Misting techniques and tips

[tryme]

Well i'm having trouble getting my male veiled to drink..as always. I've been using a pressure sprayer bottle lately (the pump ones) and he didn't take to it very well. Not only that it completely soaks my enclosure, I havent got good drainage either so before he even starts drinking ive caused a flood lol. So i've gone back to my old manual sprayer for 2 days now which is already doing my head in. It aches my arm and hardly gives off much water etc for the amount of work I put in. Is there any way I can get him to take to the pump sprayer a bit more without completely soaking everything? My plants also are in a bad state because of the pressure sprayer. I can't really afford an automated system nor do I want to splash out on one as I don't think its worth it.

 

[jannb]

Can you put a drain in the cage or just put some holes in the bottom for the water to drain out and sit a pan or bucket under the cage to catch the water.

 

[JoshCrane1]

ebay, search "personal mister" cheap and works pretty well, should get you by till you buy a nice one. fine mist and doesnt soak everything.

also try a cascading waterdripper, attach a small aquarium plant to the top of the cage and let the dripper drip down it. works awesome. my female only drinks this way.

 

[tryme]

My enclosure is a flexarium by exo-terra and it sits on top of my chest of draws which sucks because I cant really put anything under it etc..I was thinking it might tip over or something. Also JoshCrane1 thats a good idea I was thinking of attaching like a fake plant to the roof of my flexarium (on the inside) and letting the dripper drip down it I think he'd notice it more. When the drips hit like just one leaf in the enclosure the leaf jst flops down and then this becomes a waste of a drip which then becomes a complete waste of time.

 

[JoshCrane1]

ive found only one fake plant that works well, from petco. it cascades all the way down and doesnt get everywhere. i have a little 1qt tupperware that catches it. ill take pics of the cages tonight.

 

[Justin Carl]

What do his urates look like?
Veiled chameleons are not the biggest drinkers.
I can count on one hand the times I've seen all my Veileds drink.
They don't require the same misting schedules as panthers.
My guys get one misting per day.
It usually lasts about 1 minute per cage.

 

[tryme]

I've been misting him 2-3 times a day with a dripper on for 10 mins a day expecting to see him drink most times, this is what I got told by various people. Misting him 3-4 times a day for 3-5 mins. This is actually killing me lol. Sometimes his urates are mostly white but the last one he done was very yellow/orange..thats why i've posted. And yes JoshCrane1 that would help ALOT.

 

[Justin Carl]

I'm not saying this will work for you, but it does for me.
Each chameleon is different, and so are peoples husbandry techniques.
I have had great success doing it my way.
I do not have perfectly white urates every day, but most of the time they are white.
I cant force a chameleon to drink, but I will give them what they require.
I have better things to do then stand in front of a cage misting for no reason.
I live in Florida, so the humidity is already very high.

Best of luck

 

[tryme]

Good points. My humidity is quite good here too. I have more of a drainage problem then a misting problem I believe..I'm not sure what to do. My enclosure is on top of a chest of draws so I can't really go drilling through it or anything...I was thinking of getting a tub and putting the enclosure on top of that (on top of my chest of draws) and drilling holes all in the tub lid so that it would drain into it which I would tip away every week or something...

 

[opihiman]

you could just find a contain to fit the bottom of the cage in side ( like one of those plastic storage bins for under the bed). Then you can either line the bin with puppy pads or place the cage on like thread spools to keep it up out of the water....But I think you should empty it sooner than once a week if you are accumalating that much water....

Hope that helps..

OPI

 

[JoshCrane1]

here's a closeup of the fake plant, i separated the individual pieces and put the end to end to make it long. this leaf design trickles great. and pic of the two cages. i only use the vine on the females cage.

 

[tryme]

I see..very very good ideas. Are both of those containers in there for collecting excess water? (I can see the milk carton is prob your feeding cup?)

 

[JoshCrane1]

nah, the big one is for egglaying. small one for dripper collection, i just pour the excess water in the plants everday, works great. look at my funny drinking thread, thats how my male drinks. she only drinks this way.

 

[tryme]

oh i see ok will do thanks.