Going on vacation without cham, how to get him water constantly?!

I'm glad I found these forums, everyone's helpful and some are even willing to take care of my chameleon :)! I'll make another forum to find someone to take care of my veiled in a couple of weeks or so, when the date gets closer to when I have to leave.

Just curious summoner12, I saw that you made a post about trying to make all of your lights and misters controllable via the internet. Were you successful at doing so? Just curious, it seems like it'd be pretty difficult.
 
v639dragoon said:
Just curious summoner12, I saw that you made a post about trying to make all of your lights and misters controllable via the internet. Were you successful at doing so? Just curious, it seems like it'd be pretty difficult.
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Right now it is all a mess on the floor because I haven't purchased all of the bits to make it look nice....... But it does function....

This is the bit that controls the watering... 4 seperate misting 'quadrants' or 'sectors' AKA: four valves that control supply. I run all the melleri on one valve, veileds and panther on another... the third is wired up for misting outside, when I have cages there. The fourth isn't operating... just don't need it yet.

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I have a lot of cleaning up to do...... But it does work.

At the moment because I am moving all of this around I am manually plugging in my lights and misting the chams...... :eek:
 
Yes I think there is some inherant gene in Chameleon owners that make them unbelievably enthusiastic to help. I suppose that's part of the reason they're so addicted to looking after exotic creatures that need a lot of attention.

This great information on this forum can't even come close to the greatness of the people.
 
ballz said:
Yes I think there is some inherant gene in Chameleon owners that make them unbelievably enthusiastic to help. I suppose that's part of the reason they're so addicted to looking after exotic creatures that need a lot of attention.

This great information on this forum can't even come close to the greatness of the people.
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We're all just a big happy family LOL:cool:. I ran into an issue like this during the summer when i left for 12 days. I had to find someone to watch my chams and a buddy of mine in town that will normally cham sit for me was gone while I was. I found a neighbor kid and offered him the opportunity to drop in every day and spend an hour there. I have auto misters so those are really the life savers. I paid him $15 a day. He came over a couple days and I showed him all the ropes, and the day before I left, I told him to come over and do everything I instructed him to do, and I wasn't going to tell him anything. I felt like I was giving him a skills exam. Well he made an 84 so he got the job ;) jk. Moral of the story, find a neighbor or someone who you can rely on so if there are any emergency trips you need to take, or spur of the moment road trip to retrieve an illicit tape mistakenly mailed to a girl friend or something, you have someone to hold down the block.

-Nic
 
Silly movie.....

nicodemayo said:
we're all just a big happy family lol:cool:. I ran into an issue like this during the summer when i left for 12 days. I had to find someone to watch my chams and a buddy of mine in town that will normally cham sit for me was gone while i was. I found a neighbor kid and offered him the opportunity to drop in every day and spend an hour there. I have auto misters so those are really the life savers. I paid him $15 a day. He came over a couple days and i showed him all the ropes, and the day before i left, i told him to come over and do everything i instructed him to do, and i wasn't going to tell him anything. I felt like i was giving him a skills exam. Well he made an 84 so he got the job ;) jk. Moral of the story, find a neighbor or someone who you can rely on so if there are any emergency trips you need to take, or spur of the moment road trip to retrieve an illicit tape mistakenly mailed to a girl friend or something, you have someone to hold down the block.

-nic
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roadtrip!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I haven't read every post on this thread yet but I wanted to say what I thought. I would never leave my chameleon unattended even for one night. If I couldn't find anyone to look after him then fine I just wouldn't go away. Anything could happen in 6 days. There could be a power cut, his heat bulb could blow, he could fall and hurt himself or become ill. If you put in a huge amount of insects then they could stress him out. Hungry crickets have been known to bite chameleons. In an ideal world you should only feed insects the amount they will eat in one day so that none are left in the vivarium at night.
As for setting up a spraying device, supposing that malfunctions?
Several years ago a friend of mine left 20 chameleons in the care of his step son while he was away for a week's holiday. His stepson only watered the chameleons once in that time during a heatwave. My friend came home to 17 dead chameleons. He took it better than I would have. I would have kicked my stepson out for that but he forgave him.
In conclusion, don't risk it, your chameleon is worth more than that.
 
BocaJan said:
Being a senior on here means you have been here awhile and listened to all the advice people have given. I can't believe you are actually encouraging him to leave his chameleon alone for 6 days. Being in a cage is totally different than being outside where they can lick dew off leaves and catch some bugs when they get hungry.

I am saddened that you can take responsibility for something but yet think so little of it you would leave it for 6 days. :eek:
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Very well said, I am starting to get a bit wound up with some people's attitude on here...
 
I think this topic is very enlightening. I am shocked at some of the attitudes on here. I can honestly say I wouldn't sell a chameleon to 70% of those that have given their input. I have been keeping chameleons now for 9 years and threads like this make me wonder why I am in the hobby. At least some members have come forward with offers to help look after the chameleon.

v639dragoon says:-
I'll make another forum to find someone to take care of my veiled in a couple of weeks or so, when the date gets closer to when I have to leave.

No I suggest you find him someone to take care of him now, he is too important to leave it to the last minute...
 
Chamgirl said:
If you put in a huge amount of insects then they could stress him out. Hungry crickets have been known to bite chameleons. In an ideal world you should only feed insects the amount they will eat in one day so that none are left in the vivarium at night.
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I believe the suggestion also included cup feeding.
 
I have become this areas chameleon and reptile sitter! DOesn't bother me to have a few extra cages around. I also have a decent spare set of lights, and that makes it easier for the people that have to pack up the cages and haul them over.
 
Also to add to the cup feeding idea, how many people have veileds that would only eat a few things out of the cup a day....:rolleyes:
 
Nicodemayo said:
Also to add to the cup feeding idea, how many people have veileds that would only eat a few things out of the cup a day....:rolleyes:
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I have 2, lol. I count in 15 a day, they eat about 7-10, and eat the rest the next day. They are well mannered. :rolleyes:
 
Not that this thread needs another 2 cents, but here it is anyhow

The chameleon is unlikely to die if left for 6 days without water. This does not mean its a good choice whatsoever. I'm very glad the original poster is responsible and humane enough to look for a pet sitter.
 
A couple of friends forwarded this thread to me. I am completely against leaving any animals unattended for long periods of time.

The advice given in this thread to ramp up hydration is ridiculous and I don't mind telling you guys so. Stop spreading this kind of "advice" on a forum where people can easily take the information out of context. But then again, 6 days unattended is just wrong.

I took in some jacksonii males, a female and some babies from a high school teacher. He wanted me to take them in for the holidays. I had them through November and December. He wanted them back in February. Can't remember which vacation it was following that but he left the chameleons alone in his classroom for a long weekend. There was a heat wave and the air conditioner was not on in the room. But the lamps were on. It killed all of the chameleons! I only live a few miles from the school. There was no reason he couldn't have me take them again.

Chameleons are not furniture or knick knacks. They are animals and when you take them in, you are taking on responsibility.
 
v639dragoon said:
I'm glad I found these forums, everyone's helpful and some are even willing to take care of my chameleon :)! I'll make another forum to find someone to take care of my veiled in a couple of weeks or so, when the date gets closer to when I have to leave.

Just curious summoner12, I saw that you made a post about trying to make all of your lights and misters controllable via the internet. Were you successful at doing so? Just curious, it seems like it'd be pretty difficult.
Click to expand...

Missed this post! Thank goodness you are being responsible!!! Thank you!!
 
I had a 8 day trip, and I loaded the feeder cups (similar to the 1/2 gallon milk carton feeders) with several feeders. My wife checked them on day 3 and 6 as requested, and had to add water to the 18 gallon reservoir, and dump the reservoirs on day 6, as the reservoirs almost overflowed, and the pump almost ran dry. I was sure she wouldn't have to do the water until day 8, if at all.

Hence is the following advice: If you leave your Chams for longer stretches, be sure you estimate your water use, and reservoirs capacities correctly. Even the neighborhood kid can save you big time!:D

Nick
 
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