The Importance of Humidity

Reptile keeping is fraught with challenges, over the years many of these have been overcome by the inclusion of new products to aid in providing better welfare to our animals. One area that has always been difficult to accommodate has been ensuring the humidity levels in captivity are as close as possible to the natural environments. This is partly due to education; an understanding of what humidity is and how it occurs. Achieving the correct hydration levels is crucial for any living being, to regulate body temperature, keep joints lubricated, prevent infections, deliver nutrients to cells, and keep organs functioning properly. Being well-hydrated also improves sleep quality, cognition, and mood. None of this is new information, but it played a big part in the launching of the HabiStat humidifier. We now have the ability to produce the humidity and it’s down to us to provide the education. For this part we have enlisted the assistance of an expert in the field.

Dr Petr Nečas (thereafter referred to as Petr) is a renowned expert in the world of Chameleon care, with over 30 years of Chameleon species field research and data alone under his belt. He has been involved with many other species over the years but the Chameleon is where his passion lies. This driving passion and various field studies have driven Petr to write and release dozens of scientific articles, along with several herpetological ones, which I’m sure most of you will have read. One of which is considered a basal work of chameleonology: "Chameleons, the nature's hidden jewels", which is now published in 5 languages. Petr even has a Chameleon species (Chamaeleo necasi) and chameleon coccidian parasite (Isospora necasi) named in his honour. Petr has spent many years in the field, observing and logging data on how animals react to natural conditions. We are exceptionally fortunate to have a journal that is a summary of many months in the field, taking Petr across the globe, from the Harenna Forest in the Bale mountain regions of Ethiopia – over to the island of Socotra which is part of Yemen.

This study was all about Chameleon hydration, and the journey of discovery and reason as to ‘Why’ captive Chameleons seek hydration so much in comparison to their wild cousins of the species. Petr investigated further his theory of ‘fog hydration’ overnight with Chameleons – a theory which incidentally he initially discovered many years prior with other species, and has been using with suitable Reptiles within a captive environment since the 1980’s. We have cited and summarised yet in great detail his research and findings within his journal study ‘The Naturalistic Chameleonoculture – a breakthrough in captive management of chameleons Part 2: Hydration and the Mystery of Fog-Drinking’ with his full permission. This can be found here: Download 'Chameleon Hydration - Utilising Fog' Further reading of his full article can be found here. Petr has also provided some relevant videos regarding the above subject matter.