Is heavy use of foggers (ultrasonic humidifiers) safe? (Plus any general tips/tricks, if you have them)

Atlas

New Member
Messages
3
Complete newbie here, just picked up a couple of mourning geckos which I'm keeping in a 12x12x16 mesh-top glass enclosure.

My house is kept at 77F, 40% +/-10%, and enclosure temperature is generally 77F +/-4F with .

Given that they require dew/rain for drinking, I've hooked up a cool-mist humidifier to provide heavy dew morning and night, maybe 5-15min at a time, which reliably keeps the humidity in the enclosure between 60% and 80% for the vast majority of the time and leaves heavy dew for a few hours.

Pics below.

That said, has anyone checked that use of foggers in this manner is safe/humane for reptiles? If you try to breathe the discharge of a humidifier, or in an enclosed space as heavily fogged as this, you'll quickly start coughing/choking.

I know that reptile-specific foggers are available, but I suspect they don't have the output to mist this heavily in any decently-sized open-top tank, and it's not an issue if it's not filling the space with aerosol (which is great for keeping humidity up but probably insufficient for causing dew.

I'd be concerned that the suspended moisture might be uncomfortable at best, or harmful at worst (I've heard pet reptiles are at risk of respiratory infections from excessive moisture, and the discomfort from breathing fog is probably aerosolised water hitting the lungs). Using distilled water, so there's no concern of dust or other contaminants.

Does anyone have any information on this besides gut feelings?

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ZNature

Member
Messages
50
That’s a beautiful tank! My recommendation is to maybe switch from a fogger to a mister. There are misters specifically designed for reptiles. The droplets from misters are not small enough for the geckos to inhale. That way you don’t have to worry about water getting into their lungs. I’ve also seen that the reptile specific foggers do work well for the screen top tanks. I’ve seen them used in many crested gecko tanks. Although then you still have to worry about them inhaling the water. The mister will also create droplets in the tank allowing your mourning geckos to drink. If you don’t want to get a mister you could also just do it by hand with a spray bottle daily or twice daily.
 

Atlas

New Member
Messages
3
Thank you! :)

Quick update - I've set it on a timer that runs the fogger for 15 seconds on, 45 seconds off, for a few hours in the morning and a few hours at night. This is sufficient to cause dew but doesn't fill the air with fog the way I have it set up in the pictures above, and the geckos don't react to it now. when it turns on.

I'm looking at a diy automisting setup though, as the fogger still seems like a bit of a compromise.. The autofogger is definitely sufficient for keeping them comfortable if I needed to go away for a few days, though.
 

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