The ReptiRain® Automatic Misting Machine from Zoo Med helps keep the humidity high in your reptile’s home. This helps keep your pet healthier.
Although the company does include box turtles in its list of animals this mister is good for, we’re not sure it’s the best one for them.
Yes, box turtles need humidity, but based on the reviews, this mister might actually make your boxie’s home too wet. It seems to spray more than mist.
Something like the ReptiFogger might be a better choice. The finer mist/fog it makes seems more appropriate for a box turtle home.
The final decision is up to you, of course. So we’ll present what we found and let you make that decision yourself.
This product is an improved version of the company’s HabbaMist mister. Some online store descriptions still call it HabbaMist, although the pictured product is the ReptiRain.
Keep reading for more about the ReptiRain Mister by ZooMed:
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What You Get . How Well It Works . Pros & Cons
Where to Buy
What You Get With The Zoo Med ReptiRain® Misting Machine
Your ReptiRain mister comes with everything you need to mist up to two habitats:
- The main misting machine
- A cap for the water reservoir
- A remote sprayer assembly with two hoses
- A power adapter
It’s always a good idea to make sure you have everything you’re supposed to before setting it up. If something’s missing, let Zoo Med know right away. According to at least a couple of people, they’re very responsive to getting you the missing part quickly.
You have a choice of running the unit on batteries (4 ‘C’ batteries; not included) or electricity. If you choose electricity, you have to use a surge-protected outlet. The company doesn’t make this real clear unless you read the instructions closely.
If you don’t have a protected wall outlet, you’ll also need to buy a surge protector in order for it to work. Of course, it’s not a bad idea to have all your boxie’s electrical equipment plugged into one of these anyway.
You can also put batteries in it as a back-up power source in case you lose power.
The misting unit has adjustable hooks so you can hang the Repti Rain on the side of the habitat. They’re hidden when not in use, so if you choose to just set it on a surface, you don’t have ugly hooks sticking up.
Your ReptiRain comes with a 1-year warranty. If you make a warranty claim, you will need a receipt to prove it’s still within the warranty period. So make sure you keep your receipt!
How Well This Mister Works
This unit is simple to set up and, according to most reviewers, does a good job keeping humidity up.
- A red light on front tells you it’s turned on.
- A separate green light tells you when the mister is actually spraying.
You decide how much to mist the habitat by setting the interval (how often) and the duration (how long) of the spray. There are four settings for each:
- Interval: Every 1, 3, 6 or 12 hours
- Duration: 15, 30, 45 or 60 seconds
If you use it to mist two habitats, they will both be misted on the same schedule. You can’t set them separately.
You can also use the mister with a timer or humidity controller for better control or to prevent spraying at certain times of day (like overnight).
It’s best to use reverse-osmosis or distilled water. This is true of any kind of humidifier/mister. That’s because tap water contains dissolved minerals that can build up in the mister over time. The harder your water, the more minerals are in it. They can clog small openings like the nozzle.
If you do use tap water, you’ll need to clean the nozzle regularly. Soaking in vinegar helps dissolve and loosen the deposits. Then you can scrub off any remaining deposits.
Zoo Med has a detailed instruction sheet (PDF) to help you get the mister working right and have a long life.
But …
… it doesn’t necessarily work quite like you might want it to.
Apparently it can leak. If you have it inside the habitat, that’s likely to make it too humid (not to mention the soggy substrate). If you set it on something, make sure it’s something that can handle getting wet.
Some people found the 28-oz reservoir too small. At least it was for people setting it for a 60-second spray every hour. Of course, if it was also leaking, then a lot of water was getting wasted.
On the plus side, the reservoir does have an external level indicator, so you can easily see when the water’s running low. Of course, that only helps if you’re at home when it’s running low.
This short instructional video shows you how to get the Zoo Med ReptiRain set up and gives you and idea of how it’s supposed to work:
Pros & Cons of the ReptiRain® Automatic Mister
Reviewers opinions on this mister were mixed. Many were at least satisfied with it. Others regret buying it. Most of the complaints seem to center around it leaking and producing a spray of water instead of a fine mist.
Pros:
- Simple to set up and use
- Can mist two habitats at once
- Can run on batteries or electricity
- Gives you a lot of control with separate controls for spray intervals and duration of spray
Cons:
- Apparently leaking is very common. Several people found hairline cracks in the tubing or reservoir. Fixing these also fixed the leaks. Although they didn’t specify how they sealed the leaks, we’ve heard good things about Sugru Self Setting Rubber.
- Reservoir is a bit small if you need it to run often. This may be less of a problem with box turtles, which need less humidity than some other reptiles.
- If using with electricity, must be plugged into a surge protected socket. So you may need to buy a surge protector.
- Output is more of a spray than a mist. Depending on your set-up, this could make your boxie’s home too wet if you’re not careful. One option might be to position the sprayer at the warm end of the habitat. Near the basking spot even.
The extra heat at the warm end should increase evaporation, so the substrate doesn’t stay wet. Of course, you may need to set it to turn on more often or for a longer time to make up for the increased evaporation. And be sure the spray can’t reach your heat bulb. Many bulbs, especially mercury vapor bulbs, can fail (and even explode) if they get wet when hot.
Some reviewers also had units that failed quickly, within days or months. Others were so happy with the 2 or more years their units had lasted that they were buying another.
As we said: The reviews on this thing are mixed … very mixed!
Where to Buy the Zoo Med ReptiRain® Automatic Misting Machine
We had a little trouble finding the ReptiRain at many online stores. These had the item in stock the day we visited:
- PetMountain was offering the ReptiRain for 51% off its regular price.
- The ReptiRain at Amazon was a similar price.
- EntirelyPets also had the ReptiRain on sale.
- Walmart’s ReptiRain
price was slightly higher, but the free shipping mostly canceled out the difference.