Veiled Cham bathing?!!

[Leezochka]

Hi there! I am new here, and I have a question right away.

My Veiled Cham (Toto) decided to crawl into a water bowl (that is used for the fogger, see picture) and sit there today. He is currently 7 mo old or so and finishing peeling (yet again).

The water in the bowl is always very warm, and the fogger is covered up so that it does not splash or harm him. We change the water every day (he likes to poop in it), and the drip system is set up to replenish it as fogger vaporizes it.

Is this normal? I took him out of there (he did not even hiss or worry bout being handeled, which is weird weird) and started to research this, but I can find nothing about them liking warm baths...Is this ok for him? He seemed pretty happy in there.

Also, as you can see on the pic he seems to have a lighter patch on his side now. What is that all about?

Thanks in advance ,

Leeza

 

[Texas Ranger]

Well that fogger is not needed in there. In fact it will cause more harm than good. You should take it out ASAP. (Others will tell you why. Ive talked enough on this subject)
Anyway, "Some" chams like showers. All mine love showers. It helps them clean and hydrate. Some will tell you their chams hate showers. All are different. They shouldnt like "baths" though. Thats not something they would encounter. But the shower is like rain.

 

[Tandra Lee]

welcome leezochka if you could fill in the "help form " on here so we can get a better idea of your setup,supplement schedules and husbandry then we can help you out a little better as we will have more knowledge about your cham and the above mentioned things i will say this for now..standing water in a dish is very very harmful for you cham,as you stated he poops in it,if the cham drinks from this water he will become sick quickly i would sugest you remove the water asap..and please fill out the "how to ask for help form"

 

[carol5208]

That might look cool but I sure wouldn't have it in my enclosure. I would think he could possible drown in it also as it looks rather deep. I would hope he never drinks out of it especially if he poops in it (yuk) and I wouldn't even want him sitting in it if he poops in it for that matter. Not very sanitary at all. I would remove as the others have suggested.

 

[Leezochka]

I am not sure why it is such a bad idea to have a fogger, and I would really like to know your thoughts on in. I searched the forum, but nothing against it so far.
Other than breeding bacteria (which, like I said, we keep in check by daily cleanings) I really don't see the harm, and it keeps humidity levels up. It certainly not in there to look cool. Plus he looooves sleeping by the bowl because it stays warm at night. And no, he does no drink from it, he has a drip system he likes.
Also, I have seen these guys swim (online), but no reports in ways of drowning. Is that common?

 

[carol5208]

I am not sure why it is such a bad idea to have a fogger, and I would really like to know your thoughts on in. I searched the forum, but nothing against it so far.
Other than breeding bacteria (which, like I said, we keep in check by daily cleanings) I really don't see the harm, and it keeps humidity levels up. It certainly not in there to look cool. Plus he looooves sleeping by the bowl because it stays warm at night. And no, he does no drink from it, he has a drip system he likes.
Also, I have seen these guys swim (online), but no reports in ways of drowning. Is that common?

Its my personal preference and it is just what I would not have in my cage as I said.Are you there every second to check for poop? I just would not want to take the chance of feces sitting in there and him in the bowl or drinking from it. Do you know for a fact that he does not drink from it? Some chameleons do not drink in front of their owners for whatever reason. From what I have learned chameleons like a drop in temperature at night as it occurs in their natural habitat so that is interesting that he would try to warm up at night next to the bowl??? Not sayin that is not what is happening here. We cannot tell you what to do, only make suggestions and you either take the advice or do what you want. My neighbors across the street had two chameleons. They were young though and one fell in a water bowl and died. It could not get out and that is why it died. Your bowl looks deep, that is what I was thinking about the drowning hazard.

 

[Leezochka]

Its my personal preference and it is just what I would not have in my cage as I said.Are you there every second to check for poop? I just would not want to take the chance of feces sitting in there and him in the bowl or drinking from it. Do you know for a fact that he does not drink from it? Some chameleons do not drink in front of their owners for whatever reason. From what I have learned chameleons like a drop in temperature at night as it occurs in their natural habitat so that is interesting that he would try to warm up at night next to the bowl??? Not sayin that is not what is happening here. We cannot tell you what to do, only make suggestions and you either take the advice or do what you want. My neighbors across the street had two chameleons. They were young though and one fell in a water bowl and died. It could not get out and that is why it died. Your bowl looks deep, that is what I was thinking about the drowning hazard.

Carol, you do bring up valid points. I really cannot positively say he never drinks from there. I will cover the thing with a cheese cloth to catch poop. And yeah, I have no idea why he sleeps there at night, as the temp near the bowl is 80-85, while elsewhere in the cage at night it is 70-75. Just a strange Cham i guess.

 

[carol5208]

I could be wrong but just something to think about ya know. Better safe then sorry, you know the old motto! I hardly ever see my chameleon drink, it drives me nuts!!! But his urate always looks decent so I know he has to drinking at some point. I run a dripper also.

 

[VeiledChams]

Rather than having the fogger in the cage, put it on top, that way the fog falls to the floor, covering the entire height of the cage, thus keeping the humidity up all around.

 

[Leezochka]

Rather than having the fogger in the cage, put it on top, that way the fog falls to the floor, covering the entire height of the cage, thus keeping the humidity up all around.

Doh! That is brilliant, thank you!