Reaction to misting

[roadkill595]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male veiled who has been in my care for about 6 months now
Handling - once every other day for 15 min.
Feeding - He gets about 6 med crickets a day free range in his cage but he just moved to a bigger cage where he will be cup fed for the most part.
Supplements - His crickets are gut loaded with calcium fortified cricket quencher.
Watering -4-5 good mistings a day. I have only seen him drink at night.
Fecal Description - brown grey slightly watery with a white area
History - Acquired from a reputable pet store.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Full screen enclosure. 2.5' X 2.5' X 5'5'H
Lighting - UVb
Temperature - 78's in the basking spot
Humidity - usually around 70
Plants - an umbrella plant and a pothos
Placement - In the living room. top of cage is 5.5' high
Location - Florida


My 7 month old male veiled cham does not seem to like being misted during the day. When the hand mister comes out he will scramble for cover or for the top of the cage. He doesn't react like this when I'm hand feeding, just misting. I'd also never seen him drink up until recently. I recently discovered that he only has this aversion to water while his light is on. Once his light goes off for the night I have found that he enjoys a good mist and will readily drink. Is that normal for chams to have such a different attitude dependent on lighting?

 

[Lazy Boy]

Most chams don't like to be misted and don't like to be watch while they drink. You really don't want to spray him but his enclosurer. I use a mist king with a diy rain ring cuz my cham was so scared, now he don't even move. Try to simulate rain when you mist. One more thing, misting at night is a bad idea and could cause a respiratory infection. I like to not mist at least 1.5 hours before lights out so its not to wet. I don't use that gut load but you don't say anything about dust?

 

[roadkill595]

I just finished his enclosure and moved him in yesterday. A rain system is next on the list.

 

[ChiefRedman]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male veiled who has been in my care for about 6 months now
Handling - once every other day for 15 min.
Feeding - He gets about 6 med crickets a day free range in his cage but he just moved to a bigger cage where he will be cup fed for the most part.
Supplements - His crickets are gut loaded with calcium fortified cricket quencher.
Watering -4-5 good mistings a day. I have only seen him drink at night.
Fecal Description - brown grey slightly watery with a white area
History - Acquired from a reputable pet store.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Full screen enclosure. 2.5' X 2.5' X 5'5'H
Lighting - UVb
Temperature - 78's in the basking spot
Humidity - usually around 70
Plants - an umbrella plant and a pothos
Placement - In the living room. top of cage is 5.5' high
Location - Florida


My 7 month old male veiled cham does not seem to like being misted during the day. When the hand mister comes out he will scramble for cover or for the top of the cage. He doesn't react like this when I'm hand feeding, just misting. I'd also never seen him drink up until recently. I recently discovered that he only has this aversion to water while his light is on. Once his light goes off for the night I have found that he enjoys a good mist and will readily drink. Is that normal for chams to have such a different attitude dependent on lighting?

You might want to add a heat lamp with a low wattage house bulb to increase the basking spots, do you know how old he is ?

Are you misting at night frequently? The low temps would worry me as a cause for a RI , but that's just my opinion.

 

[roadkill595]

Yeah, he has a basking light as well, I think it's a 50 watt in addition to his uvb bulb. And no, I'll mist after his light goes off around 7pm maybe twice a week. It's the only time I've ever seen him enjoy the mist and drink.

 

[ChiefRedman]

Are you misting him per say? Many chams don't like to be misted so you might see him run, but he still should be drinking. If you are worried about hydration , get a dripper and some hornworms. I would say raise the temp in his basking spot closer to 85-88 ish . I would also try misting with warm water, I tend to use hot water with my hand mister , by the time it comes out its a luke warm.

 

[Lovereps]

It may help if you use hot water in the mister, which ends up being warm when it reaches him--unless you're just 3 or 4 inches from him.
Start misting him at the tail and work your way forward.
This is less disturbing for many chams.

As was mentioned, his feeders need a light dusting with calcium dust daily
Substitute calcium with D3 2x a month
Multivitamin 2x a month

This should help prevent deficiencies, particularly if you are sure to feed the feeders a nutritious diet.

Also very important is to raise the basking temp.
Proper temps are required for him to be able to absorb the nutrients from his food.

ChiefRedman mentioned temp and warm water but I wanted to elaborate.

 

[ridgebax1]

Neither of my chameleons liked being misted until I got an automated misting system. I had a Monsoon (which is garbage) and upgraded to an Aquazamp with a Raindome. It used more water but the mist was much finer and the chameleons loved it. They would both move into the mist and drink readily from the leaves. Even though it used more water I had less drainage, which I think was because of the quality of the mist coming out. It stayed in the environment. I would also not mist at night because of the risk of a respiratory infection.