Help Please

[alinder450]

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - 16X16X30 zilla reptibreeze
* Lighting - reptisun 5.0, day glow 60w
* Temperature - 90 basking, 77-75 ambient, 68-72 at night (digital thermometer/hydrometer)
* Humidity - 55-80 when misting
* Plants - shefflera? dracena?
* Placement - on top of a 4 1/2 tall set of drawers. in my bed room where me and my lady friend are always in and out...no pun intended.
* Location - arkansas


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - yemen, male, 3 - 4 months. It has been in my care for 2 days...i got it from petco because i thought i could save its life.
* Handling - 3 stress filled times in 2 days..only for moving puposes
* Feeding - he ate 2 crickets (1/4in) the night i brought him home. 4 yesterday morning. 3 yesterday afternoon.
* Supplements - petco has been doing it everyday so they say. He has had 3 our of 9 crickets dusted.
* Watering - Spray bottle misting..both fine mist and stream, which seems to get his attention better. 3 times a day...hour after lights on..mid-day appox. hour after that dries..and 2 hours before lights off. for 4-5 min at a time? I HAVE YET TO SEE HIM DRINK!
* Fecal Description - Hasn't made any fecal
* History - He was in a glass aquarium at petco with a female..maybe of the same age that was on her last leg. This guy looked pretty strong so instead of dropping 300 on a new panther i figured i would save this little dude.
* Current Problem - He has yet to drink...he looks interested..then shys away when i try to mist closer to him..and also doesn't move toward the droplets like my other chams in the past have. Also, He also keeps closing one eye and rolling it around on the inside. For the most part he only eats when i'm not around...so i'm going to try and drip system when i go to work today. hopefully he will drink when i'm not around. I'm worried about this little guy...i got 12 days left to take him back saying he isn't healthy...i don't trust my local herp vet...he missed my labs cancer and she died a very painful death.

 

[chambabysitter1]

Some chameleons are very shy drinkers, and wait for you to leave to start lapping some leaf dew up. Mine totally did this for a a month or so.

It would help to post some pictures.

 

[Julirs]

Your setup sounds spot on. I hate to say that since you rescued him that may be your problem-especially since a cage mate was in such bad shape. Sounds like he had pretty shabby care before you got him. Keep doing what you are doing. Up the misting-mist at his head lightly to help clean the eye, keep offering food. amd hopefully he will turn around. What are you dusting crix with?

 

[chambabysitter1]

What city and state do you live in? Perhaps we can find you a trusted local herp vet. It might be an hour or 2 further, but it's better than someone who is guessing and all too ready to take your money for it.

 

[laurie]

Have you seen any poop? What you need to look for is the urate part being white. The cham may be drinking and you may not know it. Just keep an eye on his poop, if the white part changes to an orange then you have a drinking problem.

 

[sandrachameleon]

One of my chameleons never drinks when I am around. If he thinks I might be watching, he pretends to be a stick. He's the most timid chameleon I've ever encountered. I know he does drink because his urate is white. I also once laid down on the floor as far away from his cage as possible, remained mostionless for nearly twenty minutes, and watched with one eye until he did finally forget I was there and drank from the dripper. Drippers that keep going well after you've left are the best way to provide hydration, imo, especially to shy ones.

 

[chambabysitter1]

One of my chameleons never drinks when I am around. If he thinks I might be watching, he pretends to be a stick. He's the most timid chameleon I've ever encountered. I know he does drink because his urate is white. I also once laid down on the floor as far away from his cage as possible, remained mostionless for nearly twenty minutes, and watched with one eye until he did finally forget I was there and drank from the dripper. Drippers that keep going well after you've left are the best way to provide hydration, imo, especially to shy ones.

Hahahahaha, oh my god I almost died from this post. How very stealth of you.

 

[ChamNovice]

I have never seen my cham drink either, doesn't care if I watch him eat, not a chance he'll take it from my hand. Just stares at me waiting for me to put it in his cup or on a branch, then he'll run near it and shoot it up, but drinking must be a private thing..... I tried sandrachameleon's method but he still knew I was there..... I think he's some kind of evil genius.

Seems like alot of them don't like to be watched while drinking.?? I know he does at some point when I'm not around because the urates are white, I tend to check for them all the time since I never see him drinking.
So as long as those are white, your cham has gotta be drinking at some point.

 

[lanceman]

Warm water when misting seems to be more agreable to my kids. It dosnt seem to make em as scared.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Hahahahaha, oh my god I almost died from this post. How very stealth of you.

And also one of my best yet excuses for not doing housework

Lanceman - quite right, misted water should be warm. Mine seem to prefer their dripper water warm too.

 

[alinder450]

WOW! thanks for all the quick feedback! I will try to post some pictures later tonight so you can see my setup...my only problem with it, i think, i that he might be too close to the lights or not far enough away. i read 6 inches from the lights? can you get closer to them? As for drinking...he finally laid a massive deuce...and the urate (sp?) was white with a little yellow to it. There were two brown clumps though, massive, i dunno if that could be bad.
Last night a couple of my friends came over to see him at misting time. He ran right to the plant being misted, the most activity I've seen out of him so far, opened his mouth and didn't drink. I did get a large drop in his mouth though.
I left the dripper going for 30 min while i was in the shower this morning and when i got out he was wet and walking out of the plant that the dripper was on..so i assume he drank. He really looks alot stronger and more agile when he moves now. I think he is doing much better in that regard. He is eating like a horse...if i gave him more than 8 crix a day I'm sure he would eat them all. I was told 6-8 a day but don't go over 8 cause you don't want him to get fat? The first cricket he ever ate in my house was hand feed to him...i haven't tried it since because he gets all grey when i put my hand in the cage. The vitamin dust i am using is 2:0 T-rex calcium no phosphorus with D3..it has a picture of a baby yemen on the front...30-34% calcium, Vitamin A 480,000 IU, Vitamin D3 48,000 IU, Vitamin C 5,000 mg, Beta Carotene 1,000 mg. Also..my cat hangs out in my room..she can't get to him because she is small...and fat..and lazy. But will her being in there cause him too much stress?