water cham

[Jamie]

Alot of times they really dont like it when you spray them directly. They will show you this by sometime shaking their heads back and forth, showing aggression towards the water, running away, or just kind of clamming up into a somewhat submissive stance. In my experiences I've found that misting all the foliage in the cage and letting small droplets collect and run off the leaves around the chameleon is a much less stressful way to accomplish things. My guys seem to like deciding when they want to drink, instead of having the water forced on them by getting directly sprayed.

Hummm... Very interesting. My experiences have been very different. Perhaps this is one of those "acclimation" things. If given time to adjust they will grow to enjoy it. I would not directly spray a neonate as they could easily suffocate in just a drop of water, but juvi's and adults are a different story.
I think the "flee" response comes from surprise. If you lightly mist the surrounding area with a gentle, warm mist before directly misting the chameleon, the reaction will be less exaggerated. This is how I water all my chams. They are also supplied with an auto mister that runs for 20 minutes 3 times a day as well as a dripper just in case they aren't interested in their morning "showers". Dehydration has never been an issue. I feel that direct misting is important for cleaning eyes as well as assisting with proper shedding.

I do believe that soaking a chameleon would be a last ditch effort. They do absorb water threw their skin as well as their vent, but again, this would be a last ditch effort with no guarantee and a significant amount of stress. Showering is a much better way to give that added moisture...

Just my humble opinion...

 

[Prism Chameleons]

Not trying to step on any toes here, but why do you feel this way?

Chameleons just don't like to be sprayed directly. It's kind like you getting sprayed unexpectedly by a squirt gun . You can see this by how your chameleon reacts when they get water sprayed on them. On the other hand, they come from the tropics and are used to rain... truly... with all the chameleons I have and have worked with, the soft warm tropical rain drops in a shower for dyhydrated chameleons works the best for me and my chameleons.

Others may handle this another way, but my chameleons love it!

 

[Jamie]

On the other hand, they come from the tropics and are used to rain... truly... with all the chameleons I have and have worked with, the soft warm tropical rain drops in a shower for dyhydrated chameleons works the best for me and my chameleons.

My thoughts too ;-)