Need a little help

[MattC]

Panther about 4 to 5 months old male
Cage: 30x16x16 screened cage
Lights: reptisun 5.0 linear/ Basking was a 75w switched to 60w.
Temps: Was 91 to 92 at basking spot, now 86 to 88f
Humidity: 30% with spikes up to 60 to 70% after misting
Room: Have him in my sons bedroom whos at school in day
Suppliments: Sticky Tongue w/out d3 5 days a week. Rep Cal w/d3 1 day a week. Rep Cal herptivite 1 day a week.
Eating: 12 to 15 1/4 to 3/8 inch crickets a day. 2 to 3 wax worms treated every 3 to 4 days. I have silkies on the way.
Fecies: Has been perfect white/ last couple days its been getting orange.Not checked for parasites.

Current problem: just the last couple days he seems to be dehydrated. Im at home all day so I watch him alot. He has never really learned how to drink. Some days he will drink off the leaves but most he wont. I mist him 3 to 5 times a day. Ive had him for about a month and a half and he has tripled in size. He just stares at his dripper. His eating doesnt seem to have slowed much but I am useing crickets a tad bit bigger than between his eyes. Could that be stressing him, he does seem to get pretty mad at them and go dark in color but he eats just fine? His poop was perfect but just the last couple days its been getting more orange to it and we all know what that means. He's just been keeping these dark colors the last couple days and will start gaping later in the day.
I dont see any saliva but this has worried me. I just changed his watts and hoping that will help. Do any of you have the basking bulb directly on top of the cage or do you clamp it? Also, is he old enough to start giving a shower? I think thats all I can think of. Sorry for such a long post but I wanted everyone to know as much as possible. Thanks alot

 

[MattC]

Sorry guys just realized I forgot some stuff.

Plants: I have a big umbrella plant that takes up the hole cage so he has alot of places in the shade to cool off.
Temps: ambient temps in the middle of the cage is 75 f. Night time is 68 to 70 degrees f.

 

[Dunnigan]

I know my guy (~1 year old male veiled, and for that matter 5 month old female veiled) will not drink when i watch...its weird, they wont eat either. no matter how still i am in the room they know im there.

So, ill wake up and mist them in the morning, start their drippers put some food in their cage and leave them be till 1 or 2 then mist them again (by that time my little girl is usually out of food so i give her lunch), then mist them again at 5 or so and refill their drippers.

When i first got my guy a year ago i had a problem with him not eating/drinking, it turns out hes just a private guy...

 

[PardalisGirl]

Questions...

How are you measuring the basking temperature? When you say you see him gape....is his mouth just opening or is he making any type of noise like a gasp or wheeze? He's plenty old for a sink shower. I use artificial bendable branches and artifical vine plants for that but you can use a branch and a small real plant. Try giving him a warm shower but don't waterboard him.

Can we have a photo of him? The weight gain sounds great. The dark colors, open mouth and urated color does not sound good. Normally, over-heated chams get lighter than normal in color to reflect the heat. So the gaping combined with dark colors seems strange. Dark colors as far as temperature goes normally mean they are trying to absorb every bit of heat they can in low temperatures. The temperatures you gave don't sound too low or too high. The other reason for dark colors is illness or stress. That's why I asked about any noises present with the gaping. Where is he staying in the cage? Near the basking light or elsewhere? How do his eyes look? Is he keeping them open and does he look alert? Or sleeping and partially closed?

 

[MattC]

Hi thanks for the replies. Ive been worried about the gaping as you said, I here no weasing or any thing like that. When I spray I use really warm water to the touch and he seemed to really soak it in and go to the middle of his cage for an hour or so to sit in it when I first got him. I spray him gently and he seems to love it and will drink that way. He really isnt very shy in that he will eat in front of me always. I guess they really arent real dark colors but just darker than he usually is. I have a digital to gage temps. I know all the signs of dehydration so I really keep a close eye on it. His eyes seem nice and full and I havent seen him gaping since I changed his watts. If I have it clamped on the top of his cage is that enough heat or should I do this with the 75w lamp. This is my first cham so I really keep a good eye on him, that and im home allday playin mr. mom. His eating really hasnt suppressed at all if any. Maybe im worrying to much but I guess thats better than not enough. When I get him out of his cage he seems fine and has good color, thats why I thought it maybe the bigger crickets stressing him but there is still the color of the poo that worries me. If there is anything else you guys see that could be wrong in my setup please let me know and thanks again.

 

[MattC]

Also his eyes are open and very alert. He has been staying under the heat lamp more than he normaly does. But he has been staying in the top portion of the cage. He does get on the screens and hang upside down under his uv light quite often and he just got done with a shed about a week ago. Can I spray water in his mouth when he is eating his crickets or should I not try this to get him to drink a little more?

 

[PardalisGirl]

Sounds pretty good....

It sounds like you made the right move with changing out the bulb to a lower wattage. He may have gotten dehydrated from the higher heat which caused the urates to become orange. It's good that he likes being in the top part of the cage. That keeps him under the UVB enough to get his daily requirement. It's a sign it's not too hot. Don't spray into his mouth. Put him under a light shower in the sink and let him drink on his own. I spray by hand and several of my chams come up to the water bottle to drink. They open their mouths and get ready for it. That's different from just spraying it in when they are eating. They could aspirate it into their lungs because they are not expecting it. I'd keep working on his water intake until you see him drink off his foliage normally again.....

 

[sandrachameleon]

When you mist him, is the water warm? (warm is better) Do you direct the mist at leaves etc or at him? (away from the cham is better) How long does each of the 3-5 misting sessions last? (should be 3-10 minutes) Can he see you when you are misting (if timid, it might not like to drink when he thinks youre watching)

A little bit of yellow or orange at the end of the urate is not a problem. This is fairly normal. You only have to worry about urate if it is not mostly white.