Orange poop?

[joeandsoph]

Joe got up super early this morning so he could spend extra time with Tilly trying to get her to drink...and lot's of spraying. There will be someone there to spray her during the day and we'll try a shower tonight just got to find something for her to sit it, my god she's gonna hate it!

 

[ijmccollum]

Does she gape at you? Perhaps a pipett with water/pedialyte would work if you are careful enough. No pipette, small straw -- dipped into liquid, thumb lock to bring liquid up with straw. Small amounts only, you don't want to drown her. Misting and shower will be safest though.

 

[atsutane]

Does she gape at you? Perhaps a pipett with water/pedialyte would work if you are careful enough. No pipette, small straw -- dipped into liquid, thumb lock to bring liquid up with straw. Small amounts only, you don't want to drown her. Misting and shower will be safest though.

do chams have a trachea? the passage that connects the lungs with the throat? or can they only breathe through their noses?

just a concern i had about dripping water in their mouth if they can breath that way... dont want to drown them

 

[ijmccollum]

Yes, I believe it is transverse but don't quote me. So yes, drowning is a possibility/concern.

 

[Carlton]

A couple other thoughts...do you gutload your feeders with a lot of carrot? Sometimes it can tinge the urates, but if you don't do this it is definitely dehydration. Also, to hydrate more you need to check your cage humidity levels more often. If the cage dries out pretty fast and drops quite a lot after you mist, the amount of time the cham spends in dry air is greater than you might realize. Dry air can dehydrate them through respiration and they end up losing more moisture than they can replace during the period between mistings. You might need to run a room humidifier next to the cage to stabilize the level. It doesn't need to be a constant humid state, but can level it out somewhat.

 

[joeandsoph]

We do gutload with carrot but didn't for a few weeks so I'm sure it's not that. Tried to shower...she hated it. She just sat their with her eyes closed and looked terrified. She hasn't pooped again since (that we can see). She does sometimes gape and we have occaisionly tried to spray a little water in to her mouth but don't want to have to resort to this every time we think she's dehydrated. She's such a confusing animal lol.

 

[pssh]

Did you check the humidity throughout the day? Low humidity 'dries them out' so to speak. When was the last time she pooped?

 

[joeandsoph]

That was the last time she pooped but she doesn't poop alot normally and sometimes we have to search hard for it. We've cleaned her out and replaced the drip mats so we'll be keeping an eye on that.

I've just hand fed her some salad leaves and soaked them in water first...is this ok to do as she always eats from our hand? And then she is getting water also.

 

[sandrachameleon]

I've just hand fed her some salad leaves and soaked them in water first...is this ok to do as she always eats from our hand? And then she is getting water also.

Seems a good idea to me.
Also use juicy fruits to gutload whatever feeders you can get for while, see if that helps.

 

[Miss Lily]

Did you check the humidity throughout the day? Low humidity 'dries them out' so to speak. When was the last time she pooped?

I was worried as I never used to see Lily drink, but was told that they do absorb some water from breathing in the humid air in their cages.