Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone, I have a few questions about my Amibolibe (not sure on spelling)Panther cham... First of all he has been eating his crickets and mealworms and seems to be doing fine. However my first concern is that I spray him 3 times a day, and have a dripper on him, however I never see him drink not to say he doesn't, but after I spray all throughout the leaves I never see him rushing to lap up the water, unlike my one baby panther I used to have who every time I sprayed would drink as much as he could. Is it normal that Im not seeing him drink? Other problem is that our stupid AC is broken, so we never know what the temp is gonna be like and since the maintenance guy cant get out to our apt until next week should I buy a night heat lamp? The other night we put the temp as 75 and we woke up in the middle of the night freezing because it magically jumped down to 65! I was so worried about my baby! I keeps flucuating and we have no clue how to keep it on one specific temp.
Thanks again for everyones help
Steph

Hey everyone, I have a few questions about my Amibolibe (not sure on spelling)Panther cham... First of all he has been eating his crickets and mealworms and seems to be doing fine. However my first concern is that I spray him 3 times a day, and have a dripper on him, however I never see him drink not to say he doesn't, but after I spray all throughout the leaves I never see him rushing to lap up the water, unlike my one baby panther I used to have who every time I sprayed would drink as much as he could. Is it normal that Im not seeing him drink? Other problem is that our stupid AC is broken, so we never know what the temp is gonna be like and since the maintenance guy cant get out to our apt until next week should I buy a night heat lamp? The other night we put the temp as 75 and we woke up in the middle of the night freezing because it magically jumped down to 65! I was so worried about my baby! I keeps flucuating and we have no clue how to keep it on one specific temp.

For stubborn drinkers, I recomend using Exo-Terra Electrolyte suppliment. Mine never drank until I started using it. Afterwards, I stopped using it and they continued drinking as if I were still supplimenting the water each time. They seem to love the taste. It is healthy for them in moderation and it will encourage normal behaviour. You can get one with Vitamin D3 in it aswell.

For the night, maybe you should go to home depot and buy a mini room heater. They are cheap, maybe $10. They fill the room with heat easily. Any lower than 65, I might start to get more concerned but at 65, as long as they are healthy otherwise and have a correct temperature basking spot during the day time, they should do ok until the AC is fixed.

I remember reading that some yearly 'peek-drops' in Madagascar could go as low as 60s.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Maroantsetra Panther Chameleons
1.0 Long Tailed Grass Lizard
500 Escaped Crickets

Now, in my most humbled and esteemed opinion, I believe that all chams are different. Your new cham may simply not drink while your there in contrast to your other one. Are there any clear signs of dehydration (sunken eyes, etc.)?

Hi everyone,

First of all I agree with "Themastersmew". He is right. Just because you don't see him drinking doesn't mean he isn't. If there are no visible signs of dehydration, hakuna matata(no worries). If his personality is shy, then he will drink when you leave. However, if he is getting dehydrated, you might want to consider putting a potted plant in the shower with him on it for an hour or two. Keep the water luke warm, and only let the shower hit half of the plant. This will hydrate him very good. I would not recommend the electrolite supplement with the D3. Your chameleon can easily aquire D3 poisoning using this. It is best to use Reptisun 5.0 for the UVB needs. If he is dehydrated and the shower doesn't help, look at your local pet store for something called "hydro-life". This works great. This will hydrate him the best, but be sure not to overdose, as this can dehydrate him worse. Let us know how he is doing, and post a pic if possible.

Ank-Inc.
Adam.

Thanks so much for everyones help again! I actually do have a Repti-sun 5.0 for his UVB. I went home last evening and started up his dripper and he drank in front of me. I guess he was just a little shy. Still getting used to the new place. Ive got many pics of him however my bfs PC broke so he had to buy a new one, so itll take me a while to get some pics up... I got him from a breeder who was selling his whole stock in the chameleon classifieds, in here. He is 11 months and still growing!