Drinking

[Cozzy]

Hi, I'm not too sure if my cham is drinking regularly. He has a waterfall and leaves to drink from although I never see him do it. I've had him two weeks and he eats no problem. I mist liberally twice a day and feed him 5 small crickets or locusts twice a day dusting them with calcium once. I also noticed him with his mouth gaping for a few minutes. His excrement is black and white although some have been yellow and black. He was born in July. He has light for 12 hours on and off. He gets this from a single 100w uva/uvb lamp on top of the vivarium. What signs of ill health should I look for if any? Any help here would be much appreciated. Cozzy

 

[emersonc]

Well this sounds very simular to a problem i have with my cham, she is a nosy be panther though. I also have a dripper a waterfall, and i spray liberally a couple times a day, about three or more times. But i almost never see her drink.

A sign a cham is dehydrated if their eyes receed into their skull. That is someting to look for. If this is the case give your cham a shower. Place a plant in the shower and turn the water to luke warm or less, NOT TOO HOT! and also make sure your cham can have a spot to sit that is not directly under the water. I place my cham on a dry portion of the plant and within a min. she will walk directly into the stream, though some chams will not. You can find other good links/pictures about this topic on other threads.

As far as the poop, i believe that the whit color is good and a more yellow color means dehydrated....so i believe....

 

[ChameleonsTree]

Ok immediately remove the waterfall...its a breeding ground for bacteria. They drink from leaves or just by opening their mouth when being misted. A very white urate is a sign of good hydration...when it goes to yellow it means they need more hydration. Jacksons need a higher humidity than most.

 

[Cozzy]

Ok immediately remove the waterfall...its a breeding ground for bacteria. They drink from leaves or just by opening their mouth when being misted. A very white urate is a sign of good hydration...when it goes to yellow it means they need more hydration. Jacksons need a higher humidity than most.

I disinfect the waterfall once a week, is this not ok? He doesn't seem to like being misted too much and I was contemplating buying an auto mister? Would this help?

 

[ChameleonsTree]

NO WATERFALLS...none what so ever. Would you drink that water after its been in there a day ...3 days...7 days. I wouldnt.

 

[Scrappy]

Waterfalls are bad bad bad. None of the chams particularly like to be misted, but they get used to it. Mine stays to one side when I start misting and after a few minutes he moves under the mist and appears in a trans-like state. It's pretty comical to watch. I have not automated my misting yet, but what I have found is much easier than getting Arnold Swartzenegar (sp?) arms from the hand pumps. What I use is a 1/2 gallon pesticide sprayer that I picked up at Home Depot for around $7. I fill it with hot water, pump it up and mist away without the arm strain and having to constantly switch hands because your hand and arm get tired. Not only that, but it's not too heavy when it's full.

 

[ChameleonsTree]

They love the mist if you use hot water. I tried to take pics once of how much mine love it but the room turns into a steam room while its going on and the lens fogs up.

 

[emersonc]

Waht about using a waterfall to keep the humudity up. When i put mine in it raised the humidity up 10% and it is in a location that my cham cant get to very easily so she doesnt drink from it

 

[Scrappy]

Key is "can't easily"....you'd be surprised where they can and can't get to. I personally still wouldn't take a chance. More frequent hot water misting will raise humidity too.

 

[Lgustave]

My little veiled doesn't appreciate misting all that much either, i've had him for only a couple of days ,but I think this last time I misted him, he just sat there closed his eyes and opened his mouth about three times, I guess it's progress.. better than getting a panic attack and running away at "super fast speed". what i don't like and i would like someone to tell me about it, is that some times I believe he closes his eyes and puffs them a little, is my misting stressing him too much? i don't know what to do about that, i can't just stop misting him.

And I also haven't seen him drinking from the leaves or the dripping system, and haven't seen almost any poo around, the one I saw looked healthy, Ithink i haven't seen many of them because the are so little, and there are many leaves ,i hope it is nothing serious. And while I'm on it, steve closes his eyes a little when basking, i don't think it is serious, it's for little time while basking, and quickly opens them when he hears something or feels some movement, but it doesn't hurt to ask you guys if it is ok.

 

[ChameleonsTree]

Waht about using a waterfall to keep the humudity up. When i put mine in it raised the humidity up 10% and it is in a location that my cham cant get to very easily so she doesnt drink from it

Use a humidifier instead.

 

[Scrappy]

Lgustave - chams will close and "pop" their eyes while being misted to clean them. Also, make sure you are misting him for long periods of time. It takes quite a bit of dripping water to stimulate them to drink. I think someone once posted it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 drops a minute should stimulate Steve to start drinking. If you are concerned post some pics of him. You can usually tell if a cham is dehydrated by looking at their eyes (if they appear more sunk that's a good indicator), also by their casque (thanks for that piece of info Dave!), veiled store water in their casque so if it looks puffy rather than sunk in, he's doing good.

 

[Tygerr]

veiled store water in their casque

I thought it was fat that was deposited in the casque?

 

[Lgustave]

I didn't know they popped them to clean them , I guess he's doing fine then, his eyes are ok, and didn't show any yellow in the last dropping I found, thanks for clearing the whole eye thing up for me.

 

[Jordan]

Veiled chameleons posses nasal salt glands. This allows them to secrete potassium, sodium and chloride ions without having to urinate and lose water. This can be seen in the form of white build up around the nostril usually in sub-adults and adults. They come from low coastal plains which see almost no percipitation in a year. Ones that come from the southwest mountains in Yemen experience seasonal rains. So both have to deal with low water situations throughout the year. Making sure humidity stays in their boundries, drippers, mistings sessions that last 5-10 minutes a couple times a day usually keeps them hydrated. If you do not see them drink do not be suprise some are just not big drinkers.

 

[emersonc]

Use a humidifier instead.

I have one... i went from about 60-70 to about 70-80%

 

[Dave Weldon]

...also by their casque (thanks for that piece of info Dave!), veiled store water in their casque so if it looks puffy rather than sunk in, he's doing good.

Howdy,

Don't forget that I did follow that posting with an additional note that the casque also stores fat along with the cheek pads too .

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Brad]

Hi, I'm not too sure if my cham is drinking regularly. He has a waterfall and leaves to drink from although I never see him do it. I've had him two weeks and he eats no problem. I mist liberally twice a day and feed him 5 small crickets or locusts twice a day dusting them with calcium once. I also noticed him with his mouth gaping for a few minutes. His excrement is black and white although some have been yellow and black. He was born in July. He has light for 12 hours on and off. He gets this from a single 100w uva/uvb lamp on top of the vivarium. What signs of ill health should I look for if any? Any help here would be much appreciated. Cozzy

Hello Cozzy
More information on your setup and husbandry practices is needed. What kind of temperature gradient have you created? How much and how frequent is 'liberal' misting? There are more recommendations on what info to provide [THREAD=66]at this link[/THREAD]. Taking a little time to list your current info can make a big difference in getting the most accurate advice possible.

 

[Scrappy]

Thanks again for the save Dave...I went back and tried to find that thread to link in a response, but had no success. At least I did remember reading it.

We're all here to gain knowledge and share information, and I'm trying to absorb as much as I can and share and comment on what I can. Even if one person learns something from what I've posted or will post in the future, then I've done my job. I know I've alredy learned quite a bit from everyone here; for that I would like to say thank you to all the knowledgable board members!

 

[Dave Weldon]

Thanks again for the save Dave...I went back and tried to find that thread to link in a response, but had no success. At least I did remember reading it. ...

Howdy,

I think it was a posting I made on another site.
Now if I could just remember which one.