mist-er hater

[Laragail]

My young Veiled HATES it when I mist his enclosure. (yes i use hot water)

As soon as I start to spray he takes off and hides-

the problem is- he is so disturbed by the misting he never cleans his eyes.

do you think this could lead to infection?
any suggestions?

thanks a lot,
LaraGail

 

[Tygerr]

That seems to be quite a common complaint amongst Veiled owners.

It might have something to do with the fact that in the wild, Veileds get most of their water from the condensation/dew that forms on the leaves of the vegetation in the wadis they inhabit in the Middle East.
They're probably not as dependent on rain as what some of the montane/forest species are.

As such, I think they have a general intolerance for misting (although some keepers have reported that this differs amongst individual chams - some seem to love misting, although they do seem to be the exception).

Now, that does not mean to say that they need any less water to drink than the other species, and also since it would be difficult to simulate condensation in a cage, the standard advice would simply be to continue misting them even though they don't seem to like it. It's for their own good.

If you're worried about him not being able to clean properly, I suggest that you spray him down directly during a misting session every so often, provided he is old enough (i.e. large enough not to be drowned by the droplets of water sprayed on him - probably about 3-4months and older). He'll get the necessary cleaning done if he gets wet.

 

[Jordan]

I suspect thing much like what Tygerr has already said. I would recommend an internal misting system. I guess when I hand misted I had always struggled or at least question whether my veileds where hydrated enough now that I have set-up misting systems inside the cage I know that they are hydrated. From fully automatic misting sytems to a ghetto mister like this I think they offer a couple advantages when it comes to watering a veiled. The misters are stationary. After sometime they get use to it. The way I set mine up they can choose to get wet or not. Both of mine have adopted some what similar behavior of how to stay dry and get their water now. My male gets close to the edge of the spray pattern. He lets the rogue water droplets get on his brow/casque area. He then tilts his head back and allows it to run in his mouth, smacking his mouth about. My female has adopt a little braver approach. She open her mouth and quickly goes in and out of the edge of the spray pattern. Pulling back and smacking her mouth around. It is obvious with both of them that they are getting their water now and both do this almost everytime the water comes on. I orginally started with the ghetto mister (link above). It worked great. I now have a fully automatic misting system. I had my reservations with the automatic mister as the water was not going to be heated. I did not matter because after a week both of them went back to drinking on the waters edge.

 

[boothy]

i dont have a misting system but i mist my chams free hand with the dollar store spray bottles and i mist them during the day obviously 4 or 5 times a day , it all starts at 8am just befor my lights are on i mist and all the baby veild i have right now just go nuts and i honeslty sit there for a good 30 mins just squirting water into there mouths one after another and all throuhg the day then around 11 at night sometimes 12 ill mist there cage befor bed and they just go nuts again all them drinking and lovin it so try misting befor your light is on and when your light is off later that night see if things work

 

[roo_71]

I feel the same way about tygerr’s response. I also think that each veiled can adopt a routine and that they can get used to being directly misted. I have a mist system but still mist my veiled directly (this took solid year for him to get use to). I don’t bother in the morning since he never drinks then but just mist the foliage to add humidity. The afternoon is when he’s more receptive to direct misting and he drinks a good amount. I have never seen him drink from the mist system (in past 2 years) but that doesn’t mean he isn’t but the fact that he drinks a lot in the afternoon and it makes me question if he is using the mist system at all. If your veiled uses the mist system then I envy you.

So I guess you have to figure out what works, I wouldn’t rely solely on a mist system unless you are witnessing the cham drink, if not then you should directly mist even if they hate it – as with mine it may just get use to it or like Jordan get use to a mist system.

-roo

 

[boothy]

I also agree with tyler to i have some baby veilds and they know whens its drink time and feeding time cause they all get impatient and are trying to climb the sides of the cage and
i have a baby male veild right now that just waits for me to mist and he comes rippin over and just grabs the end of the spray bottle and drinks his little heart out i wish more were like him

 

[Kazza]

Shiver used to hate being misted as i was using a trigger spray to start with.

I now have a plant mister and she really enjoys it now, she walks into it cleans her eyes and drinks I don't have to use a pipette to give her water any more as she's gulping it down every misting - i'm doing it 4 times a day now for about 10 mins

 

[Laragail]

do they have plant misters at wal-mart?

what do they look like?

I think I'll try to find one to use temporarily until I make an automatic one.

Right now I have a "mister lizard" mister that you pump- But I don't like it at all. It doesn't seem to work right, and you have to pump it like crazy.


Thanks everyone for the advice

 

[Dave Weldon]

do they have plant misters at wal-mart? ...

The middle one in this photo is my favorite. Home Depot doesn't seem to carry this exact RL Flowmaster model anymore but the RL Flowmaster that they do carry is very similar and will be prefect too. The one on the right is they type to avoid. The pulsing action of a trigger-based one just seems to make some chameleons cranky.

http://rlflomaster.com/sprayers/hand.htm

 

[Kazza]

I started off using the one on the right - i use it on the stick insects now lol.

I have one the same as the one in the middle and shiver has really accepted it


This is the one i have now......

 

[Sal]

My baby veileds didn't like it at first either and would hide under the leaves. But now after getting used to it they will climb to the tallest branch to get wet and will do that smacking thing with their mouths..

I have a mister like the one Dave has a picture of. Lowe's carries them too. I like them because they simulate rain more than a trigger bottle. I also have a pump like cooler that I got outa the bargain bin at Petsmart for $5 - it is for dogs but you pump it and put the nozzle in the cage and it will spray for a good 15 minutes or so.. a bit finer, gentler spray than the RL bottles..

In the end, I think it just takes time for them to get used to misting. And whatever type you choose - try to make it routine times everyday so they know when to expect it..

 

[baloo]

so if yemen have a problem with misting due to the way things are in their natural environment wouldn't a humidifier like roo uses for his brevis be a better option?
running it in the morning before lights go on and a little after should present plenty of water in dew form

just a thought

 

[firecat998]

sometimes my vieled chameleon hides from the spray sometimes she comes out of hiding but ive never actualy seen her drinking i spray her 3x a day with warm water i spray her with a plant spray.She is 5 months old approx we have had her for a month now is it a problem that ive never seen her drink?

 

[roo_71]

Strictly my opinions/theory …

I think the Yemen/Veiled cham is geared towards getting a good amount of moisture via humidity. Where they live in the wild there is not a lot of rain but there is quite a bit of mist/fog coming from the ocean that they take in. The casque (and anatomy leading to its mouth), IMO seems like it’s built to catch the humidity and form droplets and it turn the droplets trickle down into their mouths but I also think they absorb moisture pretty well through their skin. The casque also seems like it can store fluid much like a camel does with its hump(s). So in other words, I dont think its normal for them to get "rain showers" every day via misting system or manual misting.

In my last apartment, it got VERY humid for a week, you could see it in the air when the light came through the window - humidity gauges actually said “Hi”, meaning that the humidity was too high to register. My veiled didn’t drink all week and dropped bright white/wet urates without any fecal matter almost every day. He was CLEARLY getting moisture from the air. As mentioned a million times before, chams get moisture not just through their mouth but also through their eyes, skin, nose and possibly the vent.

My veiled for the first year hardly ever drank in front of me – it was a bit stressful but I made sure I misted him twice day whether he liked it or not (important for eye cleaning), had a mist system installed since day one, used a humidifier when the humidity was low and when he was big enough I gave him a weekly shower. In that first year I never saw any signs of dehydration (so that took away some of my stress) and in time he accepted the manually misting and drank every day from it.

-roo