Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male Jackson that got a bit dehydrated. He is eating, drinking, and chasing the ladies now, but, his eyes are still a little sunken in. I saw a tonic made from eggs and other things at the PetSmart. Has anyone ever used this? Would it be a good thing to give them on a regular basis?

Tonics etc. sold over the counter are not usually that great. They are not designed for chams, the ingredients may be who knows how old, and there may be forms of vitamins you don't want such as preformed vit. A which chams are quite sensitive to.

Give us details about your setup first. Chams, like most basically wild creatures will hide signs of problems so as not to appear easy prey. Your cham may well chase females etc. up to the point he's really too sick to care. Review the basics, because if there are other husbandry issues no tonic will solve the problem. It will just keep recurring. A better gutload will do much more good than a tonic over the long term. You say he looks dehydrated? What is your watering/misting routine? What's the cage humidity level? A dehydrated cham may be even more sensitive to vitamin overdoses and damage to kidneys.

So, let's see if we can figure out what the problem may be first.

I made the mistake of letting the dripper run out while out of town. I have fixed that. It now drips constantly and the plant they hang out in is wet all the time. Humidity should be high.

If you are relying on the dripper to keep the cage itself humid you should check it with a good electronic gauge. The actual level may surprise you. Drippers don't raise cage humidity much in my experience. I assume you also spray the cage down well 1-2 times a day, right? Get a gauge and check it just to be safe.

Yes, I douse the cage at least four times a day and wet the lizards down at least twice a day.

best thing for re-hydration is probably just gatorade diluted with water...pedialyte is good also but goes bad quickly

as far as using a "tonic" on a regular basis, it's not necessary...you can't beat plain ol' water

That is great advice! I am always afraid to treat chams like people. It's nice to know it can de done in this case.

doesn;t gatorade contain sugar of some sort? I don't know how safe that is for chams...I'd stick with the pedialyte but keep in mind it loses its efficacy quickly

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta

ahhhh...a little sugar never hurt anybody...a veiled will eat fruit won't it??

and pedialyte contains sugar also