My cham's urate isnt white...

[armando]

Hi everyone...
I have a 7 month old male veiled cham...
Im having a little trouble here.... My cham's urates is kind of orangy...
On summer I used to run my mistking 3 times at day... for 15 minutes sessions... (dont worry I have a really good drainage)
His urates was white and healthy... He really enjoyed to take baths..
Now that is winter time.. the temps in his enclosure are still fine.. they are above 23C and basking is 30C
But temps overall are a bit cooler than summer... and now it seems that he doesnt likes the mistings anymore...
He runs away from the mist everytime it turns on...
So.. I started to use my dripper more, and reduce the misting time.
Now dripper goes on almost all day long and I only mist 3 times at day for 5 minutes (on the hottest hours)

The thing is that it seems that my cham doesnt knows how to use the dripper... He doesnt looks dehydrated, he seems fine, his eyes look good, and his skin looks good too.... but Im really worried about the urates.

What should I do?
any advice??

(BTW... I have a big and nice umbrella plant inside the enclosure...)

 

[sandrachameleon]

how often does the dripper drip? I find a faster drip attracts attention more. Does the dripper drips fall onto plant leaves that he can easily reach? is the water in the dripper cold?

an alternative is to make sure the feeders you are giving provide the maximum hydration as well, but using wet gutloads or using a good amount of soft bodied juicy feeders (silkworms, hornworms) in the diet.

is the urate orange on just one end, just a little tip of it? or is it all discoloured (not white)

 

[armando]

Water on the dripper is room temperature.
It drips just infront of him (in front of basking spot) it drips one per second and it walls from one leave to another and it goes and goes until it reaches down.
My feeders are very hydrated, they always have wet gutload and water available.
And sometimes urates are whitey (not as white as it used to be on summer) and sometimes they are completely orangy

 

[sandrachameleon]

try increasing drip rate so that it is fast, several drips a second. see if that catches his attention. You can slow it down again after he gets the hang of it.

if that still doesnt work, try injecting a little water into some of his feeders for a boost of hydration, or add more silkworms or a few hornworms. at his age, there really shouldnt be orange urates ever.

have you changed supplement routing lately?

 

[armando]

Ok, I will make it drip faster.
I will also try to inject water on feeder. is that easy to do??
I havent changed anything on supplements. I do it this way:
plain calcium every day.
herptivite and calcium d3 twice/month (I alternate them both on sundays)
And he gets repashy on thursdays.

 

[pssh]

Is the dripper dripping from above his cage and falling through the screen? Some chameleons seem to prefer it if the dripper has a tube that goes directly in the enclosure. Some will even put the end of the tube in their mouth and drink that way. I had one that didn't quite catch onto drinking the dripper water from the leaves, but when I added a tube he would get up really close and drink straight from the tube. He seemed to not drink water from leaves at all (at least not with me watching/in the room.)

It may also be because the water that is coming from the mister and dripper are too cool (because the air is cooler.) Perhaps you can find a way to warm one or both of them up?

 

[armando]

Yes, dripper just drips from above.
I will get the tube inside and let it flow faster.
I have never seen him drink from leaves either....
I will warm a little bit the water in the dripper.
I also tried to warm up the water in the mistking water reserviour with an electric water heater, but It exploded, So I decided to NEVER do it again.

 

[crocky]

Yes, dripper just drips from above.
I will get the tube inside and let it flow faster.
I have never seen him drink from leaves either....
I will warm a little bit the water in the dripper.
I also tried to warm up the water in the mistking water reserviour with an electric water heater, but It exploded, So I decided to NEVER do it again.

If you want to try another heater, use a titanium heater, they are the best and most accurate in my opinion. I used them for 15 plus years in my saltwater tank or at least as long as they have been on the market.

 

[armando]

How do they look like? and where can I get one?
are they safe? do they turn themself off when water has the right temperature?

 

[Decadancin]

You could also try shorter misting sessions that occur more frequently. This would allow for him to drink more often. You would have to monitor the humidity for a while. Also, you could hang a few greens in the enclosure so there is another way to hydrate.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Some chameleons seem to prefer it if the dripper has a tube that goes directly in the enclosure. Some will even put the end of the tube in their mouth and drink that way.

good point. I have two that prefer this to leaves

 

[crocky]

I did this today and it made all the difference. I just posted a video of Waldo in the photography section drinking from his tube . Well actually he attacked the drip with his tongue...LOL

Before I had it where it dripped through the screen and he seemed more annoyed than anything so the change made a difference. He was investigating it within minutes.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/waldo-discovered-drip-line-98957/

 

[armando]

Ok, well.. dripper tube is now inside the enclosure.. dripping faster infront of his basking spot.
I hope he does drink now...
I wont be able to tell if is working until I check his urates, because Im not able to be watching him for long periods.
*crosses fingers*