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Post by joseph2 on Dec 3, 2004 9:55:31 GMT -8
Hey Mark. I never thought about the chance of bacteria growing in the pipe. I am going to try something else before I resort to the pipe and vaporizor. I just bought a ceramic heater and placed it on a shelf outside one of the screen windows. There's also a shelf just inside this spot and I'm going to invest in a waterfall. I believe if I direct the heater at the waterfall, I should be able to create enough humidity for Zilla. If this works, not only will I have curtailed the bacteria problem, it will also be a nice addition to Zilla's habitat without comprimising its looks.
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Post by mar on Dec 3, 2004 12:03:30 GMT -8
The waterfall then becomes a hard to clean water source. I have read of problems with them being cloged when the ig poops in it and general bacteria build up. The simple turbulance of water will increase the humidity a lot. Even a fish tank air pump with airstone on it in the water dish will increase humidity measurably (but not enough).
Check out Patrick's waterfall though, homemade and looks easy to clean. He is not around here much anymore and I don't have a link off hand.
Have you thought about a weeping wall? I have seen small ones for sale at Lowes and Home Depot, roughly a 3'x1' wall on a small reservoir base. Pretty cool looking.
Back to the simple solution. What kind of humidifier did you use that only got up to 60% -- ie. hot mist, ultrasonic, fan over a bucket of water with a sponge like filter...? I never spent more than $15 on humidifiers that worked great.
Any warm water source will have trouble with bacterial over a long time so they should be changed daily.
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Post by WillemsMom on Dec 3, 2004 13:55:13 GMT -8
jbgoalie31, are you using a master mister (something like that) for $160. i have one of those but stopped using it as it wasn't really a fine mist and water always collected on the floor of Will's enclosure. Have you overcome that problem?
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Post by joseph2 on Dec 4, 2004 9:29:05 GMT -8
Hey Mark. With Zilla, poop in the waterfall will not be a problem because he is tub trained. Therefore cloggage will not be a problem. Cleaning the system and changing the water will not be a problem, because the way I see it, bacteria will be a source of trouble no matter what I use for humidity. As far as weeping walls, I'm not that impressed with them. If I'm going to have a circulating water system in there, I want it to look good. I have the perfect waterfall in mind that will go good with Zilla's habitat. I tried a cheap humidifier ($20.00) from Walgreens. This humidifier blew way too much cool air for the temperatures I'm trying to maintain in the habitat. I also tried the vaporizor, but was not comfortable with the excessive hot steam coming from the unit. If Zilla got too curious, I know he would find a way to get to it no matter how I have it set up in the enclosure. Remember, I'm dealing with a five foot, 15 pound lizard that is still growing and definitely has a mind of its own. I'm sure no matter what I try, it will have a negative side to it. So my challenge is to find something that not only achieves the humidity Zilla needs, but also is safe and natural looking to the iguana. I'm probably being too anal, but I try to achieve the conditions and looks of the natural environment as best I can with the resources available to me. A "simple solution" just does not work in my case. Thank you for your ideas, because I definitely appreciate the way you see things from all angles. Because when we deal with these exotic creatures, its nice to hit all the angles to make sure our "little friends" are as happy and healthy as we can make them.
Joe
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