Training a cham to drink from a dish!

[Chanel]

Well after only one day of "training" Ichabod to drink from a shallow dish of water, I walked upstairs today to find him taking a drink from it! He would take a big bite of the water, then throw his head back and swallow it! Unfortunately, he ran away the minute I pulled out the camera to get a video of him (he hates the camera).

I know chameleons aren't supposed to recognize standing water as a source of water, but this seems to have worked. He actually sticks his hand in first to see if there is any, then he drinks away! I tried using a big water dripper, but I have low ceilings and the dripper doesn't fit nicely on top of the 6ft enclosure (plus the height from the stand). I'm sure some of you have tried it before, whether or not it worked.
How it's done:

1. I tied a shallow dish (which is actually the green lid from his dripper) with black zipties to the intersection of all the vines and plants in his enclosure. You want to make sure that the dish is shallow enough that the cham can stand in it and not worry about drowning. I picked this area because it is the most frequented area.

2. Set up a water drip right above the water dish (I just poked a hole in the bottom of a disposable plastic party cup and put it on the top of the enclosure.

3. Constantly flil the dripper for the day until the cham has recognized where the water is dripping and drinks from the drops landing in the dish.

4. Stop using the dripper for a day and see if the cham drinks from the dish on his own without the drips.

TA DA!

That's all I had to do, and now I don't have to worry about him getting thirsty between mistings.

I hope this works for any of you that want to try it!

 

[Sang]

its not that they can't drink from a dish, it is because the dishes are breeding grounds for bacteria and parasites.

 

[Chanel]

The dish is easily cleaned daily and it can be removed weekly like his food bowl to be cleaned out thoroughly with a diluted bleach solution...

 

[chequepoint]

I hope nobody else here tries it.
It is next to impossible to maintain the sanitary conditions necessary for these delicate animals in a body of standing water. Standing water breeds bacteria. If the chameleon defecates in the water, or runoff from a leaf that the chameleon defecated on... or that a feeder insect defecated on.. or a feeder insect drowns in the bowl, etc. etc. etc.

They drink rainwater and dew in the wild, extremely fresh, extremely clean.

I don't care how exacting and precise your husbandry will be, its a bad idea. You've made the decision to proceed in this direction, and no one will stop you. I hope that everything works out for your chameleon, however.. someday, someone will read this and use it as an excuse to put a water bowl in with their cham. So I'm stating for the record, to that future person, it is a bad idea.

 

[Chanel]

Well I've removed the dish. I guess I thought it was a good idea, but I'd rather not risk it. I appreciate the advice, thank you. I guess that's why I joined this place!

 

[BocaJan]

Good choice Chanel. There are many experienced chameleon keepers on this forum and can give you tried and true advice for what is best for your little buddy. They are delicate creatures and husbandry should be the best.