Veiled sleeping during the day/Not eating

Mr Wilson

Mr Wilson

New Member
Hey everyone,
So just like the title say's, i found my female veiled sleeping during the day at two different times today (once around 1pm and again around 7pm). On top of that she hasn't been eating. She shed about 4 days ago and iv read they get a little lethargic after shedding. but im still concerned. We've been misting her daily and using our drip system two to three times a day so she can drink but maybe she's still getting a little dehydrated? Here's all the info:

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, Female not sure of the age. We've had her 2 weeks
Handling - Other then bringing her home we dont handle her
Feeding - Currently She's eating only gut loaded crickets (the crickets are feed carrots, calcium supplement, & Hydration Supplement Flukers brand) Shes not on a feeding schedule.
Watering - Misted daily and drip system is done two to three time a day. She is drinking
Fecal Description - Look normal. not runny or dry. urate is white.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass inclosure. with screen top 18" x 18" x 24"
Lighting - Two reptiglow 5.0 tropical series 13watt bulbs
Temperature - Cage is heated by a ceramic coil heater. also a substrate mat heater is being used. Temps are between 75-80 daily. Just using the round thermometer that came with the tank
Humidity - The humidity ranges between 50 and 60% daily. its being measured by another round meter
Plants - Mostly fake plants. we only have one real plant in the cage (devils ivy)
Placement - Cage is located in the family room not a high traffic area but not necessarily a low traffic are. top of the cage is just about 5ft from the ground
Location - We're in New Jersey and the current temp around here is DAMM COLD

Any information and help would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to tell me if im doing anything wrong. this is my first Cham. i just want to make sure my babies ok.

Thank you everyone
 
if she is old enough she probably needs to lay before she gets eggbound. If this is the case, get some organic soil, put it in a deep container (I don't know how big it needs to be sorry D: ) but make sure it's deep enough for her to dig around in. After that I don't know what you should do, but if you start to see her dig around leave her alone, she is going to lay. Good luck!
 
Mr Wilson said:
Hey everyone,
So just like the title say's, i found my female veiled sleeping during the day at two different times today (once around 1pm and again around 7pm). On top of that she hasn't been eating. She shed about 4 days ago and iv read they get a little lethargic after shedding. but im still concerned. We've been misting her daily and using our drip system two to three times a day so she can drink but maybe she's still getting a little dehydrated? Here's all the info:

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled, Female not sure of the age. We've had her 2 weeks
Handling - Other then bringing her home we dont handle her
Feeding - Currently She's eating only gut loaded crickets (the crickets are feed carrots, calcium supplement, & Hydration Supplement Flukers brand) Shes not on a feeding schedule.
Watering - Misted daily and drip system is done two to three time a day. She is drinking
Fecal Description - Look normal. not runny or dry. urate is white.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass inclosure. with screen top 18" x 18" x 24"
Lighting - Two reptiglow 5.0 tropical series 13watt bulbs
Temperature - Cage is heated by a ceramic coil heater. also a substrate mat heater is being used. Temps are between 75-80 daily. Just using the round thermometer that came with the tank
Humidity - The humidity ranges between 50 and 60% daily. its being measured by another round meter
Plants - Mostly fake plants. we only have one real plant in the cage (devils ivy)
Placement - Cage is located in the family room not a high traffic area but not necessarily a low traffic are. top of the cage is just about 5ft from the ground
Location - We're in New Jersey and the current temp around here is DAMM COLD

Any information and help would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to tell me if im doing anything wrong. this is my first Cham. i just want to make sure my babies ok.

Thank you everyone
Click to expand...

Since I've been doing a lot of research on veileds, I can offer some suggestions:

- Your temps should be higher during the day (80-90) but basking temp should def. be at 90ish
- You should supplement with a powdered calcium w/ d3, calcium w/o d3 & multivitamin ... you can dust the crickets in a bag. Everyone has their own suggestions when it comes to supplementation. I personally do cal w/ d3 2-3 times a week and a multivitamin every other week. I feed my veiled collards, carrots, and other veggies for nutrition as well.
- She sounds hydrated. If the weird behaviour continues, I know people will suggest you see a vet. So consider accordingly :)
 
Is she an adult or a juvi? Does she have a laying bin? Is she plump looking, maybe looking like a bag of marbles?

You need to gutload better with greens like collard greens, mustard greens, dandelions, and kale. You should also use fruits and veggies like sweet peppers, yams, carrots, apple, papaya, oranges, and berries. A quality dry gutload would be a good idea too.

You should not use a heat pad as they need a temp gradient with the hotest pointin the basking temp and the lowest at the bottom of the cage. You also need to start supplementing with calcium without d3 most feeding, calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin once a month.

As a female you may want to keep her basking temps around 80-83 her whole life to prevent egg laying later on. If she is an adult you should be feeding the equivalent to 5-7 crickets every other day. If she is a baby, up to 10 appropriately size crickets (or equivalent of) should be used daily.

Pictures would be helpful.
 
Hmmm I will try that. Thank you for the info. Do they have a certain look to them when there about to lay??
 
Thompson said:
if she is old enough she probably needs to lay before she gets eggbound. If this is the case, get some organic soil, put it in a deep container (I don't know how big it needs to be sorry D: ) but make sure it's deep enough for her to dig around in. After that I don't know what you should do, but if you start to see her dig around leave her alone, she is going to lay. Good luck!
Click to expand...

If that's the issue, I use a large pot that you would pot a plant in. I have organic soil(4) and vermiculite(1) 4-1 mixture. You can also use playsand or just organic soil. It should to be big enough for her to sit in comfortably and to move around in. You judge based on her size. I suggest keeping it in at all times with a female. Don't forget to cover it with plants so she has privacy. If she catches you looking, she'll ditch the digging and you might run the risk of her being egg bound like he said!
 
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Is the "tank" vertical or horizontal? I ask because I don't think 18 inches is enough of a vertical climb. Also, I'm not comfortable with the glass cage that only has a mesh top. It doesn't seem like actual "ventilation", though I know it can work for some people.

Is she seeing anything new that might be bothering her? I'm thinking of something like a big jacket on a hook. Or, is it possible that with the extra cold weather more of the family is in the family room for longer?

Is she hanging out at the top of the cage or near the bottom?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the real experts on this board would be very helped by seeing a current picture of her, preferably one that gives a feel for her size and physical condition.
 
Sounds like i need to get my temps up. better feed my crickets and give her a laying bin. any suggestions on the temp? should i lose the ceramic heater and use a bulb or something else? Also any suggestions on the substrate i should use for the laying bin?

Thanks again,
Sean
 
They sometimes will stop eating, they may wander the cage bottom, and will often look like a bag of marbles. If they do not have a place to lay they may/will become egg bound and will die without vet care.

Please post a picture of her and your set up.
 
Mr Wilson said:
Hmmm I will try that. Thank you for the info. Do they have a certain look to them when there about to lay??
Click to expand...

Like Pssh said, bag o' marbles. Feel very lightly with your index and thumb at the belly underneath the rib cage near the poop shoot. ;) You'll feel it.
 
Elizadolots said:
Is the "tank" vertical or horizontal? I ask because I don't think 18 inches is enough of a vertical climb. Also, I'm not comfortable with the glass cage that only has a mesh top. It doesn't seem like actual "ventilation", though I know it can work for some people.

Is she seeing anything new that might be bothering her? I'm thinking of something like a big jacket on a hook. Or, is it possible that with the extra cold weather more of the family is in the family room for longer?

Is she hanging out at the top of the cage or near the bottom?

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the real experts on this board would be very helped by seeing a current picture of her, preferably one that gives a feel for her size and physical condition.
Click to expand...


Its 24" high. I know that glass is definitely not preferred but with my location and how cold it gets. its literally impossible to keep the temps and especially the humidity right with-out the glass inclosure. Its only my girlfriend and i that stay in the house and i think shes at least a little used to seeing us but. she almost always stays toward to top of the cage. i try and get a pic posted.
 
Here's a picture of her. Yes it is actually the exo-terra setup and it has vents on the back but iv had them blocked the past few days because i was losing some crickets out of them.
 

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She looks great! Is this recent? Her eyes aren't sunken and you said her poop is normal? ... and from all the mistings and the drip, you are doing well.

Personally, I'd say keep an eye on her for now. It happened just today so if it happens tomorrow, post your observations and you will get some more reccommendations.

Exoterra set ups are sufficient for female veileds. I have had quite a few senior members give me the thumbs up on them. Some people swear by them for small reptiles. It isn't sufficient for a male veiled however. I have one as well. Don't block the vents though! You need proper air circulation. As for the crickets, have you tried hand feeding? That is how I avoid losing crickets. Give it a try if you're comfortable with touching them. Just hold it infront of her and pull your hand back a few inches so she sees it and see what happens. It's great bonding time too :) Builds trust.
 
Mr Wilson said:
Use this for the heat? and if so any suggestion on wattage?
Click to expand...

Yeah she means for heat. I see some say 60 watts. Personally, I use an Exoterra 100 watt sun glo tight beam. But incandescents are good too. I just find there isn't enough heat emitting for my enclosure but the one I use works great. Use whatever you're comfortable with using. There are many things on the market from many different suppliers. Just make sure the temps are right at the end of the day :)
 
I use a 25 watt and a 40 watt to maintain 80 degrees at different distances. They both work fine and get the temps just right.
 
Yup i took took the picture from my phone right before i posted it. Thanks for all the info everybody. ill definitely try the hand feeding tomorrow
 
I actually forgot to mention i had about 10 people over for superbowl and a few people were checking her out. maybe she got a little stressed from that also. Probably not the best idea with a new cham.
 
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