Direct Misting/Showers

[scs]

I've looked through a bunch of threads, not wanting to repeat questions over and over, but there were many different aspects and I want to make sure my cham has the best set up regarding water.

I have a female veiled chameleon who is about 8-11 months old. She isn't gravid or anything and her fecal matter is normal but I want the best for her....

The Habba Mist I have goes off at 1 hour intervals with 15 second duration. (I tried 30 seconds but then it was empty before I got back from school to refill it and I'd rather have her have access to at least a little water the entire time I'm gone.)
I manually spray the plants that the Habba Mist doesn't reach.
I also water the plants.

I don't spray her directly at all, and many people here do... should I? I know that you have to do it with hot water so the mist is warm and I've read about the shower procedure, but my veiled doesn't like being near the mist when the Habba Mist goes off. I know she still drinks because of the beforementioned fecal matter colors, but why do people regularly spray their chameleons directly? Is it just for hydration?

 

[Olimpia]

I have always angled my misting nozzles so that part of the cage is dry and part is wet, so the chameleon can avoid getting wet if it wants. But often times they sit under the mist anyway, but I like to give them the option.

Now with my Meller's, for example, it seems like they aren't enticed to drink unless it hits them directly. And then they are happy to drink for 20 minutes but if it doesn't hit them they are unlikely to wander into the mist, I don't know why. So I suppose it depends on the chameleon. However, I still let part of the cage remain dry so if they want to move away they have somewhere to get away to.

 

[fleetwoodchams]

I've looked through a bunch of threads, not wanting to repeat questions over and over, but there were many different aspects and I want to make sure my cham has the best set up regarding water.

I have a female veiled chameleon who is about 8-11 months old. She isn't gravid or anything and her fecal matter is normal but I want the best for her....

The Habba Mist I have goes off at 1 hour intervals with 15 second duration. (I tried 30 seconds but then it was empty before I got back from school to refill it and I'd rather have her have access to at least a little water the entire time I'm gone.)
I manually spray the plants that the Habba Mist doesn't reach.
I also water the plants.

I don't spray her directly at all, and many people here do... should I? I know that you have to do it with hot water so the mist is warm and I've read about the shower procedure, but my veiled doesn't like being near the mist when the Habba Mist goes off. I know she still drinks because of the beforementioned fecal matter colors, but why do people regularly spray their chameleons directly? Is it just for hydration?

Hard to say. I have some chams that love being sprayed and others that go and hide when I mist. I have a handheld mister not auto
I never mist directly at their head or eyes. And of course a fine mist only. They like warm water not cold.
Here's Memphis in the photo he loves going in the shower and as he sits on a plant i turn the shower head against the back wall so it just splashes. He loves the splashes and sit just like you or I would getting a shower.
Hope this helps.

 

[scs]

I'll try lightly misting her directly with hot water (so that the mist comes out warm) and see if she likes it.

Thanks for the tips!

 

[JosieJobo]

showers are awesome

My 6m panther used to hate being misted. Ran away as fast as he could I then started keeping the spray bottle on top of the uv hood to keep it warm he still didn't like it much. Then I put him in a nice warm shower he went some very strange colours id never seen wasn't sure if he enjoyed it or not so next time I put the shower on and held him next to the plant, he went a hole rainbow of colours and jumped onto the plant ran strait into the water closed his eyes and just sat there. He loves it! Now when I mist him he walks right into the spray, he loves that too and finally got over his issue with drinking in frount of me.

 

[fleetwoodchams]

I'll try lightly misting her directly with hot water (so that the mist comes out warm) and see if she likes it.

Thanks for the tips!

Please no HOT water, warm water
Try it on your forearm like you would a babies bottle.
I don't even point the stream on him he just gets the splashes.

Please let us know how your slightly warm misting works out.

 

[fleetwoodchams]

My 6m panther used to hate being misted. Ran away as fast as he could I then started keeping the spray bottle on top of the uv hood to keep it warm he still didn't like it much. Then I put him in a nice warm shower he went some very strange colours id never seen wasn't sure if he enjoyed it or not so next time I put the shower on and held him next to the plant, he went a hole rainbow of colours and jumped onto the plant ran strait into the water closed his eyes and just sat there. He loves it! Now when I mist him he walks right into the spray, he loves that too and finally got over his issue with drinking in frount of me.

Don't you love it.
My Memphis turns his most beautiful when he is getting his shower.
You can tell he really is enjoying himself.

Thanks

 

[scs]

Please no HOT water, warm water
Try it on your forearm like you would a babies bottle.
I don't even point the stream on him he just gets the splashes.

Please let us know how your slightly warm misting works out.

Yeah, I tested the water on my hand/wrist to check the temp it came out...My chameleon is kind of shy so she isn't always close to the door of her cage. I wanted to make sure the water was still warm when it reached its destination.

She didn't seem to like it that much because she slowly walked away. I thought she might sprint for cover so I'm not really sure what to think about her reaction. She is pretty shy, so should I really try putting her in a shower sometime? A lot of people seem to have shower-loving chams... It seems like a lot could go wrong and I don't want to stress her out by carrying her (only have held her once, she kind of passed out/froze on my arm) to somewhere foreign (she has never left her cage even when there are plenty of juicy wax worms positioned to lure her out) and I don't think she liked the misting and it doesn't seem that different from a shower...

 

[christineacero]

I tried the shower idea on one of my chams that has an RI a few nights ago for the first time, to try and hydrate her. All I did was scare the living crap out of the poor girl. I'm not saying don't try it, just be careful. I know I personally will never do it again.

 

[dnallivah]

I hand spray from an angle at the top of her cage. Many days my little miss will come scurrying over and stretch out for a nice shower. If I can tell she's enjoying it I might spray at less of an angle. I always avoid spraying directly at her head.

 

[d3s5]

I use a Round-up gallon pump sprayer that I got from Lowes to shower my panther every morning. It's a rain not a mist, but he loves it. I fill it with very warm water and start the shower by only touching the tip of his tail so he is not startled. Then I slowly move the rain up to his body and finally it hits everywhere. He is free-ranged, so I stand on a step ladder to get above him. I also tried to put him in the shower -once- he was too afraid and just hated it. With this method, he gets to stay where he feels safe. You do need to have good drainage though!

Deb

 

[Olimpia]

I rarely put anyone in the actual shower to give them a long mist, I have the proper drainage to just mist them a lot where they are, either in their cages or free-ranges, depending who lives where. The shower definitely doesn't work for everyone, and most chameleons seem to find it unnerving.

 

[scs]

Thanks for sharing your experiences everyone! It has certainly helped me decide what to do... At the moment I'm just warming her up to the idea of a little mist from the spray bottle in her direction. If she enjoys it in the long run then I might shower her. I've been just barely hitting her tail and back with the spray.
Right now she is shedding her face and casque and it is taking a while.... should I still avoid spraying her head? If a shower helps with shedding, does a little direct misting help to? Is the head/face a bad place to get wet because of the risk of water in her nose and drowning, or is it something else?

Also, I have a great misting system, but should I introduce a dripper too?