Hand misting is under rated

[Brodybreaux25]

I love my mistking and all but I never realized until recently that hand misting your chams is a way under rated way of bonding with them and building trust. Got to be right up there with hand feeding. It’s the only time she actually prefers to be on my hand instead of one of her branches...

 

[Frigga]

I fully agree! I look forward to hand misting every day after work, it's part of my decompression after a long day.
And those are the times when Loki is most likely to grace my with a visit as well, it's not every time, so I graciously accept his company when he does Today was one of those lucky days for me.

Also your girl is beautiful

 

[MSMorgan]

I concur. I've recently taken to hand misting on the weekends and actually watch him drink. Lucky hasn't crawled up my arm while misting as of yet, but it appears that he is taking advantage of the extra misting session by washing his eyes and sipping off the leaves.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I concur. I've recently taken to hand misting on the weekends and actually watch him drink. Lucky hasn't crawled up my arm while misting as of yet, but it appears that he is taking advantage of the extra misting session by washing his eyes and sipping off the leaves.

Have you ever actually watched a Cham clean their eyes close up? I wonder what’s going on in there...

 

[bobbydigital]

Have you ever actually watched a Cham clean their eyes close up? I wonder what’s going on in there...

When I first noticed this I was so scared, I thought something was stuck in there and he was unable to get it out.

 

[Harry The Cham]

I agree with you I’ve been waiting for a post like this Ive hand mist mine everyday of his life here and he s a strong healthy boy!

 

[TehMagwi]

My panther gets super annoyed if I mist him directly at all! Is there any way for me to get him more receptive to it? I would love to do this with mine but I try not to stress him out.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

My panther gets super annoyed if I mist him directly at all! Is there any way for me to get him more receptive to it? I would love to do this with mine but I try not to stress him out.

Unfortunately I think this is yet another area where the Cham sets the rules. But none of mine liked it until they were adults, yours still looks pretty young so there is still hope!

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Have you ever actually watched a Cham clean their eyes close up? I wonder what’s going on in there...

You can actually see the pupil pull away from the turret in the last few seconds

 

[andrearamirezo91]

My panther gets super annoyed if I mist him directly at all! Is there any way for me to get him more receptive to it? I would love to do this with mine but I try not to stress him out.

Mine hates it too lol. He starts freaking out, stands upright on his two back feet and starts reaching out like crazy with his little hands for anything he can grab. It scares me because I always feel like he's gonna fall down so I stop misting him. Lately I only rely on his reptirain which mists his cage for 60 seconds every 3 hrs. His urate doesn't show any signs of dehydration so I haven't really worried. Now you guys got me thinking about the eyes though. I wonder if reptirain is enough or if I should start hand misting him again.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

When mine were young they would look at me like I had just sprayed them with acid! But over time they grew up, calmed down, and started to realize I was there to help. Stick to it, they will learn to love it!

 

[jamest0o0]

I temporarily handmisted my panther when I first got him awhile back. He ended up getting used to it and I could angle it to spray water in his mouth. Huge PITA though and overall i don't think it compares to a mist system. All of my chameleons have way more natural behavior when the MK is on than handmisting. I think handmisting does have benefits though like you mention, but more as an added measure rather than a replacement to automatic misting. Most people that only handmist aren't doing nearly enough either. And with multiple chams it becomes unrealistic.

And then when it comes to montanes like parsonii, you'd be giving yourself a chronic case of carpal tunnel after day one lol.

 

[kelly_girl199]

My panther gets super annoyed if I mist him directly at all! Is there any way for me to get him more receptive to it? I would love to do this with mine but I try not to stress him out.

mist from above the screen to produce droplets. I will mist just enough to get some proplets going and mine would drink this way. But he never liked being misted EVER until I switched the mist heads to the top of the cage. It produces way more droplets.

 

[Tucklander]

I mist my enclosure heavily from the top and some on the inside. Using barely lukewarm water, he has a perch where he sits and drinks in front of us. I also have a dripper going for most of the day. His urates are stark white and he goes to his “drinking perch” and waits on the drops coming from above, and from some leaves in front of the same perch...he also gets wet and I’ve watched him open his mouth to let drops roll down and go in... I’m a little afraid of an automatic misting system, because with my luck it would leak all over the freakin floor... but if Harry continues to do well, and I get my second guy, I’ll likely get a misting system. Plus I’m building a two sided/ two Cham enclosure, with divider, so it’d be smart to incorporate. I’m glad others have had success with misting though. I use a garden pump sprayer and Harry seems to like it.

 

[MSMorgan]

Misting systems are no doubt a necessity in cham keeping. I see benefit to additional hand misting and believe that Lucky is better hydrated for it, as I see him actively drinking and rinsing his eyes. I will continue to do this when I can in addition to my misting schedule.