Is he drinking?

moviemanmania

moviemanmania

Avid Member
Hello all! I recently acquired a two year old panther chameleon. I have had him for six days now and I am worried he may not be drinking as I have never seen him drink. He has a constant drip system which is what he is used too. Additionally, his enclosure is misted 2-3 times a day. He shows no interest in the mistings and only hides. Furthermore, i have tried the shower technique twice now to get him to drink, but every attempt he just looks at me with humiliation.

Is it possible that is just shy to drink in front of me? After six days of having him he really isn't showing any signs of dehydration. I took photos of him the first day I received him and keep comparing him to the photos and he looks about the same.

Any tips?
 
We have the same problem with ours, he is 4 months old veiled and seems to hate it when we spray him. We have a dripper too, but don't know if he uses it when we are not at the house. I a little concerned although is urate looks white and normal.
 
as long as his urates look ok i wouldnt worry too much. Sometimes there are days when my cham will drink when I mist him and others not. I see him drink from the dripper on occasion but not much. I just check his poop the urate looks pretty white so I have to assume that he is drinking. Also, I know if you are feeding things like silk worms, they are very juicy and good for hydration also. There was about a full week when I did not see my cham drink at all. I even tried an eye dropper and he would not even think of taking a drop. But that was about 2 months ago and he is still alive and kicking so try not to drive yourself crazy! And yes they say some chams are "secret drinkers" lol
 
I'm keeping a very close eye on him and his eyes to see any signs of dehydration. It just sure would make me feel better to see him drink just a few drops so I know he is ok...
 
keep an eye on his urates (the white part of his poops) you want it to be very white, if it is quite orange (a bit of orange is normal) your cham is probably not hydrated enough. One other thing is to look at his eyes, they will be sunken in a bit if he is dehydrated. I have only seen my female veiled drink twice since I got her 8 months ago but she is always hydrated.
 
Movie .. the above posts are correct. They can be very secretive drinkers. Watch the urates, white and black is what you are looking for. You might want to contact the former owner and find out if they used bottled or RO water.

Is he housed in the same type of enclosure. Mine will lick off the sides of the cages at times. Some use leaves. You might need to bounce the drips off a few objects to create movement. Good luck and happy Cham keeping.
 
Here are two pics. The first are his three urates that he has expelled in the first week. The second is him sleeping tonight, he was so pretty and peaceful I just had to share the photo.

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Last edited by a moderator:
The orange part should be white. Looks like he is a bit dehydrated according to the picture. Give him a bit more time to settle into his new enclosure and keep monitoring his droppings. Hopefully he'll begin to drink. For the time being, try feeding him juicier feeders such as hornworms and silkworms to help out.
 
Silverdusk said:
You might want to contact the former owner and find out if they used bottled or RO water.

Is he housed in the same type of enclosure.
Click to expand...

I've talked to the previous owner and have everything set up the same. What is RO water?

The water drips from the top of the enclosure down the leaves to the drainage
 
RO is Reverse Osmosis.There is a machine that treats the water. Those urates look totally orange and not too good really I hate to say. I have never seen my chams urate look like that. Try and feed silks like the other member said. They are full of liquid. I don't honestly see my cham drink that much and I honestly think he gets alot of hydration from the silks I feed him.
 
By the way I know those are his sleeping colors but he looks like a beauty. Maybe he is just a little stressed out from his new surroundings.
 
I remember reading about the reverse osmosis. Every time I spray him he seems so uninterested. I will see if he will eat some silks tomorrow as he hasn't been eating much either...
 
Just keep an eye on the urates cause they really are dark orange. Dont freak out just yet! I know it is hard, and you want to do everything right and you worry! You are just being a good cham keeper! Also make sure his eyes don't get to appear to a point where they look sunken in. then you know for sure he is dehydrated bad. Have you tried and eye dropper?. One of the members here suggested it to me. She actually has her chams drink that way every day I guess. I tried it but It didn't work for me but who knows. Just try dropping it on his head to get him stimulated to drink(if you can get that close). It is worth a try.
 
Oh, and when you spray are you using warm water or cold?. I actually put HOT water in my mister bottle but it comes out warm and I noticed my cham seems more interested in drinking when the water is warm. It probably feels better on their skin too.
 
Yes actually I have tried the eye dropper technique day four or so. He drank litterally two drops and wouldn't accept anymore from it. He's extremely nice and loves the be handled as he was free ranged before me.
 
when you are trying the misting, are you doing it in the cage or out? When I mist inmy cage my cham literally runs! But....when I have him on my patio and I let him climb in his plant he loves when I mist and will sit there and most of the time drink. not always but most of the time. Just an idea if you are only misting in the cage.
 
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