Behavior after shedding

[MariaG]

Hi, my low-translusent veiled chameleon is about 3 months old and he just shed 4 days ago and he has been acting different ever since. He has not eaten since he shed. I am not sure if he ate a cricket out of his food bowl one day (in the past four days since he shed) or if the cricket just jumped out. I have seen him drink water. His colors are different than they were. He has been acting tired and sleeping most of the day. At night, he won't go on his money tree to sleep, like he normally does. I have to put him there. In the morning, he did not climb out of his money tree when I turned his light on, he just stayed there with his eyes closed. I had to pick him up and put him on his branch. Most of the day he just sits somewhere with his eyes closed. He will occassionally walk around. If I take him out of his cage, he will walk around breifly, then sleep somewhere. He acts like he doesn't want to do anything.

His normal behavior: is that he climbs all around his cage and he will hunt his food when I put it in his food bowl. When I take him out of his cage, he will climb around on my plants and bed. At night, around 6pm on the dot, he will climb down on his money tree branch and curl up to go to sleep. In the morning, when I turn the light on, he will slowly climb to his branch at the top.

Is he okay or is this normal behavior after shedding?

(Photo reference in numerical order from left to right)

Photos 1, 2, & 3 were taken last week before he shed, when he was acting normal.

Remaining Photos are taken today (4 days after shedding). His colors have bright patches in them. And he acts tired and wants to sleep all the time.

Photo 9 is his cage set up for reference.

Photo 7 & 10 are what I am referring to when I say his colors look different.

FYI: The bottom plants are real, the only fake plants are the two vines at the top. (Which I am trying to figure out how to change)

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. We recently reviewed your husbandry. Did you make all of the suggested changes? You’ll want to get rid of the red light as those aren’t good for sensitive chameleon eyes. Are you keeping all lights off at night?
Being tired and sleeping during the day/when lights are on is a bad sign. His eyes are a bit sunken in, which is also a sign of something being wrong. At his age he should be a little eating machine, so this is another serious sign that he’s ill. Best thing you can do is get him in to be seen by a good vet experienced with chameleons asap and make sure to take a poo for a fecal check for parasites. Once chameleons start showing signs of illness, it’s usually quite late in whatever may be wrong so you’ll need to act quickly.

 

[MariaG]

Oh no! I upgraded the UVB light like reccomended, right after reading the suggestion. I changed his plants to real plants, except for the two vines at the top (which I am working on changing once I come up with an appropriate solution for his cage). I started gut-loading his crickets right after reading the suggestion. I gut load them by keeping them in a cricket keeper and I fed them processed mustard greens mixed with blueberries (bc that's what I had on hand). Then I added the Mazuri "Better Bug gud loading diet" powder to the food. I also dust them in calcium before putting them in his cricket cup. Twice a week I dust them in vitamin A. I maintain their cricket keeper regurarly by removing dead crickets and wiping out poop and changing their water. All his lights are off at night. I will remove the red light. I try to make sure his cage has water droplets on the leaves between sprays from the automatic mister.

Is anything he is doing normal behavior for after shedding? What do you suggest in the meantime that I can do for him until I can get him to a vet? Should I be giving him any oral vitamins? Any suggestions on food to get him to eat again?

I am not sure what could have caused him to become ill.... He has had a few ants in his cage, that he may have eaten. I've taken 3 bees out of his cage. In the pictures I posted, do you see any signs of an illness with him in regards to his colors?

Thank you for your input! I am really worried about him. He moves around slowly when he walks and closes his eyes.

 

[MariaG]

This is him right now. He moves slowly. I will try and find a chameleon vet tomorrow. I put the cricket loose in there to see if he'd eat it while its climbing because that's what he used to do before I put a cup in there. He's eaten out of the cup, but I think he preferred hunting them.

 

[MissSkittles]

Oh no! I upgraded the UVB light like reccomended, right after reading the suggestion. I changed his plants to real plants, except for the two vines at the top (which I am working on changing once I come up with an appropriate solution for his cage). I started gut-loading his crickets right after reading the suggestion. I gut load them by keeping them in a cricket keeper and I fed them processed mustard greens mixed with blueberries (bc that's what I had on hand). Then I added the Mazuri "Better Bug gud loading diet" powder to the food. I also dust them in calcium before putting them in his cricket cup. Twice a week I dust them in vitamin A. I maintain their cricket keeper regurarly by removing dead crickets and wiping out poop and changing their water. All his lights are off at night. I will remove the red light. I try to make sure his cage has water droplets on the leaves between sprays from the automatic mister.

Is anything he is doing normal behavior for after shedding? What do you suggest in the meantime that I can do for him until I can get him to a vet? Should I be giving him any oral vitamins? Any suggestions on food to get him to eat again?

I am not sure what could have caused him to become ill.... He has had a few ants in his cage, that he may have eaten. I've taken 3 bees out of his cage. In the pictures I posted, do you see any signs of an illness with him in regards to his colors?

Thank you for your input! I am really worried about him. He moves around slowly when he walks and closes his eyes.

Why are you dusting with vitamin A? That is a fat soluble vitamin that can build up to toxic levels. Stop using it immediately. I’m not a vet and can’t say with any certainty, but that may be the problem. Just dust with plain phosphorus free calcium without D3 at every feeding. @kinyonga should be better able to guide you. In the meantime, just make sure he’s staying hydrated.

 

[MissSkittles]

If there are any loose crickets in his enclosure, put a small piece of greens or something on the bottom for them to eat. They will get hungry and have been known to bite chams.

 

[MariaG]

There are no loose crickets. I always make sure to get them out. I took that one out from the picture after he wasn't eating it. I just put it in there to show that he is ignoring his food. And ahhhh I had no idea about the vitamin A. I don't know where I heard it from to give that to him. It came in a packet in his chameleon cage. Ughhhh. Will he be okay? The last time he ate a cricket with vitamin A dusted on it was on Tuesday.

 

[MariaG]

How can I help him recover?

 

[MissSkittles]

From what I can find, there is no way to help speed the elimination of vitamin A from his system…it’ll just take time. You’ll need to be alert for any skin lesions/wounds as that is one of the effects. https://todaysveterinarypractice.com/hypervitaminosis-a-in-reptiles/
So for supplementation, as I already said you’ll want to use a calcium without vitamin D3 lightly dusted at every feeding. If it’s the Reptivite with D3 that you have, you’ll use that only one feeding every other week or twice a month. However, I would not be using this again for at least a month. The D3 is also fat soluble and builds up in the body, so this is why we use that and vitamin A carefully and only twice a month for each. I’m not sure if anything else can be done other than keeping him hydrated. A vet visit and a fecal check are still the best action.

 

[MariaG]

Thank you. I will call one tomorrow.

 

[MariaG]

Do you have a recomendation on the cacium without D3 that I can use? A specific brand.

 

[MissSkittles]

Do you have a recomendation on the cacium without D3 that I can use? A specific brand.

My vet has recommended I use Zoo Med Repti Calcium, which I do use. It’s one of the more commonly available ones but just need to make sure it doesn’t have D3.

 

[MissSkittles]

I pray your sweet little one makes a full recovery. Do keep us updated.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."Twice a week I dust them in vitamin A"...what form of vitamin A is it? PrEformed (retinal, retinyl, etc) or PROformed (beta carotene)?

Do you not use a phos free calcium/D3 powder twice a month lightly?

I agree with @MissSkittles that a vet visit would be a good idea.