Never see my Jackson drinking

[ShaSha]

I got my Jackson Chameleon last week. I've never seen him drink. I hand mist throughout the day and have a little dripper. I have a water dish in thgere just in case even though I was told they don't use the dish. How do I know if he is drinking the water?

 

[camimom]

If his urates are white.

 

[ShaSha]

ok, I know that urates are in urine, but not sure how I determine what his urine is in the cage. Is this an obvious thing that I will see?

 

[camimom]

urates are solidu looking liek poop, cept they are white, or supposed to be.


if its yellow or orange, hes dehydrated.

 

[ShaSha]

oh, okay. Haven't seen anything like that in the cage. I did see regular poop. Is there anything that I can do that I am not doing already to ensure he drinks?

 

[Action Jackson]

If you provide a dripper that drips something like one drip per second or so onto a branch or leaves he should drink. Also mist. Some of my chameleons will look at the water dripping for a long time before they move to drink so make sure you drip for at least 30 minutes or more.

 

[Anitec21]

what I did was poke a little hole in cup and put the water drops next to the plant where my jacksons at and I saw her open her mouth and drank it. just keep the water going not all day dont flood the terratium.

 

[carol5208]

oh, okay. Haven't seen anything like that in the cage. I did see regular poop. Is there anything that I can do that I am not doing already to ensure he drinks?

there might be urate in your cage too. Sometimes it breaks off from the poop(it usually comes out in one piece). look around for a little white sold think that looks like poop on the branches, vines, in the plants etc.

 

[ThorIsMyChameleon]

Water bowl

I hand mist my tank too. But I wanted to see if he drank out of a bowl, and he DOES!! haha it was funny he stuck his whole head in and started drinking then e got in and was standing and drinking. But he only does it if i show him the bowl or if i put my finger in the bowl and splash alil he likes the bubbles..

 

[stepho]

What kind of hand mister are you using? Someone on here recommended to me a pump-up pressurized spray bottle from a hardware store. It works a lot better than the trigger spray bottles. More steady stream, and a finer mist.

Although I bought an automatic mister and my chameleon really loves that.

 

[ShaSha]

I have a regular spray bottle from the pet store. I have a dripper and never see him drink from it, but hopefully he does. He runs away when I mist the cage. He doesn't seem to like it. Thanks for all of the advice. I f you have anymore keep it coming!

 

[Solid Snake]

I like to use these:http://www.homedepot.com/buy/outdoo...ators/2-gallon-heavy-duty-sprayer-140773.html


Any chameleon Ive had will shy away from the water at first, you have to keep it coming.

They will settle into it, and start to lap it up.

I first mist my jackson for 20-30 sec, during this time, she does the "freak out" thing.

I then give her a 30sec-1min break, and start again with the mist for 30 more sec.

I then loosen the spray nozzle a tad, so its drops, not mist coming out, by this time, she has settled in, and realized its water time.

I hit her from a high angle with the small drops, simulating a light rain.
I move it over her, up and down, to where there are small breaks in the rain coming down on her, like its coming down in "sheets".

During these "breaks", is when she will open her mouth, and lick up the water. I give her enough time to do this, then it gets pointed to were it is over her again, to "load" her up with more water.

This will go on for many minutes. I only stop when she stops drinking.

 

[ShaSha]

I really hope that he starts drinking in front of me so I will feel better! LOL. I will try your method and check out the link to see what you use to mist.

 

[ShaSha]

I just checked out the mister...it looks intimidating lol. What makes it better than the hand pumped misters?

 

[Solid Snake]

I just checked out the mister...it looks intimidating lol. What makes it better than the hand pumped misters?

Well, for starters, they dont kill your hand. lol

They are easily adjustable, with a simple turn of the nozzle head.

They can provide a very fine mist, to a light rain, to a heavy rain, to a strong blasting jet.(the last of which is good for blasting poo and other things off of cages/branches)

The lever can be locked in place, so you can set it up where you like it, and it will empty itself where you need it. (good for giving long showers, outside of an actual "people-shower", or even in the shower still, but you can use whatever water you like, instead of tap.)

You can not only adjust the spray at the nozzle head, but by how many pumps you give it.

They are cheap, like 10-15 bucks, and fairly sturdily built, so they last a long time.

It makes misting many cages easier as well, as you dont have to keep refilling a bottle.

They do put out a lot of water though, and it can take some practice/care to not soak your house, if misting inside.

Thats all I can think of.

I misted with a handheld spray bottle for months when I first got a chameleon.
Now, I would not use anything else period.