Weekend road trip. How to help my non reptile family care for my boy?

[thestoneofdoom]

So I’m leaving early Friday for a weekend trip. I plan on feeding him Friday and then Sunday when I get back I’ll pass him a light snack that afternoon. My biggest concern is water.

Currently he’s on a dripper as it’s easiest when I’m working and I can tell it’s working properly. My problem is my family is too “grossed out” to open his substrate door long enough to dump out the excess water.

My idea though..what if I added a small cat water fountain and put it in his cage with a false plant in it? It would constantly keep the water moving and be shallow for him to get out if he slips in plus a plant for drinking access.

Would this work for a weekend?

 

[ERKleRose]

Do you have a mister?

 

[ERKleRose]

As long as there’s droplets and not a stream on the plant and you take out and bleach the fountain after the weekend, you should be fine. Could you drill a hole and install a bulkhead and put a bucket below the cage?

 

[thestoneofdoom]

Unfortunately I can’t drill a hole, as much as I want too. Don’t have a proper way for any of that yet.
I’m hopeing to find a cat fountain that has stream adjustments.

 

[ERKleRose]

Do you have a mister they can just refill?

 

[JuliusSon]

So I’m leaving early Friday for a weekend trip. I plan on feeding him Friday and then Sunday when I get back I’ll pass him a light snack that afternoon. My biggest concern is water.

Currently he’s on a dripper as it’s easiest when I’m working and I can tell it’s working properly. My problem is my family is too “grossed out” to open his substrate door long enough to dump out the excess water.

My idea though..what if I added a small cat water fountain and put it in his cage with a false plant in it? It would constantly keep the water moving and be shallow for him to get out if he slips in plus a plant for drinking access.

Would this work for a weekend?

I have this for my babes. Hes been drinking out of it since he was 5 months old. I have that little branch there and he just sits right there no worries. Clean every two days. Maybe your local pet store has a similar fountain or Amazon next day

 

[Brodybreaux25]

A fountain should not be used as a daily source of water for your chameleon but in your situation I do not think it will hurt if it’s used over a single weekend like in this case.

 

[JuliusSon]

A fountain should not be used as a daily source of water for your chameleon but in your situation I do not think it will hurt if it’s used over a single weekend like in this case.

I apologize for jumping in on this post. But Why shouldn't a fountain be used daily? I am a new mom. I also have a fogger that drips water on plants and I mist his cage through out the day.

 

[ERKleRose]

I apologize for jumping in on this post. But Why shouldn't a fountain be used daily? I am a new mom. I also have a fogger that drips water on plants and I mist his cage through out the day.

It’s a breeding ground for bacteria. There was a recent thread where a cham died from having one

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I apologize for jumping in on this post. But Why shouldn't a fountain be used daily? I am a new mom. I also have a fogger that drips water on plants and I mist his cage through out the day.

They tend develop dangerous levels of harmful bacteria. We see one Cham every month or so who is sickened or killed by one of these things. Some people swear that their safe if you sterilize them daily but it still happens.

 

[JuliusSon]

They tend develop dangerous levels of harmful bacteria. We see one Cham every month or so who is sickened or killed by one of these things. Some people swear that their safe if you sterilize them daily but it still happens.

Noted, thank you very much

 

[NickTide]

The fountain is a great thing to have for weekends away and for for rehydrating a recovering chameleon. When done, wash with 5:1 (approx.) water/ bleach solution, rinse well and allow to dry completely (if you smell bleach it still needs to dry) before storing. These used to be considered the best thing for chams when they first came out maybe 15 or 20 years ago. Chameleon sale picked up because they became so much easier. then everyone kept coming into the shop and telling us their chameleon died for unknown reasons. lucky for me, I enjoyed hand misting so I only used my fountain for vacations.