when to worry?

[Sang]

* Cage Type - pure screen, since he is still small i am keeping him a 18"x 20"x 12"
* Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 18" flourecent
is your daily lighting schedule: 6am-6PM
* Temperature - basking spot max is 86. ambient temp is 75. coolest temp is about 69
* Humidity - digital therm/hydro 40-88% humidity 40 inbetween mistings at the lowest. 88% at the highest.
* Plants - ficus benjamina *small, and silk plants.
* Location - cage is in low traffic room, and about 4' off the ground so sits at about 5-6' at the highest.


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Male sambava, 3 months. got him on the 21st from gesang.
* Handling -only once since i have put him in cage.
* Feeding - 10-15 crickets range in size 2-3 week.. daily
* Supplements -rep-cal with, d3 and without d3. i havn't given him the with d3 yet.. but he gets the without daily..light dusting on his crickets.
* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? i have seen him drink directly from the mister i use..he has 3 5 mins mists and then 2-2min mists throught the day.
* Fecal Description -two moist dark poops, his urate has in the past few days turned slightly yellow/orangish. so i know he isn't drinking enough.droppings.
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? I'd have to ask gesang.
* History -N/A
* Current Problem -Well, i want to improve his urate and i don't want to let him get to a point of bad dehydration, i know he just got here and it has only been a few days. at what point should i become worried.

i think ima get like a gerbil water bottle to keep in there , hopefully he can figue that water comes out. he's still not liking being sprayd with his auto mister or by hand.

im still new to this, and i may be over reacting but id rather over react then under react.

 

[Kat77]

Are you using hot water to mist? It will come out of the mister nice and warm. If the misting feels pleasent maybe he will spend more time drinking and less time trying to get away. If you aren't already doing that I would suggest giving it a try. I wouldn't worry yet. They can dehydrate during shipping and sometimes it takes a few days for their urates to look normal again.

 

[kenya]

Your set up sounds great and I think you are over reacting. Try misting him gently by hand with warm water a few times a day. Make sure to soak the cage and leave lots of droplets on the leaves for him to drink later. Slowly move around the cage and eventually to his tail and back end. Try to simulate rainfall on his casque- this should get him to start drinking. All of my chams will drink from my hand sprayer- it takes patience. If he isn't running from the sprayer but isn't drinking, keep trying. You can gently spray him at the corner of his mouth and that may get him started. Try to catch him after he eats- start spraying small drops (between mist and stream) as he is smacking down a cricket and he should keep smacking his lips.

I would not put a gerbil bottle in there- it will just be ignored and give crickets a place to hide. Chams need fresh water, anyway, and those bottles will grow things.

Also, order some small silkworms or hornworms and feed a few off to him. These will improve hydration.

He will settle in with time- try to just leave him alone for a week or two. He is in a totally new enclosure, on a new watering schedule and he will adapt with time and patience.

 

[Meals]

Ive had my veiled chameleon for about five months now, and could not get him to drink using a dripper or by misting. Instead, I take him out of his cage and let him drink from a running tap. Not ideal, but its the only way he will drink! I also mist him two to three times daily, so that some can be absorbed through his skin, and also to help him shead. Hope this helps

 

[sandrachameleon]

Mine like drippers (that drip very quickly, almost running) and dislike misting.

 

[lyricalmiracle]

get a dripper to drip onto a big leaf (i.e. pothos leaf) so it runs off the middle of the leaf, my 3 month old used to lick from the middle of the leaf (because it created a sort of vessel for the water like an aquaduct) and also from the drips that run off at the end point of the leaf. he also used to poop on the same leaf sometimes so i had to clean that every now and then!

also the tip with squirting water into his mouth while he's eating is good, i used to do that sometimes with a small syringe when he hadn't been drinking for a few days just to make sure you KNOW he's had something to drink.

 

[ChromaChameleons]

one of the easiest quick fixes for hydration is silkworms