Stupid Thoughts on Dehydration..

[Cherron]

Alright, this may sound crazy but I think maybe I just have to much time on my hands.

There have been a few times that I have had to deal with a pretty severly dehydrated chameleon. I am very reluctant to force any kind of fluids on a chameleon because of the fear of aspiration.

I was feeding my crickets a little bit ago and got to thinking.. you know the cricket water gel? Just the plain kind that is essentially water and gelatin? I wonder if that could be given to dehydrated chameleons. Just a bite of two to get some liquids in them. Like the doctor telling you to eat jello when you have the flu.. It would help solve the aspiration problem, I would think.

I don't know. Maybe I am just stupid It sounds like it would work though. As long as the gel was the plain kind and not the weird gutloading kind..

Any ideas?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Hmmmm.
I notice a greater amount of clear fluid in the urates (which I interpret to mean the animal is well hydrated) when I am feeding silkworms.
I don't know about the water gel....I don't even give it to my insects.

-Brad

 

[Cherron]

Well, I use the water gel with my crickets and with my roaches. It works great to reduce drowning, spillage, crickets laying eggs in wet paper towels, etc and one bottle of it lasts FOREVER.

I was looking more for an opinion on giving it to chams.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Yeah, I understand.
It seems to me I have read some information regarding the contraversial
topic of using gel or crystal "water".
I know a lot of people use it for insects with no apparrent ill effects.
What is in it exactly ...it can't be just water and gelatin. If it lasts forever there must be some chemicals or other preservatives.

-Brad

 

[Heika]

I use water crystals as well with my insects. I wouldn't even consider feeding them to my chameleons, though, for fear of an obstruction. Plus, the crystal is going to try and stay as hydrated as it can.. my guess is that it would pull moisture from the digestive tract to replace fluids.

There are several products on the market that help to prevent aspiration in humans, and I think this would be a better way to go. One of them is "Thick-it", and is a powder that can be added to water to.. well.. thick-it. Or, Agar would work.

Good topic.. not sure why no one has tried something like this before. While I hope that there isn't a next time for me in force feeding/hydrating a chameleon, I am sure there will be. I think it would be worth using either Agar or one of the liquid thickeners. I worry about aspiration, too.

Heika

 

[Heika]

It seems to me I have read some information regarding the contraversial
topic of using gel or crystal "water".

There is some fear that feeders get the crystals stuck to their legs, or that the tiny amounts that the insects ingest will cause problems with such things as an obstruction. Some have mentioned seeing problems with it, but I have never seen specifics.

Personally, I order water crystals by the pound to use in insect enclosures and have never had an issue with it.

 

[FaunaBgirl]

Water crystals are way different than the gel right? I use the gel and had the same thought at one point. I opted not to do it. Good point about possible other chemicals (preservatives) being in the gel.
I do know that when humans get diarrhea, they say drink ungelled (watery) jello to thicken up fecal matter, if that's any clue.