can cham drink to much

[Killer Chams]

so i just got this wc ambanja that is way dehydrated and i was wondering if panthers could over drink. im asking because today after he drank a ton of water he opened his mouth real wide and leaned forward let about a teaspoon of water come out his mouth. i had never seen anything like that before and im still kinda like wtf was that. he is acting fine now https://www.chameleonforums.com/new-wc-ambanja-104556/

 

[armyrec1]

lol our male Panther does something like this I think, he loves to drink from our water spray even though he has water dripping in his cage. When we spray his cage down, he will come over to the spray head and drink from it....then he lets the water drool out of the side of his mouth lol....like a drooling dog!!
I dont know why, maybe it feels good? lol....but it certainly always amuses us and he has been doing it for a few years now lol.

 

[pssh]

I've never had it happen, but I've heard of other people's chameleons drinking too much. Some have started to foam a little at the mouth, others spit it up, and some do both. I don't know how normal it is though.

 

[Psychobunny]

A cham with a drinking problem???

But seriously, my Smeagie drinks way more then he needs to.

His urates are really gross, it's like a whole egg white hanging off a branch!!
I thing he does it deliberately because I have to open the cage and take time to clean it up, which gives him plenty opportunity to make a sneaky dash for it!!

 

[deadhd5]

I would rather have a cham that drinks too much than too little. Spitting it back up should not be a regular thing though. Keep an eye on that behavior...

 

[Carlton]

so i just got this wc ambanja that is way dehydrated and i was wondering if panthers could over drink. im asking because today after he drank a ton of water he opened his mouth real wide and leaned forward let about a teaspoon of water come out his mouth. i had never seen anything like that before and im still kinda like wtf was that. he is acting fine now https://www.chameleonforums.com/new-wc-ambanja-104556/

Chams don't have a sphincter that closes their stomach off from their esophagus. They also have fairly small stomachs. It is possible for a very thirsty cham to drink until its stomach is overfull and some liquid can back up into their throat. Probably what you saw. It is also common for a very thirsty (dehydrated) cham to drool really heavily while they are drinking. They can form drippy strings of clear saliva that might look like they've regurgitated something. I know because I had a wc melleri in pretty rough shape who did this almost every day for months. But I also think he had suffered some kidney damage due to his previous bad care so he was probably never as "efficient" at water conservation after that.

I'd suggest giving your cham more frequent chances to drink rather than fewer longer drinks. Make sure his cage humidity is correct too. He'll get the water he needs but it won't cause "backups" that could cause him to aspirate the extra water. It will take him some time to make up for his dehydration but once he is more stable and his reserves are better he will hopefully stop doing this.