Can't see dripper?

[SimonTheCham]

Zoe always has drank good but since we've moved her to the new cage she hasn't been great. Eating fine but she can't seem to get enough water. I just caught her trying to get the drips off the screen after I misted her while a dripper was right next to her in the corner. I try and move the dripper with her to get her to notice the water but she doesn't go. She's clearly thirsty. Any suggestions? I'll post a picture in a minute.

 

[Lovereps]

She must be quite thirsty and it is very important to figure out why.
It's good that you are attentive and noticed the problem.
Temperatures and humidity will both affect how thirsty a cham gets.

There is a great deal of good info here https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/water/

Sometimes, we don't realize that more things have changed than just the new cage size.
If the room temps are warmer, she may be too hot. If the AC is running, it dries the air out and she may be in need of more water and humidity because of that.
If her cage was moved to a different location, there may be something bothering her there--like too much activity or another pet or light streaming through a closed window making it too hot.

All chams are different and maybe Zoe just doesn't like the dripper or it isn't dripping quickly enough for her to notice the water.

If she has been moved to a larger screen cage, then the same amount of misting time that she had in the smaller cage may not be making the enclosure humid enough.
Increasing the length of mistings and the frequency of mistings may be the solution.
You can add plants to help retain humidity and provide more surfaces to drink from.


You didn't say what kind of cham Zoe is, but you'll want to be sure that the temperatures and humidity are where they need to be for her.
The forum caresheets in the Resources section provide that ibfo and much more useful info https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/

 

[crazychamzoo]

I know this is a silly question, but is the dripper set up to drop on a leaf that's easily accessible and seen by the Cham? We typically don't use drippers but when we have, the only way we could get the chams to drink from the dripper is if we strategically place it to hit a leaf at the top and roll off on to others, chams prefer to drink by lapping water from the leaves.

 

[Lenny the veild]

We also have a chameleon that's a really poor drinker. He rarely ever drinks water, but often they do not drink in front of anyone.

Our vet recommended putting them in a warm water bath for 15-30 mins, so that the bottom of their stomach is under water. They absorb water through their vent, and it helps them go to the bathroom, too. It also helps them when they shed their skin. We do this a couple times a week, and everyday when they're shedding.