Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, in my excitement to keep my new veileds humidity up, I just about drowned him.... GEEZ.

Here's the lowdown:
He is 2 months-ish old.
I am feeding gut-loaded calcium coated small crickets.

Environment(for now only, we will change in a couple months to mesh)
10 gal glass aquarium with screen top
lots of vines, lots of fake foliage
water-expanding substrate
UVA spot lamp and UVB REP5.0

I have been trying to maintain the humidity in his environment at the prescribed 60-80% with no luck after the first hour. I mist in a liter of water, and the humidity is at 80%. Within 4 hrs, the humidity is 30-35%. My house is very dry. I tried a dripper, which just soaked into the substrate and didn't evaporate as I'd hoped. I am going to try and rearrange the lighting so that his basking spot is a branch and not a foliage area, so that more of the light gets to the substrate to evaporate that water.

My main question: Is 60-80% necessary, or will a sustained humidity of 30-50% be okay? I've seen both amounts prescribed on several different websites. Does anyone have experience making happy chams at 30-50%? What has anyone else who lives in a dry house done to help this situation?

This is important, as I work 12 hr shifts, and need to be able to make his day as consistent and stress free as possible. I am redoing his cage setup when I get home in the morning.

Thanks so much for any help!
Diane

Hi,

I don't think you said what kind of cham you have. But since its in a aquarium, the easiest way to raise the humidity is cover most of the top of the cage with plastic sheeting...but obviously not all of it, or not near the lights where it will start a fire. By covering it, the dry air can't get in to pull the moisture out as easily. Remember though...you want the container to dry out (and the cham to dry off) before you turn the lights off at night.

You are right that you'll need to upgrade to a screen cage. Most believe you should never use an aquarium at all, but some believe it is OK until they get to about 2 months of age When you go to a screen cage (hopefully soon) you'll want to invest in a humidifier. When you get the cage it, will help if you get one with three sides unscreened, but not reflective...perhaps wood. Then you can set the humidifier in front of it and the moisture will stay in there longer. Might want to consider building a cage if you can't find one that is only one side screen. I've never done it, but I've considered making one out of a chest of drawers, and then just remove the top and put a door on the side. Might even look "furniture quality" if you do it right.

Steve

Tanks are so hard to regulate because they don't tend to form microclimates...they are generally the same temp and humidity all over and can get too warm with even a small overhead basking bulb. How much foliage do you have in it? Live foliage really helps maintain humidity because the leave surfaces and pot soil hold water that evaporates more slowly, the cham can find droplets to drink over time, and the plants' respiration also cycles moisture. A dry house will be a constant problem. You'll need to humidify the air in some way regardless of the type of cage. You could set a room humidifier over the tank so the moisture flows across the top and sinks into it (air exchange is imporant too), or humidify the room. Cycle the humidifier on a multiple setting timer so there are drier and wetter cycles created throughout the day.

Thanks so much for your help, guys. I spent the night last night looking for somewhere to buy the screen cages, but it appears that everyone is sold out right now!! Oh well, we'll make it work until then. When I do that I'll put a fountain in and see how that takes care of it. I finish my shifts monday morning, and I'll head right out and see what I can find.

Diane

Dianne, better read below about fountains. There should be a few posts on them.
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WILL HAYWARD,
CANADIAN CHAMELEONS

I did a full search and couldn't find anything referencing fountains....fill me in!!

Water fountains are a breeding ground for bacterias, unless they are constatly kept very clean (which is a pain most the time) another problem is the chameleons like to defecate in the water no one really knows why, some think its to carry the smell away so predators dont find them, chameleons dont drink from standing water most of the time but sometimes they do and if the fountain has poop in it or isnt clean the cham could get a nasty sickness.

Thanks so much for the info. I have decided to go with a humidifier instead, seems much more sanitary, and it'll benefit all of us!