Reptile & Amphibian Forums

has anyone succesfully used a rodent water feeder to water there chameleons?
i tried using one and all my chameleons get real astressed when i go near them they puff up and gape so just wondering if anyone has any ideas how to do it? im thinking i will just do the eye dropper thing again which works just as well.
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4x Veiled Chameleon
1x Panther
Hollie/Willow > female veileds
Carling/Houdini > Male Veileds
Louey > Panther

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Edited signature file to remove unacceptable advertising. [phw 8/7/04]

The major problem would be having the chams learn to go to the waterer even if they don't see moving water (it would have to drip often enough to catch their attention). You don't have to use an eyedropper to water them, in fact it may be part of the reason they are so stressed. If you spray the foliage really well (I don't mean one quick heavy spray of a couple of minutes, but a gentler slower spritz for 5-10 minutes to give them time to start drinking) they should lick the droplets off the leaves on their own in their own time.

its ok they arent stressed in a sense they just dont like the look of the bottle, the eye dropper works and spraying does but only with my panther all my yemens dont drink and i know they get most of their water from their food but i just wanted an easier way to get em to drink than an eye dropper and wondered if anyone had a tactic for using rodent water bottles.
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4x Veiled Chameleon
1x Panther
Hollie/Willow > female veileds
Carling/Houdini > Male Veileds
Louey > Panther

____

Edited signature file to remove unacceptable advertising. [phw 8/7/04]

I tried a water bottle with Luna (veiled), I even hung it just above her basking branch at a good angle where it would drip every 15 seconds or so, but after awhile the dripping would stop. I had started her on a plastic syringe/dropper when she was young, but knew this would not suffice the first time I realized I had to go away - I couldn't expect her (or my sitter) to do it that way.

So I ended up getting one of the commercial drippers and she uses it all the time. I have it set up in one corner and she will sit and "shower" under it or drink. She knows where it is and will go to it when she is thirsty.

Well, that's my story I say go for the dripper

lele
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Hi,

I've had my veiled on a rodent waterer for about 8 months and it's worked out great. I (very carefully) bent the end that the little ball sits in so it's kind of splayed out, that way the water drips out a little bit. When I put it in the cage I give it a little squirt so he can see a drop of water on the end. I think it also helps that the end is metal and shiny and seems to catch his eye.

I regularly spray him too but I've often seen him drinking from the waterer. If you decide to do it make sure that you're careful about bending the end, it's easy to damage it and you'll end up having the water run out, also you don't want any sharp bits of metal sticking up that can cut your chams mouth or tongue.

I should tell you that I don't completely rely on it (paranoia) and would never leave him with just that as his only source of water. He needs the humidity from spraying anyway but it's nice to know that he doesn't have to wait for me to spray him to get a drink. I have a dripper for him too but I'm not a huge fan of it; the waterer has worked out the best so far.

Hope this helps.

Meemee

Can you post a pic of how the end looks? I understand just what you are saying but a picture would help

thanks
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)

Sorry but, unfortunately, I don't have a digicam and my 35mm wouldn't capture the details needed (it doesn't take great close ups).

Ok, picture the metal tube that the ball bearing sits in. Insert one prong (is that what it's called?) of small needle nose pliers into the tube and gently grip the tube. Then slowly bend the end out 'til it's flared a tiny bit. You may need to do it in more than one place on the tube but after each bend check to see what the water flow is like. The flare on the tube allows the water to run past the ball bearing instead of sitting in the tube. Basically what you're doing is damaging the tube so water will drip out. The trick is to have it come out slowly.

Make sure the pliers are clean and like I said before be very careful not to have any sharp bits sticking up.

Good luck if you decide to try it and please let me know if it works for your cham!

Meemee

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that I change the water regularly, I don't wait for the waterer to run out. I figure the water must get kind of stale after a while, not to mention the risk of bacterial growth as well.

thanks for the description! Yes, changing the water is super important! When I had hers hung up it was directly under a light so I changed the water every other day. In my regular dripper I wash it thouroughly every other day - it's warm sitting on top of the cage!

thanks again, I will definitely try it!
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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 house geckos - Gaia & Tia (both MIA
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog (for summer)
0.5 Mad. Hissers (for summer - all girls, no little ones, whew!)