Male Baby Veiled Chameleon

[ericthornhill]

I recently purchased a male baby veiled chameleon about a week ago, and as far as I'm aware, everything seems to be fine with him. He's eating 5-6 crickets per day, has white urinate, and well rounded/non-sunken eyes.

However although i use both misting and drip methods, not once have i seen him drink, let alone show much interest at all towards either water sources. I mist 3-4 times per day, (with continuos spray, for about a minute each time) and I fill a cup with luke warm water 2-3 times per day which drips onto some leaves. But even with both these methods, I'm still concerned that he hasn't been drinking any of the water I've supplied. Is it safe to say that if he didn't have any water by now, he wouldn't be living?-or can veiled chameleons go long periods of time without any water? As well is it possible I'm simply just worrying too much? Please post any knowledgeable feedback, towards this issue.

Thank you, Eric

 

[Thompson]

Well from what I've been reading you should mist for about 5 minutes each time. And also the chamelon won't drink while you're there, I caught my chameleon drinking when I snuck up on it lol, then it stopped as soon as it saw me.

 

[jessica]

Chameleons can be shy when it comes to drinking water. If his urates are white and his eyes are nice and full, more then likely hes drinking when you are not watching.

I'm not sure how long they can go with out water exactly but thats not an experiment wouldn't want to conduct.

 

[pssh]

I only mist for a minute or two each time. As long as the urates remain white and the humidity is good the misting doesn't have to be too long but should be at least a minute. A baby also needs to be eating about 8-10 crickets that are appropriately dusted each day.

 

[serenitystarlite]

Welcome to the forums

Some chams will drink in front of you, some won't. Jasmine (my veiled) won't drink if she sees me watching her. Her urates are always sparkling white. Kami (my senegal) drinks from the leaves and right from the squirt bottle. She doesn't care if I'm there.

If his urates are white, then chances are he's drinking when you're not watching. He's still getting used to you, so he's probably nervous when he sees you

How old is your little guy? You should post some pictures

ps I started writing this before Jessica posted but she beat me to it because I was watching tv hehe

 

[Gypsy]

When my Cham was a baby I never saw him drink to be honest but now hes bigger he doesn't care whether im there or not.
I'm sure yours is drinking plenty but you just haven't seen him do it

 

[ericthornhill]

thankyou

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. Also....what do NON-severe sunken eyes look like? I'm having trouble knowing exactly what they look like

Thanks, Eric

 

[pssh]

They look less bulbous than normal. Sometimes it kind of looks like they have a slightly darker ring around the very base of the eye because of the shadows. Some times they're a little wrinkly... It's kind of hard to describe. Chances are, as long as his urates are white and he is healthy, his eyes are nice and full. Though if you're worried a picture would help. It is also a more common thing for chameleons to look like they have sunken eyes because of the camera too...

 

[ericthornhill]

My Chameleon

This is a picture of my chameleon from today. He's only ate a couple crickets today, which makes me nervous. However it might just be due to me stressing him out.

 

[jojackson]

Looks fine Eric.

 

[jessica]

Eric he is a cutie pie! Looks good to me too!