Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 1 chameleon. I just want something to have water DRIP in her cage. I got one of those $6.99 'drippers' and its just not consistent!

How come the dripping slows down or stops when theres still plenty of water in the holder?!

I have to constantly readjust the flow and this sux because im going on vacation soon and i need a reliable dripper. Any advice?

I have a plastic cup with a hole in it which i put a printer cartridge refill needle in, stuff a small piece of cotton (I use a piece from a q-tip) in the head of the needle (the part that is inside the cup) to slow the flow. if you don't have the cartridge needle you can get a small gauge needle from your vet. In either case sand/file the tip to dull it. I put the "drip system" on top of the cage and position it to drip on leaves and then into another cup/container below. I empty the catch basin daily. i like it b/c it produces a droplet of water every few seconds. Sometime the water puddles on the screen so to avoid this raise the cup off the screen with something (I use small pieces of plexi-glass that i have laying around).

jamie whitehouse came up with this and his post had photos but I can't find it. KS search doesn't seem to go beyond last month now...hope this helps and isn't too confusing. OH - the other thing I have set up is a mini-humidifier set up. When i leave I will set it on a timer to go off a cpu[le times of day.

who is looking after the cham while you're gone? Will they refill a daily dripper for you? I, too am going away for a week in Dec. my friend will take good care of all the herps and i am making the dripper easy for her.

lele

>>I have 1 chameleon. I just want something to have water DRIP in her cage. I got one of those $6.99 'drippers' and its just not consistent!
>>
>>How come the dripping slows down or stops when theres still plenty of water in the holder?!
>>
>>I have to constantly readjust the flow and this sux because im going on vacation soon and i need a reliable dripper. Any advice?
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

im going to be gone 4 days and I have noone to watch her. I have a dripper bucket that holds 3 gallons with a hose and a nozzle attached but every once in awhile it stops for no reason! I have to open and close the nozzle again and it flows fine! Frustrating!

I have a nice humidifier that monitors the humidity and goes off and on automatically.

No one at all, huh? A friend who will just take care of the water? Just putting in a bunch of feeders in will probably be OK. Does your vet know of anyone? I am sure you have thought of all this and I am just stressing you even more - sorry! :/
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

Drippers can be a pain. I finally stopped messing with them entirely. I have someone come by and spray the cage thoroughly (they'd have to come by to feed and fill a dripper anyway), and get a humidifier to cycle on and off for general humidity. If the humidity is correct the cham will not get overly thirsty overnight anyway so the one major spray down a day works OK while I'm gone. I also like to keep my chams licking foliage daily rather than take chances on a dripper they decide they don't like (or gets clogged just when the cham decides it needs a drink). They tend to start drinking before they are really thirsty, tend to drink longer, and take better advantage of their cage plants.

We have found those "drippers" to be frustrating too. We bought some when we had only a few chams - and ended up returning them to the store. Then we went to margarine cups with a small pinhole in the bottom edge. These proved reliable to drip, as long as you kept them cleaned out weekly (mineral buildup at the pinhole). Now that we have hundreds of chams, hubby designed a timed drip system that works off of a R/O unit and a 55 gal tank.

I have suggested a IV drip unit for folks with a single cham. If you poke the base into a bucket (seal with silicone), then place the dial (for speed of drip) and dripper over the proper place, it will drip continuously until it empties the bucket. The catch is gravity - the water has to flow down! The bucket needs to be higher than the dripper and tubing.

Nursing homes and clinics, etc., must toss out IV units all the time when they have gone past the expiration date on the unit. Yes, they have a shelf-life, for medical reasons. We get our IV units free from these sources. You can shorten the tubing, if necessary, with a bit of ingenuity.

If you have no one to check in on your cham while you are gone - have you considered taking the cham with you? We know several folks that have done this - but of course, they were traveling by car.

The only other thing we can suggest, is to place the cage in your shower. Turn on the shower (barely dripping) over one corner of the cage so that the water falls on some leaves. Depending on your cage - you can sit it up off the floor of the shower for water drainage. Even though we prefer not to use tap water - it is certainly far better than having no water for the animal.
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THANK YOU for all the great responses!

Yes i feel like a total loser to say I have no friends that live near me who I can rely on. Theres 100 reasons It wouldnt work out with who I know.

Im going to Puerto Vallarta, and although my cham would LOVE to go, I dont think it would work.

The shower idea sounds good! I would of never thought of it. I think what i might try is getting a WATER PUMP for a small aquarium ($14.00 at PetSmart) and having that on a timer, so at least its forcing the water thru a dripper nozzle instead of using gravity alone.

I have a Haba Mister and thats great for mist, but it has a very small resivoir and really dosnt put out a lot of water at a time. My cham is so SLOW to get over to where the water is spraying she always misses it. LOL

Ok well I'll let you know how it goes!

Now you have your brain thinking.... *LOL*

A water pump isn't a bad idea - but you have to have a BIG bucket of water for it keep pumping for the time you will be gone. The dripper nozzel may be hard to find. If you can't find one, we'd be happy to mail you one that will fit on the end of aquarium tubing (the kind we use in most of our cages).

Remember with some of the small pumps - they aren't designed to send water very high (resistance), and by placing a nozzel on the end, you increase the resistance. You might have to get help figuring out which kind of pump you will need.

So... rather than spend bunches of $$$ and beat your brains out trying to get something to work (for a temporary situation), I simply thought the shower might be the best bet.

No sneaking the cham into your luggage, eh! *LOL*
I'll bet she wishes she could go....
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Morgana - I forgot about the IV drip system. Do you have any photos on your site or that you could post of this setup? I used to have to inject one of my cat's with saline when her kidneys were failing - same general set up? Aren't the bags sealed? thanks,
lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

Lele,

I don't use the bag part...
I get the hose set-up only, then plug the hose into a small plastic bucket (with a handle to hang it). That plug is siliconed in to prevent leaking.

Then you drape the hose to where you want the drip, and dial the drip to go as fast as you need it to.

Easy peasy.....
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>>Lele,
>>
>>I don't use the bag part...
>>I get the hose set-up only, then plug the hose into a small plastic bucket (with a handle to hang it). That plug is siliconed in to prevent leaking.
>>
>>Then you drape the hose to where you want the drip, and dial the drip to go as fast as you need it to.
>>
>>Easy peasy.....
>>-----
>>
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & no name
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & no name

I got one from my vet but you can get one from a nurse or hospital worker or maybe a medical supply place.
The dripping is consistent and you can adjust exactly how many drops you want per minute and it is very accurate.

I got tired of the whole drip thing too so I went out and bought one of those rodent water bottles (the kind with the metal tube and ball on the end) and it works like a charm. My cham drinks from it with no problems and didn't even have to be coaxed to. I think the shiny metal ball attracted him at first and then he realized that that is where he can get water from.
Good luck!

meemee - I got one too but Luna doesn't seem interested. I used to have her in a smaller cage so the one I got is very small and the tube is straight down. Do you use the sort with the "bent" tube?

>>I got tired of the whole drip thing too so I went out and bought one of those rodent water bottles (the kind with the metal tube and ball on the end) and it works like a charm. My cham drinks from it with no problems and didn't even have to be coaxed to. I think the shiny metal ball attracted him at first and then he realized that that is where he can get water from.
>>Good luck!
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles (Jaida, no name)
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - (still no names)

Lele,
The tube isn't really bent but it does come out at an angle.If the tube was straight on yours maybe Luna couldn't see the metal ball?

I realized after my last post that I forgot to say that when I first put it in the cage (and a couple times after) I gave the bottle a squeeze so water dripped out of the end. That probably helped draw my cham to it as well. The bottle is plastic and holds about a cup and a 1/2 so it lasts for a long time. Hope that helps.

Meemee

This is what I do when I have to leave for a while:

1. I bought a cheap outdoor mister from HOME DEPOT for $20.00. This has a hose adapter on the bottom end for connecting to a regular spigot or water hose.
2. I bought an $18.00 battery operated timer from HOMEDEPOT that can be set to go off from every hour to every 12 hours for 1 to 30 minutes.
3. I bought a MALE kitchen faucter dapter for $3.00 from HOMEDEPOT.
4. I connected it all up and moved my cages to the kitchen floor.
5. I set it to go off every 3 hours for 1 minute.
6. I set all my lights on timers.

Now when I leave, theyre watered and lighted as they need to be. The only drawback is the water that pools on the floor. I use old towels in a circle to catch most of the water that runs off. I use a lot of towels...LOL!

This is the same setup I have on my outdoor enclosure I built. The mister has 10 sprayers that can be turned off and adjusted as you see fit. MUCH cheaper than the ones I see advertised on the net specifically for reptiles. No need for a pump or buckets, although you can convert it easily to buckets and pumps if you like. When I build my new cham/tortoise cages in my reptile room, I am going to use the same setup but use aquarium submersible pumps and buckets to catch the leftover water and pump fresh water into the misters.

Hope this helps.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, the only survivor)
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

BTW, the battery timer is designed for water flow...not electrical flow. You can find them in the plumbing section. That is where i found the cheap mister as well.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, the only survivor)
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

neat idea if you have the kind of floor that can get wet. Just a thought, not knowing how big your kitchen or the cages are, what about getting a kiddy pool to set them in which will catch pooled water? Or you could get a large plastic tarp and after placing the cages on the tarp put wood, bricks, whatever, under the tarp in a circle to form a "wall" around the cages. it wouldn't have to be high, just enough to form a bowl. just my 2 cents

lele

>>This is what I do when I have to leave for a while:
>>
>>1. I bought a cheap outdoor mister from HOME DEPOT for $20.00. This has a hose adapter on the bottom end for connecting to a regular spigot or water hose.
>>2. I bought an $18.00 battery operated timer from HOMEDEPOT that can be set to go off from every hour to every 12 hours for 1 to 30 minutes.
>>3. I bought a MALE kitchen faucter dapter for $3.00 from HOMEDEPOT.
>>4. I connected it all up and moved my cages to the kitchen floor.
>>5. I set it to go off every 3 hours for 1 minute.
>>6. I set all my lights on timers.
>>
>>Now when I leave, theyre watered and lighted as they need to be. The only drawback is the water that pools on the floor. I use old towels in a circle to catch most of the water that runs off. I use a lot of towels...LOL!
>>
>>This is the same setup I have on my outdoor enclosure I built. The mister has 10 sprayers that can be turned off and adjusted as you see fit. MUCH cheaper than the ones I see advertised on the net specifically for reptiles. No need for a pump or buckets, although you can convert it easily to buckets and pumps if you like. When I build my new cham/tortoise cages in my reptile room, I am going to use the same setup but use aquarium submersible pumps and buckets to catch the leftover water and pump fresh water into the misters.
>>
>>Hope this helps.
>>-----
>>Raf
>>
>>1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
>>0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, the only survivor)
>>0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
>>0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
>>1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
>>1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
>>1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
>>0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
>>0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
>>0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
>>Saltwater Fish and Inverts too
-----
0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 green anoles Jaida & no name
0.1 brown anole - Jamaica
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & no name

I have 4 60g reptariums. I thought about the tarp idea but, since one of the cages had baby chams in it, I didnt want to take the chance of the water flowing into the cage and they drowning. The towels work best for me because they absorb the water that drips out. I have tile on my kitchen floor so water doesnt harm it.

Your idea is great too!!
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty, Lucille)
0.0.1 Jackson's baby (George, the only survivor)
0.1 Adult Sulcatta (POOPIE,I bought it from Victor at Kobey's in SD)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY, From Victor as well)
1.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis and Dorkus)
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too