Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I haven't written anything on here for a while, and I am just about done a cage that I am building for my panther so I thought I'd share my idea with everyone. I live in Ontario, so as you can imagine it gets VERY dry here during the winter. Dry as in 20% humidity or less. Over the last two winters I have had a heck of a time keeping the humidity up to 50% in my cages, let alone the suggested 70-80% panthers need. This has been ok, but after trying different humidifiers and foggers, I have decided to build a cage with three solid sides. *GASP*... I know I know.. That is a big "no no" on this board, but this is why I am posting this message. I know that there are a lot of "rules" that are followed on this board, but I also know that there are people that are not from warm humid areas. I have seen a lot of posts in the past about humidity, and I just want to let everyone know that this new cage looks great. I will have a fan on 12 hours a day to circulate air, and this is enough to prevent problems. I will let you all know how it works out in the long run. Just remember that there is more than one way to do things!!! I will keep you posted as to how it helps with humidity this winter...

please do! i'm from halifax, and despite being a coastal city, it gets under 30% humidity here in the winter, especially with the forced air heating!! I usually dont worry about the humidity, but i do run an ultrasonic humidifier to get the humidity to 45 or 50% (i keep veileds, so not as much of a problem). One of the main reasons for the humidity being high, as you probably know, is that when the humidity is low, a cham will lose much more water through respiration and through their skin than if it's humid. Hihg humidity can actually add water to their systems.

Even if you can't get it up to the reccomended high, then simplay hidrate your chams more, and they will drink more. Keep their skin nice n wet as well and theyll be happy

good luck and keep us posted

Here's a very good article on that subject-
enjoy.
http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2002/july2002/up_north_caging/up_north.html
-garrett

It can be done! I lived in Colorado (oh say 15% RH) and kept montane chams and had the same problems. A few classic "no-nos" I ended up using included plastic sheeting on back and sides of cages and using a substrate. The sheeting (clear shower curtains) still let some airflow in as it was not tight to the cage frames and the fronts were open. The substrate was kept in shallow pans under a screen on the cage bottoms. Chams couldn't get to it. I started using that recycled paper pulp bedding called Cage Fresh (or Care Fresh...can't remember). It resisted mold for a long time and I could dump it in the garden when needed. Didn't harbor pests that I recall. I also used a Rainmaker Jr. misting system and had ultrasonic humidifiers next to my cages. The mist was aimed into the cage through perforated pvc water pipe. The units ran in cycles using a multiple setting lamp timer. BTW, there is another article on the chameleonnews.com site about a free range melleri setup in Colorado that had some ideas for humidity too. Don't despair, you can make it work! If all your chams are in the same room simply keeping a door shut part of the time will help too.