whats the best watering method?

[joeym39]

whats the best way for my chameleon to have water? i have a drip system but not to sure how and when and how long to use it?

 

[moviemanmania]

Let your drip system run at least half of the day. I prefer to drip mine the first half of the day as they mostly drink in the morning.

 

[Chris Jury]

Agreed with the above. Misting the cage and chameleon for 1+ minutes with a handsprayer usually elicits a drinking response (if the chameleon wants to drink, of course) and I'd mist daily. Also, maintaining moderate to high humidity (50%+) is a very important and often neglected aspect of keeping chameleons hydrated IME. In the US the common wisdom for years has been that chameleons need all or mostly screened cages, which indoors can often lead to very low humidity due to home heating or AC use. Cages with less ventilation (e.g., the Exo terra vivaria, or similar options) are better at retaining humidity while still providing sufficient ventilation. In many situations indoors, caging like this works much better than all or mostly screen designs IME. Folks in Europe have been doing this for years with good success, while such caging options have only started to become popular in the US in recent years.

cj

 

[Monzon]

Many keepers are able to hand mist and have good success. I use a programmable misting system, the shower, and an ag sprayer depending on the situation. It seems, in general, that chameleons hydrate best when water comes to them in the same way that it does in nature - misting and dripping down upon them - for more than 2 to 3 minutes at a time and more or less at ambient temperature. I mist my animals for both short (5-10 minutes), and long (2-3 hour) periods throughout the week with an occasional all-day rain event (maybe once or twice a month). It makes sense to me that chameleons in nature would wait for the canopy to flush out for a few minutes before drinking in the "sweet" water. And this would explain why they rarely begin drinking immediately upon being misted. Having said all that, I once had a male xant that would come to the red nozzle of my hand sprayer and drink his fill - a conditioned response.

 

[Kansascity]

I use the drip method and hand spray 4 times per day plus have a humidifier going (low) during day time. Do u have a drainage system?

 

[Cham Crazy]

I use my drip system for several hours in the day(almost everyday) and spray my chams cage for 1 min+ about three times a day. Im also looking into purchasing an automatic misting system.

~~1.0 Veiled Chameleon

 

[Purp]

I use the same methods as above.

I have a custom dripping system that runs pretty much all day and I mist the area 3-5 times a day for around 1-2 minutes at a time.