Sick Veiled Chameleon

I have a veiled chameleon. She's about a year and a half. For the past couple weeks she's been making her way to the bottom of the set up we have for her. She's not eating, she doesn't want to drink, her skin color stays a bright green. She still has a tight grip when you hold her, we try not to hold her because we know it stresses her out, though she has fallen off the vines we have and we have to pick her up to make sure she's ok. We took her to a vet and he told us maybe it's not hot enough and to feed her with a syringe.
Today she's been laying on her side, not wanting to get up. Seems too weak to stand on her own.
Please help

I'm a new member here to the forums myself, so i feel like i shouldnt be the one to advise to use the https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ link, but in this case, probably better we use that. From the image, it appears she has a very large stomach, like she has not Poo'ed in a while. Please try to answer the questions on the template as best as you can. Personally, i wouldnt try syringe feeding.

Hi, please fill this out. https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Is she laying on her side like this all the time or did you just pick her up and she is frightened? She is griping her rear feet as if thats the last thing sh had a hold of and you placed her down is she is scared to move.

Definitely fill out the How to Ask For Help form. With conditions as generic as those, it may be difficult to figure out the underlying issue without an experienced vet. Honestly, no offense to your vet since we are only hearing half the story, but he doesn't sound like he knows much about chameleons.

Let me ask a few questions in advance of the form:

1. Do you know about laying bins and have you been providing one for her?
2. What are your supplements brands and the exact schedule you use?
3. How much, how often, and how long do you water her?
4. What are your temperatures?
5. Have you had a fecal check done for parasites?
6. Where are you and what vet did you see?

The photo is a little out of focus, so it's hard to see anything.

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? A: veiled, female, she is a year a half and I’ve had her for about a year and three months.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? A: the only times I handle her is when feeding time and she is hiding.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? A: mostly crickets, gave her meal worms only a few times and started giving her wax worms instead, feed her once during the day and give her up to five worms or crickets. I give my crickets TOTAL BITES to gut load them.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? A: I don’t know the of the calcium d I have, it was given to me by friend who had a chameleon, I dust them a few times a week.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? A: I have a dripping system set up for her but notice she doesn’t use it much. So I take her out and use a water bottle to make sure she drinks, I don’t mist Instead I pour water little by little over her cage so it seems as If its raining.
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? A: her droppings are a brown color, usually poops every day but hasn’t these past couple days. Im guessing since she hasnt really ate at all.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. A: no information, just that we purchased our cham from Petco.


Cage Info:
• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? A: she has a screen cage and the dimensions are 18”x18”x36” plenty room for her to wonder around keep cool if she’s feeling hot or the other way around.
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? A: I use a zoo med blue bulb day light 40watts, and a reptisun 5.0 UVB light, and I them both on for 12 hrs. 7am-7pm.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? A: during the day the top of cage temps. Range from low 80’s to low 90’s at night they go from low 60’s to low 70’s, bottom of the cage during the day are in the 80’s and at night drop high 60’s low70’s. I have two thermometers one at the top and one at the bottom.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? A: the top the cage humidity ranges in the low 20’s low 30’s and high 30’s mid 50’s for the bottom. Again I pour water little by little to simulate rain. I have two thermometers that measure humidity at the top and bottom.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? A: no my plants artificial.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? A: my cage is located at the corner of living room, no fans or air vents but I do an ac which I hardly use. Not high traffic area, im the only one in my family that tends to my chameleon, and her cage is about 6 feet and some inches high from the floor.
• Location - Where are you geographically located? A: live in Los Angeles.

has she laid eggs ever? do you have an egg laying bin or any thing in the enclosure? if you have had her a year and a half, and never laid eggs,i would hazard a guess: she is probably egg bound.
i would definately use a larger cage, so you could fit an egg laying bin in therehttps://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/.
probably change the blue bulb for a halogen basking bulb.
go to walmart, get a humidifier...
you say you took her to a vet? please post better pictures.
just my guess. again, i'm new to the forums.

She's in serious trouble laying down, like that.

Are you only giving her calcium with D3? If so she could be suffering from a calcium imbalance. You really need to get her to a vet ASAP IMHO.

I took her to the vet already and they said that she might be suffering from hypothermia, or she might be dehydrated. they also said that she's too young and too small to be gravid. he recommended critical care and to force feed her if she's not eating. no crickets, only silk worms, tomato worms, and dubia roaches. mentioned to check temperatures and that if she is on the floor, there might be something at the top that she doesn't like. but the top is the warmest and where she spent most of her time. i haven't changed anything for almost a year and she's been spending her time on the floor for the past two weeks.

Please, take my random ramblings with a grain of salt. She looks absolutely hydrated, although the lighting, the camera angle... a million variables.. take a few more images, brighter, try to keep camera focused, dont be afraid to take too many.
It appears there is a bulge before her vent in the last image, how do you water feeders? are you using something like Flukers Cricket Quencher, or Miracle Grow water crystals? A friend recently lost a Bearded Dragon because the beardie wasnt able to pass a water crystal... i guess...
Does she rattle when breathing? did you notice any other symptoms?
I have had a female lay infertile eggs at 1 year, and about the same size(no scale to judge by). There is no set in stone, no guarantee, that they will or wont lay eggs at any given time. Keep us updated, Seems like the boards are very active here, some one is bound to jump in with something else.
You mentioned a 40 w basking bulb, to me that seems on the low side, but im in Kentucky where i have snow at the house, and at work i do not.

eGLA213 said:

I took her to the vet already and they said that she might be suffering from hypothermia, or she might be dehydrated. they also said that she's too young and too small to be gravid. he recommended critical care and to force feed her if she's not eating. no crickets, only silk worms, tomato worms, and dubia roaches. mentioned to check temperatures and that if she is on the floor, there might be something at the top that she doesn't like. but the top is the warmest and where she spent most of her time. i haven't changed anything for almost a year and she's been spending her time on the floor for the past two weeks.

Click to expand...

She is not too young to lay eggs. Veileds can be four or five months old and lay eggs. She might be too small, but she is not too young.

I suspect she is egg bound and I would be looking for a different vet.

Good luck.

With the temperatures you listed in doubt that it could be hypothermia...also doubt it's something at the top of the cage.

Possibly eggbound...If you've been using too much D3 possibly calcium deficient....definitely in trouble if she not laying on the floor because she is gripping her own feet and thus can't stand up.

We put a new container inside her cage, she began to dig as soon as we laid her on the soil. She takes breaks in between digging.
So, I'm assuming she'll be laying eggs soon!
)

Don't let her see you watching her while she is digging or she may abandon the hole and that's the last thing you need right now. Hope she makes it.

we are cheering for her, leave her be while she digs. After she lays, she will need lots of water and food. She is in a very rough spot and seems very weak. Hopefully she can lay her eggs and regain her strength.

You definitely need to find a new vet, though.

I'm looking for a new vet, very disappointed with the one we went to this week. Seemed like he had no idea what he was talking about. We left her alone, didn't want to stress her out. thank you all for the positive feedback.
we gladly appreciate it.
i hope our little one gets better soon

I'm Happy to see she is trying to lay. Sometimes with shy chameleons, I wrap the enclosure with a sheet to give a bit of privacy. You can put a small hole in the sheet so you can see whats going on inside, and she cant see you. Sometimes they will stop laying if you see them, i've had females that would stop, and females that would'nt stop if they seen you looking at them. You are in L.A., I did see where there was a post detailing good vets. Im going to look for it, and edit this post when i find it. i beleive it was just a few links, for other websites. The link below, is stickied in the Health Forum. with you being in L.A. there should be a vet that specializes in Chameleons.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/veterinarian-resources-67/

any updates? let us know...

She's still the same way, has been laying in the same spot for the past 3-4 days. Doesn't seem like she's digging doesn't seem like she moves around much during the day either. We put a sheet around her cage so no one can see her and she won't be able to see anyone. Running out of options, taking her to vet as soon as I csn. :/

She may need a bigger tub, Is the dirt wet/damp enough for her to make a hole without it caving in? This is a MUST. Praying for the lady. Hope she makes it ... Crossing my fingers! Please keep updating us!

Also make sure the tub is deep enough, they can lay up towards 40-50-60 eggs... So make sure there is enough room, u may want to take her out and put her in a clean trash bin with atleast 12" of dirt

******CLICK THIS LINK****** VERY HELPFUL https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

Is she holding her own feet?????