Not Drinking?

[Blue88]

Hey all,

I just got a 4 month male velied this weekend at the show in Aneheim. i have him in a 65 gallon repterium(a all screen enclosure) with a reptisun 5.0 UV bulb and a focus heat bulb that puts the basking spot between 93-98. I have both lights on a timer to go on at 5:45 am and off at around 8:30pm. I have a live Pothos with the vines strung up through out the cage.... lots of good climbing and hiding spots in my opinion. i also have some fake vines at the basking spot as to not kill my plant.

My question is about drinking water. I wake up everyday at six Am and feed him 3 crikets out of a cup and let two go in the cage. then feed him two more out of the cup when i get home around 5pm. In the morning i devote 45 undevided minutes to him about 10 for feeding and then i mist the cage with a hand pump mister. I also have a dripper going during and then after i leave. I use warm water in both (yes the mister is full of hot water which comes out warm) i than do the same thing when i get home at 5 or six pm i try not to mist him directly but even with all this i have never seen him drink any water ..... now my first question is what does it look like when he drinks? can i even tell if he is drinking or does he just do it? and how much should he be drinking? am i doing something wrong? It has been 3 days and i just don't want any thing to happen to him.

Any help is greatly appreciated and sorry for the long post.

 

[stevereecy]

Hey all,

I just got a 4 month male velied this weekend at the show in Aneheim. i have him in a 65 gallon repterium(a all screen enclosure) with a reptisun 5.0 UV bulb and a focus heat bulb that puts the basking spot between 93-98. I have both lights on a timer to go on at 5:45 am and off at around 8:30pm. I have a live Pothos with the vines strung up through out the cage.... lots of good climbing and hiding spots in my opinion. i also have some fake vines at the basking spot as to not kill my plant.

My question is about drinking water. I wake up everyday at six Am and feed him 3 crikets out of a cup and let two go in the cage. then feed him two more out of the cup when i get home around 5pm. In the morning i devote 45 undevided minutes to him about 10 for feeding and then i mist the cage with a hand pump mister. I also have a dripper going during and then after i leave. I use warm water in both (yes the mister is full of hot water which comes out warm) i than do the same thing when i get home at 5 or six pm i try not to mist him directly but even with all this i have never seen him drink any water ..... now my first question is what does it look like when he drinks? can i even tell if he is drinking or does he just do it? and how much should he be drinking? am i doing something wrong? It has been 3 days and i just don't want any thing to happen to him.

Any help is greatly appreciated and sorry for the long post.

With that much water, he's probably sipping enough that he never needs to drink when you're there. You could set up a video camera and catch him in the act. But if his eyes don't look sunken, you have nothing to worry about.

 

[Julirs]

He may be a "secret" drinker. I did not see my first Veiled drink for weeks after I had gotten him. As long as you are misting for more than 5 minutes a few times a day and dripping he should be fine. Some of mine open their mouths when I mist them, others lick the leaves or their lips when they are drinking. As long as he does not look dehydrated (baggy skin, sunken eyes), and his urates (white poop part) look good he should be fine. If the white poop parts start getting yellow it is reason to be concerned.

 

[Blue88]

hey thanks for the quick response guys. i was just wondering how long or often they poop. I have only seen one little one and it was all black. Is that bad?

 

[Julirs]

Sometimes the whites are runny and are less visible, or slide into a plant or something. There should be a white part that indicates he is getting water.

 

[Vibrant Chameleons]

If you have been feeding a chameleon silkworms or hornworms, they won't need to drink as much as they normally would because they also provide hydration for them.

 

[Blue88]

i have not been feeding him any warms yet but i was thinking about ordering some of the horned warms... they are the green ones right? can this be considered a good source of hydration? or is it just barley any? and i think i heard that these are more of a treat than a staple food is that correct? Thanks for the help

 

[Julirs]

Silkworms are an excellent staple and cheaper I beleive than horn worms.