Maintaining Humidity

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Jonny Doum

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How often should I mist my fire salamander's tank in order to maintain proper humidity?

The tank set up is:
Gravel bottom with 4-5 mixture of topsoil and coconut husk for the substrate. There is a plant in the corner and two hides. There is also a water dish that is just large enough for him to soak if he wants.

I had a fogger set up on a timer to go off once a day for 15 minutes, but it ended up turning the substrate into wet mud and I had to clean the whole enclosure. Right now I am misting a couple of times a day, but I don't want it to get too moist or dry. It is about a 15 gallon tank with a screen top.

Also, if it is only a couple of times a day that I should mist the tank, for how long should the misting be each time?
 
Jonny , Misting should not be necessary at all. If the substrate is reasonably moist and the have a water bowl that they easily reach they should be fine.
 
Thank you for the info! Now this is one other question that I've had but haven't really found the answer to. I have read that the substrate should be moist or damp, but not wet. What qualifies as damp and what is a little too much? I kind of feel like an idiot, but I'm overly scared of screwing it up!
 
On a side not, ever since I cleaned the tank, he seems to like to climb up on top of one of the hides. It is a fake, hollow tree. He used to be under it all of the time and today I have seen him climb up to the top about 3 inches from the screen top. Is this normal type behavior or is this a signal of something that might be off?
 
You can try making a gradual slope across the length of the tank with the substrate and have it damp on the lower end and dry on the higher end. At the lower end give them a shallow water dish.
 
Generally you want your subtrate to contain moisture, if its something like choir block, bark shavings ect. Grab a hand full and gently apply pressure, if you find that excess moisture is dripping out of your handful of substrate then its too moist.
 
Just pop in a shallow water dish, when you fill it up/ change the water, then let it over flow a bit.
Put different hides in vaious places and the sal will find the correct humidified area for it, if not it will soak in the water.
They arent stupid, they will soon learn where they want to be, and they dont like being misted much either!!!!

Ben
 
Forgive me, I have not had the luck to keep any of this species yet.

I did however keep Old World Chameleons for years, and a few of them required high humidity. I found, that in addition to a water dish, If I placed about 20mm of clean fish tank gravel in the bottom first, then covered it over with a piece of window screening, then covered that with about 40mm of substrate (I have always preferred coconut fiber) Any excess water would drain into the gravel, and then wick out as needed, keeping the perfect moisture level needed to maintain the relative humidity in the enclosure.
 
Jonny Doum said:
On a side not, ever since I cleaned the tank, he seems to like to climb up on top of one of the hides. It is a fake, hollow tree. He used to be under it all of the time and today I have seen him climb up to the top about 3 inches from the screen top. Is this normal type behavior or is this a signal of something that might be off?
Click to expand...

When I first got my sals, I noticed them stoping using one of the hides, the one they used the most until that point. I quicly found out that it was because there was a massive salamander poo in it :D, check that there isn't fecal matter or a decaying prey item in the hide...
 
Thanks for all the info! I did check the hide like you suggested, and nothing but a grumpy sallie upset because I disturbed him haha. I guess he just liked it up there that night. I tend to be overly paranoid I guess :eek:
 
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