Humidity System?

[AeroWRX]

What kind of humidity system do you all have for your crested geckos? Last answer I've seen is given to be the 50% to 85% humidity range for crested. I have a hard time imagining what 80% humidity is like without a humidity gauge for now. In a medium sized 18x18x24 tank, would a few good heavy sprays 1x a day create 80%?

Would the homemade fish air pump with water bottle be enough? or are we talking about something like the Habba mister or even a Monsoon?

 

[Annie]

i just use an exo terra hygrometer stuck to my viv to measue mine they are only about £3 online or in reptile shops. I mist mine twice a daw with a water spray bottle and that is enough, but i gues it depends on your house and where you live

 

[Hardknox]

Well this can be a tough question to answer because some of the answer depends on where you live, the temperature the enclosure is typically kept, and how well ventilated the cage is.
For example:
If you live in Arizona, the temperature is kept around 78-80 and its in a screen cage, you probably need an automatic misting system because that cage will dry out insanely fast.
If you live in North Carolina, the temperature is kept around 74 and you have a glass cage with a light canopy covering up half the top screen a good misting once a day (preferably in the evening) is perfect for it to jump to 80 and slowly drop to around 50 by the next day around that time.
Why? I live in North Carolina and natural humidity around here fluctuates between 40 on the low end and 100 a few hours after a good rain so on average the humidity just in my apartment is 50.

My advice? Get a hygrometer, they are real cheap from a place like target. However I highly recommend getting a digital hygro/thermometer with a probe on a wire (20 bucks at a pet shop or indoor gardening shop). Set up the reader outside the cage and let it monitor the temp/humidity of the room and the probe will monitor the temp/humidity of the cage. If the room is dry and your cage is adequately ventilated it will dry out fast. If your room is humid though it will not dry out nearly as fast even if it is highly ventilated. That being said if you use a screen cage its pretty much going to dry out no matter what happens unless the entire room is rocking 65% or higher.

If you are going to post questions like this it makes it much much easier if you give everybody information on the first post just for future reference.
What kind of enclosure?
How big of an enclosure?
What kind of substrate?
Where do you live?
What temps are you shooting for?
How many geckos do you have together and how old/big they are?

The more info you give us the better the advice you will receive.

 

[AeroWRX]

Well this can be a tough question to answer because some of the answer depends on where you live, the temperature the enclosure is typically kept, and how well ventilated the cage is.
For example:
If you live in Arizona, the temperature is kept around 78-80 and its in a screen cage, you probably need an automatic misting system because that cage will dry out insanely fast.
If you live in North Carolina, the temperature is kept around 74 and you have a glass cage with a light canopy covering up half the top screen a good misting once a day (preferably in the evening) is perfect for it to jump to 80 and slowly drop to around 50 by the next day around that time.
Why? I live in North Carolina and natural humidity around here fluctuates between 40 on the low end and 100 a few hours after a good rain so on average the humidity just in my apartment is 50.

My advice? Get a hygrometer, they are real cheap from a place like target. However I highly recommend getting a digital hygro/thermometer with a probe on a wire (20 bucks at a pet shop or indoor gardening shop). Set up the reader outside the cage and let it monitor the temp/humidity of the room and the probe will monitor the temp/humidity of the cage. If the room is dry and your cage is adequately ventilated it will dry out fast. If your room is humid though it will not dry out nearly as fast even if it is highly ventilated. That being said if you use a screen cage its pretty much going to dry out no matter what happens unless the entire room is rocking 65% or higher.

If you are going to post questions like this it makes it much much easier if you give everybody information on the first post just for future reference.
What kind of enclosure?
How big of an enclosure?
What kind of substrate?
Where do you live?
What temps are you shooting for?
How many geckos do you have together and how old/big they are?

The more info you give us the better the advice you will receive.

Don't have a gecko yet. I'm still in the planning phase to obtain all the equipment I need and a sub-10g crested. I live in Southern California and it fluctuates 65-80F indoors (90F~during heat waves) . The enclosure is 12x18x24 with plexi walls and screen top. I'm shooting for 70-80F. I plan on getting a Zilla Temperature & Humidity temperature digital probe. Reason for this post is to help me on budgeting purposes as a humidity device will be a good chunk of money.

I already have a under tank heat pad..just dunno where to put it. Some people put it outside and under the tank, some stick it to the outside on the side and some people bury it in the substrate.

 

[Hardknox]

You do NOT need an under the cage heat pad with crested geckos UNLESS the room you are keeping them stays cool all day/night year round. With room temps fluctuating between 70-80 you will probably overheat them with a pad. Also it is imperative they never be kept at 90. Anything over 85 will cause them to deteriorate very very quickly and die. High temperatures are cresteds Achilles heel. They also should not be kept at 85 for long. Your best bet is to never let them get over 82.

You need to look up breeder care sheets. If you type in google 'crested gecko care sheet' you can find any one of 25 care sheets that will all tell you exactly what I did about the temperatures and heating devices. I believe there is a care sheet here on GU with that very information as well. A plain hygrometer can be gotten for a couple of bucks but like I said before I got a very nice digital hygrometer/thermometer combo with a probe from an indoor gardening shop for $20. I know money means different things to different people but I am not sure I would consider that I big chunk of change.

Also if you are looking for high quality, young crested geckos for a very reasonable price, check out the breeder I use at Welcome to the NEW ACReptiles.com. He offers a 3 gecko "grab bag." The down side is you do not get pictures ahead of time but he tries very hard to meet your request. I got a beautiful brindle, a harlequin and a fireback all very healthy and all with perfect tails for $149 including shipping which is tough to beat.

Welcome to the Anthony Caponetto Reptiles Online Store - Crested Geckos :: Crested Gecko Package Deals :: Wholesale Grab Bag - 3 Pack - Perfect Tails

is a link to the actual grab bag page. I surfed a lot of breeders before I was recommended to check this guy out by one of breeder suppliers for researchers at my school. He is the best I could find on a budget and one month later I am still very happy with my purchase. Lots of info about crested care and such on his site as well if you are looking for an excellent care sheet.

 

[AeroWRX]

You do NOT need an under the cage heat pad with crested geckos UNLESS the room you are keeping them stays cool all day/night year round. With room temps fluctuating between 70-80 you will probably overheat them with a pad. Also it is imperative they never be kept at 90. Anything over 85 will cause them to deteriorate very very quickly and die. High temperatures are cresteds Achilles heel. They also should not be kept at 85 for long. Your best bet is to never let them get over 82.

You need to look up breeder care sheets. If you type in google 'crested gecko care sheet' you can find any one of 25 care sheets that will all tell you exactly what I did about the temperatures and heating devices. I believe there is a care sheet here on GU with that very information as well. A plain hygrometer can be gotten for a couple of bucks but like I said before I got a very nice digital hygrometer/thermometer combo with a probe from an indoor gardening shop for $20. I know money means different things to different people but I am not sure I would consider that I big chunk of change.

Also if you are looking for high quality, young crested geckos for a very reasonable price, check out the breeder I use at Welcome to the NEW ACReptiles.com. He offers a 3 gecko "grab bag." The down side is you do not get pictures ahead of time but he tries very hard to meet your request. I got a beautiful brindle, a harlequin and a fireback all very healthy and all with perfect tails for $149 including shipping which is tough to beat.

Welcome to the Anthony Caponetto Reptiles Online Store - Crested Geckos :: Crested Gecko Package Deals :: Wholesale Grab Bag - 3 Pack - Perfect Tails

is a link to the actual grab bag page. I surfed a lot of breeders before I was recommended to check this guy out by one of breeder suppliers for researchers at my school. He is the best I could find on a budget and one month later I am still very happy with my purchase. Lots of info about crested care and such on his site as well if you are looking for an excellent care sheet.

Thanks for the confirmation. I was also thinking that the heating pad might over heat it which is why i was planning to monitor the tank for a month with temperature and humidity logs to see what it would be before getting a gecko. What i'm worried about as you have stated is the 90's temperature bracket. What do people do for crested in California or Florida where temperature can shoot up that high over summers? What means of cooling do gecko owners use? The only think I can think of is set up fans to keep circulating air around the vivarium.

I found this on Amazon that seems neat:
Amazon.com: Small Fan & Mini-Air Conditioner: The Original Handy Cooler in blue by Genexus. Genuine version marked with official logo: Handy Cooler. NOTE: To prevent receiving a counterfeit/knock-off, select an authorized seller with care.: Electroni

Handheld AC unit that also humidifies due to the soaked sponge inside.

People have mentioned building homemade circulation systems using 80mm computer fans and PVC tubing. Maybe I can hook somethin like this portable AC unit in series with some PVC tubes and computer fans.

Thanks for the breeder recommendations as well. I've been looking around for a good breeder source for geckos and I don't see a lot of ppl giving recommendations as I've browsed through all the classifieds on the web. I keep track of the gecko sections on Kingsnake.com every day too. Although the 3 gecko grab bag idea sounds awesome, it scares me because i don't want to have 3 of them in a 12x18x24 tank. Doesn't seem like i have control over that male/female lottery in my small environment

 

[Hardknox]

Well I do not know what everybody else does but my geckos are kept inside my apartment which is air conditioned and I believe a lot of people on here do the same as well. I have not really considered keeping them outside before so I would have to give that some thought. 3 unsexed geckos can be a bit unnerving but the thing to consider is the odds. That is a tad too small for 3 adults but they'd be fine in that for a year. Anyway my intent is not to talk to you into buying those just I like telling people about that because I thought it was a good find.

The mini AC is pretty cool, though you may have to consider a thermostat, but I am not sure about that, depends on how specific the temp settings are on it.

 

[Moosenart]

get a fogger!

 

[norea]

Well I do not know what everybody else does but my geckos are kept inside my apartment which is air conditioned and I believe a lot of people on here do the same as well. I have not really considered keeping them outside before so I would have to give that some thought. 3 unsexed geckos can be a bit unnerving but the thing to consider is the odds. That is a tad too small for 3 adults but they'd be fine in that for a year. Anyway my intent is not to talk to you into buying those just I like telling people about that because I thought it was a good find.

The mini AC is pretty cool, though you may have to consider a thermostat, but I am not sure about that, depends on how specific the temp settings are on it.

what is your room temperature like with the ac turned on? I have actually thought about putting my cresties in an AC room... was going to do it with leo but was told not to...

 

[Elizabeth Freer]

Heat pads are not recommended for either cresties or flyers. Living where you do it is unlikely you will need a heat source.

Recommended Ptychozoon kuhli temperatures:
82 F days -- will tolerate somewhat higher occasionally
74 F nights -- seem alright going down to 68 F at night, but I don't go any lower than that with my two flyers

 

[Hardknox]

what is your room temperature like with the ac turned on? I have actually thought about putting my cresties in an AC room... was going to do it with leo but was told not to...

It is around 74 or so. I turn the AC up when I go into work so it gets to around 76-77 during the day when I am not here and in the afternoon when I get home I slide it to around 72. The room I keep them in is usually about a degree maybe 2 warmer than the rest of the apartment also so the low end is usually 74ish. They are in my bed room because it can be really nice to watch them move around at night while we're in bed with the red light on.

Rob

 

[AeroWRX]

What does everyone use for humidity gauges? I bought a Exo Terra PT 2477 digital probe and I tested it at work where we have certified and calibrated humidity sensors.

I put these gauges in the same location next to each other:

Oakton/Microlog Temp/Humidity Logger (NIST Cert. Lab. Calibrated) = 61%
Duratherm Analog Humidity Gauge (Lab. Calibrated) = 54%
Exo Terra PT2477 = 35-37%

I'm beginning to trust analog humidity gauges more than exo terra products.

For those of you breeding especially, isn't it important to control humidity in your incubation chambers if not the reptile habitat at least? What do you use to monitor humidity? I'm having a hard time finding something dependable that's under $50 or even $100

 

[norea]

hmmm wow look at those figures!

 

[AeroWRX]

After doing some more research in hygrometers and humidity online I've found only 2 dependable hygrometers that are under $100

Western Caliber III digital hygrometer.. which is unparalleled and known to be accurate +/-1% out of the box

Hydroset II digital hygrometer.. which is calibratable to whatever you want from turning a knob. But this requires using the salt method or purchasing a $5 calibration kit that contains a salt packet equaling exactly 75.5% humidity.

 

[Hardknox]

I have a digital thermo/hygrometer combination I bought at an indoor gardening (hydroponics) shop for 25 bucks. It is pretty spot on as I tested it against equipment from my laboratory. It also has a probe so you can read in two locations. Indoor gardeners have to monitor environmental conditions very closely as well so things they use have to be pretty accurate.

 

[AeroWRX]

I have a digital thermo/hygrometer combination I bought at an indoor gardening (hydroponics) shop for 25 bucks. It is pretty spot on as I tested it against equipment from my laboratory. It also has a probe so you can read in two locations. Indoor gardeners have to monitor environmental conditions very closely as well so things they use have to be pretty accurate.

I just bought a new battery for the Exo Terra digital hygrometer and it's still giving me bad readings. Going to try to return it asap.

Hardknox: What's the make and model of yours?

 

[Hardknox]

It is a Sunleaves hygro-thermometer and like I said I picked it up at an indoor gardening shop.

 

[aka68]

Fogger

get a fogger!

hey guys,

i am actually considering getting the exo-terra fogger. i think it was made for frogs and it can go up to 100% humidity but i haven't seen it yet so i can judge if i can adjust it to specific humidity.
my cage is a standard 12x12x18 with one cg.

any advice about this subject would be greatly appreciated.

thank you,
Amer

 

[Hardknox]

It is a fine fogger and a fine way to keep humidity up, especially if you are in a dry area. I recommend putting it on a timer which you can get at home depot for 3 bucks. This way you can tweak how long it runs and how often it runs and nail the humidity you are going for.