7 Hour Misting Gap and Dehydration

[JasonSinger]

I first just wanted to say that my chameleon is not dehydrated and his urates are white, however I am starting to wonder if the misting schedule may lead to dehydration down the road.

My girlfriend and I both work, so his misting schedule right now is 7AM, 8AM, 3:30PM, 5PM ... he also has a dripper I run in the mornings for a couple of hours. I haven't seen him drink lately, but some days he will go to town for 5 minutes or so.

My concern is that 7 hours gap with no misting ... maybe I am just paranoid?

Thanks

 

[carol5208]

I wouldn't worry about it especially if you are running a dripper. If his urates are white then you know he is drinking.

 

[Jamelon]

I his urates are white then you are good to go

 

[pssh]

They sleep for more then 7 hours right? it should be fine. If you're really concerned you can make a very large dripper so it runs for most of the time that you're gone.

 

[ghettomike]

that is where a automated misting system is awesome. I was in the same situation with having to work or I would want to go away for a weekend but couldn't until I got a mistking. ps. Christmas is coming, put it on your list.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I wouldn't worry about that at all! It sounds like he's very well hydrated! Just remember in the wild they don't live in saunas, it may not rain for several days in a row and they're still around

 

[jcal]

I wouldn't worry about that at all! It sounds like he's very well hydrated! Just remember in the wild they don't live in saunas, it may not rain for several days in a row and they're still around

good point. we spent alot of time making sure every thing is perfect. man our pets have it good.

 

[Obama the cham]

good point. we spent alot of time making sure every thing is perfect. man our pets have it good.

hell yea! obama IS the king of the room.

 

[summoner12]

It is good to run a nice long mist in the morning and one later in the day. 7 hours without a mist isn't bad.... IF you supplement with a dripper and a humidifier to keep up the humidity. Misting brings up humidity and provides a shower for the cham to clean his eyes out and help his body shed skin. If you are able to keep the cage's humidity up you should be OK with not misting for 7 hours.

 

[Olimpia]

I wouldn't worry about it at all. You're misting him twice in the morning, so he has multiple chances to drink up before the gap, so I don't think he cares at all. Mine free range and sometimes wander around the house before they go back to their free ranges with the automatic misters, and sometimes they'll be out aaaall day and only go back to sleep and then drink up the next morning before wandering around a bit more. So it's not like they're hovering around the mister, axiously awaiting water every 2-3 hours. Like Summoner says, I would give him a nice 15-20 minute misting in the morning to make sure he's well "watered" and then another one when you get back.

But if it worries you you can invest in an automatic mister and that way you can go to work worry free But I honestly think he's getting plenty of water throughout the day.

 

[Carlton]

I first just wanted to say that my chameleon is not dehydrated and his urates are white, however I am starting to wonder if the misting schedule may lead to dehydration down the road.

My girlfriend and I both work, so his misting schedule right now is 7AM, 8AM, 3:30PM, 5PM ... he also has a dripper I run in the mornings for a couple of hours. I haven't seen him drink lately, but some days he will go to town for 5 minutes or so.

My concern is that 7 hours gap with no misting ... maybe I am just paranoid?

Thanks

During "the gap" how low does the cage humidity go? Relative humidity is really important regardless of how often you spray for active drinking. If the humidity isn't bottoming out your cham won't be losing ground between his drinks. In very dry air a cham could drink a lot every day and still have problems maintaining a good hydration level. How do you measure humidity? Once you know the range it should ease your mind.

 

[sandrachameleon]

It sounds like your current system is perfectly fine to me.