Jackson drinking

[mikecoyote]

Hi All,

New cham owner (8 month jackson male) who I've had for a little over 2 weeks. I have him set up in an ExoTerra glass enclosure, 18X24 tall, planted with several live plants (scheflerra, pothos, staghorn fern).
Just curious about hydrating, I've been misting with warm water once a day and he comes right over and gets in the spray, drinks it as it runs down his face.
Is this OK? I saw some posts about not spraying them in the face. He does mouth gape once in a while, but no popping sounds and it's usually in the AM before his cage gets up to temp (mid 70's)

 

[camimom]

you arent misting him enough,.
jacksons require lots of water, i wouldbe misting a least 4-6 times a day.

 

[pigglett79]

My Jackson's get misted with a misting system 4 times a day for 5 minutes, he also has a dripper........and he still tends to get dehydrated at times. Jackson's can be very difficult when it comes to hydration and humidity.

 

[bradley]

I would up misting. Just be careful in an exo terra though as there is no drainage. It is fine if he comes up and drinks from the bottle. it obviously doesn't stress him out if he does it voluntarily.

 

[Nrupaw]

Hey there, couple of quick things, Ideally, you want to switch over to a taller screen cage. All glass cages is something you should avoid. Your Cham will be happier in a larger/taller screen cage. Good job on getting some live plants though. I prefer live plants to fake ones.

Warm water misting is good. Esp, since you see him drinking the water. Go explain the "not spraying them in the face" part, you don't necessarily want to start spraying him right on his face. You want start with misting his enclosure, and landing a few drops on his tail, then body, and then work up to his head. The only think you'd want to avoid is dousing him with water right on his nostrils. Kinda a tricky way of avoiding nostrils yet spraying him to drink but eventually, you'll figure out a technique that works for you.

Ideally, you want to mist him 2-3 times a day. He might not be thristy in the morning but might be in the afternoon etc. You can always invest in a dripper that can drip drops of water onto leaves and your guy can learn to lap up that water. Or you can invest in an automatic mister like the MistKing , which works on a timer and can mist the cage with a fine mist every few hrs to keep humidity up.


Here is some reading material that'll help you take good care of your Jacksons' Chameleon

General Care
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/hoj/634-montane-chameleon-care-info.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/montane-care-sheet-critique-plz-79628/

Gutloading
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/dominicthechameleon/686-cricket-care-all-chameleon-owners.html

Hydration
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/92-hydration-importance-water.html

Good Luck!

 

[mikecoyote]

Thanks for the replies, I'll up the misting. So I shouldn't worry about URI's with him drinking spray off his face?

 

[camimom]

dont spray his face directly and he wil lbe fine.