Thoughts on showers/hydrating?

[AnOwlsChat]

Hello everyone!

I have a young male veiled chameleon and I fear he may be getting dehydrated. I have only had him about 2 weeks and his last urate was more on the yellowish side than I think is good, though there was still white so not all hope is lost. I have no idea how old he is but he is still little, I have read you should shower them when they are too little but I thought I would try a shower out as all the forums say that is a good way to start to rehydrate.

Here's what's going on: I got everything ready, plant in shower, shower on slightly warmer than room temperature bouncing off the wall onto the plant. I go to get my chameleon (I have not settled on a name yet) and... we are still getting to know each other so he doesn't trust me yet. I encouraged him to back onto my hand and I was unsuccessful and eventually he got fed up with me and started hissing and was clearly stressed out. I gave him space and he went and hid on me. I've done too good a job of giving him hiding spaces. I do not want to stress him out, but I also do not want him dehydrated. I mist him at least 3 times a day and I have one of those plant drippers, so there is water available all the time.

I am going to let him calm down tonight, in the morning do you think I should really try to get him out and into the shower, or do you have any other suggestions for rehydrating? If he keeps to the schedule he's been on I think he should poop again sometime tomorrow. I will try to take a picture so we can all decide how he is doing.

Sorry for the long post, I am just a worried mama!

 

[JohnnyLawrence]

Worried Mama - How often are you providing a mist for your little one? Do you have plant leaves for them to lick the droplets? Are they drinking every day? I don't recommend you putting the little one in a shower for a few reasons - dry drowning and stress. What I do recommend is hydrating your feeders if you feel they are not getting enough water.

 

[Virgil1972]

Instead of trying to get him on your hand you could try coaxing him onto a stick or vine.

 

[AnOwlsChat]

Worried Mama - How often are you providing a mist for your little one? Do you have plant leaves for them to lick the droplets? Are they drinking every day? I don't recommend you putting the little one in a shower for a few reasons - dry drowning and stress. What I do recommend is hydrating your feeders if you feel they are not getting enough water.

I do a heavy mist once in the morning and once in the evening and then at least once more, if not twice during the day. Lots of plant leaves for droplets I have never actually seen my chameleon lick the droplets or drink from the dripper... he must at some point though because he is still alive, and though I am concerned he is still very alert and his eyes still look good. Just that yellowish in the urate that's got me concerned and I don't want it to get worse I've seen him wash his eyes when I mist. I think maybe he is just still shy, he stops eating when I try to watch him too.

If I did try a shower, I would never leave him unattended and the spray wouldn't be too strong, you are right though, I don't want to stress him out. I will try to super hydrate my crickets! Maybe I will see if he will eat some fruits/veggies for me. One post I read someone said their chameleon loved mango, surely that has lots of liquid in it

 

[AnOwlsChat]

Instead of trying to get him on your hand you could try coaxing him onto a stick or vine.

I did think of that, but haven't tried it yet. I need to get a good sturdy stick for such an occasion Thanks for the advice!

 

[JohnnyLawrence]

I do a heavy mist once in the morning and once in the evening and then at least once more, if not twice during the day. Lots of plant leaves for droplets I have never actually seen my chameleon lick the droplets or drink from the dripper... he must at some point though because he is still alive, and though I am concerned he is still very alert and his eyes still look good. Just that yellowish in the urate that's got me concerned and I don't want it to get worse I've seen him wash his eyes when I mist. I think maybe he is just still shy, he stops eating when I try to watch him too.

If I did try a shower, I would never leave him unattended and the spray wouldn't be too strong, you are right though, I don't want to stress him out. I will try to super hydrate my crickets! Maybe I will see if he will eat some fruits/veggies for me. One post I read someone said their chameleon loved mango, surely that has lots of liquid in it

If you want to go even further, you can dunk a cricket into water (use purified only) and then hand feed the cricket. That's a sure way to get a drop of water, at least, per cricket to your chameleon. Also, warm showers are really only recommended for Chams that need help shedding...specifically adults. I don't recommend smaller ones be put into showers out of fear they will be over-stressed and inhale too much water in the process...eventually dying.

For misting, I'd recommend not misting at night with Veileds. Try misting about an hour or two before the lights go off.

 

[carol5208]

I wouldn't worry about it. He will drink when he needs to. I have had my one chameleon 2 1/2 yrs and have seen him drink about 3 times. They don't have to have water everyday. What I am saying, is offer it and he will drink when needed. People always freak out over this. They don't get water everyday in the wild. Feed him some silkworms or hornworms. They can get moisture from their feeders also. That is how they survive in the wild.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I wouldn't worry about it. He will drink when he needs to. I have had my one chameleon 2 1/2 yrs and have seen him drink about 3 times. They don't have to have water everyday. What I am saying, is offer it and he will drink when needed. People always freak out over this. They don't get water everyday in the wild. Feed him some silkworms or hornworms. They can get moisture from their feeders also. That is how they survive in the wild.

That may be true but they also live in an area that has a much higher humidity than any American house does. Although there is very little rain up the sides of the plateau in western Yemen and and Saudi Arabia, I can tell you the humidity is extremely high. I've lived and traveled in that area. It is usually extremely humid, oppressively hot and humid. Also, the local climate in the Arabian Peninsula has changed drastically over the past 20,000 years, going from lush to desert so what the climate is now is not the climate they evolved in.

Chameleons can dehydrate just breathing in dry air conditions, especially babies. Misting a couple of times a day and a dripper might not be enough. You can increase humidity with an automatic mister set to go off many times a day for short periods of time or add a cool mist fogger.

 

[alphakenc]

For a younger cham like baby 4month and younger shower will be stressful to them since they always roaming around,but an older cham ,u can guide it onto a firm objects to stand on during the shower splashed.
U can always increase ur misting time with the younger chams,so they can be hydrated often.