Drinking

[ViolentJ]

I've got a zoo med big dripper at the moment that drips between 1 and 3 drips a second depending on how much water is in it, this drips onto a large leaf. The problem I have is that I have to keep removing the water from the bottom of the enclosure, it doesn't splash in one place so I can't collect it in a container.

I was wondering if I could drip it into some kind of receptacle, perhaps a coconut shell attached to a corner high up and then as it overflowed it could fall into a container to be emptied out. Would it drink from the receptacle?

 

[Lizardlover]

chameleons cant recognize standing water, i had one cham about 3 years ago who did drink from a bowl, but that can be harmful because of bacteria.

 

[Lancecham]

Most chams will not drink out of a bowl. I know some people use fountains for their chams to drink. This can be problematic as the standing water inevitably will have dead crickets and cricket dropping in it. This will lead to unsanitary water for the cham to drink(that is if they will drink from it.). So daily cleaning would be necessary.
Maybe you can cut down on the amount of time the dripper is used. Also, try to get the water to drip into the plant and the water will make it's way to the soil in the plant. The soil will absorb a lot of the water.
Some people will wipe up the excess water daily, others have put a hole at the center of the bottom of the cage and let the water drip into the bucket. If you put the hole right under the plant in the center of the cage, the plastic bottom of the cage will slightly bulge where the plant is and sort of create a natural funnel.
There are several people on this forum who have come up with some creative ways to catch the water and may be able to show some pictures.

 

[ViolentJ]

If the water dripped into a bowl of some kind it wouldn't be standing water would it? As it would be constantly overflowing with the excess.

I thought about drilling a hole but the position that the enclosure is in may not be permanent and drilling a hole through the desk underneath will pretty much ruin it.

 

[Lancecham]

Yes, it would not be standing water. Chameleons normally don't drink out of a bowl. Yes, the water will be overflowing, but crickets and their droppings will find their way into this. It would have to be cleaned out daily.
The hole you drill can be sealed up with some silicone if a change is made where you locate the cage.
Some people will also use a catch basin larger than the cage itself. if the cage is set at a very small angle slightly above or in the basin, the water will drip into the catch basin. The catch basin doesn't have to more than a few inches high.

 

[ViolentJ]

Thanks for the help. I'll give it some more thought and decide what to do. In the meantime I'll have to keep manually draining the bottom.

 

[BocaJan]

I have my dripper going into a plastic container. I put some screening over the one in the 4mo old ambilobe cage since she is still little and would drown and the other one is in my adult veiled's cage and is open. I drip into them during the day and empty them when they get full or pooped into. I have 5 cages and each one get's washed and emptied daily. I put them in the dishwasher and put fresh ones out. It is pretty cheap to get the Glad plastic containers or use a lettuce box.

As you can see I have found a use for Sham Wow's They absorb the water on the bottom of the cage extremely well and I am glad to have found them for sale at Target. I would highly recommend them over paper towels. I throw them in my washing machine to clean and the package had enough to have a change while the other ones are washing.

 

[ViolentJ]

The bottom of my enclosure is too crowded with 3 plants to fit something like that in. Thank you for explaining though and the pics.

Seems the best option is a hole in the bottom. Ill do it as close to the back of the desk it's sitting on as possible so that if it ever gets moved the desk is still usable.

 

[ViolentJ]

I sorted the drainage today. Storage box + tubing + silicone + lots of drilling it's working a treat.

 

[dodolah]

I have my dripper going into a plastic container. I put some screening over the one in the 4mo old ambilobe cage since she is still little and would drown and the other one is in my adult veiled's cage and is open. I drip into them during the day and empty them when they get full or pooped into. I have 5 cages and each one get's washed and emptied daily. I put them in the dishwasher and put fresh ones out. It is pretty cheap to get the Glad plastic containers or use a lettuce box.

As you can see I have found a use for Sham Wow's They absorb the water on the bottom of the cage extremely well and I am glad to have found them for sale at Target. I would highly recommend them over paper towels. I throw them in my washing machine to clean and the package had enough to have a change while the other ones are washing.

Shamwow?! really?! The commercial on TV turns me off big time.
The whole time it was on, in the back of my mind a little voice kept saying "it's a sham it's a sham.."
That's why I never give it any chance.

 

[dodolah]

I sorted the drainage today. Storage box + tubing + silicone + lots of drilling it's working a treat.

that's what i did.

 

[Clifford]

Use a hose attached to the dripper so that you can adjus where the water goes. Remove or avoid the leaf /leaves so that there's no slashing. My chameleon drinks directly from the where there dripper is - no need for splashing onto leaves