spray or dripper- 2 month old veiled cham

[darius fratila]

hey so i am new to chameleon forums and very new to chameleon keeping, i have alot of experience with snakes,geckos, and monitors, but this is my first chameleon. hes a 2-3 month old veiled and one of the most puzzling things to figure out is wether to use a dripper or a spray? i have seen him drink from both, and currently i am using both on him just to be on the safe side, because i know they can be sort of fragile, but other than that hes a boss when it comes to eating and everything else. the only issue is that i dont have time to adjust his dripper constantly and it drips on the substrate, and who knows what the hell kind of bacteria that can sprout up, i know this is a lengthy message, but i will be very grateful for any advice you guys have. thanks a bunch

 

[TiffanyMariexo]

Doesn't really matter what you have, you still always got to mist !!!! I use both with mine as well and he drinks from both. I got my dripped hanging over a waterfall so it collects the extra water

 

[Kate]

hey so i am new to chameleon forums and very new to chameleon keeping, i have alot of experience with snakes,geckos, and monitors, but this is my first chameleon. hes a 2-3 month old veiled and one of the most puzzling things to figure out is wether to use a dripper or a spray? i have seen him drink from both, and currently i am using both on him just to be on the safe side, because i know they can be sort of fragile, but other than that hes a boss when it comes to eating and everything else. the only issue is that i dont have time to adjust his dripper constantly and it drips on the substrate, and who knows what the hell kind of bacteria that can sprout up, i know this is a lengthy message, but i will be very grateful for any advice you guys have. thanks a bunch

Hi and welcome to the forum. I agree with above post. Either hand mist or use an automated system 4 times a day. Drippers are good to run during waking hours but your viv needs to dry out between mistings. Substrate is not recommended as it can be ingested. It also harbours mould.

 

[Kate]

Doesn't really matter what you have, you still always got to mist !!!! I use both with mine as well and he drinks from both. I got my dripped hanging over a waterfall so it collects the extra water

Waterfalls harbour all kinds of bacteria that can make your Cham ill unless you scrub, disinfect daily. Your cham may very well poop in it and feeders will drown in it. Enough said.

 

[Jon114]

If a chameleon drinks from a dripper just fine, is there really a need for constant misting? Combined with the Florida weather and all the animals/substrates I keep in my room, humidity constantly peaks at around 80% and is usually a steady 70%.

 

[Kate]

Chams use sprayed water to clean their eyes.

 

[Jon114]

Chams use sprayed water to clean their eyes.

How do they do that exactly? Do they rub against objects that have been sprayed or do they need to be misted directly? What I mean is, can I get away with 1-2 good mistings a day instead of the 4+ some people here tend to reccomend?

 

[Kate]

You can try two mistings a day . Just watch his urates, if they become yellow or orange then up the mistings. Popeye stands in the mist and rolls his eyes, not every time but now and again. It can be very alarming if you don't know what's going on.LOL Where I live we don't have humidity problems.LOL

 

[joeandsoph]

I tried a dripper and Tilly was never interested, so we just mist and she's fine. She will drink from the leaves and occasionally the dripper but that's rare. If he's drinking from both I'd say keep both! Get rid of the substrate though, they can ingest it. When I first got my chameleon I struggled to find something to soak up all the water from spraying as paper towel and newspaper just got soaked, so now I used puppy training mats and they are brilliant. When she poops they soak up the smell and they soak up all the excess water.

 

[Kate]

I tried a dripper and Tilly was never interested, so we just mist and she's fine. She will drink from the leaves and occasionally the dripper but that's rare. If he's drinking from both I'd say keep both! Get rid of the substrate though, they can ingest it. When I first got my chameleon I struggled to find something to soak up all the water from spraying as paper towel and newspaper just got soaked, so now I used puppy training mats and they are brilliant. When she poops they soak up the smell and they soak up all the excess water.

I now use reptile carpet and Hoover it out once a week.

 

[joeandsoph]

Ah I never through of that! does it smell though?

 

[Psychobunny]

Each of my guys have their own dripper and Smeagie is the only one not connected to the Mistking (but he will be soon!!).
I use a UTH (under tank heater) to keep my spray bottle warm since they prefer warm water.
Just plug it in and lay it out on the table.
Anything I have that I want to keep warm, I just put it on the matt.

I also have a aquarium heater in the Mistking water tank which helps a little.
At least it's not really cold out the nozzle, but by the time the warm water travels through the pump and tubing, it cools off a lot.

 

[Kate]

Ah I never through of that! does it smell though?

No smell. Dries out fine.

 

[darius fratila]

I tried a dripper and Tilly was never interested, so we just mist and she's fine. She will drink from the leaves and occasionally the dripper but that's rare. If he's drinking from both I'd say keep both! Get rid of the substrate though, they can ingest it. When I first got my chameleon I struggled to find something to soak up all the water from spraying as paper towel and newspaper just got soaked, so now I used puppy training mats and they are brilliant. When she poops they soak up the smell and they soak up all the excess water.

Thanks alot everyone, I am going to keep a close eye on him to see which one he prefers most because I'd really love to switch to mist only, since the spraying doesn't seem to freak him out, but as for the substrate that's a good idea, is the repti carpet water absorbent at all?

 

[Kate]

Thanks alot everyone, I am going to keep a close eye on him to see which one he prefers most because I'd really love to switch to mist only, since the spraying doesn't seem to freak him out, but as for the substrate that's a good idea, is the repti carpet water absorbent at all?

It is. Most of my spray water falls into the plant pots. I have a wooden viv.

 

[PattyCake]

You will have to see what your cham likes. Archimedes will drink from a water bowl IF there is a dripper dropping water into the bowl. I dunno, somehow the dropping water makes Archimedes want to drink from the stupid bowl. Archimedes will also drink from being sprayed.

 

[Jish an speedy]

Hi
Am new to this forum.
Wanted to add my bit.
I have a big dripper set up and working perfect. Got it dripping onto a umbrella plant the down the stems into the pot which the plant is potted in. Which is saving me watering the plant. Along with misting this works perfect.

 

[Yamajee]

You will have to see what your cham likes. Archimedes will drink from a water bowl IF there is a dripper dropping water into the bowl. I dunno, somehow the dropping water makes Archimedes want to drink from the stupid bowl. Archimedes will also drink from being sprayed.

I'll support you on that, even though the care sheets on the internet clearly state that chameleons do not drink water from bowls, I'm pretty damn sure I saw my chameleon drinking water from a bowl once it noticed that the dripper is dripping water into the bowl (was used mainly for drainage and for more humidity).

I'd say observe carefully where he drinks from, I've seen Hyde (my cham) drink from leaves, from the dripper and from the water bowl and I've provided all 3 of them for him .

 

[darius fratila]

So I just went to the reptile store to get a repti carpet and now the puzzle begins on how to get the water to rain down the leaves into the bowl lol also I got him about 2 weeks ago and today was the first day I handled him, and to my surprise he was super chill about it, he even snagged a wax worm out of my hand so I feel lucky I got one of the good ones out of the batch btw can there be too big of a cage for a chameleon to have? I want to get this 36x36x71 screen cage for him when he's a couple months older