Nursing Dehydration

K_Wolf

Avid Member
One of the most common causes of fatalities among household chameleons is dehydration. When you notice these signs:
Sunken in eyes
Thinning of legs
Weakness
"Line" on tail

It most likely provokes a lot of fear and panic. You search everywhere to find out the best way to fix things, but here I'm going to put your racing minds to rest with an all in one guide of what to do.

**This guide is for emergency care only. Your enclosure setup should be proper, and if it isn't, then fix it (other threads cover this).**

First things first: try and determine the severity of your chamelons condition. If you can safely say that it's far down on the mild spectrum, you should try these methods first. However, if you have even the slightest bit of doubt, I highly suggest taking your chameleon into the vet as soon as possible. In a moderate state, you can postpone your visit for a very short time (meaning you don't have to rush out at 10:00 at night and instead observe and head out in the morning), using methods listed below. However, keep note that dehydration amongst other problems in chameleons tends to progress very fast. If your chameleon is showing severe symtoms, it needs urgent medical attention from a proper vet and CANNOT wait until the next morning. Do the right things and take that poor creature in right away and put off your sleep/plans for later....those can wait, but a life cannot.

So some techniques:

Showering
If your chameleon is older than 5 months, you may use this method at your discretion. Take a real plant (preferably and yes it will probably drown) and place it on the floor of the shower close to the wall farthest from the shower head. Now, adjust your shower head so that the sprays hits only the wall. The plant should receive only the gentle rebound of the water. Use hot water as it boosts humidity, and keep the bathroom door shut. Place your chamelons onto the plant and run the water for 30-45 minutes. Never leave your cham unattended- sorry but you're going to have to deal with the hot humidity in there. Never spray water directly on your chameleon. Do not use cold water. Chameleons may react adversely to the water originally, but will adjust accordingly.

The dropper method
For this, you can either use a syringe or a pipet. I reccomend the pipet. Fill your tool with purified water, then offer it to your chameleon by forming a droplet at the end. Hopefully, your chameleon will take the water, although it may take some patience. If this does not work for you, try another method.

Fruit method
Probably the most gentle way of hydrating your chameleon is by feeding it fruits rich in water. This is a method people tend to forget, but can be very effective. The best fruit for this would be watermelon (try and get a darker, juicy piece and remove all seeds), however you can try things such as strawberries and honeydew if you do not have any watermelon. Cut your fruit into very small pieces (no bigger than your feeder insects) and offer it to your chameleon by either offering it by hand, placing it on a sturdy scewer, or simply leaving it in an easily accessible space.

The Powerade/Water combo
Add 50:50 Powerade and water to a syringe. Note that this is more of a forceful tactic, and must be executed correctly. Use Powerade that is blue and without sugar (don't use sugar!!!). Gently have your chameleon open its mouth and slowly squirt out the liquid in small portions until the syringe is empty. You can also do this with water only, and it works the same way. The Powerade will simply hydrate your chameleon faster and help in various ways.

Interveinious fluids
Obviously, this should only be done by a professional, so save everyone some pain here and step away from this method if you don't have experience with this. Yes, we know you're pretty skilled with just about anything, soccer mom, but let's not test this one. If you're a professional, then that means I don't have to provide steps. Done!
 
@K_Wolf Probably the single biggest reason for dehydration is low ambient humidity. Most chameleons come from the rain forest and even the veiled from Yemen comes from an area that is very, very humid.
 
There are two types of dehydration IMHO....one from general lack of water/hydration due to poor husbandry and the dehydration that accompanies illness.

Dehydration from poor husbandry is usually able to be corrected by providing mistings, water from a dripper or even a pipette to bring the chameleon back to hydration..

If the sunken eyes and other symptoms of dehydration are caused by nillness this will not usually work...you need to find out what is wrong with the chameleon. This often requires a trip to the vet.

Just my opinion.
 
Powerade is actually a relatively useless drink as far as electrolytes go. Pedialyte (a regular and non-flavored version) is actually more useful just combine it with some water. And you have to be very careful with where you put the syringe. Their trachea is under their tongue. So get a 1 cc syringe and place it into the opening of their throat. Then you can place it in.
 
One of the most common causes of fatalities among household chameleons is dehydration. When you notice these signs:
Sunken in eyes
Thinning of legs
Weakness
"Line" on tail

It most likely provokes a lot of fear and panic. You search everywhere to find out the best way to fix things, but here I'm going to put your racing minds to rest with an all in one guide of what to do.

**This guide is for emergency care only. Your enclosure setup should be proper, and if it isn't, then fix it (other threads cover this).**

First things first: try and determine the severity of your chamelons condition. If you can safely say that it's far down on the mild spectrum, you should try these methods first. However, if you have even the slightest bit of doubt, I highly suggest taking your chameleon into the vet as soon as possible. In a moderate state, you can postpone your visit for a very short time (meaning you don't have to rush out at 10:00 at night and instead observe and head out in the morning), using methods listed below. However, keep note that dehydration amongst other problems in chameleons tends to progress very fast. If your chameleon is showing severe symtoms, it needs urgent medical attention from a proper vet and CANNOT wait until the next morning. Do the right things and take that poor creature in right away and put off your sleep/plans for later....those can wait, but a life cannot.

So some techniques:

Showering
If your chameleon is older than 5 months, you may use this method at your discretion. Take a real plant (preferably and yes it will probably drown) and place it on the floor of the shower close to the wall farthest from the shower head. Now, adjust your shower head so that the sprays hits only the wall. The plant should receive only the gentle rebound of the water. Use hot water as it boosts humidity, and keep the bathroom door shut. Place your chamelons onto the plant and run the water for 30-45 minutes. Never leave your cham unattended- sorry but you're going to have to deal with the hot humidity in there. Never spray water directly on your chameleon. Do not use cold water. Chameleons may react adversely to the water originally, but will adjust accordingly.

The dropper method
For this, you can either use a syringe or a pipet. I reccomend the pipet. Fill your tool with purified water, then offer it to your chameleon by forming a droplet at the end. Hopefully, your chameleon will take the water, although it may take some patience. If this does not work for you, try another method.

Fruit method
Probably the most gentle way of hydrating your chameleon is by feeding it fruits rich in water. This is a method people tend to forget, but can be very effective. The best fruit for this would be watermelon (try and get a darker, juicy piece and remove all seeds), however you can try things such as strawberries and honeydew if you do not have any watermelon. Cut your fruit into very small pieces (no bigger than your feeder insects) and offer it to your chameleon by either offering it by hand, placing it on a sturdy scewer, or simply leaving it in an easily accessible space.

The Powerade/Water combo
Add 50:50 Powerade and water to a syringe. Note that this is more of a forceful tactic, and must be executed correctly. Use Powerade that is blue and without sugar (don't use sugar!!!). Gently have your chameleon open its mouth and slowly squirt out the liquid in small portions until the syringe is empty. You can also do this with water only, and it works the same way. The Powerade will simply hydrate your chameleon faster and help in various ways.

Interveinious fluids
Obviously, this should only be done by a professional, so save everyone some pain here and step away from this method if you don't have experience with this. Yes, we know you're pretty skilled with just about anything, soccer mom, but let's not test this one. If you're a professional, then that means I don't have to provide steps. Done!
Some of the symptoms you list for dehydration can also be true of other health problems such as trauma, malnutrition, extreme stress, or overall illness. Actually there are a couple other useful signs of dehydration to add to your list.
Skin "tenting". Take a fold of skin gently between fingers for a few moments and release it. If the skin stays folded after its released, the cham is dehydrated. If it flattens out right away the cham is hydrated.
Tongue not "sticky". If the cham shoots at prey but can't seem to hold onto it long enough to get to its mouth, the glands on the tongue tip may not be producing the normal amount of mucous. A dehydrated cham can't catch prey as well or may give up trying. Often, a dehydrated cham simply stops eating.
 
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