Don't really know if he's drinking...?

[jaredshermanderson]

I've had my 3 Month old Veiled Cham for almost a week now and haven't really seen him drink from the leaves.
I thought that maybe he's just shy.
I mist the leaves for about 5 minutes a few times a day.
Any suggestions or better watering techniques?

 

[mbondy]

Do you have a dripper on top of his cage? You can easily do this if you poke a small hole in a plastic cup and add ice. Some of us have never seen our chams drink, eventually you might spot him drinking in front of you. The best way to know if he's well hydrated is to look at his droppings. A healthy dropping is black (feces) and pure white (urate). A little yellow is still ok but if it's not white you know he's not drinking enough.

I'd just add a dripper and watch his droppings. Sounds like your doing everything else right

 

[jaredshermanderson]

His feces are black with a little white at the ends. And I haven't seen any urate and don't really know where to look for it.
I had a cup on top but it kind of just soaked my cage.

 

[jaredshermanderson]

Oh do you mean only put ice in the cup?
I filled it with warmish water.
I thought ice was too cold for the chameleons?

 

[melric]

His dropping sound good as long as there is white at the end you know he is drinking. Some Cham's you just will never see drink.

 

[jaredshermanderson]

Okay well that is good then.
Should I just keep spraying as I do?
Or should I add a cup of ice to the top?

 

[mbondy]

Do both, put ice in the cup...as the ice melts you'll have pretty steady drops. Your misting schedule sounds good so I'd keep doing that. The little white you see is the urate...so everything sounds good. Good job! Oh in regards to the ice, chams don't like cold water on them...so I mist with warm water in case I happen to accidently mist him but the melting ice is just fine.

 

[splinter]

I did a tiny hole with a needle in a half gallon milk container. It drop every 5 to 10 sec and does not leave so much water in the receiver at the bottom. Aim for some leaves so the water spread to different areas.

 

[jaredshermanderson]

Oh good. I thought I was supposed to be looking for his pee. Haha. But thanks. I was worried.