I’m new to the forum and to caring for a chameleon, so I’m sorry if anything I say is a bit dumb. I got my chameleon Hank a week ago and I don’t think he’s drinking? He eats well, about 5 crickets twice a week, but I really don’t think he’s drinking. He seems to be getting a bit more wrinkled than when I got him and I’ve read that that’s a bad sign. I mist his enclosure three times a day for five minutes each, but he always moves away from the water and I never see him drink any of it. Am I doing something wrong?
Jackson’s Chameleon not drinking??
- Thread starter cassjkatz
- Start date
Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
If you're misting by hand he may be scared of you or. Could also be he doesnt like the spray comming off the spraybottle. Do you use a spraybottle with a pump? The ones with the pump have a finer mist which they like more.
Nothing beats an automated mister tho.
To help him hydrate you can try feeding a more moist feeder like silkworms, hornworms, waxworms.
Waxworms aren't the mlst nutritious feeder and they are fatty but they usually love em and they are easy to come by.
Why do you feed him twice a week? I think it's better to feed him every other day and feed smaller portions if needed to make sure the feeders don't stay in the enclosure to long and lose part of their nutritious value.
You may also want to try misting with warm water, my jax absolutely loves this.
Nothing beats an automated mister tho.
To help him hydrate you can try feeding a more moist feeder like silkworms, hornworms, waxworms.
Waxworms aren't the mlst nutritious feeder and they are fatty but they usually love em and they are easy to come by.
Why do you feed him twice a week? I think it's better to feed him every other day and feed smaller portions if needed to make sure the feeders don't stay in the enclosure to long and lose part of their nutritious value.
You may also want to try misting with warm water, my jax absolutely loves this.
Charlotte Louise
New Member
The best approach for humidity IMO is to -
You can read here why this method is a more natural method of hydration for Chameleons - https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...nth-old-veiled-chameleon.163503/#post-1412367
What colour is your Chameleons urates? The skin can also be slightly wrinkled if they're coming up to shed.
What is your setup like? Enclosure size, decor, pictures of the enclosure and chameleon is always helpful - pictures speak a thousand words.
What lights are you using, what temperatures day/night, what supplements are you using?
Please don't mist with warm water, rain isn't warm in the wild - unless you're actually measuring the temperature of your water, for water to feel warm to us it has to be over our skin's body temperature, often anything between 90-100f/32-37C which is rather hot to a Chameleon, especially a montane. Misting with warm water with warm temperatures also increases the risk of upper respiratory infections and temporal gland infections - bacteria love warm, moist conditions. Which is also another reason why it's important to dry out the enclosure during the day when it's warmest, misting early morning, late evening and fogging throughout the night at cooler temperatures.
- Mist for around 5-7 minutes one hour before lights on and mist for 5-7 minutes one hour after lights off.
- Have a dripper running throughout the day but it's important the cage gets to dry out.
- Use an ultrasonic fogger throughout the night to keep humidity high as it would be in the wild. You'll often see they'll sleep under the fogger to hydrate themselves throughout the night by breathing in moist cool air.
- Have a dripper running throughout the day but it's important the cage gets to dry out.
- Use an ultrasonic fogger throughout the night to keep humidity high as it would be in the wild. You'll often see they'll sleep under the fogger to hydrate themselves throughout the night by breathing in moist cool air.
You can read here why this method is a more natural method of hydration for Chameleons - https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...nth-old-veiled-chameleon.163503/#post-1412367
What colour is your Chameleons urates? The skin can also be slightly wrinkled if they're coming up to shed.
What is your setup like? Enclosure size, decor, pictures of the enclosure and chameleon is always helpful - pictures speak a thousand words.
What lights are you using, what temperatures day/night, what supplements are you using?
Please don't mist with warm water, rain isn't warm in the wild - unless you're actually measuring the temperature of your water, for water to feel warm to us it has to be over our skin's body temperature, often anything between 90-100f/32-37C which is rather hot to a Chameleon, especially a montane. Misting with warm water with warm temperatures also increases the risk of upper respiratory infections and temporal gland infections - bacteria love warm, moist conditions. Which is also another reason why it's important to dry out the enclosure during the day when it's warmest, misting early morning, late evening and fogging throughout the night at cooler temperatures.
Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
32-37C water in the bottle will not be 32-37C out of the bottle as the temperature of it will plummit when the water is vaporized. Still it will feel bit warmer than cold tapwater.
And ehj, when it helps the chameleon, why not try it even if it's not natural?
lydiadubb
Member
I highly agree with this. Especially fogging at night, in Kenya were the Jacksons are from it is lower humidity during the day and almost 100% humidty at night.
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Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Yea, but I wouldn't blast the whole cage with mist as this still differs from humidity and fog in nature. Mist part of the enclosure to have a gradiënt and I'd start fogging before he turns in so he can position himself within the gradient.
Currently I mist during the days and have the cage dry diring the nights, I agree this is opposite to how nature works so this gives me some food for thought.
Never a bad idea to improve on husbandry anyways.
I agree with Remkon about the pump sprayer. My chams are in a temporary location so I am hand misting. They run from a regular spray bottle but seem to enyoy the pump sprayer. Its the kind used for spraying weeds (obviously, get a new one). I will include a link to the $4 one I use from Dollar General.
https://www.dollargeneral.com/trueliving-one-liter-pump-sprayer-assorted.html
They even have blue ones now so I stick to blue for my chams and bugs just to make sure I could never mix it with the green bottles I use for the garden... plus I write on them all.
https://www.dollargeneral.com/trueliving-one-liter-pump-sprayer-assorted.html
They even have blue ones now so I stick to blue for my chams and bugs just to make sure I could never mix it with the green bottles I use for the garden... plus I write on them all.
I attached pictures of Hank and his enclosure, along with the bulbs that came in the chameleon kit I bought. I’m in the process of putting together a new dresser so disregard that the enclosure is on the floor currently. It’s 16x16x30, and the foliage is fake since I’m awful with plants. His poops are brown and white, and I mist with room temperature water out of a regular spray bottle. The temperature in the enclosure is about 79 degrees during the day, not sure about night. I’m turning off the white light at night, is that right? Also about the dripper and fogger, can you link me to a good brand so I can look into it? Thanks for all the help!
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Mine don't like being sprayed initially. So I spray them enough to get them wet and back off for a minute then come back and give them a long spraying after they are over the "something is touching me" phase. Then the will clean their eyes and drink. I do this first thing in the morning and not in the heat of the day when things are drier.
I did this as well and it worked... at least to a point. I don't need to since I switched to a pump sprayer.
Thanks, I’ll definitely try that later tonight!
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