Is my Cham still dehydrated?

[Poptartjake]

I've had my female Jackson's home for a week now and everything seems to be fine. She is a very mild tempered cham and seems very forgiving based on this last week. My current worry is that she is still dehydrated even though I mist her at least 3 times a day if not more and I see her drink for usually 2 minutes plus during each misting but today her urate(?) was still an orange. Advice?

Also, in the 2nd picture you can see indents in front of her back legs. Is this just from her position? Did she used to have MBD? Does she still?

 

[carol5208]

If she had MBD she would still have it. It just does not go away. Once the damage is done the bones pretty much stay the way they are. Your cham does not look like she has MBD, so she never had it. Who diagnosed her with that? On another note, the urate does not look good.

 

[Sticktongue]

On another note, the urate does not look good.

I agree.. I would take it in for testing.

 

[carol5208]

It would be helpful to post some more pics of her legs. From those pics she does not appear to have MBD. I have no idea what the indents are from.

 

[Poptartjake]

It would be helpful to post some more pics of her legs. From those pics she does not appear to have MBD. I have no idea what the indents are from.

No one 'diagnosed' her with MBD but I was just unsure if those indents were from her leg positioning or if she was just fat or what. As of the urate, I can't get it tested until next week at the soonest. Do you have any suggestions until then? Should I try showering her? I have yet to do this out of fear of stressing her too much.

 

[KellysChameleons]

Along with misting her extra u can set up a drip system , just take a styrofoam cup and put a pinhole in bottom and set it on top of cage letting it drip onto her plants .. Also hornworms are excellent for hydration ..good luck

 

[Poptartjake]

Along with misting her extra u can set up a drip system , just take a styrofoam cup and put a pinhole in bottom and set it on top of cage letting it drip onto her plants .. Also hornworms are excellent for hydration ..good luck

Can't really find any local worms that are high in hydration unfortunately. I currently am using Ice Cubes as a drip system. I just throw one up on her cage and let it melt for the next 1 hour to 1.5 hours

 

[carol5208]

I am sorry. I misread your post concerning the MBD. As far as the dehydration, I would try taking a dripper of some sort or an eye dropper and drip the water continually on her nose. It may take several minutes before she will begin to drink. Don't just drip a few drops and give up. This is one of the ways I get my chameleons to drink.

 

[Poptartjake]

I am sorry. I misread your post concerning the MBD. As far as the dehydration, I would try taking a dripper of some sort or an eye dropper and drip the water continually on her nose. It may take several minutes before she will begin to drink. Don't just drip a few drops and give up. This is one of the ways I get my chameleons to drink.

Getting her to drink doesn't really seem to be a problem, at least when compared to other peoples Chams. I see her drink daily, and she usually drinks until she has had enough from the looks of it. How much should they drink daily? 1 cup? 1/4 liter? any idea?

 

[carol5208]

No they do not need to drink that much. I know there are days when my chameleons to not drink at all. Orange urates are said to be a symptom of dehydration. If your chameleon is drinking all the time, then there could possibly be a problem with her kidneys. I am not trying to scare you and that may not be the case but could be a possibility.. How long have the urates been like that??? If just a day or so, give her some time and see if they change. If they do not, it would be a good idea to take her to a vet and get some bloodwork done and they can see if the kidneys are functioning properly.

 

[Poptartjake]

No they do not need to drink that much. I know there are days when my chameleons to not drink at all. Orange urates are said to be a symptom of dehydration. If your chameleon is drinking all the time, then there could possibly be a problem with her kidneys. I am not trying to scare you and that may not be the case but could be a possibility.. How long have the urates been like that??? If just a day or so, give her some time and see if they change. If they do not, it would be a good idea to take her to a vet and get some bloodwork done and they can see if the kidneys are functioning properly.

She has had two BM's since moving her into the larger cage (moved her in on sunday, she went the bathroom that same day and it was a similar color/state) so, she has gone twice in the last 3~ days and both were orange. There was also a orange urate last week (unsure of when exactly, maybe thursdayish) but it wasn't runny and she was still new to her environment so I dismissed that as dehydration as well. I guess I need to just get her in for a check up next week, my only concern is that I don't know of a good vet in my area for her. There seems to be a very limited supply of reptile vets here.