Baby female veiled passed - looking for answers

szpond

New Member
She was my first Veiled in my care for about 15 days. Is this too short a time for there to be a care-error? Did I purchase her with an illness?

She is my second Cham. I have a healthy male Jackson's.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Juvenile female veiled. 1-2 months.
Handling - Once to get to the new home, and occasionally into a smaller aquarium to ensure she ate - watched her eat 5 pinhead crickets once or twice a day. I would count the crickets at the end of the day in the large enclosure to make sure she ate enough for the day.
Feeding - Pinhead crickets. I would put 10 into her large enclosure, but when she didn't eat at least 5, I would put her in the 10 gallon aquarium to eat. She was a fast hunter, good eater.
Supplements - Calcium dust without D3 daily - Multivitamin every other Friday and Calcium with D3 every other Friday.
Watering - Hand-held mister was a few times daily. Mostly she would drink 3 droplets (spaced out over 5 minutes) from my ear-dropper, from my hands. She was always quick to drink.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - All screen - 18 x 18 x 36, many climbing places. She would come down to the bottom to catch her food, however.
Lighting - 5.0 UVB bulb and also a 50 watt heat bulb held 4 inches away from top of terrarium - 6-7 inches away from basking spot.
Temperature - I have two thermometers - one near the top and one at the bottom. I only had them functioning today, but I saw 90 degrees at the top and 80-82 at the bottom. There are also shady areas.
Humidity - Humidity seems to be 50% without me doing anything - the room the Chams are in is that humid naturally, but I had the repti-fogger going into this screen enclosure as well to add extra water droplets, in case she needed more water while I was at class.
Plants - One XL pothos strung throughout the cage, 2 smaller ones growing vines at the bottom of the cage.
Placement - In my bedroom - door and windows are always closed, it's always high humidity high temperature. Not in direct sunlight.
Location - Michigan.

Here was my main concern: I was in contact with a few of you about how she would randomly sleep throughout the day. I did a combination of lighting (changing how far away they were, what basking spots were available, a 50 watt to a 75 watt back to a 50 watt)...but she would still sleep during the day. I was told not to think much of it because she was a hardy drinker and eater. She ALWAYS had access to food - in the beginning days there were 10-15 flightless fruit flies always walking around in the enclosure. I allowed her to eat as many of these as she wished.

Does anyone have some sort of explanation for me? I tried not to handle her at all, except for moving her when she needed to eat more. Please be as kind as you can, this is my first pet loss and I am very sad.

I do not want anything like this to happen in the future.
 
Here is where I saw the decline:


I got home from class today at about 3:30 and immediately went upstairs to offer them more water (I offered at about 8:00 after they woke up today). My Jackson's was quick to drink but she was not at all interested in water - she was not at all interested in waking up...

She hadn't eaten any of her crickets. I moved her to the aquarium, somewhat concerned, came back about 30 minutes later with none of the crickets gone and she was sleeping peacefully.

I moved her back to her basking spot thinking she may be too cold - she did not wake.

Now it is 10:00 or so and she has passed within the last 10 minutes in her sleep.
I offered her water countless times via the eye dropper. It was almost as if she had her eyes open and she was alert (between 7-8), but she woulnd't actually lock her eyes on something. It was as if she didn't even see the water, or the food.
 
first of all sorry for the loss of your little chameleon. I am not sure who told not to worry about your chameleon sleeping during the day. That is never a good sign. If she was only a month or so old, that is very young for someone to have sold her to you. I am not sure I would have kept transferring her back and forth to eat in the aquarium, but most likely that did not cause her passing. I think your temps were too hot for a little one like that. Your basking should have been in the range of your ambient temp. Cage temp should have been more in the low 70 degree range and then your basking about 10 degrees up. 5 pinhead crickets once or even twice day is not much. At their age they can eat 20-25 easily. There is a very good possibility that she was ill when you got her as she should have been eating way more than that.
 
first of all sorry for the loss of your little chameleon. I am not sure who told not to worry about your chameleon sleeping during the day. That is never a good sign. If she was only a month or so old, that is very young for someone to have sold her to you. I am not sure I would have kept transferring her back and forth to eat in the aquarium, but most likely that did not cause her passing. I think your temps were too hot for a little one like that. Your basking should have been in the range of your ambient temp. Cage temp should have been more in the low 70 degree range and then your basking about 10 degrees up. 5 pinhead crickets once or even twice day is not much. At their age they can eat 20-25 easily. There is a very good possibility that she was ill when you got her as she should have been eating way more than that.

Near the beginning I did offer her much more but she wouldn't get to them all. Or she would become uninterested and just climb. I was sure to have food for her at all times, would offer more if there wasn't any more...

As far as temps go, I did a copy/paste from a previous forum. I am looking at them right now (the lights are on for a bit) and I see 75 at the low thermometer, 88 at the top. She did spend a bit at the bottom hunting.

As much as I hope she didn't come with an illness, I really do hope I was not the cause of her death.
 
I don't think so. Little babies should have great appetites and it seems from the start hers was never there. She could have had parasites. Did the place you got her from say she was tested prior to your purchasing her? Lack of appetite and her being lethargic are signs of that. Don't be too hard on yourself. your cage may have been a little warm but I don't think that is what caused her to die. If you get another maybe get one that is a little older.
 
I just had the same thing happen to me with my baby veiled, though mine was younger, nearly 5 weeks when he died, 3 weeks when I got him. I only had him 10 days when he died. I don't think it was anything you did that killed her. I would say she was too little and the move stressed her, as I hear can happen when they are so young.

I am so sorry this has happened! I know how hard it has been on me losing my little guy, so I know exactly what you are going through. Take care, and don't blame yourself!
 
I don't think so. Little babies should have great appetites and it seems from the start hers was never there. She could have had parasites. Did the place you got her from say she was tested prior to your purchasing her? Lack of appetite and her being lethargic are signs of that. Don't be too hard on yourself. your cage may have been a little warm but I don't think that is what caused her to die. If you get another maybe get one that is a little older.

I will definitely go older next time. It's hard to not blame myself. :( I'm trying my best but I can't help but feel like I could have made things different.


I purchased her from an exotic pet store that had just gotten in about 8 baby Veiled chams. I know Chams are not their specialty, but I figured getting a young cham would reduce the risks of MBD and such from lack of calcium. So we started up on Calcium right away because the owner and I had this chat before purchase:
"What kind of supplements has she been getting?"
"Flightless fruit flies."
"...No, I mean, calcium, multivitamin?"
"Oh, none of that."

Perhaps next time it would be best to consult a reputable breeder and go from there.
 
I just had the same thing happen to me with my baby veiled, though mine was younger, nearly 5 weeks when he died, 3 weeks when I got him. I only had him 10 days when he died. I don't think it was anything you did that killed her. I would say she was too little and the move stressed her, as I hear can happen when they are so young.

I am so sorry this has happened! I know how hard it has been on me losing my little guy, so I know exactly what you are going through. Take care, and don't blame yourself!

Thanks so much for the support. I put a lot of time and money into this little girl. I tried my best. I adjusted temperatures because originally she had a 75 watt and we went down to a 50 watt. So yes, the temps were too high at first. But that was fixed a couple days in of having her.
 
Molly is right too, stress could have been a factor also. You seem like you did everything you were supposed to. I think going with a breeder is a good idea. Most of them give health guarantees and will work with you.
 
Molly is right too, stress could have been a factor also. You seem like you did everything you were supposed to. I think going with a breeder is a good idea. Most of them give health guarantees and will work with you.

I can't thank you guys enough for the input. Really is giving me some closure. Still feel horribly for the little girl. I hope all of her brothers and sisters are still fighting on.
 
Sorry to hear of her passing. It's always tough. Chin up! I don't see anything wrong with your setup. Maybe a tad warm up top, but like you said, she had plenty of areas of cooler temps.
 
Back
Top Bottom