To spray or not to Spray...

[Dunnigan]

Ive heard different things from different people about directly spraying you Chameleon...everything from "it causes premature death" to "it saved his life"...

What's everyones standpoint on this??

 

[Justin Carl]

What species?
What age is the chameleon?
Are you talking about misting or a shower?

 

[Dunnigan]

What species?
What age is the chameleon?
Are you talking about misting or a shower?

Its about a 2 month old male veiled. Misting for now, hes too little for the shower. Just when i spray the cage to get the leaves wet and stuff...

 

[royden]

They get "directly sprayed" in the jungle. They may not like being sprayed, but they need water - period.

The only method I've heard that was alarming, I know a guy who never saw his panther drink, so when ever he put his hand in the cage, he'd wait till his cham hissed in defense, and then he'd spray him in the mouth.

I didn't think about it at the time, but that could really cause upper resp infection, since it's possible to spray right into the lungs. I'd avoid that.

I bought a mister this year and now my cham very rarely get's direct spray as far as I can tell, but he remains to be very hydrated.

The goal should be to make water as available as possible. To me that means on the lips, so he all he has to do is lick.

 

[nightcrawler]

i spray mine really good once a day. well i spray his whole cage
once a day at about midday. in the morning i spray him a little.
and then later i dont spray him at all. mine is also ~9 months.
with a two month old i would not spray him. id wait for that.
mine hates it but i never seen him drink, and he looked a little
dehydrated to me so i soak him down. i wait till its all dry in his cage again
befor i spray him again.
just stick with spraying the leaves and then
get a dripper and have that drip on the leaves.
later on you can spray and piss him off if you want.

 

[Sepioteuthis]

I mainly use an automatic misting system, but when I hand mist I usually spray above the chameleon so it falls on them, if you know what I mean. That way it's more like rain and it triggers the drinking response better then just spraying around them.

 

[DarkRapture]

as long as you are misting in there, he is bound to get wet some way. because he is so little, i have heard people say not to spray them directly - causing them to aspirate. a VERY fine mist over top to fall gently all around him should be fine if you pay close attention to his breathing/drinking. after spraying his enclosure for a few minutes, i spray Marley (8 months old) directly with a warm mist and watch him lick his chops. he will sometimes try to come closer to the water, but when i notice him tipping his head upward and puffing out his throat to breathe i stop right away. its a good tip to just pay attention to his body movements and judge for yourself what is best. obviously if he is sputtering while trying to breathe or running away with reckless abandon maybe just wait till he is a little older

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

I've hatched a few clutches and they have been directly misted, whether from an automated misting system or by hand, starting the day that they came out until they left for new homes. No fatalities... No hydration issues...