New Cham owner, having a hard time hydrating.

[Julio619]

Hello my name is Julio, and I picked up this lil 8 month old male Veiled Cham 2 days ago. He was drinking water from a dripper when I picked him up at the shop, however they had him in a 10x10x10" tiny glass enclosure. I brought him home to this 4' x 20" diamter hardware wool enclosure, and he really loves roaming around it.
I have been feeding him loaded crickets, romaine lettuce, and he took a leaf off his Gardenia plant.
Misting with warm water about every 1 1/2 hours (except right before and during lights-out). He has 3 amapolla vines which I have been dripping water on to.
I did not see him approach the dripper or drink water from leaves at all yesterday. His cage temp is around 90F around top basking branches, 80F mid cage, and 72F at bottom, constant moisture 50-75%. Today in the morning he went up to his basking branch and after about 15 minutes he started to climb towards the dripper, so I quickly turned it on lightly to about a drip every 4 seconds. This lil guy climbed right by the dripper! He kind of paused for a split second with his mouth under it, but I'm not convinced he drank at all.
It's frustrating because I know his health depends on this greatly, but I wont give up. Anyone have any tips? I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Chameleomom]

His poop will tell the story. Some owners never see their chameleons drink. Look for white part at the end of his dropping.

 

[medgecko]

I recommend you cover the mirror so he doesn't see that 'other' chameleon and feel threatened.

 

[rogue606]

i second that medgecko. there's no reason to have a chameleon in front of a full length mirror. They aren't smart enough to understand it's their reflection. So he puffs up and gets scared. Then the thing that scared him also puffs up and freaks out. And the cycle continues. Imagine that. I bet if you removed or covered it the would get a lot greener. Thats a dark veiled.

 

[Decadancin]

A bunch more vines and leaves will help. First off, the leaves will hold onto moisture after misting the enclosure, but possibly more important, the vines will allow him to stay off the wire sides of the enclosure. That can be brutal on the hands and lead to injuries and even open wounds.

 

[Julio619]

Thank you everyone for the tips, I should have known that mirror would be a problem. I covered the mirror with a beach towel to catch overspray from the mister. I also added a medium hibiscus plant today and he seems to enjoy that. I will update after today's progress. I am also working on a drain pain to replace the wire container the enclosure sits on. Thanks again!

 

[Chameleon+Cody]

Thats good. Real plats will also help in the process of hydrating your cham. the more you water the plants and the more they eat the more hydrated they become! Good luck

 

[Julio619]

A bunch more vines and leaves will help. First off, the leaves will hold onto moisture after misting the enclosure, but possibly more important, the vines will allow him to stay off the wire sides of the enclosure. That can be brutal on the hands and lead to injuries and even open wounds.

I will definitely coat more of the cage with vines, he has been sleeping perched on to the cage and it makes me very uneasy.

 

[Julio619]

His poop will tell the story. Some owners never see their chameleons drink. Look for white part at the end of his dropping.

Thank you, I noticed yesterday while he roamed in the gardenia that he discharged some clear slimy substance, not sure if it was urine, but I didn't find anything online about it.

 

[shomegirl]

Thank you, I noticed yesterday while he roamed in the gardenia that he discharged some clear slimy substance, not sure if it was urine, but I didn't find anything online about it.

Check out in the health section of this forum and read pinned post Poop 101 you will learn a lot.

 

[chebotto3]

His poop will tell the story. Some owners never see their chameleons drink. Look for white part at the end of his dropping.

What does the white indicate? Adequate hydration or something? I'm just curious because I have never heard of that.

edit: just looked it up. I'm glad to know my chameleon is healthy!

 

[Gbetts1986]

Yeah the white indicates that it's hydrated.

 

[Julio619]

Check out in the health section of this forum and read pinned post Poop 101 you will learn a lot.

Will do, thanks a bunch!

 

[Julio619]

Here's an update, Covered up the mirror, finished his drainage pan which came out great. Just need a bigger receptacle for the run-off. His colors definetly lightened up after covering the mirror, but he does get pretty dark when he goes up to bask. It also looks like he is starting a shed, he has lil white flakes over his body. I have not seen any poop in the run-off pan or in the cage, but I will look for the white when I find some. Hopefully he is drinking when I'm not paying attention. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Peachypink]

Just want to add my 2 cents here. You should paint the outside of the feeder cup you have made from the juice bottle. He could try and tag a feeder from the outside and injure his tongue.

 

[nick barta]

If he dehydrates the pure white will turn orange.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[Julio619]

Just want to add my 2 cents here. You should paint the outside of the feeder cup you have made from the juice bottle. He could try and tag a feeder from the outside and injure his tongue.

Yes I've noticed he tried to get a cricket from the outside once.. thanks for the tip!

 

[Replife]

I have only owned a cham for a short time but have always been around them and I have plenty of reptile experience and your cham looks great and as long as you spray him atleast 2x a day and I'm sure you do he is getting plenty of water

 

[Zen Reptiles]

It looks healthy but the cage is barren. So many chameleon keepers brag about the 'size' of their enclosure.....while providing poor infrastructure within the enclosure. You should have a hanging pothos, or a pothos on the ground trailing up. A schaeflerra plant is always a good addition to collect water droplets on the leaves.

I don't know what type of water you are using, but use this as a general guide: http://reptiles.guru/chameleon/tap-water-chameleon/

 

[Julio619]

It looks healthy but the cage is barren. So many chameleon keepers brag about the 'size' of their enclosure.....while providing poor infrastructure within the enclosure. You should have a hanging pothos, or a pothos on the ground trailing up. A schaeflerra plant is always a good addition to collect water droplets on the leaves.

I don't know what type of water you are using, but use this as a general guide: http://reptiles.guru/chameleon/tap-water-chameleon/

Thank you I will add more vines and more natural plants at the bottom. I also did not l know all that about the water, I had been using bottled with a conditioner. I will switch him to RO water.