Advise needed. Deeply worried.

MyaJade

New Member
So I've had a Veiled cham for about a week today and he's been perfectly fine. Eating, sleeping, drinking all correctly. But when I woke up today, he was hanging from the top of the cage and when I took him down he was flinching oddly. As I sat him down on a leaf he seemed fine. I fed him a cricket which he excepted but he's only eaten that 1 today other than the regular 7 a day. Also, he will not open either of his eyes, they look popped out like they have been before, but this has happened all day. I don't know if he's just started to shed or what but I am deeply worried.
 
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His eyes will only stay this open but he can't see.
 
I'm assuming if he was hanging from the top of the cage he was right under the lights, right? What kind of lights/bulbs do you have? I think it may be possible that the lighting hurt your chameleon's eyes since it was at such a close range to them.
 
He looks dehydrated I can see his ribs in the picture. Give him a 15 min shower with Luke warm water. A real shower in your bathroom.
 
Do not use a heat lamp at night. The light disrupts their sleep, and they need the nighttime to cool off. Also please fill out the care sheet so we can address the issue properly.
 
He looks dehydrated I can see his ribs in the picture. Give him a 15 min shower with Luke warm water. A real shower in your bathroom.

I agree about him looking dehydrated, and shower would be a good idea. If you decide to try it it is very important that you don't shower him directly!!
Take a plant, put your chameleon on it, make the water luke-warm, then direct the shower head so that water hits the wall an bounces of it and on to the plant where your chameleon is sitting. Showering him directly will stress him out immensely, especially considering that he is still so young.
Also, do not leave him unattended because he can accidentally drown considering how small he is.
 
Also, please fill out the How to ask for help form that you were linked to a coupled posts above. Just copy/paste it and fill in the answers - that information can help to point out possible reasons for your chameleon not being well.

Regards,
JUlija
 
He looks dehydrated I can see his ribs in the picture. Give him a 15 min shower with Luke warm water. A real shower in your bathroom.

Make sure when you give advice like this, you explain in detail. You told the member to give him a "real shower" which would mean dousing him with jets of powerful water which could kill him if he aspirated the water.
 
Your Chameleon - He is a 2 month old Veiled that I've had for a week starting today.
Handling - I handle him at lease once everyday.
Feeding - I am currently feeding him 7 crickets a day, which I gut-load with 'Total Bites'
Watering - I use the dripper technique to water him. I mist every hour. But I've seen him drinking only a little bit so far.
Cage Type - His cage is glass with a screen top.
Temperature - Its is usually 80 degrees daily for him with a lot of shaded areas in his cage.
Humidity - The humidity level veries from 50-70.
Location -I live up in Lakewood, Colorado.
 
Your Chameleon - He is a 2 month old Veiled that I've had for a week starting today.
Handling - I handle him at lease once everyday.
Feeding - I am currently feeding him 7 crickets a day, which I gut-load with 'Total Bites'
Watering - I use the dripper technique to water him. I mist every hour. But I've seen him drinking only a little bit so far.
Cage Type - His cage is glass with a screen top.
Temperature - Its is usually 80 degrees daily for him with a lot of shaded areas in his cage.
Humidity - The humidity level veries from 50-70.
Location -I live up in Lakewood, Colorado.

I don't agree that he looks dehydrated, but something is not right if he isn't opening his eyes, which is likely due to your enclosure and lighting setup.

Please elaborate on the enclosure (is it a terrarium or an aquarium) and your lighting. Remove the heat lamp at night, temps can go down to low 50's at night and he will be ok. Any light at night disrupts sleep and could be the cause for his sleepy eyes.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Here is the caresheet for vields, follow it to the detail. You may need to make a bunch of changes (it appears you got some poor advice if you are using a red heat lamp 24/7) but these changes are necessary if you want your cham to live longer than a month or so.

Good luck!
 
He looks dehydrated I can see his ribs in the picture. Give him a 15 min shower with Luke warm water. A real shower in your bathroom.

Seeing ribs is not an indicator of dehydration. Orange urates, sunken eyes, and skin folds are symptoms of dehydration. A perfectly healthy cham could show some rib depending on their pose.
 
I don't agree that he looks dehydrated, but something is not right if he isn't opening his eyes, which is likely due to your enclosure and lighting setup.

Please elaborate on the enclosure (is it a terrarium or an aquarium) and your lighting. Remove the heat lamp at night, temps can go down to low 50's at night and he will be ok. Any light at night disrupts sleep and could be the cause for his sleepy eyes.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Here is the caresheet for vields, follow it to the detail. You may need to make a bunch of changes (it appears you got some poor advice if you are using a red heat lamp 24/7) but these changes are necessary if you want your cham to live longer than a month or so.

Good luck!

Thank you so much for the link. He's doing a lot better sense yesterday.
 
Are you keeping him in a fish aquarium? You said glass and screen top which sounds like a fish tank to me. You will wanna get your chameleon out of that asap if that is the case.
 
Please answer the questions in the how to ask for help thread at the top of the health forum. Although he may be showing signs of dehydration this is more often a sign of something else going on...especially since it's not opening its eyes either.
 
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