I was just about to make thread about this very subject.
I trained my Jackson's to drink from a $3 Petco rodent bottle, i acquired a month ago. It wasn't easy. First he was hesitant to even go near this new foreign object that just showed up in his enclosure, lol.
The trick is getting them to associate the bottle with being a source of water. I did this by simply misting the areas of the enclosure directly around the bottle, so he had to venture near it to quench his thirst. Large amounts of droplets tend to accumillate on the outside of bottle and the metal tip, so mine soon learned to lick the water off several parts of the bottle. Once he noticed that every time he licked water from the tip more water would come out, he now independently goes to it every time he wants to drink.
It's also good to note that the bottle i have leaks from the tip, slightly - which in this case, is good as it helped him recognize the water source. The leak is not bad enough to cause water to accumulate on the cage bottom…i would say a drop or two would leak out every 30 minutes or so, unless he's drinking from it.
So just to make the training easier, you may want to find a bottle that has a reputation for leaking.
Yea I've heard it mentioned before but haven't seen proof it's possible. Bush baby is the first testimonial on it I've seen. But if u try keep us posted. Sounds like it would be very interesting to watch.
Ps. Hi Amanda
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My boy quenching his thirst!
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I've read all the negatives about water falls and water dishes etc. Some say they don't recognize the dish as a water source. I never responded to this claim in the other post, but my wife told me I should put a water dish in his enclosure to avoid the spray bottle. I told her that chams don't see standing water in a dish as a water source. She called BS on the forum and so I thought I would prove her wrong.
I'll follow your method and see how it works out. I have high hopes, as my little guy is so far very tame and like people as well as drinks out of a bowl if we give it to him. (which we don't, as I mist his leaves most of the time.)
but it's a good one. I wonder why it never stayed. It's almost a surefire way that if your away for a day and don't have a mister, that your cham won't get dehydrated ( as long as it knows how to use it ).
Just an update for those who may care:
This worked far better than I ever expected.
I placed the water bottle as high up as I could (not as high as I wanted) and kind of buried it behind some of the shrubbery in his terrarium. It may help that it's also a green color.
Jackson is familiar with the water bottle, so as soon as I opened the door he perked up from his basking spot and walked toward the other side of the cage I usually spray.
This time I didn't spray the leaves, but the water bottle and the tube as previously posted.
To my surprise (I thought it would take more coaxing then this) he went straight for the water dripping down on the water bottle pipe. I removed the spray bottle, and grabbed my camera. He stayed there at the water bottle drinking!
Here's a few images I took of him enjoying a nice cool drink:
Now lets see how many times I have to do this before he remembers to go there on his own for water.
