Dehydration cure

[DanSB]

So my house had been a little warmer than usual due to the thermostat acting up not to mention when it was running the AC dries out the house like nobodies business. I would spray the enclosure until it was soaking wet only to find everything bone dry an hour later.

Needless to say my senegal chameleon found himself black, angry and a little dehydrated. How to hydrate? Hornworms? shower trick? just lots and lots of misting?

Fortunately both of the days for the weekend were fantastic, not a cloud and nice breeze keeping things in the 90s, also fortunately I had yard work to do all weekend.

I took my senegal Pipin outside enclosure and all. just picked it up and set him on a handy birdcage (empty) about 4 feet high in an area that gets mixed shade and sun all day. I have one of those multi sprayer nozzles with a mist setting that puts out a ton of water and misted the cage every 30 minutes or so while sitting in the nice outside light.

Found a moth and baby mantid to feed him in the yard and he is about the happiest Senegal completely hydrated and well fed. I must say for those who have never kept their Senegal outside the colors are amazing. Maybe next time I'll remember my camera...

To the point, I think that weather permitting this is likely the best hydration method there is. And for those of you paranoid about hose water most hardware stores sell a hose made specifically for kids to drink out of, some sort of safe non-toxic hose, and the multi nozzle with a mister function can also be found anywhere. Alternately I'm sure a regular mister would work good too but they don't put out quite as much water.

 

[chameleonkev]

Nice to hear another idea rather than the normal ones

 

[blackened]

Thanks for sharing, Dan . Have read so many positive things about outside time. I can see the benefits of doing both.

Now all we need to do is wrangle us some sun-shine

 

[DanSB]

Thanks for sharing, Dan . Have read so many positive things about outside time. I can see the benefits of doing both.

Now all we need to do is wrangle us some sun-shine

Well depending on where you are in the UK you should get at least a couple of days of sunshine a year

Here my main concern is if it is too hot. After June we probably won't see another cloudy day until September and it won't get cool until October.

 

[cooper9934]

outside

I take my veilded outside around 3-5 times a week. I have a disc golf basket and put a plant on top of that and he loves it. I have to watch him a lot though because whenever he is outside he tries to run away to the big trees on the other side of grass. He must think its heaven.

The only thing about this is that when he is inside his cage he looks out the window and wants to go in the back yard. When he free ranges inisde the house he always tries to get outside too.

When he is outside he tries to get to the huge trees. He must think the trees are his heaven.

BUT- Everytime I take him outside he fires up and turnes all sorts of cool colors. He really likes it. When he is on top of my disc golf basket i mist him with my hose and it seems to work.

 

[AngieL]

Well depending on where you are in the UK you should get at least a couple of days of sunshine a year

Here my main concern is if it is too hot. After June we probably won't see another cloudy day until September and it won't get cool until October.

Lol! We live in Shetland a tiny stormy little island in the middle of the north sea!

 

[Elizadolots]

My comments about this are, a) if you can manage to be in the yard with your chameleon so you can hose him down every 30 minutes, that's great....it's not going to work well for those of us who are sitting in office buildings 8 hours a day M-F though and b) the water that comes out of your hose is the same water that comes out of your tap. If you are comfortable giving your chameleon tap water, the hose is fine. If you aren't, then you really don't want to make the hose the primary source of water.

 

[carol5208]

I have been misting for over two years with my hose!!. I never said anything cause I didn't want to catch hell for it! Neither one of my chams drink from the mistings thouhg.They seem to enjoy it as the hose sits in the hot sun and the water is nice and warm for quite awhile when it comes out. The dripper I use is tap water just like the hose like Eliza said.

 

[Carlton]

So my house had been a little warmer than usual due to the thermostat acting up not to mention when it was running the AC dries out the house like nobodies business. I would spray the enclosure until it was soaking wet only to find everything bone dry an hour later.

Needless to say my senegal chameleon found himself black, angry and a little dehydrated. How to hydrate? Hornworms? shower trick? just lots and lots of misting?

Fortunately both of the days for the weekend were fantastic, not a cloud and nice breeze keeping things in the 90s, also fortunately I had yard work to do all weekend.

I took my senegal Pipin outside enclosure and all. just picked it up and set him on a handy birdcage (empty) about 4 feet high in an area that gets mixed shade and sun all day. I have one of those multi sprayer nozzles with a mist setting that puts out a ton of water and misted the cage every 30 minutes or so while sitting in the nice outside light.

Found a moth and baby mantid to feed him in the yard and he is about the happiest Senegal completely hydrated and well fed. I must say for those who have never kept their Senegal outside the colors are amazing. Maybe next time I'll remember my camera...

To the point, I think that weather permitting this is likely the best hydration method there is. And for those of you paranoid about hose water most hardware stores sell a hose made specifically for kids to drink out of, some sort of safe non-toxic hose, and the multi nozzle with a mister function can also be found anywhere. Alternately I'm sure a regular mister would work good too but they don't put out quite as much water.

This is the time to get that room humidifier going. You don't need to use a humidifier year round necessarily, just when conditions call for it. For me it's in the winter when my house heating dessicates everything including me and my aviary birds. I run mine with multiple setting appliance timers so they can cycle on and off during my workday when I can't be present to do it. They raise the air humidity without drowning the cage (and anyway, the cage still dries out too fast as you found). A cycle of fog can really help fill in the air humidity gap between misting when the house is simply too dry.

 

[Anitec21]

So my house had been a little warmer than usual due to the thermostat acting up not to mention when it was running the AC dries out the house like nobodies business. I would spray the enclosure until it was soaking wet only to find everything bone dry an hour later.

Needless to say my senegal chameleon found himself black, angry and a little dehydrated. How to hydrate? Hornworms? shower trick? just lots and lots of misting?

Fortunately both of the days for the weekend were fantastic, not a cloud and nice breeze keeping things in the 90s, also fortunately I had yard work to do all weekend.

I took my senegal Pipin outside enclosure and all. just picked it up and set him on a handy birdcage (empty) about 4 feet high in an area that gets mixed shade and sun all day. I have one of those multi sprayer nozzles with a mist setting that puts out a ton of water and misted the cage every 30 minutes or so while sitting in the nice outside light.

Found a moth and baby mantid to feed him in the yard and he is about the happiest Senegal completely hydrated and well fed. I must say for those who have never kept their Senegal outside the colors are amazing. Maybe next time I'll remember my camera...

To the point, I think that weather permitting this is likely the best hydration method there is. And for those of you paranoid about hose water most hardware stores sell a hose made specifically for kids to drink out of, some sort of safe non-toxic hose, and the multi nozzle with a mister function can also be found anywhere. Alternately I'm sure a regular mister would work good too but they don't put out quite as much water.

I do that with my baby jacksons he turns bright green and is active ; )

 

[DanSB]

I take my veilded outside around 3-5 times a week. I have a disc golf basket and put a plant on top of that and he loves it. I have to watch him a lot though because whenever he is outside he tries to run away to the big trees on the other side of grass. He must think its heaven.

The only thing about this is that when he is inside his cage he looks out the window and wants to go in the back yard. When he free ranges inisde the house he always tries to get outside too.

When he is outside he tries to get to the huge trees. He must think the trees are his heaven.

BUT- Everytime I take him outside he fires up and turnes all sorts of cool colors. He really likes it. When he is on top of my disc golf basket i mist him with my hose and it seems to work.

I often feel bad when I know my pets yearn to just be free. Too bad it would kill them. I just brought the whole enclosure outside so he would feel safer and I wouldn't worry. I do have an outside enclosure I got used but I don't trust it until I refurbish it, plus I think changing the familiar isn't good when you're trying to relieve stress. As it is i saw a hawk floating around. I saw him look up and go to the bottom of his cage until it was out of sight... maybe he is smart enough?

My comments about this are, a) if you can manage to be in the yard with your chameleon so you can hose him down every 30 minutes, that's great....it's not going to work well for those of us who are sitting in office buildings 8 hours a day M-F though and b) the water that comes out of your hose is the same water that comes out of your tap. If you are comfortable giving your chameleon tap water, the hose is fine. If you aren't, then you really don't want to make the hose the primary source of water.

I can only bring him outside rarely as time permits that's why it was such a treat! I am a cubicle dweller by day.

I think the tap water is okay. Not great but it isn't polluted with bacteria or parasites and I'm not sure any of the chemicals or minerals are harmful at the levels in tap water safe for human consumption. I originally only misted with bottle or filtered but am not sure it makes a difference. If I buy a automatic mister or on glass I use bottled or filtered to avoid hard water build up though.

If anyone can honestly tell me any tap water in a major US population area is unfit to drink I will worry. I even used tap water in a reef tank without an issue.

The only possible issue I can see is that it is shown standard hoses can actually leech toxins from the rubber, you can run it for a minute before misting or buy a special hose to fix that or not worry about it as it is probably hype to sell special hoses.

I have been misting for over two years with my hose!!. I never said anything cause I didn't want to catch hell for it! Neither one of my chams drink from the mistings thouhg.They seem to enjoy it as the hose sits in the hot sun and the water is nice and warm for quite awhile when it comes out. The dripper I use is tap water just like the hose like Eliza said.

I would think even if they did drink the amounts of toxins would be so minuscule it wouldn't matter, especially if you also mist with non-hose water. Chameleons inspire paranoia! ha haa

This is the time to get that room humidifier going. You don't need to use a humidifier year round necessarily, just when conditions call for it. For me it's in the winter when my house heating dessicates everything including me and my aviary birds. I run mine with multiple setting appliance timers so they can cycle on and off during my workday when I can't be present to do it. They raise the air humidity without drowning the cage (and anyway, the cage still dries out too fast as you found). A cycle of fog can really help fill in the air humidity gap between misting when the house is simply too dry.

I do have a large wick style room humidifier the wick got moldy though so I need to get a new wick and get it going! It works really well of course today was cool and cloudy and the RH in the house was over 60 when I woke up! It had been around 20 or 30. I think I will also invest in a auto mister and fogger as soon as I have the money.

I do that with my baby jacksons he turns bright green and is active ; )

Isn't is awesome!?

 

[Elizadolots]

I can only bring him outside rarely as time permits that's why it was such a treat! I am a cubicle dweller by day.

I think the tap water is okay. Not great but it isn't polluted with bacteria or parasites and I'm not sure any of the chemicals or minerals are harmful at the levels in tap water safe for human consumption. I originally only misted with bottle or filtered but am not sure it makes a difference. If I buy a automatic mister or on glass I use bottled or filtered to avoid hard water build up though.

If anyone can honestly tell me any tap water in a major US population area is unfit to drink I will worry. I even used tap water in a reef tank without an issue.

The only possible issue I can see is that it is shown standard hoses can actually leech toxins from the rubber, you can run it for a minute before misting or buy a special hose to fix that or not worry about it as it is probably hype to sell special hoses.

My concern is fluoride. That's really a local thing. We cannot say that all tap water has fluoride of doesn't have fluoride...so, that's why I say it's all about YOUR water.

http://www.chameleonnews.com/02NovDonoghue.html

Fluoridated water contains 0.5 to 1.0 ppm fluoride, usually as the sodium salt. Fluoride has a narrow safety range. In mammals, deficiency is associated with dental caries and with osteoporosis in the aged. Fluoride toxicity (fluorosis), due to accumulation from long-term consumption of high levels, is associated with deformed bones and soft, mottled, and irregularly worn teeth. Animals fed diets deficient in protein, calcium, and vitamin C are more susceptible to fluorosis. Water sources containing high levels of fluoride are found in parts of Arkansas, California, South Carolina, and Texas and may be a risk for fluorosis. In reptiles, fluorosis can mimic the signs of metabolic bone disease (MBD).

I don't think it's worth the risk. My city fluoridates and it's not shy about it...so, I don't trust my city water with my chameleons. (I'll drink it, I give it to my guinea pigs and dogs...but not my chameleons)

So, know your area's water, that's the best thing.

 

[DanSB]

My concern is fluoride. That's really a local thing. We cannot say that all tap water has fluoride of doesn't have fluoride...so, that's why I say it's all about YOUR water.

http://www.chameleonnews.com/02NovDonoghue.html



I don't think it's worth the risk. My city fluoridates and it's not shy about it...so, I don't trust my city water with my chameleons. (I'll drink it, I give it to my guinea pigs and dogs...but not my chameleons)

So, know your area's water, that's the best thing.

i say move! the city i live in doesn't fluoridate it's water and the particulate content ranges between 60 and 120 ppm plus it is tested more regularly than most bottled water.

we did have a problem with arsenic levels but that was fixed last year.

 

[Elizadolots]

I've lived here for 52 years...I'm not moving, that's a silly suggestion. 42 of the 50 largest cities fluoridate their water. Chameleon owners are just going to have to learn to deal with it.

 

[AllFallDown]

I know my veiled goes nuts in the morning when I mist his cage. Sometimes he does not like it and gets mad- usually he runs (whatever that means for a veiled chameleon) right up to the front where I am spraying and gets in the path of the mist.

Side note: I still owe you some carnivorous plants by the way, I have not forgotten.

 

[AllFallDown]

i say move! the city i live in doesn't fluoridate it's water and the particulate content ranges between 60 and 120 ppm plus it is tested more regularly than most bottled water.

we did have a problem with arsenic levels but that was fixed last year.

WOAH! Arsenic! That is not something you want in your cat food!

 

[AllFallDown]

I've lived here for 52 years...I'm not moving, that's a silly suggestion. 42 of the 50 largest cities fluoridate their water. Chameleon owners are just going to have to learn to deal with it.

If nothing else- invest in an RO system, or get 5 gallon jugs and fill them up in the vending machines in from of the grocery stores. Seems like tap water is almost never your only option. Costco has some RO systems for pretty reasonable prices- they seem to be of pretty decent quality too.

I guarantee you the water from our tap would kill my entire plant collection!

 

[Carlton]

WOAH! Arsenic! That is not something you want in your cat food!

Arsenic shows up in water systems because it is a naturally occurring element in some water tables. We have it here, but once you know about it you can filter it out.

 

[Carlton]

I do have a large wick style room humidifier the wick got moldy though so I need to get a new wick and get it going! It works really well of course today was cool and cloudy and the RH in the house was over 60 when I woke up! It had been around 20 or 30. I think I will also invest in a auto mister and fogger as soon as I have the money.

That's why ultrasonic humidifiers are so much easier to deal with! No wicks, molds, replacement wicks to buy, etc. If you keep an ultrasonic unit clear of mineral deposits they just work forever.