Boy or Girl???

[laurenx]

Hi there, I own a baby veiled chameleon and was wondering if my baby is a boy or a girl? Once I know this I can make sure I'm taking all the steps for proper care.

Thanks

View attachment 74700

 

[camimom]

Male.

you can tell based on those yellow stripes.

But also males have tarsal spurs, which look like pimples on the back of the back feet.

Does he always have his eyes like that?

And he looks a little on the skinny side.

 

[laurenx]

Male.

you can tell based on those yellow stripes.

But also males have tarsal spurs, which look like pimples on the back of the back feet.

Does he always have his eyes like that?

And he looks a little on the skinny side.

Thank you so much.
Recently he hasn't been opening his eyes, something is wrong. He was very healthy up until now. I posted a thread a few days ago to figure out what could be causing this, and people were asking me to post a photo so they knew what to tell me based on if it was a boy or girl. I couldn't figure out how to upload a photo because it kept telling me it was too big but I finally figured it out.

 

[camimom]

Can you post your filled out help form here, and I would be happy to help you.

 

[laurenx]

You're the best

My Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon. Male? (Not totally sure). Around 11 months old, I have had him for 9 months.
Handling - I have only handled him about three times, I heard they didn't like to be held by humans because it stresses them out. Is this true?
Feeding - I feed him meal worms and small crickets. I give him meal worms for about three months, then switch to crickets and then back to meal worms, and so on.. I heard you are supposed to change up his diet so they don't go on hunger strike. When I am feeding him meal worms I give him 10 meal worms about every 10 days and when I feed him crickets I give him 12 crickets about every 10 days. He usually eats them all within the first 3-4 days.
Suppliments - Calcium powder.
Watering - I mist his cage with a spray bottle twice a day. He likes to drink the water dropplets off the top.
Fecal Description - His droppings are usually liquid white with black in the middle. He has never been tested for parasites.
History - He has been VERY healthy up until now. I just changed his bulb from 50 watt to 75, could that be the problem? The 50 watt was keeping his cage around 80-85. I did not think that was hot enough.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass. 20 wide x 12 tall x 12 deep.
Lighting - He has two lights. One is a long uvb bulb, and the other is a 75 watt heating bulb, I believe it's made by exo-terra or zoo med. I turn on his lights when I wake up around 9, and turn them off at bed around 11.
Temperature - I have a thermometer by his basking spot which is usually 85-90 during the day and 78 durring the night.
Humidity - I have a humidity thermometer which usually reads 20-40%. After sparying it might get up to 50-60%.
Plants - No live plants.
Placement - In a quite corner in my room. The top of the cage is probably around 4 feet high.
Location - Michigan.

Current Problem - I own a baby veiled chameleon and he hasn't been opening either of his eyes. I'm getting very worried because he hasn't been moving around much or eating. He is not acting normal at all, he is usually very strong and climbing all over the place. When I first noticed this problem I cleaned everything in his cage, gave him new water, and put a humindifier near his cage because when I did a little reaseach it said he might be dehydrated?


^^^^^I filled out all of the above 3 days ago. Since then I went to the store and bought calcium powder with d3, without d3, mulivitamins, silk worms, and crickets. I also gave him a dripper and tomorrow I'm getting him a larger cage. People made me aware that he needs to be fed more & on a more balanced diet. And that I also need to spray his cage more. The guy at the pet store told me the wrong care Is there anything else I should change? I don't want to see my baby sick anymore...

 

[camimom]

So the cage, which cage are you buying?
It should be a 2x2x4 foot cage, as this is what he needs as an adult.

I hope you are buying alot more plants to go in the cage.

The Supplement schedule should be as follows:

calcium without d3 every feeding
Calcium with d3 twice a month
Multivitamin twice a month.

He needs a variety of bugs yes, but not that schedules.

he needs to eat every day, and let him eat as many bugs as he wants.

Dont feed so many mealworms they are treat bugs, not staple bugs.

he should be misted at least 5 times per day, for several minutes at a time.

The light schedule, I would suggest getting a timer, lights should be on for 12 hours aday, too long and it can cause some sleep issues for them.

They tend to sleep when they see the sun goes down, so its best to let the lights go off when the sun goes down.

his basking temperature should be around 85 degrees.

Make sure his uvb bulb is replaced every 6-9 months, as after this time, the uvb output decreases significant.

 

[laurenx]

My aunt has a 2.5 ft tall x 2.5 ft around cage that she was going to give me. It's an octagon shape. Since it's glass I plan on cleaning it out once a week. Or should I get him a screen cage?

He has some sticks to climb on and a lot of plants, however they are all fake. Should I get him some real ones?

I will make every change you have mentioned, I did not know I was doing so many things wrong! Thank you so much for the advice I appreciate it greatly! Have an awesome day.

 

[Tzimisces]

Since the changes, have you noticed a change in his behavior or eyes? Have they opened at all? Congrats on making the choice to ask for help, this can be one of the most difficult things to do!

As for your last question, real is best, but fake works OK too. The humidity levels are harder to keep up, but with a misting system/misting regularly, it shouldn't be an issue if you use fake ones (I have fake ones). Do get the mesh cage. The one your aunt has is the right size, but glass is not good for them! The more mesh, the better! A dripping system would be good too. As much as your misting, it is probably not enough. (a little dripper isnt expensive and can be turned off/on-just dont forget that the water he isnt drinking has to go somewhere!)

There are many posts on here (if you have the time to search) that will help you set up a proper system for a veiled cham. No one is perfect and everyone has a little different way of finding out what works best for them, but to start, its a good place to look!

Good luck and please keep us posted on his health!

 

[RAFASTAR23]

Hi there!
Welcome to the forums!

 

[RAFASTAR23]

Hi again!

I'm glad you have been getting some pointers to better the care of your chameleon.
Yes, I'll repeat a few things here that you have already heard from some people, but that just means it is VITAL information in the propper care of your cham.

Cage must be a wire/mesh cage NOT glass.Though your cham may be a bit malnourished at this time, he will grow fast with the right diet, and his cage needs to be large (48" x 24" x 24" or 4'x2'x2'). The one you aunt is giving you 2.5' is not big enough, and again NO glass! Chams need the ventilation the wire cages provide. you can buy one on amazon for less than $100 shipped. See the attached picture to get an idea on what one of my cages looks like. (the one picture is a Reptibreeze xtra large cage 4'x2'x2')


Lightning is very important for chams. they use the UVA/UVB rays of the sun to metabolize calcium and develop their bones. It is imperative that you have a lightbulb that delivers UVA/UVB light. Also heat for thermoregulation is needed. Please double check that the lightning system you have is adecuate. The basking temp in the cage (about a foot under the light) should be around 85* fahrenheit during the day.
I use a Reptisun lightbulb that provides all in one. (UVA/UVB and heat).
There are 100w and 160w. The other light fixture you see in the cage picture has 2x 65000k T5 bulbs for plant growth since I have a Ficus tree in the cage. My lights work on a timer for 12 hours on and 12 hours off to mimic day and night.

Humidity must be around 60%. Misting systems do the work for you. otherwise mist manually for at least 2-3mins about 4-5 times a day. Chameleons drink running water off the plants as you mist. live plants also help in keeping the humitidy high.

Diet should consist of crickets or roaches as a staple. Worms, moths, and other insects should be treated as snacks. Your Cham should be eating 5-10 medium to large crickets every other day if not daily.

Supplements are needed for the propper development:
Calcium without d3 every feeding. (put crickets in a bag with enough calcium to lightly cover the feeder and shake them).
Calcium with d3 twice a month. (same procedure as above)
Multivitamin twice a month. (same procedure as above)

 

[donatella]

I recently had the same problem with my girl not wanting to keep her eyes open. At first I thought it might be something caught in her one eye, but then she started keeping them closed, rubbing them, and bulging them. I ended up taking her to the vet when it didn't get better after a few days. Turns out she had a low grade eye infection that we were able to catch before it got worse or spread. It was easily treated with antibiotic eye drops. I highly recommend taking your cham to a vet if he is having eye issues, it can save him a lot of pain.

 

[laurenx]

Since the changes, have you noticed a change in his behavior or eyes? Have they opened at all? Congrats on making the choice to ask for help, this can be one of the most difficult things to do!

As for your last question, real is best, but fake works OK too. The humidity levels are harder to keep up, but with a misting system/misting regularly, it shouldn't be an issue if you use fake ones (I have fake ones). Do get the mesh cage. The one your aunt has is the right size, but glass is not good for them! The more mesh, the better! A dripping system would be good too. As much as your misting, it is probably not enough. (a little dripper isnt expensive and can be turned off/on-just dont forget that the water he isnt drinking has to go somewhere!)

There are many posts on here (if you have the time to search) that will help you set up a proper system for a veiled cham. No one is perfect and everyone has a little different way of finding out what works best for them, but to start, its a good place to look!

Good luck and please keep us posted on his health!

Thank you for your reply. He was moving around a lot more today however I still have not seen him eating or drinking. He sometimes opens his left eye a little tiny bit but his right eye seems to be bothering him, it's always shut and I sometimes see him rubbing it against a leaf.

 

[laurenx]

Thank you all SO MUCH, I have been taking ALL the advice given to me and with all of the proper changes I really hope my baby will be okay

 

[Tzimisces]

Has your Cham molted yet? Sometimes the skin can look a bit dry and then a day or so later the skin looks white around the mouth/eyes (molting process) This may be why he is rubbing his eyes (and why they may be closed/dry) Of course, if he has recently molted, it very may well be an eye problem (infection) ...and that would be horrible.

 

[laurenx]

Has your Cham molted yet? Sometimes the skin can look a bit dry and then a day or so later the skin looks white around the mouth/eyes (molting process) This may be why he is rubbing his eyes (and why they may be closed/dry) Of course, if he has recently molted, it very may well be an eye problem (infection) ...and that would be horrible.

He molted not too long ago, it does not look like he is ready to molt again.
I don't know what is going on I took him into the shower yesterday and he seemed to love it. I don't know if he's dehydrated or if he has an eye infection? What would cause him to develop an eye infection?

 

[laurenx]

I just wanted to let you all know I took my baby Claude to the vet and they told me he has an eye infection & upper respiratory infection. They gave me antibiotics and said he should be back to normal in two weeks Thank you for all the help and advice!!!