Dehydrated chameleon please help

Saints94

Saints94

New Member
Hello I’m very new to this forum sight but joined to learn more about chameleons. I recently got a Veiled chameleon and she’s doing very well except she is very dehydrated and won’t drink. Her poop is perfect size and looks healthy but her urate is very yellow and I know that means dehydration I have 3 other lizards and have never had this problem with any. My created gecko will lick the water off leaves and drink from a bowl but the Cham won’t. She’s scared of it whenever I mist her leaves she puffs out her body and gets defensive. Her leaves have water droplets on them but she won’t drink I also hhave a water dripping system but she is afraid of it aswell how can I hydrate her properly as all my methods aren’t working
 
You can offer feeders with high water content like silkworms and Hornworms. You can also offer grapes and fruits that also have high water content. I cut tiny slices of a pear up and that kicked my girls hydration so high there wasn't a solid for 2 days.
 
Saints94 said:
Hello I’m very new to this forum sight but joined to learn more about chameleons. I recently got a Veiled chameleon and she’s doing very well except she is very dehydrated and won’t drink. Her poop is perfect size and looks healthy but her urate is very yellow and I know that means dehydration I have 3 other lizards and have never had this problem with any. My created gecko will lick the water off leaves and drink from a bowl but the Cham won’t. She’s scared of it whenever I mist her leaves she puffs out her body and gets defensive. Her leaves have water droplets on them but she won’t drink I also hhave a water dripping system but she is afraid of it aswell how can I hydrate her properly as all my methods aren’t working
Click to expand...

Can you post a photo of her? And her enclosure?

Get her night time humidity up as high as you can--above 80%.

Please fill out the How to Ask for Help form posted in the Health Clinic on this forum.

Welcome.
 
Can you post a picture of her enclosure? Also do you have plenty of plant coverage in her enclosure so that she feels safe?
 
Without the health form we are all really guessing at what could be the cause and what would be the best course of action.

If you could please copy and paste this form into the thread here we can narrow down what's going on and why the urates are so yellow.

There are other signs of dehydration -- if she goes a while without pooping then she could have reabsorbed some liquid from the urate making it more yellow.
248114
 
Saints94 said:
Hello I’m very new to this forum sight but joined to learn more about chameleons. I recently got a Veiled chameleon and she’s doing very well except she is very dehydrated and won’t drink. Her poop is perfect size and looks healthy but her urate is very yellow and I know that means dehydration I have 3 other lizards and have never had this problem with any. My created gecko will lick the water off leaves and drink from a bowl but the Cham won’t. She’s scared of it whenever I mist her leaves she puffs out her body and gets defensive. Her leaves have water droplets on them but she won’t drink I also hhave a water dripping system but she is afraid of it aswell how can I hydrate her properly as all my methods aren’t working
Click to expand...
Who Dat?
 
Saints94 said:
Hello I’m very new to this forum sight but joined to learn more about chameleons. I recently got a Veiled chameleon and she’s doing very well except she is very dehydrated and won’t drink. Her poop is perfect size and looks healthy but her urate is very yellow and I know that means dehydration I have 3 other lizards and have never had this problem with any. My created gecko will lick the water off leaves and drink from a bowl but the Cham won’t. She’s scared of it whenever I mist her leaves she puffs out her body and gets defensive. Her leaves have water droplets on them but she won’t drink I also hhave a water dripping system but she is afraid of it aswell how can I hydrate her properly as all my methods aren’t working
Click to expand...
Ok sorry for taking a while to reply I forgot my password anyways currently she’s still dehydrated here’s her setup
248189

Her hydrometer fell btw I’m trying to find a way to attach it to the side of her tank but I’m not successful.
248190

Here is the Cham her eyes are alert and she is bright green mostly but she is stressed as I’m taking pictures of her with my phone she eats crickets dusted in calcium she Will only eat 5 won’t eat any more aswell as I’m trying to feed her lettuce as I know it hydrated them but she won’t eat it she’s scared to death of anything. I tong feed her crickets but if they are walking around she gets scared aswell as she won’t go near water drops. I warmed up a water sprayer to Luke warm to see if it was to cold but she still won’t drink at all. I will try hornworms but the ones sold at my store are really big she climbs on her screen top a lot and I make sure she doesn’t go under the heat lamp while on mesh her basking temp is 80-83 degrees and humidity is 70-82 degrees I have knowledge on reptiles so I know what to do for basics but I’ve never had a lizard afraid of water so please help thanks for all the reply’s before
 
I learned pretty quickly that my veiled girls are very shy about drinking. If I watch, they don’t drink. One has an automatic mister. I still have to hand mist the other so I mist well and then leave.
I’m a bit concerned about your UVB light, or rather visible lack of the correct type. The compact uvb bulb (in the dome) doesn’t provide adequate uvb. You really need a linear (long) T5 ho with a 5% bulb. It needs to be the width of the top of your enclosure. Reptisun sells a decent unit that includes the bulb. If you fill out the help form as completely as possible, all of your husbandry can be reviewed. Little things can lead to big problems with chams.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/
 
As @MissSkittles said she may be Shy drinking around you. I have had my female veiled for 2 1/2 years and I have seen her drink all of 3 times when I caught her in the act.
 
MissSkittles said:
I learned pretty quickly that my veiled girls are very shy about drinking. If I watch, they don’t drink. One has an automatic mister. I still have to hand mist the other so I mist well and then leave.
I’m a bit concerned about your UVB light, or rather visible lack of the correct type. The compact uvb bulb (in the dome) doesn’t provide adequate uvb. You really need a linear (long) T5 ho with a 5% bulb. It needs to be the width of the top of your enclosure. Reptisun sells a decent unit that includes the bulb. If you fill out the help form as completely as possible, all of your husbandry can be reviewed. Little things can lead to big problems with chams.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/
Click to expand...
I know about getting a better uvb light as I have upgraded all my other reptiles to one I’m currently waiting till next paycheck to buy new lighting for them don’t worry I know about uvb bulbs burning eyes and not giving enough uvb she seems good for a little while but her lights will be upgraded in about a week thanks for your concern about them. I own a bearded dragon and have experienced uvb problems before so it’s nothing new
 
Lennoncham said:
As @MissSkittles said she may be Shy drinking around you. I have had my female veiled for 2 1/2 years and I have seen her drink all of 3 times when I caught her in the act.
Click to expand...
How can I get her to drink though? I have a dripping system in the back that drops water on to her leaves while I’m gone and she still won’t drink. I don’t really know what to do for her
 
Saints94 said:
Ok sorry for taking a while to reply I forgot my password anyways currently she’s still dehydrated here’s her setup View attachment 248189
Her hydrometer fell btw I’m trying to find a way to attach it to the side of her tank but I’m not successful. View attachment 248190
Here is the Cham her eyes are alert and she is bright green mostly but she is stressed as I’m taking pictures of her with my phone she eats crickets dusted in calcium she Will only eat 5 won’t eat any more aswell as I’m trying to feed her lettuce as I know it hydrated them but she won’t eat it she’s scared to death of anything. I tong feed her crickets but if they are walking around she gets scared aswell as she won’t go near water drops. I warmed up a water sprayer to Luke warm to see if it was to cold but she still won’t drink at all. I will try hornworms but the ones sold at my store are really big she climbs on her screen top a lot and I make sure she doesn’t go under the heat lamp while on mesh her basking temp is 80-83 degrees and humidity is 70-82 degrees I have knowledge on reptiles so I know what to do for basics but I’ve never had a lizard afraid of water so please help thanks for all the reply’s before
Click to expand...
More info on her


She is a veiled chameleon I believe that she is female but I don’t know for sure as she doesn’t show any signs I know of I don’t know her old but I’m guessing 3months. She lives in a mesh in closure. It was the zoomed starting kit o believe. She has fake plants in her enclosure aswell as some vines and a bird coconut hide that I put in there for a hiding place as all other hiding places made for lizards won’t attach to screen. The hide is brand new don’t worry it’s not used. Her lights are over her vines and basking temp is around 80-85 degrees and her humidity is 60-70% on the gauge. She has a Dripper in the back that drops water on the plants for her. Her substrate is eco earth coconut fiber with some moss to keep up the humidity she has a tree in the bottom (not for decor just worried she won’t be able to get up to the leaves so I put it there) I do live in Canada and it’s cold now too so I’m having to up the heat I’m my basement and up the humidity. I got her from pets smart and she looks healthy her eyes are alert and her colours and bright and vibrant. As I said my concern for her is she won’t drink any water at all and she is getting dehydrated. Her urate is very yellow and shows some small bits of white in it and her waste is a light brown colour
 
My panther prefers drinking water drops that accumulate on the screen/mesh from the automatic mister. If you don't have a mister, try spraying the sides/underside of the top until water droplets accumulate.

IMG_20191008_183346_487.jpg
 
Naturalistic hydration is your best bet since it doesn’t require her to actually do anything other than breathe. Shoot for 90-100% humidity over several hours during the middle of the night. Never do this during the day.
 
Brodybreaux25 said:
Naturalistic hydration is your best bet since it doesn’t require her to actually do anything other than breathe. Shoot for 90-100% humidity over several hours during the middle of the night. Never do this during the day.
Click to expand...
So she just breaths in the humidity? I don’t really understand that aswell as how can I keep her enclosure humid overnight spraying once won’t do the trick as I have to spray it a lot during the day. Would a humidifier work as I have a regular one not made for reptiles though. Just want to make sure thanks for the info
 
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