In reality, producing 80 percent or so humidity recommended for iguanas is nearly impossible. Most iguana keepers find that keeping the humidity up around 50 percent is difficult, especially when the central heating or air conditioning may be running during the winters or summers. The final kickers is that when the high humidity levels are attained, mildew may end up growing on the walls. When you have to choose between having fungal growths destroying the drywall or protecting your house by reducing the humidity level, protecting your house will usually wins.
To humidify the air in your iguana room, you can run a humidifier all day and night or just during the daytime hours. Another way to increase the humidity is to put a large pan or plastic tub of water in the warm side of the enclosure. The bigger the tub surface area, the higher the rate of evaporation. Some iguana soak in the water, which also helps humidify them. Because so many iguanas decide that the water tubs are a nice place to poop, make sure that you can easily get the tub in and out of the enclosure to clean and disinfect it as needed. Even though the tub or pan is filled with plain water, the container itself can get scummy after awhile, so periodically clean and disinfect it even if your iguana is not using it as his toiler bowl.
If you start seeing mildew growing on your walls, cut back the hours the humidifier is in operation. If you walls are white, you can apply a bleach water mixture to kill the fungus. If your walls are painted or covered, you can test various household mildew products in an inconspicuous place to find one that will not discolor the wall. Use these products when the iguanas is out of the room and give the room time to air out before returning him.
Using a spray bottle filled with water is one of the easiest ways to help keep your iguana humidified. Just set the nozzles to a broad, gentle spray mist, and spray. There is no need to add any vitamins or emollients to the water. The water itself does the job of helping increase the humidity right around the iguana. Spraying is especially nice when the iguana is shedding because it keeps the losing flaps of skin from drying out, making them shed off more easily. As the water droplets evaporates, they humidify the air the iguana breaths. You should spray several times a day during the daytime period, giving your iguana enough time to dry off before he goes to sleep.
If you have a bigger iguana or several iguanas or your hands get tired squeezing the spray trigger, at your local store you can find a heavy duty pressurized spray bottle. After pressurizing the bottle using the plunger handle at the top, you simply press the lock down bottom and then just hold the bottle while it emits a fine spray for a couple of minutes.
These are two ways you can humidify your iguana.
No comments:
Post a Comment