well I think my chameleon is sick once again. ive noticed his skin is wrinkley and his tongue hangs out all the time. normally not out all the way but the last few days he hangs it out all the way. i think he some what dehydrated. i hand water him at least 8-10 times a day. i dont know what else to do for him.. i even put out a humidifier hopeing that would bring in some more moisture for him. so if anyone has any experience or advice please let me no. Thanks

You might want to mist spraying right on the face. This worked for me.

I have also used a simple drip bottle. Put a bottle in the enclosure with a pin hole to slowly drip out water, ideally onto a leaf or branch. This is similar to a natural source. The driping action also gets their attention. This worked very well...also helped humidity levels.

You might also want to check temp.

Hope this helps.

Krystawyn

It definitely sounds like dehydration. The hanging tongue is a dead giveaway to low humidity. A waterfall may be a good investment as it would, one provide a moving water source that would stimulate a chameleon to drink, and two create a large water area with cast off rasing the humidity. What ever you chose I wish you the best of luck with your Cham.

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for a quick fix, head to the pet store and get one of those pre-made waterfalls. Its an easy solution. I would also suggest a drip container, like Rich suggested. Just get a gallon water jug and poke a small hole in the bottom. Like pin sized.

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I agree...it sounds like dehydration. The problem with a gallon jug of water and a pinhole - all that water has to go somewhere...and if you don't have a gallon reservoir for the water to drain back into...you have a huge drowning potential for the feeders and possibly the cham if it's small enough.

I'm waiting for an order now on a water drip vine I found through reptiledirect.com:
Water Drip Vine - 52442

It uses a submersible pump that I'll have to tweak to make sure the crix don't drown themselves in the reservoir...or worse...the chams drowning. I bought two because I just have a good feeling about this and didn't want to have to pay for shipping twice.

I'm hoping it will offer a more natural way for them to drink the water. Keep in mind humidity and hydration are two very different things. Humidity is external while hydration is oral. Adding humidity does not guarantee your cham will become less hydrated. This is good for shedding and will offer the lungs needed moisture for the tissue lining...but it's not enough for total internal hydration. Waterfalls are the same. Adding a waterfall might entice the cham to drink, but being dew-drinkers by nature...it might work and it might not. I'm hoping that the "leaky" vine will promote a more natural "dewy" look that will keep them well hydrated and healthier.

I hope to get them tomorrow. I was hoping for FedX yesterday and was disappointed... I'll let you know how it works out!

In the meantime - you may want to use a little syringe and just let a drop of water at a time onto your chams nose letting it drip into it's mouth.

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Veronica
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Well, I'm impressed! You've hit the hydration V. humidity question right on the nose!

I'm just a little more of a "Do-It-Yourself" . I Have a 30"X30"X18" Exoterra screened enclosure for my Cham.. The bottom and about four inches of the sides are plastic/water proof.
A simple solution to any flooding problems is to drill a hole in the bottom and use standard aquarium tubing as a drain. Either into a bucket or you could run the line all the way outside or down into the crawl space if you have one.
You would have to seal the hole and tubing with either silicone or rubber cement, But that is a petty problem. The drainage would be miniscule. Drop by dop.
I've been thinking about Running a water line into my enclosure with about a foot of "Soaker hose"(Used in gardens) capped off at the end with a valve to control pressure. Sort of like the same water line that goes to the icemaker in your fridge. You can regulate how many droplets appear per minute by adjusting the valve.
The hose and drainage must be used at the same time.

One other alternative is to pack up the entire Chameleon enclosure and move it to your bathroom. The one you and your family takes a shower in. As long as they don't get splashed with soap, They'll benefit from the humidity.

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Thanks Og_... Humidity and hydration are often confused.

I was just talking to someone else at work today who is going to set his Jackson's cham setup the same way you described. I think it's even possible for me to set the reservoir up this way so if the water leaks from the vine faster than expected (though I expect a slow soaker hose style with the mini-pump) than it can easily fall back into the res. without flooding. How would you deal with the crix, however? I still need the 1/8" - 1/4" little guys and they may get lost to the "flow" even as small as it might be. I may wait to do the holes in the bottom until I have these guys in an adult enclosure and the crix are better able to deal with the drainage. Mine is the ESU screened cage - 20" x 18" x 12".

And FedX still hasn't arrived!!! I'm jazzed and ready to experiment!!

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Veronica
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i really thought about putting him in the bathroom but our bathrooms are to small. my cage is 2ft 2ft by 4ft. so it takes up lots of room..... yeah I was really thing bout getting a waterfall but I dont wanna pay 50 bucks and find out it dosnt work. i might have to dry ogs idea... i know my mans not a handy man so ill have to figure it out by myself... is it true that the more ur reptile sheds the healthier they are????? my cham has shed 3 times and ive had him 3months. og you should definitly let me know how the vines work. thats a great ides if your not sure how to set up your own advanced misting system... does anybody have any ides on how to make some kind of shelves or something to set things on in a screened cage???? i need some ideas if anyone has them.

You have a really nice sized enclosure. I would almost think about using the plastic-coated wire pantry racks that you could set on the bottom of the enclosure. Go into Wal-Mart, K-Mart or other type store and look through their space saver kitchen and bathroom racks and I bet you may just get some ideas...:-)

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Veronica
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..._//......_\\
Exotic Animal Rescue of Henry Co.
~~Rescue - Rehab - Rehome~~

Yes, I should have suggested this also. I have a drainage hole in the bottom of my frog enclosure. I forget about it sometimes.

hope your critter is doing better.

I have also seen people set up humidifiers under the tank, with a piece of PVC going into the tank, so the vapors get right inside. this of course means you need to make a hole in the bottom of the cage and then also put some mesh over the PVC so your critter doesn't get inside.

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Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.