HUMIDITY

[reppinREPS]

I have 2 Larger 8x4x4 enclosures, made from plywood basically, with 2 plexiglass front doors, and the side has vents. I only use substrate in the hide box, otherwise I use fake turf under the basking spots. My red seems to be the only one affected by this low humidy. I live in San Diego, CA, thanks for the help!! I actually bought a humidifier from BathANDBodyWorks $120, BUT the thing broke after 3months of use... no warranty.

 

[Khoilie]

Sorry to thread jack but I was actually just about to start a thread on this same topic. I stumbled across an awesome product called the Repti-Fogger, theres lots of videos on youtube of it in action. its pretty much a machine you fill with water and it pumps a cool fog into your enclosure which looks amazing and keeps humidity up. After reading and watching a couple DIYs I've decided to just make one myself out of a used humidifier and some tubing.

my question is how much humidity do Tegus need?
and I plan on setting the fogger on a timer, how often and for what duration should i have it come on? for example, like 4 times a day for 30mins each time, what do you guys recommend? anyone that uses a fogger please chime in. thanks

 

[chelvis]

To ReppinReps, nice to see another San Diegian on the forum! This is going to sounds stupid but go and buy one of the cheep humidifiers from walgreens or walmart. Then get some either flex tubing or PVC pipe that matches the exit point of the humidified air and have it pump into the enclosure. Here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMc0Up9ROo0 for some reason the cheep ones really work well. You might also try switching out the fake grass, it will suck out the humidity rather than help keep it. Try to use something that will hold humidity. I use cypress mulch (from LLLReptile or Pet Kingdom) with peat moss to help cut the cost down, I also use a humidity hut so I do not use as much cypress in the main enclosure.

As for Kholilie, each tegu is different I find mine prefers about 60 to 70%, from what I have gathered reds need a bit higer that B&W and Blues need less, again just an observation. As to how long to keep the humidifier on, that will depend on your enclosure set up, how much humidity you want the cage set at, and how much the humidifier will put out. They do make hydrostats now (expensive!) but a simple day of watching will be a lot cheaper. Try this for one day: Turn on the lights and note the humidity (don't run the machine at night), if the humidity is low turn on the machine for a few minutes until it gets to the desired percentage. Once its there note how long it took. Wait until it drops again to a below a level you would like and then turn the machine on again, leave it for the time it was used last time and see if the results are the same. Of course each run time will be different depending on the temps, and the humidity in the house but it will get you a base. Honestly though for my Caiman Lizard I use to run the machine once in the morning for the two hours the reservoir would allow and it would be set for the day.

 

[Riplee]

I still believe diet is more important than the humidy. But humidy helps.
If you dont have humidifier right now, you can just put your big water bowl under your heat souce. It helps to crease the humidy too.