How many showers is too many showers?

CharlieCharmingo

CharlieCharmingo

Avid Member
This may be a dumb question but how many showers are too many showers for a chameleon have? Could I give him two a day for a couple of weeks then drop down to one to two a week after?
 
I'm sure you could, just try to limit the stress. Why so many though? That's going to be quite the water bill. Why not just run the mister for a long time and leave him in his cage?
 
jamest0o0 said:
I'm sure you could, just try to limit the stress. Why so many though? That's going to be quite the water bill. Why not just run the mister for a long time and leave him in his cage?
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I didn't want to over mist his cage and keep the dirt too wet and get fungus/gnat/fruit flies or mushrooms from all the moisture.

And he's been having difficulty I noticed in this week. I didn't really notice at first because he usually drinks no problem but I started noticing him drinking less this week. I thought maybe it was my schedule this week idk. So I got his cage good and wet but no drinking ever happened instead he just kept trying to come out. Sometimes he likes to be out before drinking. So I let him on my arm then put him back in. No drinking but he kept smacking his lips so I knew he was thirsty. More misting still no drinking. I backed away from the cage to show him he's not coming out so he went to the top which he usually does when he sees what's going on and still no drinking. When I came back to the room he had pooped and it hardly had ANY urate. So I kept a careful eye on him and every time he smacked his lips I misted him but still no drinking. I took him outside where there's a lot of plants that hold water much longer than his ficus and really wet those plants and I don't know if it'll make sense, but it's like he drank a bit and then just kept going on about his day. Like he would never just stop to drink. So I was contemplating putting showers in to his life though he hates them and as I was thinking this I saw him eat a cricket. But when I went closer to the cage I saw he definitely caught it but it was coming out of his mouth followed by saliva. Like you know when you play with your spit and you make a spit line and then suck it back up? It looked like that and the cricket was at the end of it. I've never seen something like that from him ever but all I kept thinking is that he's not getting enough water. So I panicked, started weeping, made this post, gave him a shower but he just sat there. He didn't start licking his lips until he came back to his cage. So I misted a few leaves and he ignored them though I know he's thirsty. To be sure about his aim I popped in a hornworm and he shot and aimed at it no problem. So I'm not really sure what to do but to confine him like a 16th century queen during pregnancy and just drench him in water until he gets his act together. And also the obvious a vet visit though I honestly think it's a dehydrated situation. I can be honest and say this week/week and a half have been a little busy. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
 
hmmm well just based off things I've read, when spit and bubbles are coming from their mouths that can be indicative of a RI. I have no idea if that's the case though. He may just be hydrated pretty well as it is, but you say there's a small amount of urates, well are they white still? How old is he, Around the 6-9 month marks panthers seem to get picky and act a little crazy.

Honestly all of those showers might be a little stressful. I would just mist the cage. With good soil and drainage you shouldn't have any more problems with longer mistings than you would have with regular mistings.

Also I don't really know what you mean by smacking his lips?
 
jamest0o0 said:
hmmm well just based off things I've read, when spit and bubbles are coming from their mouths that can be indicative of a RI. I have no idea if that's the case though. He may just be hydrated pretty well as it is, but you say there's a small amount of urates, well are they white still? How old is he, Around the 6-9 month marks panthers seem to get picky and act a little crazy.

Honestly all of those showers might be a little stressful. I would just mist the cage. With good soil and drainage you shouldn't have any more problems with longer mistings than you would have with regular mistings.

Also I don't really know what you mean by smacking his lips?
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The urate from yesterday was orange. I'm going to make him a vet visit to be safe though. You're right, I'll just mist his cage like no other. When I say "smacking his lips" I mean that thing where you can tell a chameleon is getting thirsty or about to drink. They like swallow a lot (?) idk how to explain it. Also he is a year and four months old.
 
CharlieCharmingo said:
The urate from yesterday was orange. I'm going to make him a vet visit to be safe though. You're right, I'll just mist his cage like no other. When I say "smacking his lips" I mean that thing where you can tell a chameleon is getting thirsty or about to drink. They like swallow a lot (?) idk how to explain it. Also he is a year and four months old.
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Hi @CharlieCharmingo is Toni making any sounds like coughing or cracking sounds ? When Frances is starting a URI that's what I notice first excessive saliva .
 
Kristen Wilkins said:
Hi @CharlieCharmingo is Toni making any sounds like coughing or cracking sounds ? When Frances is starting a URI that's what I notice first excessive saliva .
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Hi Kristen, I've been listening but I haven't heard anything like that. I'm going to keep a super close eye on him though. I'm always paranoid of ri (lung worms, parasites, basically everything)so I feel like I'm always looking for the slightest difference in his breathing personality etc. He's still over all active and eats fine it's just the noticing the salvia yesterday and his not wanting to drink no matter how the mist goes for.
 
CharlieCharmingo said:
Hi Kristen, I've been listening but I haven't heard anything like that. I'm going to keep a super close eye on him though. I'm always paranoid of ri (lung worms, parasites, basically everything)so I feel like I'm always looking for the slightest difference in his breathing personality etc. He's still over all active and eats fine it's just the noticing the salvia yesterday and his not wanting to drink no matter how the mist goes for.
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Oh I get it !!. Especially dealing with them with Frances . He's probably to busy to stop and have a drink . How's he today with hydrating ? They certainly get their own idea how things should be :confused:.
 
Kristen Wilkins said:
Oh I get it !!. Especially dealing with them with Frances . He's probably to busy to stop and have a drink . How's he today with hydrating ? They certainly get their own idea how things should be :confused:.
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Well we just went through his first misting now. He seemed to be thirsty but won't drink. Keeps trying to come out instead. So backed away from the cage after a very long misting and kept seeming like he was about to drink but the beardies are awake now so he just kept looking at them. I think because they are getting bigger now he pays attention to them more though he never gaps or anything at them. So I covered a side of his enclosure so nobody can see each and at first he tried pressing on the door to get out. It now he's settled down so I'm hoping he'll start drinking now. I'm just going to expand his misting times for longer sessions and see if that helps improve anything. Also he's going to be angry, but probably no coming out until I see him drinking good again.
 
CharlieCharmingo said:
Well we just went through his first misting now. He seemed to be thirsty but won't drink. Keeps trying to come out instead. So backed away from the cage after a very long misting and kept seeming like he was about to drink but the beardies are awake now so he just kept looking at them. I think because they are getting bigger now he pays attention to them more though he never gaps or anything at them. So I covered a side of his enclosure so nobody can see each and at first he tried pressing on the door to get out. It now he's settled down so I'm hoping he'll start drinking now. I'm just going to expand his misting times for longer sessions and see if that helps improve anything. Also he's going to be angry, but probably no coming out until I see him drinking good again.
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Did try the shower ? Yes maybe that will encourage Toni to have a drink longer misting durations . Is he getting ready to shed ?
 
Kristen Wilkins said:
Did try the shower ? Yes maybe that will encourage Toni to have a drink longer misting durations . Is he getting ready to shed ?
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No he just finished shedding. He just has a little patch on his tail, on his spine, and sides of his face. But the big body shed is done I believe. I gave him a shower last night but he didn't drink. Instead he cleaned his eyes then went to a spot away from the water and curled up his tail. But when I finally put him back in his cage THATS when he started seeming like he was thirsty. So I misted some of the leaves near him because it was basically bed time and I didn't want to wet his whole cage but he never drank.
 
CharlieCharmingo said:
No he just finished shedding. He just has a little patch on his tail, on his spine, and sides of his face. But the big body shed is done I believe. I gave him a shower last night but he didn't drink. Instead he cleaned his eyes then went to a spot away from the water and curled up his tail. But when I finally put him back in his cage THATS when he started seeming like he was thirsty. So I misted some of the leaves near him because it was basically bed time and I didn't want to wet his whole cage but he never drank.
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What a little booger !!. Maybe @Matt Vanilla Gorilla or @Andee will have some words of wisdom .
 
you can try getting an oral syringe like the ones they use for medicine and fill it with water and drip in next to his mouth to see if he will drink it. They are like $2 at any drug store and they definitely get the job done with my panther
 
serenaj25 said:
you can try getting an oral syringe like the ones they use for medicine and fill it with water and drip in next to his mouth to see if he will drink it. They are like $2 at any drug store and they definitely get the job done with my panther
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Thanks for the advice! I have extras syringes laying around so I'll definitely clean them and give it a try.
 
Be careful you don't aspirate him either. They can easily get water down their airway. I read somewhere that the best time to do this is while they are eating because they stop breathing momentarily.
 
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