Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently acquired a 6 month old veil about two monthes ago. Everything seems to be going well. I provide fresh berries everyday along with silkworms and crickets. Currently it seems that he is getting all his liquid requirements from the fruit and not drinking at all.I provide two or three small pieces of fruit each day ( blueberries or strawberries cut in a small portion ) Is this unusual ? , he doesn't appear to be dehydrated and he is active and feeds well. Has anyone used watermelon as a source for their liquid needs. PS : I also mist the plants every day , although he doesn't lick the moisture from the leaves like he did when I first bought him.

Veileds are a bit more adapted to using vegetation to get their water than some other species from more humid areas. Some other ways to check for dehydration include looking at the shape of the casque. It should be rounded and full, not concave or sunken. Also do the skin test. Take a fold of belly skin between your fingers. Release it. If the skin flattens out right away the cham is hydrated. If it stays "tented" you need to hydrate more.

I will check tonight , although I am almost certain the shape of his casque is full and not sunken and his eye shape is full and well rounded. Any recommendations on the best way to check skin tone, he will readily walk on my hand and arm when I feed him a silkworm , but he really gets pissed off if you make any attempt to hold him. Thanks for the quick feedback.PS : anyone else has a similiar experience with their veil ?

Well, you will have to hold him to do this. The best place to check the skin is along the belly or lower side. It should only take a moment to do. If you are really worried about stress you could drape a bandana over him before handling him. You don't necessarily need to take him off his perch, just get him to hold still. Again, pick up a fold of skin and pull it gently. Release it and watch. If the skin fold stays "tented" you need to add some humidity and watering. If the skin is very soft and flexible and flattens out he's fine. Also, if you recently started offering the veggie/fruit he may be eating more of it just because it is new and interesting. So, may be drinking less because of that. It would probably be temporary.

Thanks for all the good information.

. It doesn't sound as though you're giving him enough water. Each of my chams get 1.5-2 gallons of wayter dripping at last 6 hours/day in addition to 5-10 minutes of misting with HOT water in the sprayer. I don't disagree with Carlton very often but by the time you can tell from casque or skin that a cham is dehydrated, it's gotten pretty serious. IMO, chronic subacute dehydration is the #1 killer of chams. You canm't give a cham too much hydration as long as the cage gets to dry out thoroughly between waterings.

Thanks for your reply. I am letting the drip system go for at least 2 or 3 hours at a time with a slow drip and I also mist the plants to allow my veil to lick the leaves for moisture, It just seems that I haven't notice him drinking from these sources .He does readily eat the fresh berries that I leave in the cageand I am assuming he is getting enough liquid from these sources. I also read that Veils originate from drier climates and they can rely on plants and dew for their liquid requirements, so I am not sure what else I can do to get him to drink more, I may increase the flow of the drip to see if that may trigger him to drink from my water source. I will keep you posted.

SAee the veiled profile at http://www.adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/chcalyptratus.html

While the come from an arid region of the globe, they occupy coastal regions that get heavy dewing daily. Contrary to popular opinion this is NOT a "desert" species with low hydration requirements. That myth has, IMO, killed more veileds than other single factor.

The beauty of a dripper is that it can be going 6 hours/day. I rarely see my chams drink but when you consider that the dripper's going for 6 hours/day and that drinking only takes a few minutes, that's not very surprising. I watch the new chams closely but once I;mk sure they're using the dripper, I don't bother monitoring their intake because I know they have almost constant access to a water source that they use. Of course, I also mist extensively but as much to keep the humidity up, allow them to do their eye-washing routines, etc. as to supply extra drinking water.
Ed
Ed