Need more H20

[RexandRain]

* Cage Type - Screen 16Wx16Lx36H
* Lighting - a Zoomed basking bulb 100watt and a tube light reptisun
* Temperature - his basking bulb is about70-80 degrees F
* Humidity -I checked last and it was 50-60 on the humidity gauge
* Plants - yes but I don't know what kind of plant I am using
* Placement - I have the cage by a window that gets about 2-4 hours or sunlight on sunny days
* Location - My house is in central ohio USA


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - a male panther about 1 1/2 years old I have been caring for him about 6 months
* Handling - at least once a day

* Feeding - I feed him 7-10 crickets gutloaded with apples carrots and lettuce etc
* Supplements -
* Watering - I usually try to continually mist for 4 minutes. I have a dripper for him also
* Fecal Description - No parasite tests that I know of. Orange stuff in poop means dehydrated? takes about 4 days to poop too long?
* History - his old owner only fed him crickets.
* Current Problem - his eye goes closed I think he is now dehydrated..

I have been misting him and I have a dripper but I think I just need a misting system. I have debunked the problem of why his eye goes closed he is too dehydrated his last two poops have confirmed it. (they were about a week apart :\)
suggestions?

 

[pssh]

Mist more, 3-5 times a day. Raise his temps a bit and bring the basking into the 85 range. Dont feed him everyday, start supplementing. Try handling him less often. Add more live plants to help with humidity and drinking issues. Often times if they dont have many leaves to drink from, they just wont/cant get enough water before it dries up.

 

[RexandRain]

well his plant that he has in there has alot of leaves on it.

 

[chameleon97]

FYI.... Your feeding a bit too much. 7-10 crickets every second day is fine

-Steve

 

[pssh]

Even if the plant has a lot of leaves, sometimes an additional broad leaved plant helps a bit! My friend has a chameleon that refuses to drink off anything that isn't a nice fat leaf! He wont even lick his lips after 5 minutes of misting. Stubborn little panther!

 

[RexandRain]

an auto mister would work too since when I was using my rbos he loved the misting system

 

[sandrachameleon]

Run the dripper more if you think he needs more water.
What supplements do you use and how often?

 

[RexandRain]

well I haven't really set a supplement schedule but I use Cal with D3 from time to time.

 

[pssh]

You need calcium without d3, or he could develp bone issues. And you could be looking at a large vet bill.

 

[OOOst16]

also try siringe watering...use a NEEDELES siringe ...fill it with water and make it drip in front of him...my male vield went right for it the first type....once he grabs onto it with his mouth push the water in ^^

 

[OOOst16]

time*******

 

[jojackson]

Maybe its dehydrating because its overheating/cage drying out due to being in sun by the window.
If the window is closed theres no benefit at all, if its open beware overheating.
Why do you think closing its eyes is related to dehydration?
Why do you think its dehydrated? some orange urate? setup a dripper.
A week between droppings isnt unusual for an adult not overfed.
How are you monitoring the basking temp?
Gutloading with a healthy mix of fresh veg/fruit goes a long way
towards hydrating your lizard.

 

[RexandRain]

ok.
I have a dripper and a fogging system and I mist him too his eye seems to be opening. I just need a misting system so I can not worry about mistingh im during the day.
is it normal for him to be shooting his tongue out at water dropping from the dripper instead of drinking is from the leaves?

 

[jojackson]

Yes it is normal. If the dripper nozzel/end is by a perch, he will eventually learn that its easier to drink directly rather than 'shoot' at drips.
For this reason a tube type dripper is better than drops falling through cage wire from above. It's comical to watch them try to 'shoot' drops though.

 

[RexandRain]

well I did have a tube attached to it but he always climbed on it and pulled it down not seeing where the water was coming from.

 

[jojackson]

If there was nothing on/in the end, just clear tube, may have confused it. Maybe replace the tube but color the end with a non toxic felt pen, or make the end of the tube obvious in some way. Mine does climb his tubing on occasion aswell, I just secure it well.