more on dehydration and food need input please

[shaneandjennifer]

I have a veiled who I believe is just under a year old. He is eating fine, usually 6 superworms a day. I usually mist him twice a day, except on weekends when I am home I mist him three or four times a day for around 5 minutes each time. He always drinks when I mist him. I do not use my dripper because it broke and he never ever drank from it (at least from what I saw). I have attached a picture of his most recent urates, which has quite a bit of orange in it. Previously, his urates were generally pure white, but almost always runny. His poop just happens to be in the same picture as well, which has always seemed to be fine. Is there an issue here? Right after I saw the orange poop I misted him for a like 20 minutes and he drank constantly, maybe a one time thing? I did notice that when I was feeding him a couple of hornworms a day that he would never drink, even when I misted him, and his urates were fine. Let me know if I should do something different. I live in Las Vegas, so the humidity here is usually in the teens, but I have live plants in his enclosure with reptile carpet at the bottom to absorb the water and keep it humid. Don't how humid it is in there, I don't have gauges. Thanks.

 

[leolover]

My cham is having somewhat of the same prob with the orange in the poo... But I would tell you that rep. carpet probably isnt a good idea. I know that keeping things at the bottom of the cage that absorb things like water only really traps it and gives a breeding ground for bacteria. I dont keep anything at the bottom of my cham cage and the water will dry up, then every other day I wipe down the bottom of the cage with a disinfectant. But as far as your poop... im looking for the same answer..... good luck!

 

[chamlover]

Orange urates is a sign of dehydration. They should be white. Try giving him more hornworms or silkworms instead of superworms, which don't have much liquid in them. I would also consider giving him a shower tomorrow if you can. Continued dehydration can cause an early death in chams. I am constantly fighting this problem in the winter. You didn't say anything about a dripper. Do you have a dripper going?

Debby

 

[shaneandjennifer]

Orange urates is a sign of dehydration. They should be white. Try giving him more hornworms or silkworms instead of superworms, which don't have much liquid in them. I would also consider giving him a shower tomorrow if you can. Continued dehydration can cause an early death in chams. I am constantly fighting this problem in the winter. You didn't say anything about a dripper. Do you have a dripper going?

Debby

Yes, I know it is a sign of dehydration. I'm asking specifically if the picture attached showing that amount of orange whether that means he is dehydrated. I also attached a picture of the chameleon right after passing that orange urates to see if anyone thinks he is dehydrated. Also, my first post says I don't use my dripper because he never drank from it. I think I may just have to buy hornworms every so often to keep him hydrated. Thanks.

 

[meatslim]

it may help to offer some greens or pieces of grape. I offered collard greens in the feeding cup for the feeders to munch on. when the cham finished eating the crix, he also snagged the remaining collard green leaf as well. I have never caught my female doing the same tho.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

There is a decent amount of white in there, but I would be concerned about him getting enough water.
Why not replace the broken dripper?
It is very likely he was drinking from it when you weren't watching.
How is it broken?
He is a nice looking veiled.

-Brad

 

[kinyonga]

You can take a deli cup and punch a very small hole in the bottom and use it as a dripper until you get the other one fixed.

 

[PaigeAnn]

i actually have the same exact problem.
this is the first chameleon i have had and have had him for almost a week. I just got a dripper today and as soon as i turned it on he went right over to it and drank quite a bit. I also sprayed is cage like crazy because im a bit worried. I see him drinking all the time, he ate for me and his eyes dont seem to be sunken in and he doesnt seem to be too lethargic.

Here is a picture of him, really pissed off because i sprayed the heck out of his cage, sorry its a bit blurry

and here is a picture of the orange

 

[knighty]

you should be carefull on the amonut of mistting you do as high humidity can cause respitory problems in chams such as vields, remember they are from a very hot dry place and do best with a humidity around 40%....

not to sure though on how quick your enclosures dry out in the states, so you may be ok, just something to keep an eye on. in england 2 sprays aday keeps them just about right...

i also feed wax worms as they contain alot of moisture, just be carefull as they can become addictive, there like candy for chams....

also as said above i would replace the dripper, my cham drinks more from the dripper than the spraying, he hates it when i mist and he tries to hide rather than drink...

 

[kinyonga]

knighty said..."they are from a very hot dry place"...

The ADCHAM website says...
"the veiled chameleon occupies the wadis and agricultural lands of this otherwise arid region"....this is saying that the wadis and agricultural lands are not arid.

"Because veiled chameleons come from Saudia Arabia and Yemen it is sometimes assumed that their hydration requirements are less demanding than those of most other chameleons. The fact is, however, that these animals are most abundant in mountainous coastal regions where rainfall can be heavy and even in the absence of rain, fog conditions create significant condensation. The animals drink the dew off of leaves and other wet surfaces. Veiled chameleons require the same regimen of misting and drip systems as do most other chameleons."

http://www.adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/chcalyptratus.html

Leaving them wet when they go to "bed" is more likely to contribute to URI's IMHO.

 

[PaigeAnn]

as far as misting goes, i read that it should be between 40% and 80% and my humidity has been in that range except for right after i mist it, its really high

 

[knighty]

im not desputing the fact that they need good hydration, my point was more that a constant high level of humidity (over 40%) will lead to respratory problems in the future. i am aware that it rises when you mist, but it should drop back as quick as possible....

i agree yemens are found in the regions you mentioned, however thay are also found on mountain sides and valleys were it is very hot and dry.....

 

[littleliz]

yes i am a bit confused on this issue also and would love to hear what other veiled cham owners prefer. i have read that 40% humidity is the best for veileds but this does seem very low to me with the amount of misting that is recomended. certaily after misting the humidity is higher sometimes much higher than this. I do like to make sure that the enclosure is dry again with no suplus water lying around long before i spray again. I think once or twice spraying per day is adequate providing that you spray for long enough for your cham to drink and get a good long warm shower. The (in between sprays) humidity is usually around 40/50% not during. Is this the same for everyone else? We have not had much of a summer to speak of in England it has just been warm but wet wet wet here which does ofcause effect the general conditions.

 

[opihiman]

shaneandjennifer

You probably just need to get your dripper up and running again.

As far as the humidity I don't think that high humidity is a problem or a cause for URI's. But I do think that High humidity and stagnant air to be more the culprit. Hawaii's Humidity levels may run in the 70's to 80's for a couple of weeks but no URI's.

Just my opinion though.

hope the helps

OPI

 

[sandrachameleon]

Both Kingoya and opihiman make good points, with which I agree.
You DO want humidity of 40-60 (maybe higher)%. You do NOT want stagnant air.

You can get an inexpensive digital humity gauge at most home improvement type stores. In fact you can get ones that measure both Humidty and Temperature, and also record Highs and Lows. They are not expensive, and allow you to see the extremes that may occur when you are asleep or not at home. I think its a good idea to have one or two of these (I have two in each cage, place in the middle and at the basking area).

I think drippers are fabulous. Have it drop onto the same areas you typically have been spraying, and it serves the same purpose and saves time (assuming you were using a manual mister). The rate of dripping has to be such that the water is noticed also.

At those same home improvement stores, you can buy little humidifier machines, if you happen to live in a dry climate.