Is my Cham dehydrated?
- Thread starter Jahnna64
- Start date
Nicholasdeaan
Avid Member
It looks very odd. Could you get pictures of his urates? They will either be yellow or white. White being hydrated, yellow being dehydrated. The urate is usually attached to the poop.
Virgil1972
Avid Member
I have never seen a poop like this before. As @Nicholasdeaan said it is odd, in both color and consistency I would add. What do you feed your cham? Have you had a fecal done lately?
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Is that the urate, the part of the stool that is supposed to be white?
Do you feed silk worms? I've found the urate takes on a pinky color when I feed a lot of silk worms. When I first got chameleons I took it in to the vet to look at and she just shrugged her shoulders so I ignore a pinky tone to the urates. My collection are pretty much all wild caughts, so it might be that my whole collection has the same kidney problem.
If that is the actual poop--the part that comes from the intestines--it is not a good color and I would have the chameleon and a fresh fecal sample in to a vet. (Put a fresh stool sample in a plastic bag and in the refrigerator until you take the stool in to the vet's. You can get a stool sample analysed before your appointment.)
There is a thread at the top of the Health section that has a lot of pictures and discussion of poop. I think the title is Poop 101. Have a look through that thread. Try and post a picture of the whole stool--the urate (which comes from the kidneys) and the feces (poop).
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I forgot to answer your original question, Is he dehydrated. Any chameleon that drinks for five minutes sounds pretty dehydrated to me. I never see my animals drink unless there is something wrong or they have just laid a clutch of eggs.
Can you post pictures of your chameleon--his eyes, back and pelvis area? A dehydrated chameleon will look skinny and have a dry look to their skin. Urates are only one way to judge hydration. I look a the body condition of the animal which shows dehydration immediately, not many hours or days later when they finally have pass stool. A dehydrated chameleon does not always have yellow/orange urates.
