Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just purchased an 'ExoTerra Ultrasonic Fogger' and so far it works great, but I have heard some good and bad things about the membrane heating to dangerous levels (and its obvious if you touch the water it spouts out). Currently I have it inside of Morgana's water dish, but am considering taking it out. I am eventually going to purchase a waterfall for her and will probably put the fogger inside of that, but until then what do you guys/gals recommend? What are your experiences with these foggers?

Thanks.

I don't know of anyone that has used these successfully over the long term. I can point out some recommendations that I have seen others make regarding their use:

elevate the fogger - use it separately from the water source used for drinking and ideally place it higher than ground level in the enclosure.

Use a timer - run the fogger on either a day or night cycle (or even just a few hours) rather than running it constantly.

Hopefully others may be able to share personal experience with these devices. If not, we look forward to hearing what you think of it.

the first one I had the membrane died in about 10 days, and it made the water very warm (more than I wanted the dragons in)
I ended up buying a replacement unit (the whole thing) while waiting for the replacement membrane, and using that one, it is still working months later
I have the timer set for 2 hours in the am (90 min before Dragon sunup, and 30 min after) and 2 hours in the evening (just before dragon Sundown)
I have to replace about a quart of water every day or two
and it does warm the water up, but I also have a waterfall filter in the paint tray I use, and that allows the water to cool down as well. I have guppies living in the water tray, so they are my mining Canaries (they let me know if the water is fresh, and the right temp by not dying)

Also, be careful, the water that it puts up has to go somewhere, and it will increase the humidity of the room you are in, AND soak the substrate a bit, so I have a syphone set up to drain the water OUT of the tank, as well as a different one to drain fresh water back into the tray

I know, I M a bit on the ODD side
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

I'm not exactly concerned about the humidity level rising in the room its in, because I live in Arizona. Humidity here is usually around 10-15%. So a 2-3% increase in the room isn't a big deal. The problem I'm having with it though is that it keeps the substrate pretty wet. Its not soaking wet, but it stays moist longer than it should.

How exactly do you siphon the water out of the tank? Did you drill a hole in the side of the glass, and use some sort of sump tank? Also, how do you drain the water, do you put your tank at an angle (e.g 2-4degrees)?

I am thinking about purchasing a waterfall made by the same company who makes this fogger(exoterra). Then I would just put the fogger in the waterfall. My concern with that is will a waterfall be a sufficient water supply by itself for a MHD? Or do they need a water tray for lounging in also? I haven't noticed Morgana sitting in the watter dish, but when she drinks from it she puts about half her body in it.

Thanks,
Derek

"How exactly do you siphon the water out of the tank? Did you drill a hole in the side of the glass, and use some sort of sump tank? Also, how do you drain the water, do you put your tank at an angle (e.g 2-4degrees)?"

**I glued a piece of tubing to the corner of the tank, on the rleft side front, Threaded the tubing up over the top of the tank, through the creace in the screen top, and down into a container of water that has a couple inches of water init all the time. The bottom part of the tube is always uder water, and so the pressure of the water from the bottom of the tank against the tip of the tube (about 2mm above the bottom of the tank) pushes the water up over the edge of the tank rim, and down intot the waiting resevoir. The Right side of the tank is raised about 3/4" and so there is a slight incline/decline towards the syphone tube. I have stones under the dirt substrate to help facilitate drainage, and I SHOULD HAVE put in some filter material over the stones to keep the dirt off them, then filtering would have been better**

I am thinking about purchasing a waterfall made by the same company who makes this fogger(exoterra). Then I would just put the fogger in the waterfall. My concern with that is will a waterfall be a sufficient water supply by itself for a MHD? Or do they need a water tray for lounging in also? I haven't noticed Morgana sitting in the watter dish, but when she drinks from it she puts about half her body in it.

**I had one, it splashed a LOT of water, and Erowen could not get her head into it, let alone her whole body. The babies will frequenly soak in the water, one of them even likes to grip onto the lip of the filter so his head is under the water fall, in the air, but the water is running down his back (a water massage). Erowen will soak sometimes, but not as frequently, and usually after she has laid eggs, or is coming off a hunger strike**

Thanks,
Derek

**You are more than welcome**
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*