chameleon refuses to drink

[franticurchin]

vinnie is getting dehydrated i have a dripper and a mist king and he is just not drinking enough i currently have the mist king going and im gonna let is go for the next 30min to and hour and see if that helps dose anyone have another idea?

 

[carol5208]

maybe he is just not drinking in front of you? you say he is dehydrated. What signs he showing that leads you to believe that?

 

[franticurchin]

his skin on his back has had wrinkles in it and i haven't seen him drink like normal i cleaned out his cage the other day and noticed that his poop has no white just orange

 

[Chamero]

My cham hardly drinks in front of me...so I make sure to offer water at multiple times during the day...whether he drinks or not.

I do know that chams get most of their hydration from their feeders, so try gutloading with more fruits n veggies... should help a lot.

 

[franticurchin]

i have been gut loading the crickets and with the mist king i do 3 times a day ten min a day and then i do the other five times for a min i just made a dripper two days ago and nothing seems to be working i am giving a shower rite now hoping that he will start drinking. i plan on doing three to four showers today for at least 30min a time. just wondering if i should be doing any thing else like getting him mad and then dripping water in his mouth?

 

[Chamero]

Umm...honestly, I wouldnt even be showering him that much in the same day as it will stress him. But when you do shower him, realize that they can hydrate from the steam alone, he doesnt have to be directly in the water.

And, since your watering schedule seems to be adequate, Im assuming something else is the problem.

Got any pics of your setup?

 

[franticurchin]

will it stress him even if i just have been showering him with his mist king in his cage. not in the shower i dont want to stress him by bringing him into the shower if i can do it in his cage where he is already

 

[Chamero]

It shouldn't, but maybe he just doesnt like drinking with you there, I really dont know... I just wouldnt force him to be directly under the mist king.

 

[franticurchin]

hes not theres plenty of spots that he runs to when he wants get a way from it here are some pics..

 

[franticurchin]

pic number 2

 

[franticurchin]

sorry i cant get the others to upload

 

[Smiley14]

Use the dipper or small spray mister... try get it on his mouth..
dipper ll help yea..

 

[franticurchin]

if anyone has anything else that might be helpful please chime in

 

[Seeco]

Hehe he looks healthy and VERY cute. If you are worried just keep the temps down for a few days like 75F and no basking spot for 2 days.

 

[franticurchin]

lol.... i hate that he looked that way last time before he shed... he looks fine now and seems to be drinking alot

 

[Rune]

Take a dropper and do like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RUOI09JWHw&feature=channel_video_title

 

[panther67]

I had the same problem with my Ambilobe and found that if I hold my small spray bottle in front of him and lightly squeeze so that it drips he will drink from it for 5-10 minutes. I have a posted picture on one of there update threads. He has a mistking and a dripper but could care less. No my Nosy loves the mistking.

Try to spray drops in front of him of the leaves so that he can see it. I shower the chams once a week no matter how hydrated they are. you may just have to feed him silks and horns to help hydrate him.

 

[Elizadolots]

frantichurchin, it sounds like the crisis has passed and it's possible that he just stops drinking right before a shed. You being an attentive chameleon parent noticed it. In the future, if that happens again, you might try giving him a "wetter" feeder. By that I mean a soft bodied worm like a silkworm or even a wax worm for a couple of days (not exclusively, keep giving your standard feeders).

 

[allencg101]

you might want to take a doo doo sample to the vet and make sure he has not parasites or infections.