Humidity solution?

[K1LOS]

Hello everybody, i once again am having troubles wiht my humidity. I asked about this about a week ago and i was told to get a leafy plant for the cage. Well my cage is pretty full of plants now with a large ficus, a rubber plant, and a schefflera. I'm not sure this really helped with the humidity at all though. I was also told to hang plastic sheets over the screen sides, but that would reduce the much needed airflow, so i am reluctant. My humidity remains at 30% unless i have recently sprayed, and even after i spray it doesn't take long for the hygrometer to drop.

i had an idea, what if i set up a permanent lay box in the bottom. It would be a perlite/soil mixture that would be a little more moist then it would be if i were actually intending on using it for a lay box. I would then cover that laybox with river rock to avoid anything being eaten out of it. hmmm.... then crickets could hide in it though... would that even help me at all anyways?

thanks ahead of time,

Geoff

[tHeGiNo]

If your cage is big enough, put a humidifier in there. If not, put the humidifier in the room. Also are you misting twice daily? Make sure the plants are always nice and moist as well. Have drip systems set up which will contribute to the humidity as well.

[choriona]

Yeah, the battle against the dry weather is a hard one. Increase the spraying, and for longer periods of time. At least then the humidity will be up to where it should be for 1/2 hour each time.
But yeah, a room humidifyer is good - for you and your cham! :)
Or, if there are lots of people in your house that take showers in the morning - put the cham on a plant on the floor (not near the mirror) and keep it in there for the duration. At one point in my house we had 3 showers in a row going and my cham would be in there for at least an hour and a half. Keeping the door shut with towels by the cracks in the door keeps the humidity in there longer.
Now, three of my chams live in the bathroom. (Its big)

[huhet]

isn't schefflera toxic?

[K1LOS]

http://home.att.net/~chameleons/safeplants.html

schefflera is listed as a "safe" plant. thanks for the concern though.

Geoff

[oiler17]

not to argue or anything.. but look at umbrella plant on the link, and then see the footnote..

http://groups.msn.com/ChameleonParadise/nontoxiclivepantlist.msnw

just thought that might be where uhh...huhet saw it..

I'm also having problems with humidity, I'm watiign for half of my ficus to grow back before I get really concerned though

[dank7oo]

There are two species of schefflera. One toxic and the other not. The one commonly available at planting stores is safe. Just check it out online if you have doubts.

Jason

[tHeGiNo]

With a combination of misting three times daily, a drip system and a humidifier, you should be in a much better position. Give it a shot, they aren't too expensive at all.

[K1LOS]

how can i accurately identify my species of schefflera, they both look similar. The guy at the store wasn't specific about the sub-species! ahh, i hate uninformed salesman, if they aren't sure they should say so. Apparently the idiotic pet salesman carry over into the world of gardening.

Geoff

[choriona]

dank - I'd like to know the two species of schefflera. I have been looking around and only find that this plant is toxic to mammals (dogs and cats, rashes form on humans). I have several of these plants and my chams munch on them often. Each plant looks slightly different. I've never had a problem. Just curious.

[Collide]

**Do not confuse with other "Umbrella" Plant Schefflera actinophylla(toxic)

Schefflera arboricola AKA dwarf Schefflera is non-toxic.

[huhet]

so how do we know which is dwarf? i think i've gone done confused us all.

[Collide]

delete

[oiler17]

so I'm misting a lot too, with a humidifier on high all the time next to the enclosure, and a drip system.. and real plants.. I don't think I've seen 50% humidity yet. I think I might try picking up some sphagnum moss and packing it on the bottom, I hear that holds humidity well.. anyone know if this might pose a problem? I.E. crickets hiding in it, cham eating it, etc

[Sean Day]

Not sure if this would work with your set up or not. I built all my cages with screen bottoms then elevated the cages so I could fit a rubbermaid underneath. I could then have 2 drippers going constantly and all excess water would drain into the rubbermaid. Whenever I had bad humidity issues I would put a uth under the rubbermaid to add a little more humidity.

[K1LOS]

Sean Day, i too built my cage with the screen bottom.

I thought about your suggestion, but was told that unless i brought the water to a boil i wouldn't be adding all that much to the humidity. How much do you raise your humidity by doing this? And what size is your cage?

Thanks

Geoff

[Sean Day]

I don't remember off hand how much it raised but I was seeing condensation on the bottom screen. The cage was 4x2x2.

You are probably correct that it didn't ad a lot but when dealing with very dry conditions every little bit helps. With a screen bottom you can also elevate the cage and have a ultrasonic humidifier going underneath. Be careful doing this though as condensation will build up and drop to the floor.

If you have some money to spend I would suggest buying a ultrasonic humidifier. (cool air only) You can then run pvc pipe out of the top up the side of your cage. Do a 90 at the top of your cage and run a piece across the top. Cap the end of the pipe and drill small holes facing down into your cage. This is very good for humidity and looks cool with the fog rolling into the cage from above.

[zerandise]

something i do with my cham is to pack spag moss al down the back wall between two layers of plastic grid. I soak it a couple times a day. looks great, gives my cham something else to climb and help ALOT with keeping the humidity up. without it i can be as low at 30 within 30 min of spraying. with it i can get it to 80 and drop to 50 or so over a couple hours. spray it again and away it gows. Change it when it looks like it is in need.

[K1LOS]

Sean: Why cool air only? i would have thought warm would have been better.

Zerandise: I'm not sure what you mean by plastic grid. Do you have pictures that i can see? You're idea intrigues me.

Thanks

Geoff

[zerandise]

like a 1/2x1/2 inch square plastic mesh. sold at all hareware stores. I will try and find a pick of it somewhere.

[Sean Day]

If you are going to just sit it under or in the cage warm air may be fine. If attaching pvc it will get way to hot, your pvc will start to distort. I left one running for close to 1 hour once and came back to the casing of the humidifier starting to distort.