misting and drinking

[crablady]

i have not actually seen my chameleon drinking now for several days. i had been seeing him drink daily. while home, i've been misting 4 times a day. When i mist he acts like he hates it and is trying to get away from it. i just use a light spray. The water is room temp. should i use slightly warmer water when i mist him? that would be a pain as i have a 2 gallon sprayer that i use for all my reptiles. Any ideas? he is eating and pooping with white urea (urate, or whatever it's called, i never remember) Can't say he's not drinking, just that i haven't seen him drink. i mist with a light spray but thoroughly until the pants are starting to drip.

 

[blackbetty]

I use hot tap as it comes out lukewarm in a mist..and I never directly spray HIM. I spray an area away from him that I know he likes to drink off the leaves in. After about a minute, I will see him lick his lips so I keep misting his favorite drinking hole and wait til its dripping water. then when I stop,he will move in to drink and I will spray the rest of the cage down while he does that, avoiding him if possible as this bothers him to be sprayed.

 

[crablady]

thanks. Do you treat the tap water with anything? i've always used bottled water as our water has floride in it as well as chlorine and the floride is not good for my hermies, so i just by the 10L jugs of water. is there a treatment that's safe for reptiles?

 

[Sancho]

i have not actually seen my chameleon drinking now for several days. i had been seeing him drink daily. while home, i've been misting 4 times a day. When i mist he acts like he hates it and is trying to get away from it. i just use a light spray. The water is room temp. should i use slightly warmer water when i mist him? that would be a pain as i have a 2 gallon sprayer that i use for all my reptiles. Any ideas? he is eating and pooping with white urea (urate, or whatever it's called, i never remember) Can't say he's not drinking, just that i haven't seen him drink. i mist with a light spray but thoroughly until the pants are starting to drip.

Chams normally drink when you are not looking at them. Never spray them directly they don't like it at all. If his Urates are white then he is hydrated so most likely doesn't want to drink right now.

 

[blackbetty]

thanks. Do you treat the tap water with anything? i've always used bottled water as our water has floride in it as well as chlorine and the floride is not good for my hermies, so i just by the 10L jugs of water. is there a treatment that's safe for reptiles?

You can buy water treatment at the pet store to make it safe. Or Online

 

[crablady]

thanks... yes, i wasn't too worried esp iff he's eatin i figure he's drinking too. Was just wondering about him practically running from the water. i don't really spray him directly, but since he's small no and in a small enclosure he does get a few sprinkle on him. i'll try warming the water.
thanks agian

 

[martyllian]

I was going to post a similar topic, but this was too similar. I apologize for hijacking.

Is sniping drops of water with his tongue enough to keep hydrated? I used to see him come up to the screen and drink from the drops coming down. Lately, all I see him do is snipe drops off leaves. While cute and cool looking, it has me worried. His Urate is still white, though the last one I found was friday. I just cant always spray for 15-20 minutes so I have left off after he snipes a couple drops. (I always spray with a pesticide sprayer for about 5 minutes)

Am I being a bad husband?

 

[blackbetty]

I dont think anyone could spray for 15-20 min!! WOw.. My arm would hurt. Try 3-4 times a day for 2-4 minutes. I usually do 2 min as Leo is ready to get in there after the first one.. and then Ill go back when he moves and do the other 2 minutes.

Leo licks from leaves.Some leaves have deeper grooves so they hold more water. If his urates are white,t ehn he is fine. Sunken eyes and discolored urates are signs of dehydration. We all over worry.

 

[kuskye25]

water drip system, i have to have it in order to keep my cham hydrated, ive removed it before thinking ill make things easier and just mist, boy was i wrong urates arent bright white unless i leave water dripping 6 of the 12 hours my light is on.... i made mine out of a cup with a aquarium air pump valve that i put in the bottom of the cup then run a aquarium air pump hose into the enclosure, adjust the valve to drip once every 2 to 5 seconds and have a nice and or large screened water catch dish...

some say you can just mist, but lesson learned for me if i dont have a drip system i could mist all i want and the cham may drink some but my chams urates are never bright white unless i have a good drip system...

 

[martyllian]

I drip all day long too, which is part of my plant killing problem

I like to see him drink though, so I mist and drip.

 

[kuskye25]

I drip all day long too, which is part of my plant killing problem

I like to see him drink though, so I mist and drip.

oh i do both to, try having it not drip into the plant, just on the leafs then down to a water catch then you wont water log the plant, keep water constantly dripping 24/7 then post a pic of the urates in a few days, if they arent cleared up its purposely not drinking and i cant help you any farther....

if you simply just want to see it drink, you may not be able to, i work at home and hardely get to see it......

 

[crablady]

many thanks again for all the pointers. i've got a few days away planned and a wonderful relible petsitter, but i'll make sure i get a drip system up before i go, just to decrease my worry.

 

[GooglezNvincent]

Based on his excretion hes fine, if it starts to turn yellowish he is starting to get dehydrated and depending on how old the cham is you can put em in the shower for a while to stimulate drinking.

 

[moody232002]

i usually spray three times a day for a few minutes each time.
i also have one of those little dripper things running all day,to make sure mista gets a good drink at least once a day when he comes to his corner by the door where he climbs out,i take the tube and drip it on his nose for a few minutes and nine times out of ten he starts drinking a lot.helets me know when he has enough because he will hiss at the tube.
eversince we started this routine his urates have been pure white

 

[crablady]

okay... i set up a dripper, although everytime i think i have it set just right it seems to stop on me. i am warming the water before misting. and am misting 4 times a day. Still have not seen him drink. So, if i put a drop on his nose, he may lick it off? poo still looks okay, but i would feel oh so much better if i saw him take at least a lick. i switched him over last week from a 10g glass tank to a 18x12x24 screen. i know i had seen himlicking the glass in the 10. The guy i got the screen tank from had left a vine with a long silk plant in it, so i had just cleaned it all up and left it in there. With observation yesterday morning, i noticed the silk leaves soak up the water. So... out it came, and i uprooted half my pothos plant so that i would have enough to string some along the vine. tank doesn't look as pretty, but hopefully the water will stick around longer for him to drink. you all mention misting for a couple minutes? is that for a full size set up? cause this little baby is just in a smaller one.Every thing is soaked in less than a minute and running off the leaves.

Sorry, just a paranoid first timer!

 

[jojackson]

Setup your dripper so that water hits somethingon the way down, a vine etc, so the water splashes finer droplets over a wider area (more plants/leaves) rather than drowning one plant. Good drainage is essential for healthy plants in a 'tropical' enviroment!~

Good airflow under the cageis also, IMO , essential! It should dryout between mistings, they dont live under waterfalls. That said, They can dehydrate quickly so mist the leaves of the plants and just up into the air above it, rather than mist the cham itself, especiallyif it dosent like it.

Its the availability of water that counts. Likewise, ensure moisture contentin food animals by feeding (gutloading) with moisture containing fresh greenery! Roaches will eat it too, likewise most worms, including meal worms.

 

[crablady]

ensure moisture contentin food animals by feeding

this brings me to my other concern.... he only ate one cricket yesterday

 

[Fireball]

Misting is fine in any size cage as long as you dont spray your cham directly or if you have a Mistking or other automated misting system just make sure there are a couple of spots in the cage where they can get away from the mist. Most important check your chams urate to see if its white this shows that the cham is hydrated.

Some people say drip systems some say misters......i say both. I have a Mistking that come on 8 times a day some are just 30 second sprays to keep the humidity up and the longest session is 3 mins a day. I also have a drip system dripping over a plant for constant drinking water for the chams.

All in all its how your cham drinks water my Ambilobe is 1.5y/o will not drink when misted or drink from a dripper anymore or just when im not around but he loves to drink off of my fingertip. I take a spray bottle and put on the back of my finger and slowly spray it so that it runs down my finger like a drip system and he will run as fast as he can to come over and drink for a min or two as the water drips down my finger. This is a very good way to insure that your cham is drinking a good amount of water. Also be sure that the water is not running into his nose you dont want kill your cham and also wash your hands before doing this.

I wouldn't recommend this for younger chams because they will strike at the water as if it were food and their tongue may become stuck to your finger for a brief second and my cause injury to your cham.