Assistance needed....Veiled Chameleon Passing Out

Hrlybug05

New Member
First time poster, so forgive me if I miss any of the help information. We have a 7 month old female veiled chameleon. Standard enclosure, temps and humidity controlled. No drip system, but regular daily misting 4x per day. Gut loaded crickets, mealworms and wax worms. Her enclosure is cleaned daily.
She suffered an unfortunate accident with a superworm about 4 weeks ago, we think it got lodged and she was unable to get it down. We found her within minutes and was able to get it dislodged and she seemed to bounce back. She went on a hunger strike for about a week, but has since been eating normal.
The issue now is that we find her at least once a day "passed out". The first time was terrifying. She was super cold, and laying on the bottom of her enclosure. We warmed her back up and she came to and was her normal self. Now it's a daily occurrence. She likes to perch near the top of her enclosure away from her heat source, but temp readings in that area still range 75-78 degrees, so she shouldn't be getting too cold. She is drinking normally, even holding her mouth open last night for me to drip directly into her mouth. She is still eating. She isn't blowing, no signs of respiratory infection. She also has slowed down her growth. Last shed was a month ago.
I'm not sure what's going on and the Vet didn' have any insight either. Is she just playing dead? Or could there be some underlying issue? We'e just afraid one day we'll not find her in time and she won't bounce back. Advice appreciated.
 
Meal worms and wax worms are not the best choice for a staple diet. Do you provide vitamin supplements? Also, I would seriously provdie a dripper if youi are only hand misting and not going to get a misting system. It's really the only way to keep your cham hydrated without a mister. Not sure at all about the passing out issue. Maybe it could be linked to hydration or nutrition. Maybe somebody with experience with this issue will chime in. Good luck.
 
Welcome to the forums. I’m sorry to hear about your girl. I agree with everything posted above.

I’ve been keeping and an active member here on the forums for more than ten years and never had or heard of a chameleon passing out. I’ve had one have a stroke before. I would definately put her in a short cage or use a catch net so she doesn’t hurt herself when she falls. Where do you live? I might be able to refer a vet with chameleon experience.
 
Welcome to the forums. I’m sorry to hear about your girl. I agree with everything posted above.

I’ve been keeping and an active member here on the forums for more than ten years and never had or heard of a chameleon passing out. I’ve had one have a stroke before. I would definately put her in a short cage or use a catch net so she doesn’t hurt herself when she falls. Where do you live? I might be able to refer a vet with chameleon experience.
Thank you so much! Her diet is a rotation of gutloaded crickets, mealworms and wax worms. I dust with calcium. I just ordered Vitamin A, so hopefully that helps. We did have a drip system, but found it dripped too much water and was causing some husbandry issues. I ordered a smaller enclosure, just waiting on new dome lights to come in and will move her then. Right now I've dropped all her vines and plants down midlevel in the event she takes a fall. We're in Lexington, KY so any recommendations are welcomed on a good vet.
 
The link below is how I recommend keeping veiled chameleon. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-with-young-veiled-or-panther-chameleons.325/

As mentioned above, meal worms and wax worms are not recommend for chameleons. Wax worms contain allot of fat and mealworms are hard for them to digest. Try silkworms, hornworms and superworms instead. I also do not recommend the dome lights. Get the long tube style light. The Reptisun 5.0 is excellent. The long light covers a large area and not just one little spot. In the past the coil bulbs damaged chameleons eyes. That was suppose to be fixed but I still know experience keepers that are still having trouble with the coil bulbs.
 
Thank you so much! Her diet is a rotation of gutloaded crickets, mealworms and wax worms. I dust with calcium. I just ordered Vitamin A, so hopefully that helps. We did have a drip system, but found it dripped too much water and was causing some husbandry issues. I ordered a smaller enclosure, just waiting on new dome lights to come in and will move her then. Right now I've dropped all her vines and plants down midlevel in the event she takes a fall. We're in Lexington, KY so any recommendations are welcomed on a good vet.
What part of Kentucky do you live I grew up in kentucky
 
First time poster, so forgive me if I miss any of the help information. We have a 7 month old female veiled chameleon. Standard enclosure, temps and humidity controlled. No drip system, but regular daily misting 4x per day. Gut loaded crickets, mealworms and wax worms. Her enclosure is cleaned daily.
She suffered an unfortunate accident with a superworm about 4 weeks ago, we think it got lodged and she was unable to get it down. We found her within minutes and was able to get it dislodged and she seemed to bounce back. She went on a hunger strike for about a week, but has since been eating normal.
The issue now is that we find her at least once a day "passed out". The first time was terrifying. She was super cold, and laying on the bottom of her enclosure. We warmed her back up and she came to and was her normal self. Now it's a daily occurrence. She likes to perch near the top of her enclosure away from her heat source, but temp readings in that area still range 75-78 degrees, so she shouldn't be getting too cold. She is drinking normally, even holding her mouth open last night for me to drip directly into her mouth. She is still eating. She isn't blowing, no signs of respiratory infection. She also has slowed down her growth. Last shed was a month ago.
I'm not sure what's going on and the Vet didn' have any insight either. Is she just playing dead? Or could there be some underlying issue? We'e just afraid one day we'll not find her in time and she won't bounce back. Advice appreciated.


Is she passing out or just sleeping during the day?

Do you have a laying bin setup for her?

Do you use calcium with d3 and a multivitamin at all? All you mention was calcium
 
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