Dehydrated Baby Veiled???

[KyleeCartel]

Just got my new baby veiled on September 26. He is eating fine, and doesn't really mind handling. I mist 3-5 times daily, and feed him 5ish small sized crickets every day. He is in a 16x16x30 screen repti breeze, which I will upgrade once he is 6-7 months old. He has a bulb that keeps his basking spot around 85, and a repti 5.0 for uvb.

My only problem is he never drinks when I most the terrarium, instead running away from the water and droplets. His "pee" which is supposed to be white is actually kind of yellowish, which is supposed to mean dehydration. His skin and veil/crest is fine, but what can I do to get some water into him? Any suggestion? Thanks

 

[JamesBryan]

Are you misting with warm water?

Sometimes they don't like cold water sprayed on them.

 

[Dbernardo]

Is it important to dechlorinate the water? I've been setting the water out for 24 hours before using it, but if it doesn't matter I'll use warm water from the tap.

 

[sharp229]

Is that a current picture? Because he doesn't look dehydrated. Since you said his urates are yellow it may just be a slight case of dehydration.

They rarely drink when you are watching. Does he have plenty of real plant leaves to lap drops off of? You could also try a dripper if your not using one.

I haven't had any problems with tap water personally, but the water quality is pretty high where I live. If you have hard water or other problems it could be an issue, but for the most part it should be fine and there should not be enough chlorine to cause problems.

 

[JamesBryan]

Is it important to dechlorinate the water? I've been setting the water out for 24 hours before using it, but if it doesn't matter I'll use warm water from the tap.

Always worth adding a bit of Reptisafe to the water.

 

[junglefries]

Most veils, especially young ones, don't drink in front of humans. Make sure to heavily mist before walking away. Enough water to last a couple minutes. Once he sees you have left, he'll drink. Fridge filtered water or tap water (leave lid off jug for 24hrs for chlorine to evaporate) at room temp should be just fine. They hate cold or hot water.

 

[kplatvoet]

You could also try a dripper - Also if your using a spray bottle to spray try getting the kind you have to pump up - they're only around 10 bucks at Lowes or Home Depot- and it's a finer mist.

 

[KyleeCartel]

Are you misting with warm water?

Sometimes they don't like cold water sprayed on them.

I mist with room temp water but I'll try warm thanks.

 

[KyleeCartel]

Is that a current picture? Because he doesn't look dehydrated. Since you said his urates are yellow it may just be a slight case of dehydration.

They rarely drink when you are watching. Does he have plenty of real plant leaves to lap drops off of? You could also try a dripper if your not using one.

I haven't had any problems with tap water personally, but the water quality is pretty high where I live. If you have hard water or other problems it could be an issue, but for the most part it should be fine and there should not be enough chlorine to cause problems.

He has plenty of leaves, but they're plastic, not sure if that makes any difference, they seem to hold water just fine. I'm going to a garden center probably in a week or two to get some real non toxic plants, and I usually pin some kale or other leafy vegetable to the cage, which collects water and serves as a snack. The picture was taken last week

 

[JHumm]

Your little veiled looks healthy to me! A little yellow in the urates is perfectly normal. Just so long as they aren't dark yellow or orangish color. It took a while before I first saw my cham drink so as long as you mist regularly you should be ok. A dripper is a good idea though. I have mine dripping slowly over some leaves so he's constantly got access when hes thirsty. There was a time when my chameleon protested food and water after moving to a new house. His saliva became really thick and stringy. So I took a plastic syringe and dripped water in front of his nose. Took him a bit to figure it out but he would lap it up until he got his fill. Worked like a charm. Your chameleon looks great though. Eyes and skin appear healthy. I don't think you have anything to worry about!