How do I know my Chameleon is drinking water?

CometTheOdd

Member
So I have a Vieled Chameleon and every day I spray water in his place often. I never see him drink any of his water which is concerning to me. Is there a way I can tell he is drinking? He seems healthy but I just wanted to get advice from the Cham Professionals.

I also have a water mister that goes off every so often too.
 
So I have a Vieled Chameleon and every day I spray water in his place often. I never see him drink any of his water which is concerning to me. Is there a way I can tell he is drinking? He seems healthy but I just wanted to get advice from the Cham Professionals.

I also have a water mister that goes off every so often too.
How full a chameleons turrets are (the skin around the eye pupil) is a great indicator as well as monitoring your chameleons urates. The white part of the poop. It should always be white. A little bit of orange or yellow is not overly concerning but we are always aiming for pure white.
 
How full a chameleons turrets are (the skin around the eye pupil) is a great indicator as well as monitoring your chameleons urates. The white part of the poop. It should always be white. A little bit of orange or yellow is not overly concerning but we are always aiming for pure white.
Thank you so much. He seems to be fine in eyes and urates look fine too. Have a great day :)
 
As mentioned, monitoring the urates and eyes are the best way if your chameleon is a shy drinker. I can't remember the last time I saw my cham drink.

Making sure your humidity is reaching the proper levels after misting and at night along with properly gutloaded feeders will ensure your chameleon is getting the proper hydration he needs.

Give this podcast a listen. There is a lot of info on how chameleons stay hydrated in the wild which we can simulate in our enclosures.
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/
 
As mentioned, monitoring the urates and eyes are the best way if your chameleon is a shy drinker. I can't remember the last time I saw my cham drink.

Making sure your humidity is reaching the proper levels after misting and at night along with properly gutloaded feeders will ensure your chameleon is getting the proper hydration he needs.

Give this podcast a listen. There is a lot of info on how chameleons stay hydrated in the wild which we can simulate in our enclosures.
https://www.chameleonbreeder.com/podcast/ep-89-naturalistic-hydration-for-chameleons/

I just finished listening, great info and thank you for the link!
 
Get a cheap WiFi camera and set it up by his viv, lots of Chams are shy...

Your heat indicators of hydration in order are:
-turrets
-urates(see comment below)
-loose skin on midsection

On urates for hydration check... 75% of the time this is a reliable indicator of hydration and definitely should be used. But there are other bodily conditions that can cause a perfectly hydrated Cham to produce yellow/orange urates. Just because a Cham passes colored urates doesn’t automatically mean they are dehydrated. I’ve seen a lot of cases where the real problem was overlooked because the keeper saw some color and just locked onto dehydration and never considered other possible causes.
 
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