Chameleon fell asleep when showered!

[Anthony Hendrick]

I was spraying my chameleon with warm water the other day. He was on the plant initaially and then ended up on my hand and he started to fall asleep after about 10 minutes of spraying. I kept spraying him and when I finished up I brought him back to his cage and literally had to pick him up carefully under his front arms and rest them on a branch in the cage (at which point he woke up and slowly climbed in!)

He remained awake for the rest of the evening until about half nine or so

Is that a bit strange or can that can happen?

Cheers
Anthony

 

[Julirs]

I would say it is very strange. He may have been so stressed that he simply acted asleep. Has your cham been ill?

 

[nateboston78]

I had a panther that when picked up he would sink his eyes, shut it, turn dark and literally not move. I never knew what was up but as soon as he returned to his cage he would climb off and colors would return to a nice calm green. I suspect it was just a defense mechanism from stress. I rarely handle my guys and he was a healthy panther - so I ruled out any odd sickness.

Would be interested if anyone else has the same observation.

 

[boj3434]

That is weird and I dont have alot of experience with showering but chameleons are never supposed to sleep during the mid day so I would keep an eye on him just to be sure.

 

[Anthony Hendrick]

That is weird and I dont have alot of experience with showering but chameleons are never supposed to sleep during the mid day so I would keep an eye on him just to be sure.

what a brilliant line!!!

sorry but it was the first thing that jumped into my head when u wrote that!

You're dead right though. I was actually talking a second ago with a reptile shop owner who's very experienced and he said that it very well could have been a defence mechanism.

I'm starting to think that the water I was using was simply too hot as he was also showing his stressed colours (which are similar to his sleeping colours so I thought maybe he was sleeping).

The water wasn't boiling or anything, far from it but I made sure it was more than warm as the air cools it down, ill just have to be more careful in the future.

Also he is quite healthy so i've ruled that out (he has been to the vet and they confirmed, he's even gonna be on telly!!!)

Anyway thanks for the help guys, really appreciate it

 

[Cjd713]

what a brilliant line!!!

Lol!! Hah, I didn't even catch that I would say that it's not normal, probably a stress mechanism. But I know that nothing makes me more tired than a hot shower!! Ahh...

 

[draetish]

Remember that chams are cold blooded so warm to us is actually hot to them. I would use cool tepid water or warm water but hold the sprayer further away so by the time it hits him it's cooled off.

 

[serenitystarlite]

Are you sure he didn't just get water in his eyes? Sometimes mine will close their eyes for a min or 2 if the mist gets too close to their face.