Veilded Chameleon Misting Schedule

[Jober817]

Hey guys,

I've read a couple of threads and surfed around trying to find an answer to this and I never seem to find a straight answer. I have a mistking misting system with one nozzle ATM but will have two soon. The cage is 36x18x18 and is home to a veiled chameleon. Right now I have the mister coming on every other hour for 30secs at a time. I keep getting told that it needs to be longer (5min - 15min range) but then get told again that the veiled chameleon is a more arid chameleon so they dont need so much misting. What do I go with? A schedule that mists for 5-15mins or 30secs. And is every other hour to frequent or not frequent enough? Any advice would be appriciated.

Thanks!

 

[italian chameleon]

1-2 minutes 2 times a day in winter.
4-5 times a day in summer depending on the temperatures
every other hour is def too frequent! you want the vivarium to be completely dry before the next misting
remember to use a dripper bcause the misting keeps humidity in the viv but you still need a dripper to let your cham drink like 2-3 times a month
this is what I do with my veiled and he's doing great

 

[Olimpia]

Misting schedules are VERY individual and can vary greatly from one person or another depending on the individual chameleon, the cage, the environment, etc.

I for example used to mist my veiled female for 40 minutes a day - 20 in the morning, 5 at midday, and 15 in the afternoon. She did great and was always very hydrated and happy to sit in the water for a long time. However, I have a screen cage that drains water very well, so I can afford to mist this long. Others that may not have drainage systems like mine will mist 3 minutes several times a day and have chameleons that are also perfectly hydrated and healthy.

So use your best judgement, play with the settings a few days until it feels right.
I personally think mistings should never be shorter than 3 minutes, and should go off at least 3 times a day. They can be longer and more frequent, as long as your cage dries out between mistings - you don't want the cage to be damp all the time. It won't just smell humid and stagnant but it's not healthy for the cham either.

Also, if you mist only for humidity (say, something like what your schedule is now, which may not get everything soaked), then a dripper should be available every day to provide drinking water. It's always way better for them to be over-hydrated than under-hydrated! So many health issues are avoided just by providing lots of water.

 

[Jober817]

great thanks guys. Ill play around with it and watch on my day off to make sure it is getting dry enough. I have all fake plants besides one at the bottom so everything seems to dry out very fast. Its a screen cage with just the back covered in artificial bark. I have a dripper too that drips about once every second (forgot to mention) and i built a plexiglass catch that covers the entire bottom and drains below so i can pump as much water through as i need to. I'm not worried about getting things wet.

 

[Davonat]

This works for me... I live in a very dry place in the winter, humidity is very low. I set my Mist King to go every 1 1/2 hr for 30 seconds just long enough to dampen the cage well. It never floods. This keeps my levels in the range they should be. My cham drinks from his gallon size dripper that drips all day. His urates are always very white. That is the key to knowing he or she is hydrated... keep an eye on that My guy is a panther but it should be the same

 

[ibdragons]

misting

My mistking goes off for a minute in the morning and a minute in the afternoon,thats during the winter I also have a dripper going on during the whole day .the previous thread is right let it dry before the next mist .eventhough the veiled live in some arid areas they live next to areas where there is water holes n they usually drink from the morning dew that collects on leaves.in the summer two to three mist a day n daily access to dripping water ,this works for my veiled over here in San Diego.

 

[Chamifornia]

Like said above there's no right or wrong answer. Everyone does their own thing when it comes to misting. I would definitely get a dripper going also

 

[Ta2Smitty]

I do the following, every hour and a half for a min. And a half for a total of 6 times a day. Everyone is happy as can be. I rarely see them shed because it's so humid they shed super fast with zero problems.
Setting 1 11:00 11:01.30
Setting 2 12:00 12:01.30
Setting 3 1:30 1:30.30
Setting 4 3:00 3:01.30
Setting 5 4:30 4:31.30
Setting 6 6:00 6:01.30

 

[DekuScrub]

for a veiled, id recommend 3 times a day for 5-15 min at a time. but since you dont have live plants i can understand throwing some short spurts in there to keep the humidity up.

id just go less frequent with a couple more long runs thrown in.

then again depends on ur chams drinking habits.

ive had some that will completly ignore a short hand spary and others that will lick the water off of every leaf.

kinda gotta build it around her personallity. if she dosnt need 15 min to be persuaded into drinking, and she drinks her fill in the first 5 min, well then thats all you need.

there arent any laws when it comes to this stuff, you just have to pay attention to her habits.

 

[fluxlizard]

My personal preference for veileds is to mist 1x or 2x per day about 20minutes- younger individuals 2x per day, older ones can be only a single misting.

They don't require much humidity compared to some other species. The mist is mainly to give them a chance for a shower and to drink. I feel this is easier to accomplish with 1 long misting which gives them time to move to the mist and fill up rather than several short mistings leaving them lapping a few drops off of leaves after the mist goes off.

 

[Jober817]

all sounds good, thanks everyone. I guess I'm just going to play around with these and see what he likes the most.