Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I currently have 1.1.0 crested geckos. They are kept in quite a large enclosre a vivarium that is about 55-60 gallons. The substrate in the cage is Bed-A-Beast. I have a medium exo-terra water fall with a fogger. Here is my problem. When fogger is used it runs for about 5 minutes every 4 hours and the humidity stays in a good range from about 70-80. The only problem is the substrate around the water fall is constantly wet. not moist but wet. So i stopped using the fogger and now my humidity stays between 50-60 (which i believe is low). I do mist the cage but it only helps for a short time. I was curious if I could put moss in around the water to obsoorbe the access moisture from the fogger and this should help with humidity range. Any suggestion are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Current
1.1.0 Orange Tiger Cresteds.
0.1.0 White LIned Gecko
0.1.0 Rose Hair Tarantula
Past
1.1.0 Ball Pythons
0.1.0 Columbian Red Tail Boa
1.0.0 Green Iguana

I am new to cresteds, but I have been reading here for a while and I know that there are at least some here with a lot of experence (and those people should jump in here and correct me if I am wrong) that don't think that you have to keep humidity up all of the time. If the humidity drops low it is fine as long as you mist it and bring it back up later.

Cycling the humidity is a good thing.

You don't need to keep the humidity that high. 50-60% is plenty.

The following is taken from the Crested Gecko FAQ Section

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How much humidity does my Crested Gecko need?

Yes, New Caledonia has high relative humidity, but this does not necessarily mean that the Crested Gecko needs it to survive. I'm from Kansas City and although it gets unbearably humid in the summer here, I could definitely live without it.

A popular misunderstanding about humidity and reptiles is that the humidity needs to never drop below a set percentage. This is not true. You actually want the cage to dry out and humidity to bottom out at whatever it is in your reptile room, creating a humidity cycle.

If the humidity stays too high for too long, bacteria and fungus will start to grow, creating an unhealthy environment. This is why it's important to have plenty of ventilation and to let the cage dry out every day. I typically spray cages at night and let them dry out as the day gets warmer. I try to spray the cages so that they dry out

While Crested Geckos do not need constantly high humidity, babies dehydrate more easily and should be misted more regularly to make sure that they don't have shedding problems. On the other hand, I've noticed that reptiles that are kept too wet for too long can have shedding problems as well, so you still want baby cages to dry out periodically. I keep babies in Kritter Keepers, which have plenty of ventilation, so I can spray heavily and not have to worry about the cage becoming moldy or unhealthy.

So "what percent" you ask? There is no set percent. The temperature has a direct bearing on relative humidity and so do many other factors. As a rule of thumb, I try to lightly spray (not soak) everything in the cage every evening. The water from this usually evaporates within 4-6 hours.

In my experience, humidity is not at all vital (except in the first few weeks of life) to a Crested Gecko and is not a concern as long as the gecko is able to drink daily.
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Click here to go to my Crested Gecko FAQ

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Anthony Caponetto
www.ACreptiles.com

Thanks alot for the help guys. In all the stuff I have read about them I must have missed that one. Everyone else of course only talks about The regions humidity so I was not sure with them.. Thanks.
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Current
1.1.0 Orange Tiger Cresteds.
0.1.0 White LIned Gecko
0.1.0 Rose Hair Tarantula
Past
1.1.0 Ball Pythons
0.1.0 Columbian Red Tail Boa
1.0.0 Green Iguana

Those foggers look very cool ..and if you raise turtles might even be useful. Take it out ..

Our resident expert Anthony makes a very good case for not sweating humidty at all.He belives and has basically proven humidty isnt that critical for cresteds. Other than a misting once or twice a day then letting it dry out.

. I use screen cages because I like the ventilation and light weight for cleaning.I mist twice a day bringing humidity up to nearly 100%
Then in my house which is very dry it drops down to about 50% .And the cage becomes bone dry which Ive noticed keeps odors mold and bacteria from being a problem.

I noticed however that not only my females but my males tended to sit around the edges of nest boxes for a few hours each night .I use a mixture of wet vermiculite and spagnum moss .I belive that they sit there because its far more humid and they enjoy ''basking'' in it .So now I have a small,(high so crickets dont foul it) plastic container in each cage for the geckos to bask as they feel the need.

I do the same thing with my lighting..I use a small red buld for veiwing but I place a high branch close to the screen which makes that one spot up to 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the cage.They warm up as they wish and or move away as they wish.