Mistking schedule

[Chipchip]

I have a one and half year old black and white Argentine. His name is ralph. Just recently got him and he's my first. Awesome little guy. I was wondering what a good misting schedule is for him. I have a mistking starter kit with two separate spray nozzles on each side. My tank is 48x24x16 or 18. It's a zen habitats enclosure. A 150 watt uvb bulb and a 100 watt basking lamp on during the day, and a 100 watt blue light for night time. Would it be best for a long mist in the morning or a few (2.5 hours apart) throughout the day?

 

[Chipchip]

This Ralph in his enclosure

 

[rantology]

Impossible to say, it's something you'll have to learn with trial and error. I prefer smaller but more frequent mistings with mine so theres less collecting moisture- just enough to raise humidity but not enough to collect. I think my 8x4x4 is on 20 second cycles every 2-3 hours during the day (12 hrs). Start with ~3 times a day then track how quickly it goes down and work on it from there. You generally do not need to run it at night if the lights/heater are not running, it'll stay high no problem. If the substrate is getting soggy/soppy, its too much.

 

[ToadHallBetty]

Where do you live? Part of your need to mist will depend on how humid your area and house are. I live in the deep south, it is common for the humidity in my house to be 50 or 60 percent. a nice towel over the screen top and keeping the under layer of substrate damp works for Little Buddy. He is in a Zen habitat like Ralph. (did you know that you can get an extender kit to put 2 Zen habitats together to make a really big enclosure) Anyway, when you mist there should be time for the top layer of substrate , plants... to dry off. You don't want Ralph sitting in dampness all of the time. If you live in a desert you might want to mist 2 or three times a day for longer times. I would only need to mist once a day and uncover some of my screen top. So trial and error. Use a substrate that doesn't mold, let the under layer near the bottom be damp and start out misting and see how it goes. If Ralph's enclosure dries out and you can't keep the under layers damp mist more. If Ralphs enclosure it damp all day and never dries out on top, mist less.

 

[Debita]

I would just add that you're looking for a humidity level of about 80% - so a good mister that is regulated by a hygrometer that turns the mister on and off is nice to have. I've tried other things, but it's just too cumbersome - time consuming. It's nice to walk away and know that just checking it once in awhile is all you do. If you have water building up on the inside surfaces of the enclosure, you need to turn it down. I did have a stupid hygrometer once that wasn't registering the correct percent, but after getting a new one, it's going great. Gotta go through some dumb stuff sometimes.

 

[Phlip5150]

I would just add that you're looking for a humidity level of about 80% - so a good mister that is regulated by a hygrometer that turns the mister on and off is nice to have. I've tried other things, but it's just too cumbersome - time consuming. It's nice to walk away and know that just checking it once in awhile is all you do. If you have water building up on the inside surfaces of the enclosure, you need to turn it down. I did have a stupid hygrometer once that wasn't registering the correct percent, but after getting a new one, it's going great. Gotta go through some dumb stuff sometimes.

What would be a good mister?

 

[LizardStudent]

I use foggers, but if you are able I think getting one of those pressurized pump sprayers would be good to spray down the enclosure with. Its not automatic, but you wouldn't be dealing with junk that breaks quickly and works poorly (like pretty much every fogger and mister on the market for reptiles)

 

[Debita]

What would be a good mister?

We use an INK BIRD. And, it's not the cheapest one.