How to Mist a Terrarium
A terrarium is a self-contained ecosystem, usually glass, that can be a home for plants and animals such as frogs or lizards. Your terrarium misting schedule and techniques greatly depend on what kind of lifeforms exist in your terrarium. In most cases, terrariums should be misted at least once per day. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Fill the mister with tap water. For sensitive animals such as frogs that absorb water through their skin, bottled water should be used, as it does not contain chemicals such as chlorine. However, even if your tap water is treated with chlorine and fluoride it is safe for most terrarium animals including lizards and geckos.
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Pump up the mister and mist the terrarium, focusing on allowing droplets of water to build up on the sides and plants in the terrarium. This provides animals in the terrarium such as geckos and lizards with water to drink from. Mist the terrarium heavily enough that the soil or substrate at the bottom becomes damp but not soaked.
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Mist the terrarium one to two times per day if it has reptiles in it, but one heavy misting per week is enough for plant-only terrariums and invertebrates such as snails. On exceptionally hot days, misting can be done twice daily and ice cubes can be added to the mister to bring down the water temperature and help cool off the terrarium, but ice cold water should never be sprayed onto the animals directly.
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Tips & Warnings
If misting the terrarium becomes too much of a chore, there are many automatic misting systems available that can be installed in a terrarium. These can provide a fine mist throughout the terrarium on demand with the push of a button.
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