Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I ordered a automated misting system and I would like to know the recomended amount of times I should mist, duration of mist, and good times to mist? Thanks.

It depeneds on how often you are home. Nothing beats the manuall misting IMO. I have the typical misting system which has a 2 gallon bucket, spray nozzle, and high pressure piston pump. I mist probably 5 times a day - 4 minutes in the morning one hour after the lights come on and 4 minutes an hour before lights go off. I mist during the day about 2 minutes at a time. Specs say not to mist more then 4-5 minutes at a time for the pump. I have since dropped the morning/evening 4 minute cycle and now do it manully with a bottle. Dont mist during the night, its probably a good idea to let the cage dry out at night. Water all the time in the cage would promote bacteria or else you should clean bottom of the cage often.

I just implemented some heating for my misting system. I use this heat rope stuff from Big Apple Herp and wrap it around the tubing (not too tight or close) which heats the water in the tube just before the nozzle. I loosen up the the heat rope wrapping as it gets close to the bucket since it makes no sense to heat that water and I run out of heat rope. I plug it into a rheostat to control the heat. Some people use aquarium heaters in the bucket which IMO makes no sense. The water that makes it into the cage is the water in the tube (typically). So why heat the water in the bucket? I have 3-4 feet of tubing btw. The water that comes out of the misting nozzle is nice and warm so it wont shock the cham. Works great.

So, if u can use a spray bottle with really warm water. As for the misting schedule, every 2 or 3 hours for 3 minutes or so is fine. For mositure/humidity I use the misting system, spray bottle, one gallon dripper, and a humidifier. My humidity ranges from 50-85 in the cage.

-roocat71

ok thanks BTW What time do you turn your lights on and off?

Most of these decisions you'll have to figure out based on your room's climate and your particular cham's needs. Set up the system and have thermometers and humidity gauges working. Run the mister for several minutes and check the humidity and other things like how much runoff and dripping you get. Turn it off and watch to see how long it takes everything to dry out and for the humidity to drop too low. You can figure out how often and for how long you need to run it over several days. Also, remember to check the timing again with changes in season. There is a bit of trial and error, but again you will have time to figure everything out as long as your cham can drink etc. regularly.