behavior change...is she sick? veiled female

[xsh0rty]

Cage Type - 1/2 glass 1/2 screen, not sure the gallon size but is about 3ft tall - large cage

Lighting - UVB + 160watt mercury vapor basking lamp

Temperature - temps unknown, i live in southern california, she is near the window, high 70's during the day mid 60's at night, basking spot temp unknown

Humidity - again unknown

Plants - Live Ficus with extra branches added

Location - next to the window/ natural sunlight - window usually left open for breeze

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, had her for less then a year, bought very young

Feeding - mostly crickets, about 20 a day she also enjoys green lettauce (however u spell it) crickets every day also waxworms every once and a while - i use a calcium dust on the crickets maybe 1x-2x a week.

Watering - i have a drip cup that i fill with warm water almost every day and let it drip, i will also mist spray her cage maybe once a week, i rarely see her drink she is shy about it.

Fecal Description - mostly large brown/black stools, with some white/yellow nearby



ok now that i tried to give you some background information, basically what is going on is she seems to be in her basking spot but also with her mouth open, she doesnt seem to be "breathing through her mouth" ive read that is a sign of respritory issues, but i would figure if she is trying to cool herself off why is she staying in the hottest part of the tank? Also i was thinking maybe she is producing eggs? but have not seen her traveling to lower parts of the cage, unless i can tell she is looking for food. I also notice she is sleeping with her mouth open, and with the window open and near by i find it hard to believe that she is just cooling off. Her appetite hasnt changed much, she still loves green lettauce seems a little hesitant in attacking her crickets, usually as soon as they drop in there she is sticking them before i am done. I fed her romaine lettuace a couple weeks ago and i know she ate some, but didnt seem very interested. I really hope that didnt make her sick.

oh also wanted to add, when her mouth is gaping there isnt any sign of any drool or any spots or anything in her mouth,

thanks.

 

[Julirs]

It could very well be that your temps are too hot, esp. since you don't know what the temps are. If you are using that powerful of a basking lamp in that short of a cage that is pretty dangerous. You need a digital thermometer or temp gun. It does concern me that her mouth is open at night. A Vet visit may be in order. You should be misting at least 2X daily. You said there was yellow in her urates-that is a sign of dehydration, and again intense temps are not helping there either.

 

[dodolah]

Cage Type - 1/2 glass 1/2 screen, not sure the gallon size but is about 3ft tall - large cage

Lighting - UVB + 160watt mercury vapor basking lamp

Temperature - temps unknown, i live in southern california, she is near the window, high 70's during the day mid 60's at night, basking spot temp unknown

Humidity - again unknown

Plants - Live Ficus with extra branches added

Location - next to the window/ natural sunlight - window usually left open for breeze

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, had her for less then a year, bought very young

Feeding - mostly crickets, about 20 a day she also enjoys green lettauce (however u spell it) crickets every day also waxworms every once and a while - i use a calcium dust on the crickets maybe 1x-2x a week.

Watering - i have a drip cup that i fill with warm water almost every day and let it drip, i will also mist spray her cage maybe once a week, i rarely see her drink she is shy about it.

Fecal Description - mostly large brown/black stools, with some white/yellow nearby



ok now that i tried to give you some background information, basically what is going on is she seems to be in her basking spot but also with her mouth open, she doesnt seem to be "breathing through her mouth" ive read that is a sign of respritory issues, but i would figure if she is trying to cool herself off why is she staying in the hottest part of the tank? Also i was thinking maybe she is producing eggs? but have not seen her traveling to lower parts of the cage, unless i can tell she is looking for food. I also notice she is sleeping with her mouth open, and with the window open and near by i find it hard to believe that she is just cooling off. Her appetite hasnt changed much, she still loves green lettauce seems a little hesitant in attacking her crickets, usually as soon as they drop in there she is sticking them before i am done. I fed her romaine lettuace a couple weeks ago and i know she ate some, but didnt seem very interested. I really hope that didnt make her sick.

oh also wanted to add, when her mouth is gaping there isnt any sign of any drool or any spots or anything in her mouth,

thanks.

heya. I advise you to get 2 digital thermometer (with hygrometer attached).
So you can know what exactly your veiled's cage temps are.
It looked that it might be too hot inside.

I used 75 watt incandescent bulb as UVA bulb and a 5,0 reptisun as UVB,
lately, i have to turn off the UVA bulb since the temp often reach low 100 F since the summer weather is coming.
I'll probably change the bulb to 50 watt or lower later.

Last summer Sothern California temp was crazy, my room gets to 110 F (and that time, I don't even have any chameleon or any basking bulb). So, this summer, i have to buy a portable AC.

hope that helps

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Do you have a picture of her and her set-up?
Is your UVB light a linear fluorescent tube?
Get rid of that mercury vapor bulb .... it's way too hot for your girl.
I think you are feeding her too much and watering her too little.
If you could run the dripper most, or all of the day, every day and mist 2 to 3 times per day ... feed her about 8 full grown crickets (or the equivalent) every other day and offer her some more nutritious greens ( like collard greens or dandelion) .....
I think you will see an improvement.
The basking light should be (at most ... in my opinion ...) a 40 watt household incandescent.
Do you have a place for her to lay if she is cycling eggs?

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

-Brad

 

[xsh0rty]

thanks for the advice guys, really get rid of the basking lamp? and i bought the lower wattage one because of cost reasons, haha. my room temp never gets above 80 really, but yeah i was pretty sure she is just hot, but my question is, will a chameleon try and "walk away" from hot spots? or do they simply try and find the sun and whatever happens happens? Because at first i figured, well if she is hot there are a number of other locations I will find her hanging out at, but she loves to be up top near the light. I attached a pic of my setup. Woke up today and saw that she is shedding, only on her head though.

 

[dodolah]

thanks for the advice guys, really get rid of the basking lamp? and i bought the lower wattage one because of cost reasons, haha. my room temp never gets above 80 really, but yeah i was pretty sure she is just hot, but my question is, will a chameleon try and "walk away" from hot spots? or do they simply try and find the sun and whatever happens happens? Because at first i figured, well if she is hot there are a number of other locations I will find her hanging out at, but she loves to be up top near the light. I attached a pic of my setup. Woke up today and saw that she is shedding, only on her head though.

I say get the lower wattage.
Really? never get above 80? My room now is 85
be careful on using substrate.

 

[xsh0rty]

ok so I ditched the MV bulb and got an exo terra 75w sun glo daylight spot bulb. I will start misting her a little more too. Just got her some fresh crickets and waxworms, her appetite sure hasnt lost. I would say I will keep close watch on her for the next couple days, but I am going out of town! Thankfully though I have a very trustworthy person who I trust will give me every detail while I am away.

I attached a pic of when I first brought her home and then another one just taken today, my has she grown!

 

[kinyonga]

Does she have a place to lay eggs in the cage?

 

[DarkRapture]

ok so I ditched the MV bulb and got an exo terra 75w sun glo daylight spot bulb. I will start misting her a little more too. Just got her some fresh crickets and waxworms, her appetite sure hasnt lost. I would say I will keep close watch on her for the next couple days, but I am going out of town! Thankfully though I have a very trustworthy person who I trust will give me every detail while I am away.

I attached a pic of when I first brought her home and then another one just taken today, my has she grown!

THE SUN GLO DAYLIGHT BULB IS NOT UVB!! it is good that you got rid of the mv bulb, but you will still need to get a bulb that produces uvb. the day glo is great for basking light, but i would recommend you get a linear tube light like a reptisun 5.0 for the hood i saw in the picture. what size bulb fits in there anyway?

 

[xsh0rty]

a reptisun 5.0 is in the hood you see, that emits UVB and the basking lamp emits UVA... what did you think it was empty?

with the new bulb and temperatures down she seems to be doing much better. thanks for the tips guys!

 

[kinyonga]

She's either very fat or gravid...or both. Overfeeding can lead to egglaying problems and large clutches. You're feeding her a lot more than I feed mine.

The gaping at night might be an indication that she is very full of eggs.

Does she have a place to lay eggs in her cage??

 

[xsh0rty]

i have a substrate at the bottom of her cage of fine coccanut husk a couple of inches deep so i think she would be able to dig if she wanted to

 

[Brad Ramsey]

i have a substrate at the bottom of her cage of fine coccanut husk a couple of inches deep so i think she would be able to dig if she wanted to

Not even close to what she needs for laying eggs, and not a super idea in the first place (substrate is not recommended)
She needs a bucket of quite moist but not muddy, very sandy soil.
At least 8 inches deep but preferably 12 to 16 inches deep, with a branch leading into it.
She needs extreme privacy during laying time.
Even if she has never seen a male she may cycle eggs.
Especially if she has been kept too warm and fed too much.

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/breeding.html

http://www.chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=114

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

-Brad