Info on misting wanted?!

[kim1804]

Hi there, we've spent the past 6 months looking into getting a gecko and have finally, half an hour ago, ordered our viv, the Vivexotic AX24. I know its large and to keep our young gecko/s in a Kritter Keeper to start off with.
I have done a lot of research on them, have quite a few care sheets and FAQ's book marked in my browser but I have found difficulty trying to find out about misting.
Some say to do it once a day, in the evening and some say twice a day. I know the humidity is to be kept at a certain level.
What I would like info on is, when it says misting, do I use a water bottle spray and spray the whole viv? Do I spray the gecko? Or is a fogger/mister the best thing to have?
I feel I have learned a lot over the past few month and I am now ready (at least I will be when my viv arrives!) to add a crestie to our family. I am just wary over the misting so any advice would be much appreciated.

Also one more thing, do I need to give my crestie a moonlight bulb?

Thanks for reading and if anyone wants to offer any advice on owning a crestie for the first time, it will be much appreciated.

Kim.

 

[Bella]

I spray the whole viv..including some on my geckos. I do heavy misting at night to raise humidity to 85% and just a spritz in the morning in case they are thirsty (even though I provide water dishes for all). I spray down everything but concentrate mainly on the foliage.
Hope that is helpful!

 

[kim1804]

Thanks, so, being a little thick here, when I mist my viv, the hygrometer will tell me the humidity is going up?!

Kim.

 

[lauraleellbp]

How everyone needs to mist will be a little different depending on their enclosure (some dry out more quickly than others) and relative humidity. It usually takes a little bit of trial and error (watching your hygrometer over the course of a few days or weeks) to figure out what works best for you.

Where I live in SW Florida the humidity stays pretty high most of the year (40-60%) so I just mist once fairly well at night (give all the surfaces a good spray down) and then let it dry out the rest of the day. By the end of the following day the humidity is usually back down to 40-50%, which is good.

You want a humidity cycle- you want the enclosure to dry out some during the day as this helps avoid mold, mildew, and potential shed and respiratory issues for the gecko (too much constant humidity can cause Cresties shed problems in addition to not enough). Some days I skip misting entirely if it's really humid (over 60%). I do also have water bowls and humid hides in all of my enclosures.