urate is orange!?!!

[allllllen]

My chameleon is an Ambanja X Ambilobe, male , 4 months and 2 weeks old.
Handling- Havent handled him once yet.
Feeding- 1/4 crickets, 10-15 daily.
Supplements - Rep cal ( calcium with D3)-every other day and herptivite ( multivitamin) twice a month
Watering - i hand mist him twice a day. i also have a dripper that runs all day.
Fecal Description- usually shaped kinda like a mini football. dark brown / black. white/ moist.
The cage is the Zilla screen habitat ( small)
Lighting- Reptisun 5.0, 5.5 ceramin heat dome with a 60 watt bulb.
Humidity- Usually around 50-60. Hits 70-80 after i mist.
Plants- i have fake foilage, with branches that run across my enclosure and a small ficus tree.
His basking spot is usually high 70s to low 80s. I try not to pass 85.
I live in California.



Problem- His last 2 droppings, i have noticed the urate being orange, no clue why because its usually white. I did catch him eating some soil the other day but i stopped him and got rocks to cover the soil. Not sure if thats the cause Or because i moved my dripper a few times to find a better spot. Should i be concerned?

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Orange urates usually mean dehydration. If you were moving the dripper around make sure he knows where to find water. He may just have been thrown off by the water not appearing where expected and didn't drink as much.

 

[reptoman]

If you can, you should try and get him some hornworms or silkworms and supplement his diet with those for a while. They are great hydrating feeders. Still make sure that he knows where his water is like Ferret said. horns or silks make it easier to hydrate a cham when he is drinking less. You also might try putting him on a plant in the shower to get him drinking. dont spray hot water, make sure its slightly above room temp and let the water bounce off the wall onto the plant and the cham. He will start licking his lips eventually.

 

[allllllen]

isnt he too young for a shower tho?

 

[reptoman]

Probably. Did not catch that he was only 4 months. Do you see him drinking when you mist the cage? Best bet would be get some small silks or hornworms for him. You might also try a good wet gutload for your crickets before feeding them off. Fruits and veggies will hydrate your feeders and in turn hydrate your cham.

 

[Thompson]

4 months is an ok age to give a shower.

 

[Psi]

Supplements - Rep cal ( calcium with D3)-every other day

Might want to fix that up. You don't need to give Calcium WITH D3 that frequently.

 

[allllllen]

My supplementing schedule was suggested to me by the breeder that I bought my little guy from. Which is also one of our site sponsors. Screameleons. But I know many of our forum members believe d3 isn't needed that much. I'm just unsure who's more correct

 

[thechink09]

does giving a cham d3 alot hurt him in any way?

 

[Zen Reptiles]

I wouldn`t be worried unless it happens consecutively for 4-5 poops or so.

I have a young female Mitsio who wouldn`t drink when I got her, I thought I was going to lose her, but I just stuck to my guns (I believe leaving them alone and letting them do their own thing is best) and just gave her the best environment I could, and she eventually started drinking.

Her urates were orange for a good two weeks though.

Too much D3 per serving can be bad. 4,000 IU per kg is ok. Repcal has 400,000 IU per kg.

Big difference.

Check the stats on your d3 container and see if it`s 4k or 40k IU per Kg.

If it`s 4k then that is fine to use a few times a week (I actually use it at every calcium feeding). If it`s 400k it will interfere with vitamin A and E absorption and cause problems.

 

[allllllen]

um yea, i have the rep-cal one .
Ive been unsure if i should be following the supplement schedule the breeder gave me or follow the suggestions of a handful of forum members :/. decisions... but good news, he did drink some water today, i saw it myself.

 

[Elizadolots]

That's good news!

Have you tried giving him water with a (needless) syringe or dropper? You can drip or squeeze the water right through the screen. When mine had orange urates I started pushing water through the screen whenever he was in an accessible place. He'd drink it. Eventually he went back to drinking from the dripper.

 

[kinyonga]

D3 from supplements can build up in the system and cause problems...so its better if they get the D3 from their exposure to the UVB.

 

[allllllen]

yea, he drank the water that dripped from my dripper. Im guessing he might have been confused on where the water was since i moved it a couple of times. So i should definitely ease up on the d3? maybe once a week? rest of the days just regular calcium?