Reptile & Amphibian Forums

With all the dripping and misting needed, how do you cham owners not end up with a flood? I understand that with a drip system, you can collect the water in a screened dish or one of your plants. Many articles and posts that I have read say to mist for 5 or so minutes a few times a day. This seems like it would produce puddles of water on the floor of your cage. Am I wrong? Does all the water rot the wood frame of your cage? My cage is made of finished wood, 4 screened sides but a wooden bottom. I was thinking of making a plexi-glass tray to sit in the bottom to protect the wood.

Is there really that much water or am I over-reacting?
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~Melissa
0.1 Hedgehog (Kaimah)
0.1 Feline (Whiskers)
0.1 Beagle (Belle)

If you are using a Misting system on a timer, try getting a timer that counts down in seconds. A 20-30 second fine mist should dry up fairly quickly.

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Farrah & Vincent
Email: Screameleons@yahoo.com
Phone: (571) 437-0642
Website: http://www.Screameleons.com

I have PVC in the bottom of my cage, what the plants do not catch I clean up after misting. most of it that sits on the leaves evaporates.

Actually with a screened enclosure the water shouldnt collect , it should evaporate at a good rate . But I would line the bottom with something water resistant/proof.
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Since i have my mister on for a total of 10 mintues a day, and I mist him by hand alot, i also had flooding problems. I have a tile floor for my cage, but this idea would work on any cage. I got 25 feet of aquarium air tube and cut 6 pieces of them to 4 foot. I then drilled 6 holes that are the same diameter as the tubing. Put the tubing in so its flush with the floor. I then glued the tubing in and have a water collector that all the tubes flow into. It works great for me and only cost 3 bucks.

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1.0 Ambanja Panther Chameleon - (Seppi)
1.0 Designer Leopard Gecko
0.1 High Yellow Leopard Gecko
0.1 Blizzard Leopard Gecko

Thanks. I was thinking of doing something like that also.
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~Melissa
0.1 Hedgehog (Kaimah)
0.1 Feline (Whiskers)
0.1 Beagle (Belle)

Another easy thing you could do is tip the cage slightly so the runoff will drain off at one corner into a bucket underneath. Use a water based wood sealer on the bottom and wooden frame. At the least your wood will get stained and may eventually rot or mold.

I have one cage with a pvc bottom with a hole drilled in the center of it and the weight of the plants makes the pvc dip so it all drains to the center into a bucket. the wooden cage has a plexi glass bottom with some holes drilled in the center also just be careful if u use plexi glass it breaks easy i know b/c i broke one drilling it. I built the stands so its easy acess to the buckets. the wooden cage just sits on the plexi glass, its not attached to the cage or anything.
p.s.
please excuse the mess in my room