dehydration?

[italian chameleon]

Hi everyone!

I'm new here! I'm sorry I'll skip the presentations but I'm quite worried about my cham!

the guy is a male veiled about 8 moths old! I just moved him in his huge new cage and he seems to be fine, the only problem is that sometimes he looks dehydrated but sometimes not!

I know you can tell if a cham is dehydrated by looking at the eyes....but I can't really tell...

I'm posting some pics of his face and eye, could you please help me?

here he looks fine to me

here looks awful

what do you think?

please let me know ASAP!

thanks a lot

P.s I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself !I know this is not the best way to join a new forum

I swear I ll make it up to you as soon as this dehydraton thing will be over!

 

[carol5208]

I think he looks ok to me. His eye in the second pic looks a little small but it could just be the way he is turning it. What does his urate(the white part of the poop) look like? Is it white, orange, yellow? How do you hydrate your cham? By the way welcome to the Forums!

 

[italian chameleon]

thanks a lot carol! i've never seen a forum where you have the answers 3 minutes after u post d the questions!!! great!!!!

urates are white-yellowish...sometimes a bit watery but not liquid

i ve not seen any urate in the last 3 days tho cause they re hard to find in the new cage!

i provide abundant misting 1-2 times a day ( a little more these days cause he's shedding)

I also have a bottle with a tiny hole on the bottom that I use 2-3 days a week to drip water, sometimes he's not interested, sometimes he is (like today)

but the situation is a bit more complicated cause last week, (while i was building the new cage), I decided to keep him outside during the day and inside the old cage during night.
the weather was great, he enjoyed being outside but I think I stressed him by taking him in and out repetedly my bad!
I think he was stressed because he was not eating and drinking when i put him back in the old cage before bed time !!!
in a week he only ate like 2 hoppers 2 crickets and a super worm.. i don't know how many wld insects he caught outside tho....
I also noticed that he started shedding during that time so I was not sure if he was fasting because of the shedding or because of the stress.. or both
anyways about 3 days ago I put him in the new cage and he drank, then today he ate 3 crickets not sure if he drank again tho...

I can put more pics if needed

thanks a lot for the quick reply and sorry if my post is too long (boring) and my english is bad!!!!!

 

[Texas Ranger]

You can always put him in the shower if you think he is dehydrated. Make the water room temp. Point the shower head at the wall so he would get a indirect mist. And put him on a plant or something so he can stand in there. And do it for 15 to 20 minutes. They soak up some water threw there skin and it helps them want to drink. When all that water is running down there face.

 

[cityman212]

Yellowing of the Urate is one sign of dehydration. You should monitor and reduce stress as you noted. Keep your dripper going and let it fall onto an area of plants so he can lick off the leaves if he want to. If only misting 2x a day increase? Your picture does seem to show severe, but you should montior. I'm sure the more experianced members can provide some additional tips.

 

[italian chameleon]

You can always put him in the shower if you think he is dehydrated. Make the water room temp. Point the shower head at the wall so he would get a indirect mist. And put him on a plant or something so he can stand in there. And do it for 15 to 20 minutes. They soak up some water threw there skin and it helps them want to drink. When all that water is running down there face.

yeah I was thinking about the shower thing but it seemed a bit brutal!

i ll improve the dripping and misting and see if he gets better

if he doesn't i'll shower him....
so, in the end, how severe do you think the dehydration is?

P.s thanks a lot guys here are some more pics..let me know..

 

[Texas Ranger]

His poop will tell you how bad it is. Showering is not brutal. In most cases. My panthers love showers. It helps them in so many ways. Hydration, eye cleaning, shedding etc... I would try it anyway. Usally if they freak out its because the water is either too cold or too hot. Its rains in there natural enviroment. It just takes them getting used to it. Like with anything eles. But its up to you.

 

[kinyonga]

You said he's not eating much when you bring him back inside at night...I would try feeding him in the morning before you take him outside.

Sunken eyes can be from dehydration but they can also be an indication that the chameleon is not well. Do the insects he eats/might eat outside come from pestacide free areas?

Do you supplement the insects? Gutload/feed them well?

 

[italian chameleon]

You said he's not eating much when you bring him back inside at night...I would try feeding him in the morning before you take him outside.

Sunken eyes can be from dehydration but they can also be an indication that the chameleon is not well. Do the insects he eats/might eat outside come from pestacide free areas?

Do you supplement the insects? Gutload/feed them well?

you're right about morning feeding but when he was in the old cage he was so restless he only tried to get out and didn't care much about food or water....

now in the new cage he's more quiet! he's even finishing shedding... I dripped water 3 times today but he wouldn't drink (yesterday he did tho).... for wild insects I'd worry about pollution rather than pesticides....

I feed my crickets and hoppers mixed salad (romaine lettuce, rocket,carrots,radicchio) fruit and (a little bit of) cat food... I sprinkle calcium over the insects before giving them to the cham! used to do it everyday when he was a baby now I do it like 3 times a week.

do you think I should take him to the vets?

 

[kinyonga]

What was the temperature outside when he was out there? Did he have any shade? Did you mist him several times while he was outside?

 

[Tandra Lee]

cat food is a bad idea as a gutload because of the ingredients it contains,what type of calcium do you use to dust with? and vitamins? how often? there is a help form on here that really helps everyone get a good idea at what may be the problem..reptiles dont absorb water through their skin,a shower will help with his shedding and give him ample time and opportunity to drink if he is thirsty,misting 3-5 times day is optimal and lightly mist the cham too,his dripper should be available for the duration he is awake(12 hrs)if you are having a hard time spotting his fecal matter in his new cage,can you remove some of his plants so you can find one? oh ya lol..welcome to the forum,this is one of the best!! have an awesome day!

 

[italian chameleon]

cat food is a bad idea as a gutload because of the ingredients it contains,what type of calcium do you use to dust with? and vitamins? how often? there is a help form on here that really helps everyone get a good idea at what may be the problem..reptiles dont absorb water through their skin,a shower will help with his shedding and give him ample time and opportunity to drink if he is thirsty,misting 3-5 times day is optimal and lightly mist the cham too,his dripper should be available for the duration he is awake(12 hrs)if you are having a hard time spotting his fecal matter in his new cage,can you remove some of his plants so you can find one? oh ya lol..welcome to the forum,this is one of the best!! have an awesome day!

I use cat food as a source of proteins for the crickets....i dust em with powdered cuttlefish bone, i used to give vitamin d3 3 times a week until last month... I knew they don't absorb water through skin, that's why I was skeptical about showering...but I'm gonna try it... shedding is almost complete now... I'll manage to keep the dripper going for 12 hours (somehow)...I think I found some "fecal matter" ....

P.s he ate 4 crickets today! isn't that good?

 

[lslcronk]

"I use cat food as a source of proteins for the crickets...."

Hi! I am really new to this as well, but I do know that the concern with the cat food is the animal protein. Too much can cause gout, which is very painful. It is best to stay away from cat/dog food, fish food etc as gutloads. These guys are awesome and if you go to the Forums section under Chameleon food, they have lots of information on proper gutloading for chams!

 

[italian chameleon]

These guys are awesome and if you go to the Forums section under Chameleon food, they have lots of information on proper gutloading for chams!

cool! I'll check it out! thanks a lot!

anyways cat food is like 1% of crickets' diet they eat mostly veggies and fruit I know hay is good too but I don't have it now!

 

[kinyonga]

Cat food and dog food also has prEformed vitamin A and D3 in it as a rule. I think this is true of most fish foods as well.

 

[italian chameleon]

What was the temperature outside when he was out there? Did he have any shade? Did you mist him several times while he was outside?

temps were 25+ (celsius )under the sun, but he had a shady area!he stayed under the sun all time tho... i used to mist him when i bring him back inside but it wasn't enough I guess...

today I put him under the shower but he didn't enjoy it at all! he hated me for that
he didn't stay on the plant I brought in and tried to climb the walls of the shower all the time..even tho water was warm he was sneezing and hissing with his eyes closed so I took him out the shower after like 15 mins, I put him in his basking area (under the spot lamp) and after a while he was ok showing pretty colours (not stressed).... but I haven't seen him eating

should I try to shower him again ? if yes when? did I do any mistakes in the process?

thanks a lot for all the help anyway!you're great!

 

[Texas Ranger]

Well they will freak out if the water is too warm or too cool. You need to try to match the room temp with the water as close as you can. But on the other hand some chameleons just never get used to a shower. All my chameleons love a shower. But I got them used to it early and often. Have you tried Reptaid? It is supossed to stimulate them to eat.

 

[italian chameleon]

Have you tried Reptaid? It is supossed to stimulate them to eat.

I don't think it's available here in Italy! and by the way... how do you give it to the cham?

 

[Texas Ranger]

Oh, that sucks. Maybe check with Chameleon Northwest. They may ship internationally.
There are several ways to give them meds. I have done the plugging the nose then they open there mouth. Then in goes the meds. Or inject a insect. Like a dubia or silkworm or a big cricket if possible. Others do it at night when the cham is a sleep. Its just how ever is easest for you and your cham.

 

[laurie]

If he doesn't like showers then he doesn't like showers. I have had chameleons that loved them and some who hated them and acted just like your guy did.
From what i could tell he is certainly not severely dehydrated. Just try to up your misting, you can mist more often or longer each time. And trying to get your dripper to run as long as you can is also great. If I am worried about one of my chams being a bit dehydrated I inject a bit of water in every feeder they get. But when I do that, I feed the feeders to the cham as soon as I can after I inject the water as they don't live long.

We are happy to have you as a part of the forum and you have a very nice looking veiled.