baby, squeaking/whistling noise?

D

darla

New Member
Hi, I'm new to chameleons and here. Although I have been researching them for months I still have a lot to learn. I have had this (5 month?) veiled for only 5 days now, so I know he needs time to adjust. I'll try to get all the info you need to better know my chameleon aka bubble.
mesh enclosure 24Lx12Wx24H I use this because he is a baby
5.0 reptisun tube brand new
basking light
probe temp
dripper all day
temps bask/95-98 room temp 75-82
feeding cup fed tiny super worms 1" long or less also tried dubia roaches which he did not eat. Have tried collard greens and dandelion greens also untouched.
I have misted his plants a few times but he is terribly afraid of me so far and I try to not mess with him too much until he destresses.
I have the dripper going all day and I just empty the cup several times so it doesn't overflow. I have a piece of plastic canvas over the cup to keep him from drowning. I did dust 2 feedings with calcium and also herptivite since I got him. I was concerned with the white powder coming from his nose but have since learned its normal.

Today was the first day I gave him a shower. Although he was in the shower I did not face the shower directly on him as I couldn't get stream gentle enough. I had a Ficus tree that I put him on and he greened up immediatly for the first time since I got him. I did mist toward him(with spray bottle) to get him wet. He seemed to lick a few times.

Now my concern is at the end of the shower he held his head straight up puffed his throat out opened his mouth eyes closed and let out a squeak. He did this several times. Is this normal? I know in bearded dragons ist is a possible sign of uri.
100_1717.jpg

100_1729.jpg

Here is a poop from the other day. sorry if this is not allowed. And the pic of him is from the day I got him. I'm open to comments and suggestions. Thanks
darla
 
Yes, the poop shows us he is dehydrated. What you saw following his shower may have been a result of him drinking a good quantity of water. As dehydrated as his poop looked, I would continue to give him showers. Me, personally, I would give him about a 20 minute shower each day until the poop urates whitened up. Also, a drip system may not provide enough humidity. You should be misting his enclosure even though he hates it. He will get used to it. He needs the airborn moisture to drink, breath in, and to cleanse his eyes. Everyday. You should be misting at least twice a day.

As for the wheezing. Keep a very close eye on him and check his breathing closely when he IS NOT in the shower. If he makes popping or wheezing sounds while breathing, seems to struggle to breath, swells up his body when breathing, these are serious signs that call for a trip to the vet. Sometimes when they are in the shower they will be taking advantage of the moist air, tilting the head back, doing their eyeball maintenance, etc., so their activities in the shower are a little abnormal. But DO observe him closely when out of the shower.

He may need a more varied diet then superworms. I would recommend you add crickets to give variety.

Here is a great website that explains most everything about care for these beautiful creatures. It includes suggestions on dusting their feeders also, which you may want to look at: http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
 
[QUOTE=darla said:
I have misted his plants a few times but he is terribly afraid of me so far and I try to not mess with him too much until he distresses.
Click to expand...

It would be a good idea to mist him a few times a day. Mist around him first then start misting him. Hopefully he will open his mouth and drink. Use really warm water. His is definitely dehydrated from the look of his urate.

Are you gutloading the feeders? you may want to try some crickets and if you can get your hands on some, Goliath Worms or Silk worms.

Edit : Gesang beat me to it. I was typing too slow :eek:)
 
Thanks for the advice. I will continue the showers and do more misting. I did read your care sheets and have been perusing this site among lots of other care sheets. It was here that I came across the shower time. I read not to give babies showers so I was worried my guy was too young. I did supervise his shower time. As for his food I did try roach nymphs and he didn't touch them at any time. I don't think they were too big for him at all. Is It possible he won't ever like them? I will go get some crickets but I was hoping not to have to deal with crickets again, that's why I have 3 kinds of roaches. Oh well. The gut load question- yes I feed them well. My roaches get mixed oats, wheat, baby cereal, repti pellets, fresh greens, apples, oranges, and lots of other stuff. Right now I also added chicken crumbles w/o chemicals or medication. The super worms are on a mixed grain substrate and are fed carrots, apples, and water crystals for hydration. Thanks so much!
darla
 
I probably missed the info some where but what is his humidity level at? do you have a Hygrometer??

You can use a humidifier to help maintain his enclosure.

and misting with hot water is a real good idea. my cham ran and freaked when i used to mist him. but when i switched to hot water (its slightly warm when you actually spray it) and now he just sits there and soaks it all in.

Also another sign of his dehydration is that his eyes look a bit sunken in to me, but it would be good if someone else offered a second opinion.
 
Sorry, forgot to say humidity has been running 42-51% depending on temp I guess. Right now it's 50%. I have a probe temp that measures humidity too, is that ok enough?
100_1730.jpg

This is his set up.
100_1731.jpg
 
Male veileds are sometimes like that. He'll refuse it and if you introduce it at another time he'll take it. My veiled didn't like silkworms at first so I stopped feeding him that. After a few weeks I tried again and he ate it.

Roaches are good too but why don't you like crickets?

I also use cricketfood.com. It's really good :)
 
I did go to the pet shop and get a few crix, I'll let them eat a bit before I feed him. I used to get my crix mailed to me and they are much cheaper that way. I feed my beardie roaches, supers and sometime silkies. The last batch of silks weren't so good so It's been awhile since I ordered. Oh I forgot to mention horn worms. I have some Phoenix worms, will they be ok? My beardie hates them. I don't like crix because of the smell and the jumping is a little creepy to me, I never got over it. I also found that crix were more likely to carry parasites than roaches, so I switched. I don't have personal experience with the parasites and I don't want to find out.
 
Phoenix worms are fine. How old are your beardies?

You have to be careful though since you have both beardies & chams.

Some beardies (I dont know if all) usually carry low levels of coccidia that doesn't bother them but it does the cham.

I like bearded dragons though, they eat anything. I used to have the Sandfire. I got it from Sandfire Dragon Ranch as a baby. She grew to be a huge female like a German Giant! :D Bigger than the males.

Nice enclosure. I have the same accurite thermometer.
 
I did take my beardie to the vet last month, she .03 cocidia and the vet was not concerned. So my cham may catch it? My beardie had no other parasites and got a clean bill of health. They are not housed together at all and will never be put together even just to say hi. My BD is almost 1 year old and at the vet weighed 549g. She is a plain dragon that I know of but she is pretty. here is a pic.
100_1703.jpg
 
Yeah she is beautiful. Ahhh I miss mine. I love em especially when they wave their hands..LOL . It looks so funny..

Yes, they can get it & it's hard to get rid of coccidia. I personally have never experienced it.

I sold my beardies right away when I got my chams. I think I only had my beardies for a week (I mean I've had them for years but kept them with me for only a week & sold em when I bought the chams) and moved to chameleons.

Beardies are very very hardy compared to chams from my experience.

What I used to love about them too is that when the feeders get too big for my chams I would feed it to the beardies therefore there would be no wasted food.. LOL

Some people on here don't even have beardies & have chams that have coccidia. I don't know how they get it though.

You can just click on search on the top & type coccidia. You'll find threads on it.

My computers acting up.. Here's one of the more recent threads:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-does-coccidia-spread-12873/

I think Dave Weldon also has experienced it but I don't think he even owned any beardies.
 
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Thanks everyone. I have to say that this is a very pleasant forum. I was afraid to ask questions at first for fear of being blasted for not knowing what I was doing. Although I had not come across any distasteful replies previously while searching for info, I was still hesitant. Thanks so much for being kind and helpful! Really I mean it, Thanks!
darla
 
Ok I gave him another shower as I cut the other one today short because of the noise he was making. Now in this shower he was squeaking and puffing out his throat again. He was also bulging his eye out, it was HUGE! I'm guessing he is going to shed soon? Or does it mean something else?
 
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