Water Issue

[Roger.bowen]

My baby veiled that I got about 3.5 weeks ago is still struggling to find his water. I have a dripper going that drips water all day onto leaves. The problem is he completely ignores the fact that water is going onto the leaves and climbs on the roof to catch the tiny amount of water left there. The problem with that is, there isnt enough water to keep him hydrated on the roof but there is with the water dripping on the leaves

 

[Duma]

Can you mist the screen on the roof really well multiple times a day?

 

[Roger.bowen]

Can you mist the screen on the roof really well multiple times a day?

I mist it only when I'm at home, usually after achool

 

[clumsyjellyfish]

Try holding him near the leaf where the water is and gently touching his mouth to a wet spot

 

[jajeanpierre]

I mist it only when I'm at home, usually after achool

If you are not around to supply water in a way your chameleon will take it, you are not doing your job. Get an automatic mister. MistKing is a great one and won't be destroyed if it runs dry. Water is a necessity. They are not a dog--they don't go to a bowl to drink or to the dripper because it is convenient for you.

 

[Roger.bowen]

Try holding him near the leaf where the water is and gently touching his mouth to a wet spot

Im able to pick the little guy up but he wants to get back in the cage no matter what, so if i try to touch him to a leaf, he will grab onto it and run back ingoring if it was wet or not

 

[jajeanpierre]

Im able to pick the little guy up but he wants to get back in the cage no matter what, so if i try to touch him to a leaf, he will grab onto it and run back ingoring if it was wet or not

I think both you and @clumsyjellyfish do not seem to have a good understanding of the nature of a chameleon, especially a baby chameleon. They do not learn where or how to drink water. Maybe as an adult they might, but a baby doesn't seem to learn those things. The downside of allowing them to learn is that your chameleon dies before it learns.

Holding a chameleon will only stress it. It is thinking it is about to die and you are expecting it to drink water???? Chameleons are not scaled mammals. They have very limited problem solving abilities.

They are mainly an ambush predators--they sit in one spot and wait for prey to come close. My wild caughts tend to move only about their body length to hunt prey. Anything more than a body length out of their reach isn't hunted. If food doesn't come pretty close to them, they will starve. The same thing applies to water. In nature, water falls everywhere when it falls. Babies are less likely to figure out that water is in one particular spot in the enclosure.

 

[Roger.bowen]

I think both you and @clumsyjellyfish do not seem to have a good understanding of the nature of a chameleon, especially a baby chameleon. They do not learn where or how to drink water. Maybe as an adult they might, but a baby doesn't seem to learn those things. The downside of allowing them to learn is that your chameleon dies before it learns.

Holding a chameleon will only stress it. It is thinking it is about to die and you are expecting it to drink water???? Chameleons are not scaled mammals. They have very limited problem solving abilities.

They are mainly an ambush predators--they sit in one spot and wait for prey to come close. My wild caughts tend to move only about their body length to hunt prey. Anything more than a body length out of their reach isn't hunted. If food doesn't come pretty close to them, they will starve. The same thing applies to water. In nature, water falls everywhere when it falls. Babies are less likely to figure out that water is in one particular spot in the enclosure.

Im going to take your advice from before and get a mistking, but how do i prevent my plant from being over watered when the mist king sprays, should I just like spray for short durations but like every few hours

 

[jajeanpierre]

Im going to take your advice from before and get a mistking, but how do i prevent my plant from being over watered when the mist king sprays, should I just like spray for short durations but like every few hours

There's a couple of things you can do. Pick a plant that can cope with a lot of water. Expect to replace it. Build a fake tree using natural branches as the main trunk and branches and attach pots of plants to the branches as if those pots of plants were leaves. Make sure you have a lot of foliage so most of the mist falls on the leaves--where you want it--and not on the soil.

The biggest challenge is dealing with all the run off water.

You have a little veiled, is that correct? Veileds don't need as much misting some other species. Babies are always more delicate and dehydrate more easily, but misting an adult veiled two times a day is probably adequate. Although I have a big male veiled I am not an expert--he's on the same schedule as my montane species.

Some take a lot of time with the mister running before they even start to drink. Remember, chronic low-grade dehydration is a huge problem with pet chameleons whether their owners recognize it or not. Chronic dehydration causes kidney damage.

Besides drinking, they use the mist to help clean their eyes. There is a connection to the many people on this forum writing about eye issues and the fact they don't have misters.

I've acclimated newly imported wild caught montanes without a mister, but it is not easy or convenient. I would have to work my day around making sure I was at home to mist them and I was never happy about it.

Do make sure your mister is always working and doesn't run dry. With only one cage, you won't be going through a lot of water, so don't put a lot in the reservoir. You do not want water just sitting in the reservoir to avoid bacteria build up plus algae.

 

[KLowery88]

You really won't regret the MistKing. I know it can be a bit of a sticker shock to spend that much, but it really is investing in the health of the chameleon. They're very well made systems that will last years, and they have plenty of neat accessories. My favorite is the rain nozzle that goes on top of the cage and sprays from above.

 

[carol5208]

Can you post a picture of your whole set up?

 

[Carlton]

Im going to take your advice from before and get a mistking, but how do i prevent my plant from being over watered when the mist king sprays, should I just like spray for short durations but like every few hours

Most plants we use in cham cages can tolerate getting misted often, but what they don't want is sitting in saturated potting soil. You can pot them in a soil that is fast draining...or improve the drain speed of the soil you have by adding pebbles, pumice, perlite, very coarse sand (NOT fine) to the lower region of the potting soil (not on the surface), adding pebbles or even broken up packing peanuts to the bottom of the pot, enlarging the pot drainage holes, and if you use a pot saucer make sure it doesn't sit full of water.

 

[Roger.bowen]

Can you post a picture of your whole set up?

I don't have the mister yet but here is the setup

 

[clumsyjellyfish]

I think both you and @clumsyjellyfish do not seem to have a good understanding of the nature of a chameleon, especially a baby chameleon. They do not learn where or how to drink water.

I'm sorry if I came across as uneducated on the topic of chameleons, I was simply trying to grasp at possible solutions to this dilemma. While I am aware of the fact above, I was trying to think out of the box a little. Not all chameleons think they are dying when being removed from their cage, and I know chameleons aren't scaled mammals. Sorry to @Roger.bowen and everyone else for the bad advice