Hello, all! I just received my first Panther Chameleon earlier today, and jeez he sure is pretty, and already ate. I am having problems though getting him to drink. I seen him lick some water driplets off a log, but not to much. When I give him water, I just hold the sprayer above the terranium and spray into his home, having the water coming down in a mist onto him and the leaves around him. But so far it seems that he isn't taking to this method so far. Is there any different way that any of you use that I could try? Second, for the past 15 min. or so he has been sitting around with his mouth open. Is this a sign of disease or overheating? Thanks a bunch!
New Panther Chameleon Questions
- Thread starter mrk1260
- Start date
Will Hayward
New Member
Mrk, Congrats on your new purchase. Prepare yourself for a lot of research, a lot of money spending, a lot of worry- but more importantly, an awesome reptile. Remember to post photos after a few days. Wait a while for him to get settled into his new home before sticking a camera in his face, just let him be for the first few days, do your duties, and watch from afar. You can upload the photos here to the Chameleon Forum gallery for free photo hosting.
If you are looking for tips photos are great. Users will be able to point out ideas to make your life simpler, or your chameleon happier. Make sure to provide a live plant- they really do great things for chameleons.
Mouth open is usually a sign of overheating. Just as a dog sweats with his tongue a chameleon evaporates moisture from the mouth and lungs. You need to check your temperatures at the basking area (The branch under the heat light) and also the temperature farther away from hte light from an area that would represent the "ambient Temperature". This will help determine if the heat is too intense for your new boy.
As far as hydration, don't panic. The tell tale sign of dehydration is sunken eyes. The eyes should appear to be rather bulbous and protrude a good distance out of the eye socket. If the eyes are flat, then you ll need to increase the water intake of your chameleon. If the eyes are inside the eye socket then it is much more serious and further assistance must be taken in re hydrating the chameleon. There are several ways that you can provide water for drinking. You may have to combine several of these to get the ideal setup. Please view the links... Watering and Drainage Strategies By Jason Descamps
-Hand Spray Bottle misting several times repeated over the day. In my experience, it usually take a chameleon some minutes to before stimulated to drink, so a mister with a pump and pressure buildup is very useful. Pump it up 20 times and spray for a few minutes straight. The ones that spray once with every trigger squeeze will feel horrible to use after you have purchase a pump up pressure one.
-(Automatic) Misting systems. The more expensive route, but in my opinion by far the best on. Increases both Humidity and water droplets to drink. It also is great for the plants. Can be put on timers to run while you are out of house. Misting Systems by John W. Lucas
-Drippers. There are several commercial drippers on the market, but placing a bottle, tub, reservoir of some sort, etc, above the cage and having it drip onto the plant leaves before hitting falling into another "catching" reservoir. Any container can be converted to do this. Can drip for several hours a day.
-Humidifiers. I prefer the cool air humidifiers (vaporizers) because the mist tends to descend rather than just rise and disperse quickly. Humidifiers can be altered to give off a mist than runs through tubes and falls into the hop of the cage. SOMETIMES this mist will collect of the leaves and form droplets for chameleons to drink, but its use for providing drinking water is dependant of the strength of the humidifier to provide enough mist and humidity build up, and also the way you have the tubing set up. Humidifiers and Chameleon Enclosures By roo
-Showering. You can take your chameleon on a plant and place it in a stand up shower and rebound the mist off the wall. They get used to being in the shower and most grow to enjoy it. This is usually done sparingly, and in addition to other methods of providing water. Good for intense re hydrating, helping shedding and washing out the eyes.
If you are looking for tips photos are great. Users will be able to point out ideas to make your life simpler, or your chameleon happier. Make sure to provide a live plant- they really do great things for chameleons.
Mouth open is usually a sign of overheating. Just as a dog sweats with his tongue a chameleon evaporates moisture from the mouth and lungs. You need to check your temperatures at the basking area (The branch under the heat light) and also the temperature farther away from hte light from an area that would represent the "ambient Temperature". This will help determine if the heat is too intense for your new boy.
As far as hydration, don't panic. The tell tale sign of dehydration is sunken eyes. The eyes should appear to be rather bulbous and protrude a good distance out of the eye socket. If the eyes are flat, then you ll need to increase the water intake of your chameleon. If the eyes are inside the eye socket then it is much more serious and further assistance must be taken in re hydrating the chameleon. There are several ways that you can provide water for drinking. You may have to combine several of these to get the ideal setup. Please view the links... Watering and Drainage Strategies By Jason Descamps
-Hand Spray Bottle misting several times repeated over the day. In my experience, it usually take a chameleon some minutes to before stimulated to drink, so a mister with a pump and pressure buildup is very useful. Pump it up 20 times and spray for a few minutes straight. The ones that spray once with every trigger squeeze will feel horrible to use after you have purchase a pump up pressure one.
-(Automatic) Misting systems. The more expensive route, but in my opinion by far the best on. Increases both Humidity and water droplets to drink. It also is great for the plants. Can be put on timers to run while you are out of house. Misting Systems by John W. Lucas
-Drippers. There are several commercial drippers on the market, but placing a bottle, tub, reservoir of some sort, etc, above the cage and having it drip onto the plant leaves before hitting falling into another "catching" reservoir. Any container can be converted to do this. Can drip for several hours a day.
-Humidifiers. I prefer the cool air humidifiers (vaporizers) because the mist tends to descend rather than just rise and disperse quickly. Humidifiers can be altered to give off a mist than runs through tubes and falls into the hop of the cage. SOMETIMES this mist will collect of the leaves and form droplets for chameleons to drink, but its use for providing drinking water is dependant of the strength of the humidifier to provide enough mist and humidity build up, and also the way you have the tubing set up. Humidifiers and Chameleon Enclosures By roo
-Showering. You can take your chameleon on a plant and place it in a stand up shower and rebound the mist off the wall. They get used to being in the shower and most grow to enjoy it. This is usually done sparingly, and in addition to other methods of providing water. Good for intense re hydrating, helping shedding and washing out the eyes.
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ChameleonsTree
New Member
Was he shipped to you or did you go pick him up?
Will Hayward
New Member
Elisa, may I ask what difference you beleive this makes? or what reason there is to ask this?ChameleonsTree said:
ChameleonsTree
New Member
The amount of time he was without water
ChameleonsTree
New Member
The chameleons i have had shipped overnight were quite thirsty right away and would drink the whole time i misted them...where as the ones i have picked up locally drank more sparingly
Will Hayward
New Member
Don't you think the problem seems to be more heat related rather than hydration? And even so, the shipping would not be reason for an open mouth as they would quickly adjust to the new temperatures.
Unless it was Upper Respritory Deseise.
But surely an overnight shipment (assuming it was properly exicuted and the chameleon was in top notch health Before leaving) would be no cause for the chameleon to be dehydrated. I'd estamate that I have unpacked... around, 900 to a 1000 WC (and less often FR) reptiles this year. Being shipped from Africa, and other coninents. Very rarely are they dehydrated- even being wild animals kept in bags inside boxes for the last 2-3 days. Albeit that chameleons where one of the reptiles that were thirstier, but by no means dehydrated.
It doesn't sound like the chameleon is dehydrated, and if you are misting and he has taken a few sips before stopping, seems like he was satisfied for the moment.
Unless it was Upper Respritory Deseise.
But surely an overnight shipment (assuming it was properly exicuted and the chameleon was in top notch health Before leaving) would be no cause for the chameleon to be dehydrated. I'd estamate that I have unpacked... around, 900 to a 1000 WC (and less often FR) reptiles this year. Being shipped from Africa, and other coninents. Very rarely are they dehydrated- even being wild animals kept in bags inside boxes for the last 2-3 days. Albeit that chameleons where one of the reptiles that were thirstier, but by no means dehydrated.
It doesn't sound like the chameleon is dehydrated, and if you are misting and he has taken a few sips before stopping, seems like he was satisfied for the moment.
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He was shipped to me, so he did spend some time without water. Thanks for the very long reply Will, it helped a bunch. Im gonna go try now spraying him again but much longer, because I used to do it for only a minute or so. If this fails to work I will use the shower method within the next day or two. Also, one question about the shower method, what should the temperature of the shower be? Slightly cool, not to cold, not to hot? And how long does it usually take for them to start drinking in the shower? O and btw, Ive been keeping a smaller veiled so Im not a complete noob.
ChameleonsTree
New Member
no mine were never dehydrated but they were thristy...and yes i agree that mouth open means too hot...i was just saying the shipped ones tended to take much longer drinks at firstWill Hayward said:
