Keeping humidity at the right levels for your box turtle is not always easy, but the Repti Fogger Humidifier from Zoo Med can help. It creates a cool fog that humidifies the habitat environment.
It’s simple to use and adjustable, so you can set it to make the right amount of fog for your pet. When used along with a controller, you can keep the humidity within a narrow range.
Based on the reviews, the unit can be a little temperamental and noisy. And the fan has a tendency to break (replacements are available). But if you treat it right (like using only distilled water), it treats your reptile right.
Keep reading for more about the Repti Fogger Humidifier:
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What You Get How it Works Durability . Pros & Cons Where You Can Find it
What You Get With the Repti Fogger Humidifier
According to Zoo Med, this is an ultrasonic humidifying fogger. You do have to do some minor assembly, but then it’s ready to go. The unit comes with:
- A base assembly with cover
- One-liter water bottle
- No-spill valve for the water bottle
- Hose nozzle attachment
- Hose – adjustable from 10 inches to 32 inches
A dial on the front of the base lets you adjust the fog output.
The unit operates on standard household electricity; no batteries to worry about.
Zoo Med warrants this product for 90 days.
How it Works/Ease of Use
Assembly is simple. Put the cover on the base, and place the hose nozzle attachment on the right side, then attach the hose.
Wash the bottle, rinse well and fill with distilled or deionized water. Screw on the no-spill valve and set into left side of base.
Then turn it on (when it’s on a blue light turns on on the front) and adjust fog output. The dial lets you set it for anything from a slight trickle to a whole cloud pouring into the habitat.
You might have to squeeze the water bottle gently to make sure there’s water in the reservoir before it will work. There’s a small white ball (float) under it that shuts the unit off if you let the water run out. Sometimes this float can get stuck. Gently squeezing the water bottle usually gets it unstuck.
A transducer in the base unit (a silver disk under the spot where you attach the hose) makes the fog and a fan blows it through the tube into your habitat.
Depending on how much fog you create, and how long you leave it on, the included bottle can run out pretty quickly. A few people apparently had some success using a two-liter soda bottle in place of the included bottle. But this approach seemed to be somewhat hit or miss. Several other people said the bottle they tried either didn’t fit the no-spill valve or leaked.
Since leaving the fogger on 24/7 both shortens its life and usually makes much more humidity than you really need, using it with a controller, like Zoo Med’s Hygrotherm may be a better solution.
Several reviewers also mentioned that it’s best to have the hose pointed down into the tank rather than sideways. If the tube is laying on its side, water collects in it. This can cause a wet mess and/or mold over time.
Zoo Med has a video that shows you how to set up your Repti Fogger.
You can also see the Repti Fogger in action in this user video:
Durability of This Terrarium Humidifier
Reviews were mixed on this point. A lot of people apparently had their unit break down within just a few months or even weeks.
Others had theirs much longer. At least one person, who was using it with the Hygrotherm controller, mentioned having a 2-year old one that was still working.
Now, the fan is apparently kind of delicate, and this seems to be a common reason that the fogger stops working. But Zoo Med sells replacement fans, and they seem to be easy to replace.
If you’re within the warranty period, consider calling Zoo Med’s customer service (888-496-6633) or emailing [email protected]. According to other users, they should send you a new one at no charge.
To help the fogger last longer, Zoo Med recommends two things:
- Don’t run it 24/7.
- Only use distilled water in it.
A controller that turns the unit on only when the humidity drops helps you run it less and hopefully have it last longer.
The reason for the distilled water is that most tap water contains a lot of dissolved minerals. These minerals will leave deposits all over the inside of the unit. This is especially bad for the fan and transducer and will eventually cause them to stop working. Many of the positive reviews mentioned using only distilled water. This includes a couple of people who started out using tap water but learned their lesson the hard way and switched to distilled.
We can’t be sure that distilled water is the only reason their units lasted longer than others. A few of the negative reviews also said they’d used distilled water.
Pros and Cons of the Repti Fogger Terrarium Humidifier
This fogger works very well, when it works. Even several of the negative reviews mentioned that. The question seems to be how long it will keep working.
Using distilled water can be a bit of a hassle. But keep in mind, that many humidifiers come with a recommendation to use distilled water to help them last longer.
Pros:
- Adjustable with a simple dial, so you can decide how much fog you need
- Can be controlled with something like the Zoo Med Hygrometer, so you don’t make your pet’s home too humid
- Simple to use
- The no-spill valve makes it easy to remove the water bottle without making a mess.
- Blue light tells you its working
Cons:
- Fan may break quickly (but you can get replacements)
- Transducer may also fail (it can also be replaced)
- May be noisy at times
- Using only distilled water can be a hassle.
For the most part, the Zoo Med customer service seems to be very responsive and will send you replacement parts quickly. So you will have to decide if it’s worth periodically replacing these parts to keep this thing working.
Where to Find Zoo Med’s Repti Fogger Humidifier
If you’ve decided to give this humidifier a try, you can find it at these online retailers. They all had it in stock as of this writing.
- The price at EntirelyPets, where it was on sale, was the lowest we found the day we visited
- At PetSmart, you can order online and pick it up in the store (possibly the same day)
- This item qualifies for free shipping at Amazon