baby Veiled chameleon help

[daltonks]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Baby veiled chameleon, females, 2.5 months. I have had it for about 5 days.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? About once a day....usually trying to get it to eat.

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Dusted and non dusted crickets

What amount? I put 10 in the cage per day What is the schedule? i dont have one How are you gut-loading your feeders? ??? not sure what this is

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Rep-cal calcium with VITD
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? I mist the cage twice a day and when im at work i leave some ice cubes on top

How often and how long to you mist?
i mist for about 1 minute twice a day

Do you see your chameleon drinking?
no




Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.
i havent seen any dropping


Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
no
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
we bought it at a reptile show

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
cage is full screen
2 feet tall and 1.5 feet width
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using?
18 inch 10.0 UVB and a heat lamp

What is your daily lighting schedule?
i leave them on

Temperature - What temp range have you created ?
Lowest overnight temp?
i leave the heat lamp on, my house get about 65 degrees but the heat lamp is on...i live in cali

How do you measure these temps?

i dont

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
i mist


Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
fake
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
in the corner of a low traffic room
Location - Where are you geographically located?
california los angeles not in the mountains

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

the current problem i am having is am im concerned that she is not eating. Ive put crickets in eat day but it doesent seem that the number of crickets has gone down. I have tried hand feeding her but she ignores what i put in from of her. She also seems to be shedding, does that influence eating?
i have never owned a chameleon, i do have other pets (Spider, scorpion etc)
Please help i want her to grow up healthy and strong!!

thanks

dallin

 

[lindawaz]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Baby veiled chameleon, females, 2.5 months. I have had it for about 5 days.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? About once a day....usually trying to get it to eat.

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Dusted and non dusted crickets

What amount? I put 10 in the cage per day What is the schedule? i dont have one How are you gut-loading your feeders? ??? not sure what this is https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html link for gut loading

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Rep-cal calcium with VITDThey need to have every day Calcium without D3 every day 2 times a month with D3, 2 times a month multi vitiamin
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? I mist the cage twice a day and when im at work i leave some ice cubes on top

How often and how long to you mist?
i mist for about 1 minute twice a dayyou need to mist longer than this. They drink from the leaves, the droplets and they take longer than the minute to do this

Do you see your chameleon drinking?
no




Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.
i havent seen any dropping


Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
no
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
we bought it at a reptile show

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
cage is full screen
2 feet tall and 1.5 feet width
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using?
18 inch 10.0 UVB and a heat lamp
the 10.0 is too strong for that baby 5.0 reptisun is what most of us use
What is your daily lighting schedule?
i leave them onthey need darkness to sleep- usually 12 hours on then 12 hours darkness

Temperature - What temp range have you created ?
Lowest overnight temp?
i leave the heat lamp on, my house get about 65 degrees but the heat lamp is on...i live in cali

How do you measure these temps?

i dont
Temps are very important, babies can not tolerate high heats lower 80's. they need this to digest their food. so it is important to know your temps

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
i mist


Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
fake
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
in the corner of a low traffic room
Location - Where are you geographically located?
california los angeles not in the mountains

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

the current problem i am having is am im concerned that she is not eating. Ive put crickets in eat day but it doesent seem that the number of crickets has gone down. I have tried hand feeding her but she ignores what i put in from of her. She also seems to be shedding, does that influence eating?
i have never owned a chameleon, i do have other pets (Spider, scorpion etc)
Please help i want her to grow up healthy and strong!!

thanks

my answers are in red and I am sure others will be here to help you! Here is a care sheet it covers some of the basics https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html

Welcome to the forums

 

[pbveiled]

I see a few things wrong but they are easy to correct.

You need the following supplemtns:
Phosphorous free calcium without D3 at every feeding
Phosphorous free calcium with D3 twice per month
Multi vitamin twice per month

Gut loading(feeding your feeders foods that are healthy for the cham) is very important. Search for user sandrachameleons blog on gut loading.

A 10.0 UVB bulb is too strong for that size cage. Most would recommend a 5.0. The lights should be on for 12 hours per day. No light at night as they need complete darkness to sleep.

You need to mist for longer than 1 minute twice a day. Probably for about 3-4 minutes 3-4 times a day. Ice cubes on top work for some and not for others. Chams dont always like ice cold water. I would suggest getting or making a dripper.

You need to get something to check the temps and humidity. She may not be eating because she is shedding but it could also be from other factors. With improper humidity, she may have a hard time shedding.

 

[wontbme]

shedding could influence dietary behaviors; but the poster above me has very good points that he brings up.

you can return your reptisun for a smaller one (assuming you purchased it recently) focus on 5.0 not 10 (this is mostly for desert reptiles like tortoises or bearded dragons)

 

[daltonks]

thanks so much for your help.
also should i turn off the heat lamp at nights? will it get to cold then? but it needs to be completely dark right?

 

[pbveiled]

As long as it doesn't get below 60 she should be fine. If it gets colder you could get a ceramic heat emitter. They go in a regular light socket but only produce heat.