Hughs First Shower! = )

[PrettyInInk87]

So, I was a little concerned, I had not seen Hugh drink since I brought him home. His poops look good and he looks healthy but just to be safe I decided to give him a quick shower. He HATED it... He tried to climb off of his tree and get away. I made sure the water was not too cold or too hot but either way, he HATES when I mist his cage too. I also made sure I pointed the shower head toward the wall and set his tree under the mist and not directly under the water drops. I kept him in for 15 minutes and then put him back in his cage. I turned on his dripper and he then proceeded to stand right underneath the dripper and let the drops fall on his back. He's a little weirdo and I don't get him. (shrug) He's a goof!

Here are some pictures of his first bath.

 

[Manik6]

hey gabbie. no need for the shower technique unless they are very ill. it only stresses them out most of the time and that makes the more likely to get sick as stress releases a chemical in their body that weakens the immune system. my veileds hates mistings too so i only mist to kick up humidity then leave the rest to his dripper. alot of chams are shy and wont drink in front of u. so as long as his urates are white then thats the best way to tell he is getting his water. dont worry. make sure u keep his supplements on track too.

 

[panther67]

Hey Gabbie, I have a Mistking and have never seen my Ambilobe drink from it. My Nosy on the other hand drinks every time it goes off. I slowly trained my Ambilobe to drink from the water bottle. As long as his urates look good and water is available he will be fine. The Cham you got is extremely healthy, since you got him from a great breeder. Remember to let him settle in and get to use to you and his new home.

 

[Lil nasty]

2nd pic hes like hurricane! lol

 

[pssh]

Uhh, you possibly did more harm than good. It can be very stressful for some chameleons to have to be subjected to a shower. All of mine absolutely hate it, so I only do it when they need to poop (and once they do it, they are outta there fast!) Mine all prefer dripper drinking than misting so I always make sure that they have a dry 'safe' zone to retreat to if they want. I go the extra mile and put a few drops of saline solution in their eyes every few days so they can clean them out since they dont go into the mist at all.

 

[PrettyInInk87]

Uhhh, ok.

I just thought maybe he'd enjoy it more than he did. I guess i'll wait it out until he's older and maybe he'll like it. Again, i'm new to this and i'm just trying to do my best for my little dude. I lost my first Cham and I don't want it to happen again. I love him SO much and want the best for him. There are lots of views and opinions and sometimes it's hard to pick and choose which are the best. I'll just keep trying and see what HE likes and dislikes and go from there. Doesn't hurt to try everything once (if safe of course).

 

[Olimpia]

I've never had much success with an actual shower shower, it's just tough with high water pressure to get a gentle mist. What I prefer to do with mine is to put them on a plant in the shower and get a pesticide pump full of hot water, rig it to spray the tree, and put it on the finest mist possible. And mine might fidget for a few seconds but then they soon settle in a love the warm shower. There's hardly a week that goes by that I don't give someone a long shower for some reason, and I never have any more stress and struggling to get away with the pump sprayer. By now they all recognize the tree and are happy to get their nice warm shower!

The gentle mist is much less stressful for my chameleons. So perhaps you can try that next time you have to give a real shower and see if it makes a difference in how he reacts to it?

 

[PrettyInInk87]

Thank you Olimpia! I'll have to try that next time. First i'll get him use to being misted with my hand held mister. I don't mist him directly but I really can't control every single drop. He runs from the mister, lol! I'll just keep monitering his poop and make sure it's normal.

I'd just really like to see him drink dang it!

 

[alexbrock]

He looks very pretty. What locale is he? I'm sure you've shared this before, but I didn't catch it. Thanks!

 

[PrettyInInk87]

Thank you, he is a Sambava from Amazing Blue Reptiles. I was actually looking at your Avatar picture a while ago and thought "Wow, that is one awesome looking Cham." Can you post a picture of him here? I'd really like to get a closer look at him. I even went to your profile thinking I could see a larger version. Maybe I didn't find it...

 

[kellon16]

It may just be good luck for me but every time I shower the cage my cham runs into it, and absolutely loves it. I'm not an expert but it just seems like the happier they are the healthier they stay so I'm guessing its just different for some chams. My understanding showering can be either good or bad based off your cham or it just seems that way from my cham and others I have seen to.

 

[PrettyInInk87]

I wish Hugh was like that... Lol! Again, I guess i'll just wait for him to fully acclimate. He's just so cute I want to hug him to peices. Lol!

 

[pssh]

Showers aren't really needed, especially when the urates are white. Some chameleons seem to enjoy showers, while others never do. That's fine. All of mine dislike any form of misting no matter how fine it is or how long the misting is. Mine completely stress out and either fire up or turn completely dark brown. They jump off the plants to try and get away from the water. They actually (usually) seem worse off than when I put them in, and they have a death grip on my hand. I don't think it's worth it to put them through so much stress if they don't need it, especially for 15 minutes.

 

[Texas Ranger]

My panther LOVES showers. He gets them alot. He sits calmly under the mist. It really helps clean his eyes and hydrate him. But thats just my cham. Not all will like showers. I guess kinda like cats. Some can be bathed , others not so much

 

[Manik6]

I got a case of both. my jacksons loves em and my veiled hates em. another case of the chameleon personalities.

 

[cantgetagoodsn]

You keep talking abou how youre monitoring his poop, which is good. but also look at the color of his urates, it should be pure white.

 

[Texas Panther Man]

hey gabbie. no need for the shower technique unless they are very ill. it only stresses them out most of the time and that makes the more likely to get sick as stress releases a chemical in their body that weakens the immune system. my veileds hates mistings too so i only mist to kick up humidity then leave the rest to his dripper. alot of chams are shy and wont drink in front of u. so as long as his urates are white then thats the best way to tell he is getting his water. dont worry. make sure u keep his supplements on track too.

Where are you getting this information from? I would like to know. Ive been keeping chams off and on for over 10 yrs. And Ive never heard or read anything about showers causing them to release chemicals in their body from stress? If you read this I'd like to take a look at the literature. Ive been showering all my chams on a weekly basis to aid in hydration for yrs. I mist 3x a day also but I feel the showers help them 1. Clean their eyes and assist in geting any foreign matter that could have gotten in a turret. 2. Allow them to have an oppurtunity to drink for a prolonged period while I clean their enclosure. All my chams have white urates but i still use the shower technique. Was one of the first tips I learned when I joined the Cin.

 

[PrettyInInk87]

You keep talking abou how youre monitoring his poop, which is good. but also look at the color of his urates, it should be pure white.

Yes I am making sure his urates are white, I meant poop as in the whole thing including the urate. I even posted a picture on a thread a couple of days ago making sure it was a healthy one, lol! I mean, since I have never really seen Cham poop I really don't have anything to compare them to. I know if it's yellow or orange I should be concerned and if there are orange crystals I should be VERY concerned. He's good,

 

[Cainschams]

Just to point out Chameleons get rained on in the wild not misted. A shower is more natural for them than getting blasted by fine mist. This is one of the biggest reasons I have not had the urge to go with a misting system.

 

[PrettyInInk87]

That is so true... I never thought of that one, lol! He loves his bugs more than he does his water that's for sure. What is a good feeder for hydration?