Sunken Eyes Hydration Question

Deadpool

New Member
If you went to the photos and checked out my recent thread showing new pictures of my chameleons ( https://www.chameleonforums.com/new-lens-new-pics-13170/ ) you can see that Hera's eyes are slightly sunken in. She's always been this way, and the only way she'll drink water is if it's dangling from the top of the cage or dangling on a leaf. Our other chameleon Athena will actually just rub her face into the leaf that has water and lick it off that way.

Hera has always been lethargic when it comes to getting water, but I figure maybe if we had a hamster water bottle in the cage she'd go for those if she saw the water dangling out from the nozzle.

I dunno, does the humidity play into her sunken eyes? And will the hamster water bottle seem like a good idea? thanks for your help in advance for reading this and extra thanks to those who respond :)
 
Have you tried showering her? Have you examined her poo lately? What does it look like?

Here are some tips I use for hydration...
I actually found a great way to do this that actually conserves a lot more water, which we should always try to do:). Considering that the avg shower for my Chams last around 20-30 mins I bought a pump pressure Hand Sprayer at Lowes for $7 and it has a continuous spray mechanism. I give it several good pumps, put my cham on a plant in the tub...And set that thing to continuously mist and walk away... It holds 44 oz of water that last about probably a little less than 10 mins and I fill it back up( you have to give it a few pumps in the middle of the process to keep the pressure up). The shower probably burns 44 oz of water in about 4 seconds, and I am only bouncing the water off the wall and using some of it.

Some Chams are shy to drink while you are around, some just take larger to become stimulated to drink, and some are freaked out by the massive burst of water into their face. In their cages, I mist my Chams by hand because I like to try to mist them until they drink. I have found that if you just get the leaves wet and walk away before they become stimulated to the point of drinking then sometimes the cham will just sit and let the water dry up. I also like to make sure the water falls on them from above and doesn't hit them directly with the force of spray...Try to simulate rain fall the best you can. I feel this is a more natural water sensation for them and find that the Chams that don't like to be sprayed will tolerate being "rained on". I have read that some species actually use the shape of their casque to channel rain water towards their mouths.

Anyway:)... Her eyes did look a little sunken in, but she is a good looking Cham... And nice sharp pictures! Good luck...

~Joe
 
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Thanks a lot for all that information! We never gave them a shower before, but we do on occasion put them outside for pictures and a spray. We got one of those air pressure water canisters from Osh and it works pretty well. I spray it on top of the mesh cage and let the water build up as droplets begin to form on top and start to slowly drip into the cage. Hera seems to really respond to the droplets like that, but Athena doesn't really care. As I said, Athena just rubs her face into the leaves that have water and lightly uses her tongue to lick it all off.

Hera seems to enjoy snatching the water in droplet form as it's dangling from the top of the cage.

Has anyone successfully trained their Chameleon to drink from a pool of water?
I wonder if dripping the water into a pool of water will make them realize that that's where all the water is and going to....
 
Some Chams will drink from a standing pool of water.. But it is not recommended to do considering it is easy for that dish to start manifesting bacteria, and you don't want your Chams drinking that. I suppose if you were able to train him in a way, where you could put a clean glass in and observe him come to drink it... then remove it... This would probably be the cleanest way to do it. I don't think you would want wouldn't leave a water dish in longer than a day, before removing it to clean it.

~Joe
 
I would check her poop to see if she's dehydrated.

You can try the Big Dripper or make your own then adjust the drip so that it's hanging for a while before it drops.

I've read of people using air pumps and an airstone & putting it in a dish to make the water move but I don't think this is a good idea because for one, the chams poop, crix, etc might go in there. Bacteria will build up.

If you're misting them with a hand pressure sprayer, try to put hot water in it and test it to see how far you should spray so the chams get the warm water & not the hot one. I used to use a pressure sprayer & I'd put really hot water in it from the faucet, when it comes out, it comes out warm.

And my chams do not like cold water, they like it warm or else they run & won't drink.

I know a good hamster bottle will not drip unless the ball is pushed but it's been ages since I've had hamsters.

You might just want to use the Big Dripper or make one.

Oh yeah, make sure if you use the dripper to make it drop down the leaves
 
I would check her poop to see if she's dehydrated.

You can try the Big Dripper or make your own then adjust the drip so that it's hanging for a while before it drops.

I've read of people using air pumps and an airstone & putting it in a dish to make the water move but I don't think this is a good idea because for one, the chams poop, crix, etc might go in there. Bacteria will build up.

If you're misting them with a hand pressure sprayer, try to put hot water in it and test it to see how far you should spray so the chams get the warm water & not the hot one. I used to use a pressure sprayer & I'd put really hot water in it from the faucet, when it comes out, it comes out warm.

And my chams do not like cold water, they like it warm or else they run & won't drink.

I know a good hamster bottle will not drip unless the ball is pushed but it's been ages since I've had hamsters.

You might just want to use the Big Dripper or make one.

Oh yeah, make sure if you use the dripper to make it drop down the leaves

What should I be looking at for their poop?

Yeah I guess still water isn't the best route then.

We have the starter dropper which is kinda small and a pain in the ass to really get it to drop the exact amount that needs to be dropped. It'd be nice if we could setup a small shelf in there or something and have it slowly drip instead of it going through the mesh and building up over time.

We normally wet them down with warm water. But I think the next time we go to the reptile Depot we'll get the larger dripper.
 
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