Weird Cham Behavior

[cushcameleon]

For the past couple days I have been noticing a change in my rudis chameleons temperment. For some parts of the day I noticed that he hangs out on the bottom of the cage, I have never seen him place all four limbs on the floor (normally he has one hand and one foot grabbing the cage and the other two are placed on the floor). He absolutely hates water and every time the mister comes on, he runs around his cage. He is very healthy, I see him drink regularly and he eats like a horse. But I am questioning wether or not I should get rid of the mister and return to a dripper, because he only goes to the bottom of the cage during each misting and he normally stays there for about 20 minutes. Do you think the mister is causing him to become to stressed out? Or could there be something else I am missing? By the way, my carpet chameleon has an identical setup and is doing perfectly fine.

 

[dragongoddess]

My rudis had a similar reaction when I first installed my Mist King system, he would run to the complete opposite end of the cage. But we have had it for three weeks now and he has gotten used to it. He will actually move under the spray. How long has it been since you installed the system?

 

[cushcameleon]

I just checked on him again and noticed that he is back up in the top of his cage now. His tail is also shedding and he does have some abnormal behavior when he sheds. But my main concern is the way in which he stresses over the mister. Has anyone else had this problem with their chameleons before? I have used the mister on him for over 3 weeks and he still has not gotten used to it.

 

[summoner12]

He might not like the cool mist... Maybe look into how people around the forum warm the water for misting systems.

 

[dodolah]

what's the ambient and basking temp (if you put any heat lamp) in your rudis enclosure?

 

[cushcameleon]

what's the ambient and basking temp (if you put any heat lamp) in your rudis enclosure?

Basking temp is at 83%, bottom of cage is about low 70s.

 

[dodolah]

daytime temp is good.
They usually start to stress out when the temp get over 80 F.
Try switching off the heat lamp.
perhaps, he's avoiding the basking spot.
http://www.rockymountainrudis.com/rudis/care/care_index.htm#temp

I would keep the misting system.
http://www.rockymountainrudis.com/rudis/care/care_index.htm#water

 

[cushcameleon]

daytime temp is good.
They usually start to stress out when the temp get over 80 F.
Try switching off the heat lamp.
perhaps, he's avoiding the basking spot.
http://www.rockymountainrudis.com/rudis/care/care_index.htm#temp

I would keep the misting system.
http://www.rockymountainrudis.com/rudis/care/care_index.htm#water

Rockymountainrudis.com is a great site. Thats where I learned all my general rudis husbandry. I know he is not avoiding the basking lamp, because I see him basking directly underneath it for several parts during the day. The water must is cool, which I'm guessing is stressing him out. I may look into heating the water source a bit. I will also play around with the heat lamp, just to make sure.