Soaking your Cham

I can't recall ever immersing any cham in water. I only recall putting one newly arrived miserably dehydrated rescue in my shower, but part of the reason for it was to provide a moist, quiet warm place for it to chill while I frantically assembled a makeshift enclosure. I had a fake potted Ficus for it to hang out on. Aimed the spray against the tile so nothing hit the cham directly.

Like other newbies thrown into cham care 30 years ago I started off hand misting them daily, but soon learned to mist the surroundings, not the cham itself. If I ever sprayed the cham directly it was because it had learned that spray (weak dribbly spray) meant water for drinking had arrived and they started licking up the water as it ran down their face. Eventually I tried to teach them to drink from the nozzle of the sprayer or a syringe, and would spray down the enclosure foliage so they could go get their own droplets, clean their eyes, and just breathe in that humid air.
 
Ever since I got cosmic, I would hand mist a leaf in front of him. After a bit of a startle, he would walk right up and seem as if he wanted to be misted directly. I asked my breeder and he said he directly sprayed them. The breeders comment was, they get rained on in nature. I could tell by cosmics response that he experienced this, and just became accustomed to it. Now, its as if he knows whats coming when he sees the spritzer.

I’m not sure its a natural behavior, but I believe it does trigger the drinking response.
 
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