Chameleon sleeping with tail submerged in water dish

[SyCam]

Pretty much the title, but random question. I just noticed my chameleon fell asleep tonight with his tail (the curled portion) completely under water in his water bowl. Should I wake up and make him move or is it pretty harmless? Sorry if its a naïve question. Thanks for the help!

 

[Chase]

You should remove the water bowl. It’s not necessary for them.

 

[SyCam]

Appreciate the reply but my chameleon care is fine and every keeper seems to have their own opinion on water bowls (and Rocinante loves his!). Just curious if extended submersion in water is harmful for chameleons.

Thanks!

EDIT : I moved the bowl to another part of the cage temporarily just in case since I didn't get an immediate reply but I'm still curious what you all think

 

[Chase]

Appreciate the reply but my chameleon care is fine and every keeper seems to have their own opinion on water bowls. Just curious if extended submersion in water is harmful for chameleons.

Thanks!

May I ask why you think it’s ok to have a water bowl?

To answer the question- I’d assume it’s not harmful for extended submersion as if it was raining all night in the wild they’d be wet constantly through the rain

 

[SyCam]

May I ask why you think it’s ok to have a water bowl?

To answer the question- I’d assume it’s not harmful for extended submersion as if it was raining all night in the wild they’d be wet constantly through the rain

Thanks! That makes a lot of sense

 

[leedragon]

Pretty much the title, but random question. I just noticed my chameleon fell asleep tonight with his tail (the curled portion) completely under water in his water bowl. Should I wake up and make him move or is it pretty harmless? Sorry if its a naïve question. Thanks for the help!

It´s not an opimion. It´s basic chameleon husbandry. Looks here for threads and you will see chameleons should not have water gatherings in ther cage. No waterfalls, no bowls, no palladariums nothing. A normal healthy chameleon don´t drink from standing water, and watergatherings are breathing ground for bacteria which chameleons seen extre sensitive for.

 

[Serbianchameleon]

I agree with @leedragon . Chameleons dont drink from water dishes because they dont know that water is in there. They drink droplets from leaves. Did you see him drink from it? If he is drinking normally from water dish do what you want but I never saw that. Do you spray the enclosure?

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

Appreciate the reply but my chameleon care is fine and every keeper seems to have their own opinion on water bowls (and Rocinante loves his!). Just curious if extended submersion in water is harmful for chameleons.

Thanks!

EDIT : I moved the bowl to another part of the cage temporarily just in case since I didn't get an immediate reply but I'm still curious what you all think

Water bowls contain a lot of bacteria, not to mention it is just not natural. It is our responsibility to make our cham feel as at home as possible. This makes me wonder if there are other things in your husbandry that should be checked. If you dont mind, can you fill this out please

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Appreciate the reply but my chameleon care is fine and every keeper seems to have their own opinion on water bowls (and Rocinante loves his!). Just curious if extended submersion in water is harmful for chameleons.

Thanks!

EDIT : I moved the bowl to another part of the cage temporarily just in case since I didn't get an immediate reply but I'm still curious what you all think

I think we all think the water bowl is a bad idea, and should be removed.
If he uses it, I have to wonder if there's not enough drinking water available via misting or dripper. I'm not saying there isn't—IDK, but it does seem to contrast with their natural proclivities.

If you choose to keep the water bowl, please—for the sake of your cham's health—clean it and change the water daily. I would use distilled or RO water—just as for misting.

 

[SyCam]

I think we all think the water bowl is a bad idea, and should be removed.
If he uses it, I have to wonder if there's not enough drinking water available via misting or dripper. I'm not saying there isn't—IDK, but it does seem to contrast with their natural proclivities.

If you choose to keep the water bowl, please—for the sake of your cham's health—clean it and change the water daily. I would use distilled or RO water—just as for misting.

Yep it’s a small bowl that’s changed regularly (That's he drinks from consistently) and he is misted twice a day. My husbandry is perfectly fine and this thread was not a cry for help haha. I appreciate all of your guys' concerns, you all seem like great people concerned for the well being of chameleons but I got it under control I promise . Life isn’t always black and white and chameleon personality isn't either. Cheers friends, I’ll try to google my actual question some more.

(As a note, I brought it up in a previous thread but while I've owned reptiles my whole life and can take some misplaced criticism, I can't image this style of aggressive 'teaching' is very welcoming to new members. I've noticed it a lot in these forums over my last few months here as an observer. I get that most of you are well meaning and have the best interests of the chameleons at heart but that urge to find mistakes in husbandry is probably discouraging a lot of newer chameleon owners from seeking help here. If I can't ask a simple question about a tail being submerged underwater (after very politely making it clear I wasn't looking for a discussion on the cons of having a bowl) without being bombarded about by wrong I am for having a 2 inch water dish in my enclosure then imagine how a genuine newbie might feel when he/she wants to ask a quick question about their care. I urge the staff/moderation team here to really take a lot at this practice)

 

[jamest0o0]

I haven't met any chameleon masters that recommend using water bowls... seriously, check the credentials of the people giving you info. This forum has people that have kept rare/unique/tricky species, bred them, have years and years of experience, etc. None of them will recommend using a water bowl.

All of that said, if cleaned daily, I think it is safe and if you want to use it go ahead. I more so question the other husbandry(not saying yours is certainly wrong-IDK) because almost anytime we see someone using a water dish, everything else is off too...wrong uvb, few plants, poor diet, etc. Again, not saying that's you, but the bad advice people get often comes in a bundle. We also see people that want to do things differently, just for the sake of doing things differently and then they disappear because their chameleon got sick or died and they don't want to admit they should have listened. So that's why everyone's being concerned, not that they want to be hard on you.

Also to give you the benefit... I have kept 3 different species, right now I have a 4 year old yellow lip calumma parsonii parsonii and he is thriving in a very unconventional way. I only do this because it is what works for my situation having such a large chameleon, but he is kept on a free range, gets water for 1-2hrs in the shower 1x per week(mist setting) and I fog near him for about 5 hours, 4 nights out of the week with a dehumidifier running so the room doesn't turn into a swamp lol. Other than that, he eats a lot and gets no other water, urates are always white and moist. I do think they retain hydration pretty well from whichever source they can get it. Point being, if he's drinking from your water bowl, it's cleaned thoroughly and regularly, fecals/urates are good, and other husbandry is on point, then I think it'll be fine even if it's not the generally recommended way.

 

[Klyde O'Scope]

Yep it’s a small bowl that’s changed regularly (That's he drinks from consistently) and he is misted twice a day. My husbandry is perfectly fine and this thread was not a cry for help haha. I appreciate all of your guys' concerns, you all seem like great people concerned for the well being of chameleons but I got it under control I promise . Life isn’t always black and white and chameleon personality isn't either. Cheers friends, I’ll try to google my actual question some more.

(As a note, I brought it up in a previous thread but while I've owned reptiles my whole life and can take some misplaced criticism, I can't image this style of aggressive 'teaching' is very welcoming to new members. I've noticed it a lot in these forums over my last few months here as an observer. I get that most of you are well meaning and have the best interests of the chameleons at heart but that urge to find mistakes in husbandry is probably discouraging a lot of newer chameleon owners from seeking help here. If I can't ask a simple question about a tail being submerged underwater (after making it very politely making it clear I wasn't looking for a discussion on the cons of having a bowl) without being bombarded about by wrong I am for having a 2 inch water dish in my enclosure then imagine how a genuine newbie might feel when he/she wants to ask a quick question about their care. I urge the staff/moderation team here to really take a lot at this practice)

"If you see something, say something." It can apply to a lot of things, and husbandry is one of the main focuses of this forum.

 

[SyCam]

I haven't met any chameleon masters that recommend using water bowls... seriously, check the credentials of the people giving you info. This forum has people that have kept rare/unique/tricky species, bred them, have years and years of experience, etc. None of them will recommend using a water bowl.

All of that said, if cleaned daily, I think it is safe and if you want to use it go ahead. I more so question the other husbandry(not saying yours is certainly wrong-IDK) because almost anytime we see someone using a water dish, everything else is off too...wrong uvb, few plants, poor diet, etc. Again, not saying that's you, but the bad advice people get often comes in a bundle. We also see people that want to do things differently, just for the sake of doing things differently and then they disappear because their chameleon got sick or died and they don't want to admit they should have listened. So that's why everyone's being concerned, not that they want to be hard on you.

Also to give you the benefit... I have kept 3 different species, right now I have a 4 year old yellow lip calumma parsonii parsonii and he is thriving in a very unconventional way. I only do this because it is what works for my situation having such a large chameleon, but he is kept on a free range, gets water for 1-2hrs in the shower 1x per week(mist setting) and I fog near him for about 5 hours, 4 nights out of the week with a dehumidifier running so the room doesn't turn into a swamp lol. Other than that, he eats a lot and gets no other water, urates are always white and moist. I do think they retain hydration pretty well from whichever source they can get it. Point being, if he's drinking from your water bowl, it's cleaned thoroughly and regularly, fecals/urates are good, and other husbandry is on point, then I think it'll be fine even if it's not the generally recommended way.

Let me be the first then somehow? My Trioceros Hoehnelii seems to love his and perches on the side while drinking. He also drinks from the leaves after a misting. I'll have to take a video for you all sometime.

The issue here, though, is in my edit in the previous comment. We are now at 10+ replies to an issue that wasn't an issue at all. An unwanted discussion that I politely tried to sidestep out of respect for you all and your knowledge.

 

[Serbianchameleon]

Let me be the first then somehow? My Trioceros Hoehnelii seems to love his and perches on the side while drinking. He also drinks from the leaves after a misting. I'll have to take a video for you all sometime.

The issue here though, is my edit in the previous comment. We are now at 10+ replies to an issue that wasn't an issue at all. An unwanted discussion that I politely tried to sidestep out of respect for you all and your knowledge.

I totally get you but it doesn’t hurt to do a husbandry check just for you to he sure. We don't get anything from helping you except we love to do that. Sorry if me or anyone else was harsh.

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

Let me be the first then somehow? My Trioceros Hoehnelii seems to love his and perches on the side while drinking. He also drinks from the leaves after a misting. I'll have to take a video for you all sometime.

The issue here though, is my edit in the previous comment. We are now at 10+ replies to an issue that wasn't an issue at all. An unwanted discussion that I politely tried to sidestep out of respect for you all.

We didn't mean to offend you. We just want what is best for the chameleon, that is our job on here. It is usually people who have many mistakes in their husbandry that use water bowls. Many people think that their way is right and their husbandry is all correct, not saying that's you of course, but we dont know you personally and dont know if your husbandry is actually correct as you say. If you dont want to fill out the form then fine, but all we wanted to do was make sure the chameleon is being taken care of.

 

[jamest0o0]

Let me be the first then somehow? My Trioceros Hoehnelii seems to love his and perches on the side while drinking. He also drinks from the leaves after a misting. I'll have to take a video for you all sometime.

The issue here though, is my edit in the previous comment. We are now at 10+ replies to an issue that wasn't an issue at all. An unwanted discussion that I politely tried to sidestep out of respect for you all.

I was taking your side buddy, please read what I said. Keeping a hoeneli doesn't make you a master anymore than me keeping a Parsons does lol. However both of us seem to do it in unconventional ways.

If you know so much though, why are you asking us why your chameleon's tail is in water, when almost everyone here doesn't even have water bowls? You provide us no other information, what else are we supposed to say? It seems like you posted this thread knowing what you were going to get and are just trying to prove people wrong(including people like myself which took your side).

Readily drinking in chameleons can also mean dehydration. Most hydrated chameleons will not quickly go to water, especially bowls. However, I'd believe that yours has just been 'trained' to do so.

 

[SyCam]

I totally get you but it doesn’t hurt to do a husbandry check just for you to he sure. We don't get anything from helping you except we love to do that. Sorry if me or anyone else was harsh.

I appreciate it, thanks. I have had my husbandry checked a few times already though and myself and Rocinante are very happy with how we have things set up.

 

[SyCam]

I was taking your side buddy, please read what I said. Keeping a hoeneli doesn't make you a master anymore than me keeping a Parsons does lol. However both of us seem to do it in unconventional ways.

If you know so much though, why are you asking us why your chameleon's tail is in water, when almost everyone here doesn't even have water bowls? You provide us no other information, what else are we supposed to say? It seems like you posted this thread knowing what you were going to get and are just trying to prove people wrong(including people like myself which took your side).

Readily drinking in chameleons can also mean dehydration. Most hydrated chameleons will not quickly go to water, especially bowls. However, I'd believe that yours has just been 'trained' to do so.

I wasn't attacking you, I'm glad you agree that care and personality isn't always black and white (I only mentioned his species to point out it wasn't common and his personality and habits could easily differ from the usual panther/veileds here).

Lol I love all of you guys, you all seem to care so much for the chameleons. I really do appreciate that. I asked my question because I couldn't find an immediate answer anywhere. I was hoping someone here might have some experience or anecdote that could help me. It was mostly curiosity since I was able to quickly fix the issue anyway. There is no offense being taken at all I promise. I'm a grown adult and can have difficult conversations haha. I just urge you all to look into the aggressive husbandry critiquing especially when it's explicitly not requested.

 

[kinyonga]

The chameleon's tail being in the water dish over night should not be a problem IMHO. I'm not a vet and what I say comes from experiences (mine and others) and reading, etc.

When I first started keeping chameleons over 30 years ago I DID have water dishes in the cages...and chameleons DO/WILL drink out of water dishes...some even sleep in them. I always cleaned every dish out every day...but decided after a while that I didn't want to risk bacteria being a problem and quit using them. My initial reason for having them there was to also provide water for the insects in the cage.

Just for the record...chameleons also drink from water that pools in the floor of the cage...which also can carry bacteria.

Also...just for the record...I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING WATER DISHES FOR CHAMELEONS...just because of the possibilities.
Just like I've never recommended using a substrate which can also cause problems. It's often easier to prevent problems than to correct them. For years now I've felt, why risk things....give the chameleons what they need with the least risk to them.

 

[jamest0o0]

I wasn't attacking you, I'm glad you agree that care and personality isn't always black and white (I only mentioned his species to point out it wasn't common and his personality and habits could easily differ from the usual panther/veileds here).

Lol I love all of you guys, you all seem to care so much for the chameleons. I really do appreciate that. I asked my question because I couldn't find an immediate answer anywhere. I was hoping someone here might have some experience or anecdote that could help me. It was mostly curiosity since I was able to quickly fix the issue anyway. There is no offense being taken at all I promise. I'm a grown adult and can have difficult conversations haha. I just urge you all to look into the aggressive husbandry critiquing especially when it's explicitly not requested.

Thank you for responding civilly, I apologize if I came off wrong. I was just trying to give you the background on why people are saying things the way they do. You seem intelligent and capable, but from our perspective, if we took 100 people that have posted with water bowls on this forum, maybe under 10 would actually be doing it correctly. So it's not often we come across somebody that is making it work in a safe manner. You can imagine from that, some of us might just jump to assumptions, as all people do in one way or another. I do agree, we shouldn't attack people with husbandry and I think most are pretty good at that. I actually don't post all that often because of how busy I am, but today is my day off and with no kids! I am happy to discuss and I don't like to immediately criticize people unless they're straight up rude and hopeless. Goes back to what I said originally, who would I be to say you're wrong, when people would be puzzled by my care. The health of the animal doesn't lie though... it is important to make sure unconventional methods don't lead to longterm problems down the road. Something I keep in mind with my husbandry as well.

So let's get back to the tail in water. What are your temperatures like, specifically at night? Maybe it's a way to cool down? Trioceros do like those chilly nights.