install tankless water heaters, its a similar situation. Your just asking to start a fire, or drip melting plastic onto one of your chams.
Putting an aquarium heater in the water resivour is ok, but it needs to be placed inside a shallow glass dish, so that if the water level gets to low, it doesnt' overheat, and melt through the resivour or short out and start a fire.
I use room temperature water with my melleri, and they like it fine. They will sit under the water frequently with no problems. I hand mist with hot water occasionally.

Leland

 

[Garf]

Had to chime in. Its a very bad idea to wrap water lines around your light. They will melt when the water isn't moving, and if they didn't, they would just cool down as soon as the water started moving. It takes much more heat than any lamp used for reptiles can produce to heat moving water. Im a plumber, and I install tankless water heaters, its a similar situation. Your just asking to start a fire, or drip melting plastic onto one of your chams.
Putting an aquarium heater in the water resivour is ok, but it needs to be placed inside a shallow glass dish, so that if the water level gets to low, it doesnt' overheat, and melt through the resivour or short out and start a fire.
I use room temperature water with my melleri, and they like it fine. They will sit under the water frequently with no problems. I hand mist with hot water occasionally.

Leland

Surely a design formality. Free heat
Had the empty (unpressurised) tube around the light for a while with no melting. This stuff is ok to about 170C apparently. The point is that perhaps the stuff coiled around the light is sufficient in length to supply the cham with warm water, and the fresh cold water would remain around the lamp for heating. Your concerns are noted though

 

[Deevo]

I really have considered a mist king but really only for when I'm away at work. I still believe warm hand misting with a constant dripper is the best combo