# Chameleon Dehydration-URGENT



## KaiMillward (Aug 21, 2012)

Hello! My Yemen/Veiled Chameleon is dehydrated quite badly. He had a few sips of water yesterday and is sprayed 3 times a day. I hardly ever see him drink anymore (he used to drink from his water bowl and dripping leaves all the time). He is becoming dehydrated, weak, but is being provided with enough drinking opportunities. 
Because of being dehydrated, im assuming, he is refusing food and treats being offered to him and is losing a lot of weight. There are no vets anywhere near me that know much about exotics and I don't have the funds to take him to the vets. Is there *ANYTHING* I can do to help him get better. He also sleeps a lot in the day unless I wake him. Thanks.

Kai :notworthy:


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## Ophexis (Feb 19, 2010)

What is his setup like? Temps, humidity, UV, etc.


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## KaiMillward (Aug 21, 2012)

Ophexis said:


> What is his setup like? Temps, humidity, UV, etc.


He is a juvenile cham in a 2ft tall, 1.5ft width and 1ft length viv. Basking temp is around 32 degrees C, humidity is at around 70%. I am using a Reptilight UVB and UVB bulb.


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## NBLADE (Apr 11, 2007)

do you have any pictures of him and the set up? what are the temperatures in the rest of the tank? And when you say juvenile, how old is he?


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## Ieuan7 (Dec 19, 2012)

A good and quick fix is to feed it cucumber and carrots.

Just like with crickets etc, it provides 100% of their water intake, in the crickets case.

Try it...If he eats, it will hydrate him and is certainly better than nothingg.

--

If that fails then bath him. Only need a little water, but he will absorb moisture through the skin. Again not cures, but could make that all important difference.


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## KaiMillward (Aug 21, 2012)

NBLADE said:


> do you have any pictures of him and the set up? what are the temperatures in the rest of the tank? And when you say juvenile, how old is he?


Rest of the tank temperatures are around 25. 
Here is setup - 









Chameleon (notice sunken, drooping eyes) -


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## KaiMillward (Aug 21, 2012)

KaiMillward said:


> Rest of the tank temperatures are around 25.
> Here is setup -
> image
> 
> ...


He is 6-7 months


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## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

He does look in a bad way and chams go downhill very fast. You can give them showers on a plant in the shower. He really needs a bigger tank with lots more foliage - preferably live plants. Screen cages are best. what supplements do you give him? Try offering his his favorite food to get him to eat.


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## KaiMillward (Aug 21, 2012)

Bradley said:


> He does look in a bad way and chams go downhill very fast. You can give them showers on a plant in the shower. He really needs a bigger tank with lots more foliage - preferably live plants. Screen cages are best. what supplements do you give him? Try offering his his favorite food to get him to eat.


He has only just outgrown this tank. He has calcium supplement covered gut loaded crickets. He seems to be deteriorating pretty fast, so if he is in the same condition tomorrow as he is in now i will go out and get a bigger viv with more plants. Thanks for your help.


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## Gratenkutzombie (Dec 28, 2012)

I thought chams drank from a dripper/misting? I dident know they drank from waterbowls. Maybe you could buy a dripper and pop in some neutral flavour dioralyte which you can buy from a pharmacy..?


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## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

I would go tesco and get some powerade and a syringe. Mix 50;50 powerade to water and syringe him a whole syringe full and see how he is in a few hours. The powerade will hydrate him quicker than just water.


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## KaiMillward (Aug 21, 2012)

Gratenkutzombie said:


> I thought chams drank from a dripper/misting? I dident know they drank from waterbowls. Maybe you could buy a dripper and pop in some neutral flavour dioralyte which you can buy from a pharmacy..?


He has a drip system on top of the viv and it drips through the mesh into the bowl, but he used to also drink out of the bowl (before he went on his 'drinking strike'). And I spray him three times a day just to be sure.


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## KaiMillward (Aug 21, 2012)

Bradley said:


> I would go tesco and get some powerade and a syringe. Mix 50;50 powerade to water and syringe him a whole syringe full and see how he is in a few hours. The powerade will hydrate him quicker than just water.


Would powerade be healthy for a chameleon?


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## NBLADE (Apr 11, 2007)

KaiMillward said:


> Rest of the tank temperatures are around 25.
> Here is setup -
> image
> 
> ...


Ah he looks in real bad shape, the sunken eyes, skinny front legs and colour don't look good at all. He could do with a lot more cover in his tank, and a bigger viv aswell, and looks like the uv bulb sits on top of some sort of mesh, which will also filter out a lot of the uv that the chameleon is getting. 

If i was to guess, i would guess at some kind of liver issue, causing the pale colours and the dehydration.


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## KaiMillward (Aug 21, 2012)

NBLADE said:


> Ah he looks in real bad shape, the sunken eyes, skinny front legs and colour don't look good at all. He could do with a lot more cover in his tank, and a bigger viv aswell, and looks like the uv bulb sits on top of some sort of mesh, which will also filter out a lot of the uv that the chameleon is getting.
> 
> If i was to guess, i would guess at some kind of liver issue, causing the pale colours and the dehydration.


Thanks a bunch! As I said, If he is still going tomorrow I will get things sorted asap.


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## Bradley (Aug 26, 2009)

Powerade is fine aslong as diluted. You want the blue sugar free one. It works well and has saved quite a few lizards.


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