my one year old panther is not drinking water. i have a dripper that drips on to a near by pothos which then drips on to a ficus at the bottom. he seems to not even notice the dripper. i even spray his cage 4 times a day and nothing. his urine is orange. he is eating but not his normal amount. ive been hand feeding him since he cant hit anything with his tongue. im hoping i can get some help on here so i can avoid a trip to a vet since money is tight.
Panther chameleon not drinking
- Thread starter DWTobias
- Start date
camimom
New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - male ambilobe panther, 1 year
Handling - once or twice a week, very friendly
Feeding - crickets and supers gut loaded with fresh fruits and veggies
Supplements - exo terra calcium every feeding, rep cal herptivite with beta carotene twice a month, repti calcium with d3 twice a month
Watering - dripper and spray bottle, spray 4 times a day, almost a whole spray bottle.
Fecal Description - Brown poop with orange urine
History - recently had a eye problem, vet said it was due to a liver infection. vet gave me some meds and cured it.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - lllreptile aluminum screen cage, 24 x 24 x 48
Lighting - repti sun 5.0 uvb linear tube, zoo med 100w repti basking spot lamp
Temperature - basking spot is 88-90, cage floor is 70. stick on thermometers
Humidity - 70 percent humidity
Plants - pothos and a ficus
Placement - cage is in my bed room, 4 feet from window and vent
Location - grand rapids, michigan
Current Problem - Leon isnt drinking, has orange urine
Your Chameleon - male ambilobe panther, 1 year
Handling - once or twice a week, very friendly
Feeding - crickets and supers gut loaded with fresh fruits and veggies
Supplements - exo terra calcium every feeding, rep cal herptivite with beta carotene twice a month, repti calcium with d3 twice a month
Watering - dripper and spray bottle, spray 4 times a day, almost a whole spray bottle.
Fecal Description - Brown poop with orange urine
History - recently had a eye problem, vet said it was due to a liver infection. vet gave me some meds and cured it.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - lllreptile aluminum screen cage, 24 x 24 x 48
Lighting - repti sun 5.0 uvb linear tube, zoo med 100w repti basking spot lamp
Temperature - basking spot is 88-90, cage floor is 70. stick on thermometers
Humidity - 70 percent humidity
Plants - pothos and a ficus
Placement - cage is in my bed room, 4 feet from window and vent
Location - grand rapids, michigan
Current Problem - Leon isnt drinking, has orange urine
NHenn
Avid Member
I don't know why he might not be drinking, hopefully someone else will be able to help with the issue but maybe in the mean time you could try to give him some food like silkworms or hornworm as they both contain a lot of fluids. Also try giving him a shower to help dehydrate him.
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
Did he drink from the misting before and now he just stopped?? I have a tough time getting my one chameleon to drink also. A couple of things to do or try. Take the super worm or cricket and dip it in water and then feed it to him. When he is eating, spray some water in his mouth. Spray it in from the side, not down his throat. Btw how long do you mist for?. Take the dripper and drip it directly on his nose. If he moves away follow him around. It takes me sometimes like 3 or 4 minutes of dripping the water on my chams nose to get him to drink. If you can hold him, get an eye dropper and start dropping the water on his nose. Again, it may take quite a few minutes. Also you can feed some silks or hornworms if you can get them(I know you said budget is tight) but they are juicy feeders.
Poptartjake
New Member
Try increasing the rate of the dripper. Be willing to let a steady, continuous stream of water flow if you have enough drainage. My female Jax will only drink from a dripper with a very fast, continuous stream. This translates to the dripper running out in 5-10 minutes, but she will usually drink from it vigorously while it is going.
thank you all for your imput and i will give those suggestions a try. i will get some of those worms when i find a good store that sells them. his dripper is at a fast pace and i see him looking at it, he just doesnt go for it. when i spray the cage i always focus more at the top since that is where the pothos is. i spray for a 2-3 mins
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
What is the dripper dripping on? I have found that if I drip it on a branch or vine, sometimes they will go up and start licking the branch. If he will let you, spray him directly if it is a fine mist and maybe do for like 3-5 minutes. A lot of people do the shower method. I have never used it myself. Do you know about the shower? I know you don't have any silkworms, but they are a worm that will sit right on a branch unlike the supers which always fall. I start my dripper and put the silk right under the drip. The worm gets wet and then he gets the water and the worm! Oh yeah, I have all the tricks of the trade! lol You have to get creative when you have a finicky drinker!!
You can put him on a plant or in a screen cage and let the shower slowly "rain" on the cage and give him a good 30-45 minute soak (some do longer). I usually make sure that 3/4 of the cage is getting wet and the water temp is at 80 degrees. Let the water run more than a drip but a lot less than a normal shower. Also, run it for a long time before you put your cham under it to be sure your water temp has stabilized. Be careful that no one turns on water elsewhere in your house during this time assuming that it may effect your shower temp. Ive done this to help with eye problems as well...there may be some thought to the drawbacks of chlorinated water and the risk of your temp changing unexpectedly but in my opinion these risks fold in light of a cham not drinking or having eye probs...
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
that is great! Glad we could help out! They can be a real pain in the butt sometimes when it comes to drinking!
pigglett79
Avid Member
If it weren't for hornworms my panther would be in trouble. He is the worst when it comes to drinking. I try everything. He doesn't drink int he shower, wont use the dripper, sometimes drinks when I mist and will sometimes drink during a long rain session from the mist king, but it never fails that when I am between hornworm cycles his ureates get orange. It can be very frustrating, but hang in there and just try everything you can.
