Reptile & Amphibian Forums

recently got a new veiled chameleon, set up in what I consider to be possibly the most visualy appealing enclosure I've ever seen in person. Lots of plantation, etc. Thing is though, the humidity. I have no problem getting it up for the 70-80, if I overdo it a little it sometimes gets into the 90's (which I try to avoid, but it's happened once or twice) the thing is, after about 5-6 hours, the humidity drops back down to around 50... could my hydrometer be off? Is there any other way I can raise the humidity exclusively to the enclosure without raising room humidity too much?

I will assume you live in a northern climate, thus the humidity woes. There have been numerous threads on this subject in the last week or two.

You do not need to keep the humidity at a steady 70 % but to fluctuate througout the day. The humidity will drop rapidly after turning off your humidifier because the air surrounding the cage is dry and sucks it up. Luna's cage stays at about 30% with no humidifier running and I get it up to 90 % where she sits (often right under the mist) 3x/day for about 1/2 hour. I will sometimes cover cage completely while it runs in order to get it good and foggy - just like home

Carlton recently replied in a thread below on a good way to gauge your humidity and set up your system. Also, make sure you have a good gauge, it is worth the few extra dollars.

lele
Humidity

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

That's not bad, pretty typical for a cage in a house. As lele said, I tried to describe what I do as this seems to work pretty well. The key is to KNOW what your range of humidity is from day to day. As long as your cham has the chance to rehydrate itself by retreating to a humid area in the foliage, sit in fog, have droplets in the cage last long enough for leisurely prolonged drinking, that is the point. If there is a drier spell you will know it, and can give an extra spray session, add plants, run the humidifier a few extra times, as needed. You will soon figure out what the cage humidity ranges are from season to season and how it reacts to your house furnace, air conditioners, sunlight from windows, summer temps, etc.