Eating/health problem

Your Chameleon - Male Veiled, roughly 9 months old. I've had him for 5 months. I handle him everyday minimally.
Feeding - I'm feeding him basically anything he will eat at his point. He gave up on crickets about a month ago. I'm forced to feed suoerworms as a staple right now, my dubia colony is not yet ready but I have ordered some in the meantime.
Supplements - Repashy calcium plus. Every feeding, which is rare now.
Watering - I mist manually, 3-4 times a day for at least a minute. I see him drink plenty every night.
Fecal Description - Never been tested .looks okay, just small since food intake is limited.
History - None that I know.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 4 ft. x 2 ft. x 2 ft. Screen
Lighting - REptisun uvb plus frosted basking light.
Temperature - temp around 72-75 degrees, humidity around 50, spikes with misting
Plants - Pothos is the only living plant
Placement - Very low traffic area, not near vents, top of cage is about 7 feet.
Location - In the outer banks of North Carolina. I'm in an island in the Atlantic ocean.


SHORT PROBLEM: LOW APPETITE, HARD TIME SHEDDING, TWO SMALL RED BUMOS ION BOTTOM OF FETT.

LONG PROBLEM: My chameleon's appetite is very low, he is having problems with shedding, and he has two small reddish bumps on the bottom back feet, possibly small cuts but not sure if they're sores. He is very active. Everytime I open the cage door he crawls onto my arm and I put him on a setup I have outside the cage where he roams around or basks.

INFO :My cham gave up eating crickets probably 3 weeks to a month ago. I've been struggling to keep him nutritioned ever since. I've unfortunately been feeding him Superworms as a staple and now he appears to be losing interest in them as well. I had trouble getting insects delivered because of the recent weather but I have 100 dubias on the way now. I did dust the crickets every other feeding with the repashy calcium plus which I just read my be the problem.. open for advice, thanks.

Dylan said:

LONG PROBLEM: My chameleon's appetite is very low, he is having problems with shedding, and he has two small reddish bumps on the bottom back feet, possibly small cuts but not sure if they're sores. He is very active. Everytime I open the cage door he crawls onto my arm and I put him on a setup I have outside the cage where he roams around or basks.

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Hey Dylan,

Can you post a pic of his feet??

I'm not an expert or anywhere near as experienced as a lot of others on this forum, but people will be able to help you more if you can post pics, especially when it comes to wounds. The care sheet is filled out, so that's a great start

How is his climbing? Is he showing any difficulty using his legs or feet at all? Like maybe slipping or not able to grip well or even sitting back on his his back legs and not using his arms?

I had a female veiled that I lost due to pressure wounds she developed whist she was ill and didn't have much energy to climb. Unfortunately, one of the pressure wounds came open and severed her wrist joints making it unusable.

If you are SURE they are cuts.. use some betadine on the area to prevent infection.

In the meantime, post some pics so that a Senior Member (or even one of the vets!) can chime in and help you. It may also be worth while making an appointment to see the vet.

Thanks, I'll post the pic as soon as I take it. He seems to be climbing just fine. If there's a branch just of reach, he'll have all his weight on his back legs and try to grab it with his front ones.

Have just read your care sheet. Are you sure his basking temps are 72-75? If so they are way too low 85-87 would be what you are aiming for. Be careful not to burn him. What do you measure your temps with? As mentioned above you can put Betadine on sores as a temporary measure. I hear others in the states use polysporin or neosporin. If they are infected he will need to see a vet for antibiotics.

Those were his cage temps away from the basking area, the basking temp is 81-82 degrees sorry. its proving to be very difficult to get a picture of his foot. I'm looking the bumps right now and they are very small, less than a millimeter and they are actually a dark yellow not red like I said earlier. They're both about in the middle bottom of his foot.

If the skin is not broken then he is perhaps rubbing them on something rough. Can you find what it is so you can prevent it happening? Keep a close eye on them..

I recently put a water bottle that I cut halfway open and put a net inside. I put the worms in there cause they always liked to hide. That could be it, I'll remove since it's not working as I thought it would anyway.

If his feet have sores you need to have him looked at by a vet. My chameleon that passed away got a sore on the bottom of his foot and honestly it was the beginning of the end and he was tended to by a vet for months a months. His foot did heal but the area never was the same and it ulceratd again and went into his ankle. Very difficult to treat on the bottom of the foot as they use them constantly. Bandaging is next to impossible. Your having it on the bottom of both feet tells me it definitely is something in your cage causing the issue. You do not want them to get infected. As far as the supers. I would stop feeding them altogether. Get some silkworms or another soft bodied worm like a hornworm and try that.Maybe some BB flies. Some type of flying insect to entice him. Try reintroducing crickets again. He is 9 months old so it will not kill him to not eat for a few days. He is drinking so that is a good sign.

Thanks for the reply, I was giving him hornworms and as soon as he saw them he went for them. I went through about 25, I'll get some more. I'll take the water bottle out immediately and take him to the vet as well. Anybody have an idea on where to get silkworms? I try the sponsors here but they are constantly sold out.

I managed to get a picture although it's a little out of focus, it might give you guys somewhat of an idea.

well the pic is not the greatest but it does not look bad at all. I realized after I posted that you said it was a yellow bump and not an actual sore. Still it is something I would not let go and have it checked out. It is more like a growth then and any type of growth is not normal. Try Coastal Silkworms. They have a website and have two locations in Cali and Fla. That is where I get mine from. The thing is you don't wan to just feed soft bodied feeders. They need some roughage in their diet too, just like us. The supers would provide the roughage but then he might not eat the horns again! I know a vicious cycle!!

Thank you! I've been online for the past two hours ordering feeders and reading threads. I found a website called matidpets.com that has been pretty useful for different feeders.

Hey Dylan
Glad to hear he's eating! At least that's one thing sorted.
I think Kate could be right.. Take that bottle out and just double check there isn't anything else that could be rough that he's rubbing his feet on.
I'm glad you've made an appointment with the vet... As Carol and myself have both experienced, even a small cut can get infected and once that happens and it goes to the joint there is not too much that can be done..
I'm glad you noticed it early.. Let us know how you're visit goes with the vet

Thanks for all the quick advice and concerns!