beardeds7587
New Member
i was wondering if they can i dnt think so but i want others thoughts ..i knw most reptiles can ..thanks for ur input 
Can Chameleon Absord Water through their skin
- Thread starter beardeds7587
- Start date
Regarding your comment, the amount of water needed depends on what kind of Chameleon one is keeping. Some require a higher humidity than others. It also depends where a person is located, and what type of enclosure they have. Sometimes a couple of mists and a dripper is not enough (or too much).
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SSimsswiSS
Avid Member
i was wondering if they can i dnt think so but i want others thoughts ..i knw most reptiles can ..thanks for ur input
No. Their skin is designed to repel water.
Syn
Avid Member
Are you sure? I remember reading a thread a few months ago that explained their skin can absorb water in very minuscule amounts.
PedroANDAshley
New Member
Well i have also heard alot of reptiles can absorb water thru their vents?
Is that true?
well for chams?
Is that true?
well for chams?
FFSTRescue
New Member
from what I have studied, the main purpose of their scales is to prevent fluids from leaving the body such as from overheating. However, there are areas on the body that can allow this fluid exchange, where water can be absorbed, and water can be lost on hot days, with these areas being between the scales, areas of thinner and smaller scales, the vent (which a significant portion of water is able to be absorbed). So they can absorb water in some places on their bodies along with ingesting it orally and taking it in through the cloaca, and the scales prevent them from losing those fluids.
PedroANDAshley
New Member
Cool to know
I always thought it was ridiculous that the vent would absorb water
I always thought it was ridiculous that the vent would absorb water
FFSTRescue
New Member
I have read that as well. So many chams become dehydrated despite extra attempts at watering when the humidity is too low. And seeing this happen for myself leads me to believe that they acquire a significant portion of their fluids from the humidity through air exchange in their lungs at the alveolar level.
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SSimsswiSS
Avid Member
This is one area that has more misinformation than most. Due to their nonporous skin they do not absorb water in this manner. They can absorb water orally and cloacally. Humidity helps the chameleon better retain the moisture taken in orally.
Monties1982
Avid Member
I think it's more that they lose water more slowly through their lungs in higher humidity rather than actually gaining water from the air.
FFSTRescue
New Member
... maintaining homeostasis, that definitely makes perfect sense. Humans can actually acquire fluids through capillary exchange in the alveoli, for example for people with COPD and need the CPAP to push fluids back into their lungs, water lost from the lungs goes back into the lungs via this machine, but exchange does take place both ways without it, but like you said, it is more common to lose fluids via that pathway. But in reptiles, I wonder if the humidity actually acts as the CPAP would pushing fluid back into the capillaries due to the high humidity and low level of fluids at the tip of the capillary in the slightly dehydrated chameleon
gaxmode
Member
Actually cpap pushes fluid out of the way via positive pressure, to get oxygen passed the fluids and into the alveoli.. cpap is a temp fix as they would then need nitroglycerin to vasodilate blood vessels to allow extra lung fluid into the blood stream, then a diuretic to then urinate and remove the excess fluid... just an FYI!
Syn
Avid Member
Woah, I can't read that sentence all at once.
Syn
Avid Member
LOL no I don't mean it that way, I am just not up to date with that sort of terminology. I had to use a dictionary...Lol sorry.. I was never one good with words
FFSTRescue
New Member
That's exactly what it does, but I wasn't trying to give a lesson and instructions on the mechanical function of CPAP, and that is not something I would say to my EMT students, I was trying to relate the uptake of fluids in the lungs in comparison to reptiles using CPAP as an example, overall saying the body can acquire fluids via the lungs, and that is an example why. With CPAP, the fluids are pushed aside AS WELL AS back into the capillaries out of the alveolar space through positive pressure, hence the name CPAP, and it has been found to increase hydration temporarily, though in miniscule levels, but it is the CONCEPT that I speak of. You have to speak to people in simple terms, which is what I was trying to do, by saying that an animal can acquire fluids through the lungs at the capillary level. No need to critique me for an example that was meant for those with a very basic understanding of science in general, now if this was an EMS forum, I sure hope you WOULD critique that
. That's what is hard about these forums, you are speaking to a wide audience, many different educational levels, so the way one explains something may not be the way someone else would. Can you pick apart my thesis that is coming due? I could really use it 
