how to monitor drinking

[dodolah]

my cham is still new and not used to me yet.
but, the first day i spray the enclosure, i saw him licking the leaves.
also couple of days after that,
he has been drinking happily. but after a week, i no longer see him drink
in front of me.
I mist the enclosure heavily twice a day and no reaction whatsoever.

the funny thing he let himself to be misted today. he just close his eyes and stay silent (which never happened.. usually he'll just run away).
But, i do not see any swallowing movement.
It's been 3 days, and i start to see many holes in my ficus (isn't that what
they do when they are in need to be hydrated?)

He's still alert now and been hunting quite rigorously.
but I don't want to be sorry later and found out that my cham is dehydrated like my first experience.. so, how do i monitor him drinking?
He kinda refused to do anything while i am around. So i cannot exactly stay
in the room to monitor this dude.

I don't see sunken eyes... I'll take a picture for you guys to see.
please notify me if you see something wrong with him.
He looked fine to me though.


He's 3 months old.
Is there tips to enhance his drinking appetite?
PS: I know he's too young for shower method.. but exactly how old should the chameleon be to endure this process?

thanks

 

[lbesok]

Hello, what does his feces look like, does it have the white uriate part to it, does it have any red/orange to it? If they are dehydrated, it will lack the urate part or it will be discolored, not white and healthy. I would recommend a drip system, just a bowl/container with a pin hole in the bottom that you can fill a few times a day, so that can stimulate his interest to drink. As far as a shower goes, I began setting my Ambi on a green towel over the shower curtain pole when he was 3.5-4 mo.... but not directly over the mist, and he loves it! I think the veiled's just like to eat plants. From what I can see in the pic he looks alright. What are you gutloading your crickets with?

 

[FaunaBgirl]

My cham lets me spray his face, which I do slowly... even taking a break to let the drinking thing kick in. I do this for 20 minutes or more depending of it he's started to drink. Meaning I don't stop until he does. Also, if I am concerned about hydration, I feed him silk worms. I also hang a wet towel along the back side of his cage. It helps greatly in maintaining a good humidity level. I'm sure everything will be all right with your cham if you do these things. You do have a dripper dripping for him too, right?

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy Dodo,

If you don't have one yet these handheld, pump-up type misters work very well at providing a gentle misty, drippy continuous spray. This middle one or one similar to it is available at Home Depot for about $7. http://rlflomaster.com/sprayers/hand.htm As many have mentioned, try using warm water so that the spray is not cold. Prepare for good drainage .

 

[dodolah]

Hello, what does his feces look like, does it have the white uriate part to it, does it have any red/orange to it? If they are dehydrated, it will lack the urate part or it will be discolored, not white and healthy. I would recommend a drip system, just a bowl/container with a pin hole in the bottom that you can fill a few times a day, so that can stimulate his interest to drink. As far as a shower goes, I began setting my Ambi on a green towel over the shower curtain pole when he was 3.5-4 mo.... but not directly over the mist, and he loves it! I think the veiled's just like to eat plants. From what I can see in the pic he looks alright. What are you gutloading your crickets with?

yesterday, his feces look normal..it's black and white at the tip.
I have "the little dripper"
so, i guess i'll wait for another 2 weeks and start introduce the "shower" to him.
How often you do it?
my cricket eat this:
http://www.flukerfarms.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=25

is it ok?

i thought veiled only eat the plants when they feel dehydrated.
that's why i am a bit worry cause my plants start to have holes in the shape of his mouth.

 

[dodolah]

My cham lets me spray his face, which I do slowly... even taking a break to let the drinking thing kick in. I do this for 20 minutes or more depending of it he's started to drink. Meaning I don't stop until he does. Also, if I am concerned about hydration, I feed him silk worms. I also hang a wet towel along the back side of his cage. It helps greatly in maintaining a good humidity level. I'm sure everything will be all right with your cham if you do these things. You do have a dripper dripping for him too, right?

i once heard that misting water directly on baby cham can make him sick.
is it true?
yes i do have a dripper.

 

[dodolah]

Howdy Dodo,

If you don't have one yet these handheld, pump-up type misters work very well at providing a gentle misty, drippy continuous spray. This middle one or one similar to it is available at Home Depot for about $7. http://rlflomaster.com/sprayers/hand.htm As many have mentioned, try using warm water so that the spray is not cold. Prepare for good drainage .

thanks i'll look for one of those

 

[BigTex]

you said that you have used flukerfarms.com? how did you like using this site there prices seem great?

 

[dodolah]

you said that you have used flukerfarms.com? how did you like using this site there prices seem great?

well, i only use it once to buy that orange slices.
so far so good.. i like it because they make gutloading so convenient.

 

[BigTex]

ya it seems like their prices on feeders is really cheap so im just wondering if anyone else has used them to buy feeders and if they send you quality insects?

 

[bg77]

I would use something a little better for a gutload. I use those fluker orange cubes for hydrating the crickets, and Premium Blend Advanced Cricket Food from cricketfood.com for the gut load.

 

[dodolah]

I would use something a little better for a gutload. I use those fluker orange cubes for hydrating the crickets, and Premium Blend Advanced Cricket Food from cricketfood.com for the gut load.

hey when i gutload the cricket do i still need to dust it with reptical / herptivite too?
Or should i not?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Don't spray the baby in the face.
Do continue to check urates to moniter hydration.
Do offer silkworms.
Do get the hand held pump sprayer.
Don't buy feeders from Flukers.
Do spray the baby everywhere else.
Do dust in addition to gut-loading.
Don't listen to me if you don't want to.

-Brad

 

[bg77]

Yes you still need to dust.

 

[BigTex]

why not buy from flukers? bad rep?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

They're probably fine....I've just had much better luck with reptilefood.
Fluker's sent me a bunch of dead crickets and some pretty scrawny looking zophoba worms last year so I quit doing business with them.
They offered no guarantee on the shipment.

-Brad

 

[BigTex]

if reptilefood.com sends you a bunch of dead crickets is it a hassle to try and get your money back? im just trying to figure out if buying online is more efficient that pet stores ect..

 

[Brad Ramsey]

This has not happened so I can't tell you the level of hassle involved.
So far I am very happy with them.
Much better product than Petsmart or any of those for sure.
My local reptile store has great crickets but they are 12 cents ea. and I'm paying (with shipping) 1.5 cents ea online.

-Brad

 

[BigTex]

how is it taking care of 250 crickets? just as easy as a few dozen?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

It's just as easy to keep 10 as it is to keep 1000.
I buy them a bit smaller than I would if I was only getting a few.
Provide good ventilation and plenty of surface space (egg crates, tp rolls etc.)
good source of moisture (I prefer to use fresh greens, carrot peelings, apple core etc.) and a good dry food (cricketfood.com).
Very low death rate.
Shipping on 1000 is the same on 250.
I have success keeping them alive and healthy for up to 3 months this way.

-Brad