Black, on the floor, taken to climbing on mesh

[SaintJimmy]

Need help. Chameleon spends lots of time on the floor & climbing on mesh screen

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, and the petco store I rescued him from didn't provide any info on how old he was, but he looks to be about 4-6 months old. He has been in my care for about four weeks now.

Handling - I have never handled him except to put him inside his cage. If I put my hand inside the cage and there is no food in my hand, he gapes and hisses.

Feeding - I.'m feeding my chameleon a mix of crickets and sometimes little inchworms I find, and usually he eats about 5-7 a day. I'm gutloading crickets with carrots and whatever little pieces of fruit that I have that are okay

Supplements - I dust my feeders once every week and a half (should I be doing this more?) with calcium d3, because I know too much d3 can hurt the poor little guy.

Watering - I mist the leaves about 3 times a day, and then drip some water down and watch him drink each time (so he's drinking 3 times a day, normally he gets all the water off about 3 leaves) so yes, he drinks, and I mist for about 1-2 mins.

Fecal Description - He poops just about every day, and it's normal. Brownish black and then the white chalky part. He's never been parasite tested.

History - He has had MBD before, and is generally a very aggro cham so far.

Cage Info:

Cage Type - Entirely screen with PVC bottom, it's 16x16x24. (I know, I know, it's small. My dad and I are working on building a big custom one for him)

Lighting - Lights on at 8:00 AM, lights off at 10:00 PM. These are my lights

http://s993.beta.photobucket.com/user/aurawave/library/lights

Temperature - The cage at the top is about 90 (his basking spot is probably 87 or so) and at the bottom it goes from 65-75 throughout the day. I measure with a small compass like meter.

Humidity - Humidity is always at least 50-60% or more. When I leave home sometimes it gets down to 30%, but I ALWAYS mist ASAP to make sure it doesn't stay that way. I measure with another compass like meter.

Plants - I am using one benjamin ficus.

Placement - The cage is in my room on the side opposite to where I usually am. No one comes in my room, but I am in there almost all the time. There is an air conditioning/heater vent about 6 feet away from the cage on the ceiling on the side of my room, but we only use it to heat the house to 70 when it's cold.

Location - southern california

Current Problem - A couple weeks ago he was fine, but recently I will turn around to look at him, and can't find him. When I do find him, he is always on the bottom of the cage or near the bottom of the ficus pot. When he sees me, he begins climbing up again and turns brighter. (I KNOW he is a male, by the way) I'm just slightly concerned. Also, he's been pissier than usual lately.
**He has also taken to ignoring his branches and climbing on the thin mesh, which may hurt his claws **

Here he is sleeping last night
http://www.flickr.com/photos/letsgetdirnty/8377886558/in/photostream

This is when I found him on the floor
http://www.flickr.com/photos/letsgetdirnty/8376817121/in/photostream

I walked by his cage and he usually doesn't get this way, but he is somewhat pissed (not really normal for him)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/letsgetdirnty/8377902264/in/photostream

 

[Kate]

Hi saintjimmy. First your supplements. Plain calcium without d3 daily. Calcium with d3 once every two weeks and multivit every two weeks. You could vary feeders a bit more. They like Dubais , silkworms . Light schedule 12 hrs on 12hrs off. You could bump the basking temp up to 90. I'm glad you rescued him I'm sure he will have a good life with you with a few tweaks to his care. With him turning dark at the bottom of his cage suggests that there is something about his cage he is not happy with. He could have reached Cham puberty which makes them quite grumpy.

 

[SaintJimmy]

Hi saintjimmy. First your supplements. Plain calcium without d3 daily. Calcium with d3 once every two weeks and multivit every two weeks. You could vary feeders a bit more. They like Dubais , silkworms . Light schedule 12 hrs on 12hrs off. You could bump the basking temp up to 90. I'm glad you rescued him I'm sure he will have a good life with you with a few tweaks to his care. With him turning dark at the bottom of his cage suggests that there is something about his cage he is not happy with. He could have reached Cham puberty which makes them quite grumpy.

I will get some calcium today. Is there a certain brand of calcium supplement you would reccomend? I really want to keep Monty healthy

Basking temperature.. It is 90, but I didn't want to burn him, so I set his branch a little lower. I will adjust the branch to make it a little higher, thanks.

Not happy with.. I have two big sticks in there to hold some things up. I will remove those and see how it goes.

EDIT:

Can someone try and see what he doesn't like? This is my first cham and I have no clue what would upset him in his cage. It's pretty clean, no substrate, and he's got little places to bask at different temps..

Plenty of hiding spots
http://s993.beta.photobucket.com/user/aurawave/media/IMG_0450_zpseecde158.jpg.html

from the side of the cage you can see those thick sticks he can't climb on
http://s993.beta.photobucket.com/user/aurawave/media/IMG_0453_zpscd63b49b.jpg.html

Here he is perching on his tree
http://s993.beta.photobucket.com/user/aurawave/media/IMG_0454_zpscf766e0e.jpg.html

Another side shot
http://s993.beta.photobucket.com/user/aurawave/media/IMG_0455_zpsc9b2f2af.jpg.html

from the front
http://s993.beta.photobucket.com/user/aurawave/media/IMG_0456_zpsac66db7c.jpg.html

 

[Kate]

Plain phosphorous free calcium without d3. You will also need a multivit. You are right to be careful of burns. Perhaps you could get a digital thermometer ? These dial ones are not very accurate .

 

[SaintJimmy]

Plain phosphorous free calcium without d3. You will also need a multivit. You are right to be careful of burns. Perhaps you could get a digital thermometer ? These dial ones are not very accurate .

Phosphorous free no d3. Got it.

I am on a budget though, I'll make do with what I can scrape together. I will upgrade to better stuff ASAP though.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello I'm not sure if you've seen this yet but it's a great all-round caresheet that I always recommend to people with Veileds - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html
He's a little cutie, looks ok He shows no signs of mbd that I can see. Did the vet diagnose mbd? Also, I have to ask......are you 100% sure this is a male? Can you post pictures of his back ankles if you are not sure?

 

[SaintJimmy]

Hello I'm not sure if you've seen this yet but it's a great all-round caresheet that I always recommend to people with Veileds - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html
He's a little cutie, looks ok He shows no signs of mbd that I can see. Did the vet diagnose mbd? Also, I have to ask......are you 100% sure this is a male? Can you post pictures of his back ankles if you are not sure?

I have seen the caresheet, thank you

He has 'floating' ribs, and his elbow joints are round. I am very sure he is a male, let me see if I can take a picture without him getting super pissed at me. Hold on.

No I couldn't get a picture without him trying to bite me. Here is an old picture that shows his back feet.

http://s993.beta.photobucket.com/user/aurawave/media/IMG_0422_zps9c700913.jpg.html?sort=3&o=13

 

[DavidBuchan]

I have read over your info. again. Looking at your current problem and your newer pictures I think maybe you have a very simple problem. As very young animals chams just eat before doing anything else. They sometimes seem less bothered about being hidden.
When a Veiled cham hits a special age he wants his privacy more. He is a very territorial animal and he wants his own room
I think you can solve this problem by giving him a few more branches and lots more leaves. Make it so he 'thinks you can't see him'.
Give him a few days to a week to get used to his new house. I hope he feels more comfortable like that

I think of course for the mbd issue it would be best to keep in touch with a vet. Certainly make sure you give lots of plain calcium like Kate suggested, and read some more about mineral supplementation.
Let us know how you get on........nearly forgot, you shouldn't need a night light at all. Even the red light can disturb his sleep. I think the moss as a substrate is a bad idea, just because it is easily eaten by accident.

 

[SaintJimmy]

I have read over your info. again. Looking at your current problem and your newer pictures I think maybe you have a very simple problem. As very young animals chams just eat before doing anything else. They sometimes seem less bothered about being hidden.
When a Veiled cham hits a special age he wants his privacy more. He is a very territorial animal and he wants his own room
I think you can solve this problem by giving him a few more branches and lots more leaves. Make it so he 'thinks you can't see him'.
Give him a few days to a week to get used to his new house. I hope he feels more comfortable like that

I think of course for the mbd issue it would be best to keep in touch with a vet. Certainly make sure you give lots of plain calcium like Kate suggested, and read some more about mineral supplementation.
Let us know how you get on........

I will rearrange some stuff and clean his poop tonight (kill two birds with one stone, right?) and sadly he will have to deal with being taken out of his territory! Ahhh!

But yeah, I will make it so there are no more huge sticks, and then stick some smaller ones in there, too. I can go out in the backyard an' get some soon.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[DavidBuchan]

I edited my post while you were writing Can you see the bit I missed off? Hope this helps

 

[SaintJimmy]

I edited my post while you were writing Can you see the bit I missed off? Hope this helps

I read over. I know I don't need a light for night, I have stopped using it (don't worry) and I also have absolutely 0% substrate, so we're good on that part.

 

[DavidBuchan]

I read over. I know I don't need a light for night, I have stopped using it (don't worry) and I also have absolutely 0% substrate, so we're good on that part.

Good man. Lets see if we can't cheer up the grumpy little fella p.s. What's his name?

 

[SaintJimmy]

Good man. Lets see if we can't cheer up the grumpy little fella p.s. What's his name?

His name's Monty. I hope leaving him alone a little more and giving him some food variety might help. I am also building a free roaming enclosure for him for when he's bigger

 

[DavidBuchan]

That ought to work......I see free ranges on the forum and I'm starting to believe that it helps with reducing territorial behaviour. Can't be sure, but Chameleons are fun like that

 

[SaintJimmy]

That ought to work......I see free ranges on the forum and I'm starting to believe that it helps with reducing territorial behaviour. Can't be sure, but Chameleons are fun like that

Yeah, I've heard many stories on other websites too (mostly with panthers and veilds) that they were a bit grumpy, and the whole cage thing can probably make them territorial a little bit if they're always stuffed in there.

I'm actually building it tonight with sticks I found would be perfect for this. I will have to buy some artificial leaves for it or something. (Don't worry, I'm sanitizing the sticks with my oven first )