Not drinking.. slightly dehydrated.. since moved from glass to screen

[jurjenfromholland]

Hi guys!! im realy concerd about my veiled
chameleon...
he is a male and about 9 monhts old..
and he is doing great on the handling and is eating good
but since i moved him from glass to screen
he has always been in glass even in the shop where i bought him..
he doesnt drink i moved the dripper like 10 cms away from him
that it drops on a leave under him ..
and he still ignores it... spraying isnt a good thing to he rans for it..
and after that he will scratch his eyes to get te water
of that freeks me out even more...
now i went on a vacation and i brought him back to the
shop to take care of him for 8 days..
and today .. when i got him back in his cage...
the shop told me he hardly doesnt drink.. and she forced drink him
with a pipet.. some plastic pipe that sucks water in and sqeeze to
let him drink... Is there any other way .. that i can try to make him
drink naturly..... Im kinda deppressed.. and i realy dont wanna force
let him drink ... or do i even need to move him back to his old glass cage?
he is now 2 months in screens +- ! Help!?

 

[AngieL]

Hi! There are a couple of things you can do to help get him hydrated.

What the girl did in the shop is good from what I can make out. You can take a small dropper and drip water onto his nose (not his mouth) and he should drink on instinct.

Also you can place him on a plant in the shower. Aim the shower head at the wall and let that spray back onto the plant. Try and make the water nice and warn for him.

Dehydration seems to be a common problem so I'm sure you will be able to get him better

 

[jurjenfromholland]

but he is scared the shit of water..
so woudlnt he jump of the plant..
and run the other way of the water on the plant??

 

[AngieL]

And if you're worried about the humidity in the screen enclosure you can cover some of the sides with a shower curtain. Do you have any live plants in there? They are really good for keeping levels up.

Although I've not used a glass enclosure I have seen many members inherent do it successfully. You just need to make sure you have good drainage to stop water from pooling and causing bacteria that could lead to infection, plenty of ventilation for the same sort if reasons and and make sure it doesn't get too hot in there.

Hope you get on ok

 

[AngieL]

but he is scared the shit of water..
so woudlnt he jump of the plant..
and run the other way of the water on the plant??

Some chameleons don't seem to like the water my girl likes it only sometimes but other times she runs away from the mist too! But if he's dehydrated he really needs to drink.

The only othet thing you can maybe do is try to offer him some juicy green veg which will contain a lot of water or maybe some feeders like silk or horn worms as they have high moisture content.

What colour are his urates? Is it possible he's drinking while you're not there? That happens a lot too!

 

[jurjenfromholland]

Urate is white!! Moslt whit some spots of
yellow that could be of butter worms or
crickets thats what if been told !
Got a order with silkies coming up this week :-D
And il try a showe with him tommorww :-D

 

[AngieL]

Urate is white!! Moslt whit some spots of
yellow that could be of butter worms or
crickets thats what if been told !
Got a order with silkies coming up this week :-D
And il try a showe with him tommorww :-D

Ah well if it's white then he must be drinking! I'm not sure about the yellow spots though? That's interesting that it could be feeders, Who told you that? I'm not doubting it I've just not heard it before

 

[laurie]

If his urates look good what makes you feel he is dehydrated? He may be but I just wondered what you saw to think that.

What size was you glass tank? Was it a regular terrarium? If it is and is large to accommodate his needs, I would put him back in glass. But my way is to always do what works for me and my chams, no matter how far that is from what others think.

 

[jurjenfromholland]

well his eyes are sunken a bit...
today i tryed giveing water with a little plastic
sering... and trust me i almost got the tears in my eyes
when i did it.. me holding him and trying to get his mouth
open and my girlfriend getting the water inside of his mouth...

i realy have no idea what to do...
realy... gonna try a shower tommorw with him..
to check how he responses.. on the water drops falling on him...
pffff any any suggestions... ???

 

[BocaJan]

If his urates are white with just a tiny bit of orange then he is drinking. Can you take a picture and post it so we can see his eyes? He may be drinking on the sly. I have a couple of chams that don't drink or eat if they're being watched. I have one that if he catches a cricket and sees me he will hold that cricket in his mouth for an hour until I leave before he eats it! LOL. Keeping a dripper going will definately help by offering him water when he wants it, not when you want him to want it.

 

[jurjenfromholland]

this are his eyes just taken

 

[AngieL]

Ah yes I agree with you that his eyes are sunken in.

You don't necessarily need to hold his mouth open, have you tried just dripping into his nose? If you do that he should just start to drink naturally.

 

[jurjenfromholland]

ermmm nope .. i dindt dripped it on his nose.. just on the top
part of his helmet so it rans down to the tip of his
upper lip ... you mean .. dripping litterly into/on his nose? the tiny
holes?

 

[Solid Snake]

Oy!

I think that forcing water should be a last result.

If it rains long enough, he will drink.

Just give him a light warm shower, for 20-30 min.

 

[AngieL]

ermmm nope .. i dindt dripped it on his nose.. just on the top
part of his helmet so it rans down to the tip of his
upper lip ... you mean .. dripping litterly into/on his nose? the tiny
holes?

No not into his nose just on top. But what you're doing is fine! I just thought you said you were holding his mouth open.

 

[jurjenfromholland]

Yes i understand but...
the main reason is...
when i shower or auto spraying him in his cage...
he goes into the defense mode..
closing his eyes or chasing away for the water...

kinda tryed to water the vegies into the cupfeeding dish..
with the crickets... to give him water like that ..
but that isnt helping either... so .......

 

[Solid Snake]

when i shower or auto spraying him in his cage...
he goes into the defense mode..
closing his eyes or chasing away for the water...

Yes. That is the chameleons way of saying it sees the water, and will now take a shower.

It will shower for maybe even 10-15 min, then it will decide that all the dirty water is gone, and that the clean drinking water has arrived, and it will drink.

I promise.

Just make it a light rain, not too heavy, and make sure its not to hot.

 

[Chase]

The sunken in eyes can be from him being disturbed. I have had numerous chameleons that would do this to me, as well as other members I have spoken to on the subject.

My suggestion, however, would be to give him a shower, or make mistings more frequently. When I give showers, I bring the screen enclosure outside, along with the plant and everything inside of the enclosure and use a hose with a misting attachment to administer the shower. I simply put the nozzle on the top, and the mist covers the width of the enclosure allowing for the whole enclosure to be getting some water to it. I stay outside with the enclosure, as this allows me to make sure the chameleon is safe, and nothing comes around to mess with it, and allows for it to feel safe and start with the drinking process. Usually doing this for 20-30 minutes with an increase in mistings allows for the chameleon to become hydrated again fairly quick.

-Chase

 

[jurjenfromholland]

so mabye my spray time in my cage is to short?
its 30 secs every 3 hours...
for my humidity in the screen cage that is good..
ermmm well so i can try to put him on my arm..
and i stand in the shower with him to ?
i did this once before... but dindt see him drink either..
closing eyes lets them sunk in and let the water falling
over him ... or is the water to dirty?

 

[Chase]

I provided a 5-7 minute spraying 3 times a day with my Veileds. You aren't seeing him drink because most chameleons will not drink in front of you because of their timid nature. The best way to do it in my opinion is either the method I suggested earlier, or putting a plant inside of the shower, and let the water come down onto the plant inside of your shower.

-Chase