Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will be going on vacation for 3 days to vegas.I seem to be running into a slight dilema.How do i water my chams while im gone? A friend suggested a mister system. Anyone have any other not as expensive ways/tips?
Thanks
Dave

K i was pricing soem, not as expensive as i had rememberd,What misting systems are you peeps using if any? Any recomendations?

I have one from bigapple herp. I would NOT recommend it. It can only stay on for five minutes at a time.

I have the Big Apple Herp mister also. I use the timer they provided and set it too mist in groups of 1-3 minutes, several times per day. I also modified it for use with a 5 gallon resevoir instead of the 2 gallon that came with it. I mist my water dragons and 2 cham cages with it and refill it every 3 days. I also use a submersible aquarium heater to heat the water to about 80F. Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago
Valentino, Veiled Chameleon
Chyam, Nosy Be Panther Chameleon

Zuesjackson, 90% of the automatic misting systems availiable on the market today can only stay on spraying for a maxinmum of 5 minutes at a time. Maybe this will influence your view on your product.

The only automatic misting systems that have running periods that are longer than 5 minutes, have a self contained cooling unit. Not very inexpensive...
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CANADIAN CHAMELEONS

They don't need a cooling unit, it's the pump that's your limiting factor. Piston pumps are limited in their runtime due to the heat generated. A diaphragm pump can run on and on, water or no water.

You could piece one together for under $200, but it takes some time and knowhow (especially with wiring and soldering). Cheapest diaphragm pump I've found is about $120, with the piwer cord you have to connect. A commercial system is around $250, I believe, the rainmaker I.

If you have adult chameleons, they will be fine for 3 days with no water. We try to give them good conditions in captivity, but they are adapted to deal with the bad ones as well - 3 days with no food or water is not a problem for an adult. Just hydrate them well the days before, feed them well, throw in some superworms in the moment you leave, and they'll be happy as ever (oh, the gratification of keeping reptiles... they can care less)

I use pro-products. I use the timer that comes with the kit and the morning mist is 15 minutes. the pump could run dry and not break and was fairly inexpensive. WWW.PRO-PRODUCTS.COM. Use a 5 gallon bucket and it will last 3 days no problem. Good luck Matt

on a timer? Cheap, easy and you can get a timer (hd) so that it goes on multiple times a day. Keep it on long enough to form some droplets on leaves. Just my 2 cents...

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - swifty and blotcha for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

I agree. I actually use BOTH. I worry that the fine mist from my humidifier won't provide enough water for drinking, but it comes on for an hour periodically throughout the day and helps keep the humidity where I want it. I'm glad Eric posted that bit about leaving for a few days without them dehydrating. I was going to ask that very question. Some of my non-herp relatives will be watching over my herps and I usually hand mist, along with the automatic mister and the humdifier and a morning dripper. Do you think I could eliminate the dripper and hand misting and just have them fill up the humidifiers and automatic mister while I'm gone? (6 days) Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago
Valentino, Veiled Chameleon
Chyam, Nosy Be Panther Chameleon

I find if the humidifier stays on long enough it will form droplets on leaves, but it also forms drops on screen which can be licked off (and drips), too (Cyrus is a licker, Luna was a soaker). In the winter, with Luna and the very dry air I covered her cage with a shower curtain all around - the only open part was the top, of course It created a nice steam room spa for her; I kept it like that for a couple hours at a time. It was so dry the minute I took the plastic off the front you could see the air just suck up that moisture!

As for your 6 days, I don't know, someone else may want to comment on that. It probably depends on your animals preferred water intake. Again, I'd mist and drip for Cyrus, but use mist and drip for Luna. If your friend is coming in anyway, to fill humidifier they may as well mist while they are there. What are you doing for food? Just wondering - are the non-herpers willing to handle feeders?

lele
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - swifty and blotcha for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

lele: The "herp-sitters" come over every other day while I'm gone. I pack individual "herp lunch boxes" for them to put in the cages. My water dragons eat mostly supeworms, so I put 25 of them in a plastic baby food jars with air holes with superworm food, supplements and grapes for moisture and they dump them in the food bowl. With the chams, I do the same, except I put ten crickets and Nature Zone cricket total bites and they dump them on the plants in the cham cages. My little pygmy is getting hydei fruit flies and I dump them in the cage on an orange slice in a little turtle bowl. I think my son can handle the hydei without further assistance. BTW, I noticed a pretty nice sized mantid in the pig cage. I guess from my first hatching in march. Diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago
Valentino, Veiled Chameleon
Chyam, Nosy Be Panther Chameleon

gee, maybe thast mantid survived from eating many of its siblings! lol! your vacation care setup sounds like a good plan. Too bad some of us don't live near each other where we can swap herp care! I have one friend who I trust with my kids so if I want to go away (not often) I have to check with her schedule first! I don't think I am obsessing as much as I did with Luna. Not plans to go anywhere until October so lots of time to figure out a plan

When do you go? We'll miss you
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1 Side-blotched lizards - swifty and blotcha for now
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

I went out and bought a mister system last year, went out of town, came home to a flooded out room and a burnt pump. SOO NOT worth it. So now if I'm gonna be gone for a few days or a weekend I just buy a jug of water and poke a small hole in the bottom and a small hole on top and let it slow drip onto some plants. Has never failed me yet and is way cheaper then a mister.
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TFFF
(Tootie Freakin' Fruity Feenie)

Will,

You know much more about chams and care then I do. However I am really only familar with 4 or 5 popular(talked about) misting systems. Of those the rainmaker and ??(name escapes me) both use the piston pumps. They can run for a good while and as others said "run dry" The bigapple unit can get the job done but it heats up really fast. The bigapple unit is sold by a few differnt compaines but is basically the same thing.

I should have done more research because for the 125 I spent on the big apple I would have just bucked up for a piston pump driven unit.

Just my opinon.

Yes,

I need to find a unit that will spray for 10 minutes several times a day, and power up to a minimum of 8 nozzles as well as push the water strait upwards about 5 feet.

Picky requirements.
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CANADIAN CHAMELEONS