Ambanja drinking habits

[GarynTampa]

My now 9 month old Ambanja male is up early each morning basking and I have a routine where I hand mist the leaves close to him to induce drinking ~ 9:30 AM. He does this regularly without fail. He will drink from the leaves for a short period, often letting me spray the water into his mouth, then appears to simply lose interest and climbs back under his morning basking spot. (This enclosure is inside our house).

My MistKing comes on at 10:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 2:30 PM and 3:30 PM for 2 minute cycles. All the ivy leaves are dripping like crazy but he shows no interest after any of these cycles, other than the morning hand misting. For as long as I have had him, I don;t recall him drinking after a misting cycle.

His urates are white and his fecal is brown and packed (normal), and his eye turrets are very round and extended (normal) so I don't feel he is lacking hydration.

He still eats like a PIG; crickets, super worms and butter worms up to a dozen of these combinations daily. He eats from a feeding cup, from my hand and from a few free-ranging crickets I let loose in his enclosure.

I read other posts in here where other owners say their Chams gulp water like there is no tomorrow. Maybe Ambanja's just don't drink that much throughout the day.

Any comments from other Ambanja owners.

PS: When I put him outside in his cage, I have a Habba Mister that comes on hourly for 45 seconds. I have seen him drink "occasionally" while outside and this is Florida...HOT and humid!

Gary
Tampa, FL

 

[carol5208]

he looks fantastic! I don't think you have a thing to worry about. I do not have an Ambanja but I really don't believe that Ambanjas have different drinking patterns than any other panther in general. I live in Florida also and my one chameleon drinks well in the morning from his dripper and sometimes later in the day. My other one never drinks even if he is outside in the hot sun. I have to douse his feeders in water to get him hydrated! Or I put a worm under the dripper and the water drips on the worm and then he eats it all wet. Once or twice a week he will drink for a short period under the dripper but I have to follow him around for about an hour to get him to do so.

 

[GarynTampa]

Thanks Carol for your comments...especially since you too are a Floridian.

We keep our house pretty cool with the AC running and I have had to compensate with 2 heat bulbs to maintain the upper level basking temperatures. As you know, running the AC lowers the humidity, and the Mistking system has been a fabulous system to help maintain the humidity in his enclosure.

It just seems odd that he appears to be a morning drinker...not throughout the day as I was expecting.

Gary
Tampa, FL

 

[carol5208]

You chameleon looks very well hydrated and healthy. Some people never see their chameleons drink! I offer water all day long to mine and like I said the one drinks in the am mostly and the other one is a pain in the butt!