couple quick q's

[Goonie]

so i gotta thing of giant meal worms, and 3 are what i assume is there caccoon like state, are they still a good treat? are mealworms or super worms even a good feader to begin with?! i hear that they cause impaction cuz they are too tough.
aditionaly my chameleon has no interest in his dripper system and WILL NOT drink any of the water that comes out of it... help?
yey me and the gf caught him drinking!
video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs_ME4Np4Ck

 

[carol5208]

ok supers are better than mealworms for sure. The mealworms if you notice have barely any "meat" the shells are hard and yes they are the ones known to cause impaction. not the supers. As far as I know supers turn into beetles but I have never had mine go into any metamophasis of any kind and I have had them for almost a month. As far as the drinking, alot of chameleons do not like to be watched drinking. Don't ask me why. you may just think he is not drinking. Unless of course you are watching him all day. Try misting with warm water and dont spray it directly on him, let it trickle down like the rain in nature. This will often prompt them to start drinking and he may even start drinking the water droplets on the leaves. The sure way to tell if you cham is getting enough hydration is to check is feces. There should be two parts(you proably already know this) the white and the dark. The white represents the urine and it should be white. If it is pinkish or orange then he might be a little dehydrated. If you are providing water then you are doing your part. I was so worried awhile back when mine seemed like was not drinking either. i even tried an eye dropper of water to get him to drink, but nothing. That was like 2 months ago and I still do not see him drink that often and he is still alive and kicking!

 

[Symbiot]

I never see my veiled drinking at all. Just licking the water from his lips after a good mist. My new 2 month old ambilobe on the other hand, I see drinking all the time. Some chameleons are just shy to drink around us, I guess.

Oh, and definitely try and pick up some superworms or silkworms instead of mealworms next time. They are much more nutritional for your cham.

 

[Goonie]

ok i just got a little thing of 35 and i got him his crickets aswell so ill just use like one of those guys a day just for variety's sake. and his white part of his poo is always white, but thats cuz i use a sprey bottle and turn it all the way down so only a droplet comes out at a time and i hold him in my hand and he will drink them like that... i just want the silly cup i have hanging in my room to be worth something haha. maby hes just too spoiled...

oooh and btw carol supers only change into beetles if you separate them from the rest, they will not do it while in with the rest of em!

thanks both of you anyone have any tricks to encourage him to drink his water?

OH AND HERES A VIDEO FOR YOU KIND FOLKS! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs_ME4Np4Ck

 

[Symbiot]

He's little free-range looks nice. Great job with it.

 

[Goonie]

He's little free-range looks nice. Great job with it.

thank you verry much!!! i appreciate your kind words greatly!

 

[ghettomike]

super worms are a great feeder but variety to me is also important, the more variety the better, I like using supers about once a week. gutloading and suplementing are also very important. Since ive had my cham ( 9 months) I have only seen her drink twice so as long as your guys urates are nice and white he is probably drinking when you are not around. your free range looks great, I would love to free range but I can't see it working out too well having a cat and all. lol.

 

[carol5208]

thanks for the tip Goonie on the Supers! I have them all housed together so I guess I dont have to worry about any beetles. That is an interesting fact though about them I will say.

 

[steelheadchaser]

Besides licking his lips after misting, I have seen my cham shoot water droplets off of leaves a few inches away. I have never seen him "drink" from a leaf right in front of him.

 

[Silkyslim]

Yeah I like your free range set up, I'de like to but 3 cats keep that idea in my head only.

Its hard to see in the vid but you might want to have more access to the lighting then just a vine....maybe move it under the mess of plants you have?

its jus that if there is only 1 vine, its not much of a range for basking....kinda like an all or nothing sort of thing. As long as the spot Goonie chills in is acceptable range of temps.

Looks good though. You should try out some hornworms, pretty crazy looking things that are pretty high in calcium from what I gather.

 

[tompbgod]

i see mine drink all tha time

 

[Goonie]

super worms are a great feeder but variety to me is also important, the more variety the better, I like using supers about once a week. gutloading and suplementing are also very important. Since ive had my cham ( 9 months) I have only seen her drink twice so as long as your guys urates are nice and white he is probably drinking when you are not around. your free range looks great, I would love to free range but I can't see it working out too well having a cat and all. lol.

these are just plain old mealworms, im gunna only let him have one a day since they are so hard to digest! and i caught him drinking hehe me and my girlfriend were in bed and i was like hmm i wonder what goonies up ta, so we pulled back the curtain and he was inside the plant right under where all the water runs, and he sorta gave me a OH FUCK he spotted me look and ran up to his heat lamp haha!
OOH and i have 3 cats, hold him like a foot away from the bugger, if it shows no interest like mine do you should be fine!

thanks for the tip Goonie on the Supers! I have them all housed together so I guess I dont have to worry about any beetles. That is an interesting fact though about them I will say.

no problem carol i thought it was rather intresting too! i found it out because ive been tryna figure out what to breed as feeders, and roaches is OUT of the question haha

Besides licking his lips after misting, I have seen my cham shoot water droplets off of leaves a few inches away. I have never seen him "drink" from a leaf right in front of him.

id love to see him snipe water!

Yeah I like your free range set up, I'de like to but 3 cats keep that idea in my head only.

Its hard to see in the vid but you might want to have more access to the lighting then just a vine....maybe move it under the mess of plants you have?

its jus that if there is only 1 vine, its not much of a range for basking....kinda like an all or nothing sort of thing. As long as the spot Goonie chills in is acceptable range of temps.

Looks good though. You should try out some hornworms, pretty crazy looking things that are pretty high in calcium from what I gather.

ohhh good point!, im planning on having a ficus right under the lamp as soon as i can find one thats tall enough without looking all skimpy and skrawny! and ive been tryna find some hornworms with no luck! so im buying some silk worms this weekend!

 

[Goonie]

first thing after i turned his light on this morning he started drinking !! before i even had a chance to mist now i wont feel so bad about leaving him while away all day .

 

[Goonie]

Would feeding mealworm larve be better than feeidng the mealworms because they have no hard shell? would that be a safe way to feed my chameleon mealworms without causing impaction? he will have nothing to do with the worm but i offerd him a pupe and he ran to it and hung solely by his tail to catch it haha! hes so cute! ill get a video