Veiled Chameleon VS Misting!

[cigdoll]

Hey everyone!
First of all, I would like to thank everybody for their support, advice and many things I've learned about chameleons/chameleon care.

I've been observing Kiddo my 9 weeks old male Veiled chameleon when the misting system turns on. Black stripes and dots appears when he happens to end up in an area where the mist gets on him as soon as the mist turns on(he tries to find a spot to hide). So he would be covered in dots of water after the mist turns off, after that he just stays still in the same spot and does not move.

My concern is, will the mist stress Kiddo out too much? Is it normal for him to show such dark stripes and dots when he gets misted?(I've never seen the stripes and dots so dark until I was there to observe him get misted) And my last question is.. is it bad for chameleons to be covered in dots of water?

 

[carol5208]

no it is not bad for them to be covered in water droplets. I just would not have your mister go on too late at night as you don't want your cage and your chameleon all wet when the lights go out. Alot of chameleons do not enjoy getting misted. Is your water warm or cold? I found my chameleons do not mind it as much when the water is warm. I mean would you want to get blasted with cold water? lol Is there an area in the cage where your chameleon can get out of the way of the mister?

 

[cigdoll]

One of my mist settings goes on 3 hours before bedtime for 2 minutes. I would consider the water room temperature, neither cold or warm. If I had to be more specific, I would go with more warm and nowhere near cold.

A third of his cage(16x16x30) from the basking spot and down is dry and does not get hit by the mist. He was trying to find cover, but went towards the wrong way where possible water still can get to him. I guess he's still getting used to his new home and where all the spots are(6 days now). There are plenty of real plants and fake plants that provides cover.

For now I do not turn on the basking lamp due to his age(from my researches). So I'm not sure if he knows that there isn't a spot for basking(dry area).

So as for the very black patterns that appear is normal and Kiddo getting misted won't be too much stress for him, correct?

 

[carol5208]

well how old is he and what are your cage temps without a basking light?

 

[cigdoll]

Kiddo is 9 weeks old. Without the basking lamp, the temperature is at a low of 75f-76f and a high of 81f-82f.

This also brings me to my other concern(priority concern right now) which I have not figured out for a few days now.

I see his mouth gaped open(not very wide, just a small opening) from time to time and not only under the UVB light, but also when he is in different areas of the cage. When he does have his mouth gaped, sometimes it's a minute or less and for other times it can be for minutes. This cannot be dehydration? His urinate is neither orange or yellow and there is also a water dripper.

 

[cigdoll]

Does anybody know anything about the problem I'm having right now? Please, it would be greatly appreciated and a great help to prevent anything that can or is going to happen to Kiddo.

 

[CamillaChameleon]

My veiled hates being misted and she runs away the second she sees me coming with the bottle lol. She also changes her colour and pattern.

From time to time, I notice her sitting with her mouth open. From everything I've looked into, it means she is too hot and is trying to cool herself. Whenever I see her doing it, I open the doors to her tank for a few minutes. I removed some of the live plants from her cage as I noticed the temps going over 90 with the humidity and ever since then she has only done it once or twice. I also noticed her doing it while sleeping the other night. I looked into the whole respiratory infection and she doesn't have the other other symptoms listed for it. She was also at the vet last week and the vet never said anything.

 

[cigdoll]

My veiled hates being misted and she runs away the second she sees me coming with the bottle lol. She also changes her colour and pattern.

From time to time, I notice her sitting with her mouth open. From everything I've looked into, it means she is too hot and is trying to cool herself. Whenever I see her doing it, I open the doors to her tank for a few minutes. I removed some of the live plants from her cage as I noticed the temps going over 90 with the humidity and ever since then she has only done it once or twice. I also noticed her doing it while sleeping the other night. I looked into the whole respiratory infection and she doesn't have the other other symptoms listed for it. She was also at the vet last week and the vet never said anything.

Thank you CamillaChameleon for your post, I appreciate it very much. I will give opening the cage for a few minutes a try and hope for the best. I really want to avoid bringing him out to a vet and cause him stress. How old is your chameleon by the way?

 

[CamillaChameleon]

Camilla is about 5 months old I believe