Burns?To much D3?Etc.

[reptileguy112]

Ok, so I have been posting a lot lately because I have been having problems with my chameleon. I.I have a 18" uvb tube, compact uvb, and a night light.I thought my problem was to high of temp so I have only have uvb tube on.She is only green when I hold him or put him on his stand/plant.When I get home from school he is laying limp on his belly dark brown in his basking spot.I have been misting him multiple times a day but he won't drink.Do I need to pump his crickets with water or spray a little water in her mouth when she eats?I think she has eggs so she has a 8 inch high 12 inch wide bucket with moist sand.The tank with only uvb light is about 82 and with uvb and night light 86.She is 4 inches snout to vent and 7 inches snout to end of tail.I have also been using calcium with D3 every feeding because I didn't know there was d3 in it before.Is that to much?She is a veiled.I feed her 3-4 crickets a day.I don't have access to butterworms or other food and hope she doesn't start not eating crickets because she has been board with them lately.My LPS only has crickets and huge superworms. Thank you!

 

[inlinefourpower]

It's not uncommon to never see your chameleon drink. That in itself is not a huge problem. Kind of the way to measure if your chameleon drinks enough is more by the urate's color (the white poop thing) and other symptoms like sunken eyes, etc.

If you're worried about your chameleon drinking, though, you do not want to do something like make them hiss then spray them in their mouth. That's a quick way to get water in their lungs and not advisable. A similar but safer technique is to take an eyedropper and put a drop of water on their forehead between their eyes. The drop of water will roll forward over their mouth and a lot of chameleons will lick the water off their face.

Another productive method is to give your chameleon a bath. The way I do it is by filling a tub of water deep enough that the chameleon's stomach is submerged in the water but shallow enough that there's no possible way he can drown. The water vapor will help as your chameleon breathes that in and some water will be absorbed through the chameleon's vent. There is another way you can give a chameleon a bath where you take one of their plants and set it up in a shower then take the showerhead and spray a nearby wall of the shower with water producing a lot of mist. With either of these techniques you'll want a 15-30 minute bath.

I always make sure to put my guy underneath his basking light after a bath.

As for other problems: Yes, you are over supplementing D3. Once every two weeks dusting crickets with D3 is recommended.

Your night temperature is too high if I'm understanding it correctly. It looks like you say with the night bulb it's 86 degrees in there? The other people here are likely to recommend no night bulb. I don't use a night bulb for my chameleon, I just make sure to keep the temperature above 65F. This works for veiled chameleons, not necessarily others who have more narrow requirements.

My chameleon had some problems with D3 oversupplementation (maybe) and he was in a bad state for a little bit not using his back legs. He's getting past it but it's been nearly a month since the problems began.

Anyway, people will be able to offer you better help if you read this thread and post in this format:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Also, here is a resource about chameleon poop including urates. You'll be able to use this information to determine if your chameleon actually needs to drink more:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/poop-101-a-120171/

 

[kinyonga]

First of all there shouldn't be any lights on in its cage at night.
Secondly, don't SQUIRT watering her mouth...she might end up with it in her lungs. Ease it in a little at a time or drip it slowly on the end of her nose.

It's recommended that you dust at most feedings with a phosphorous - free calcium powder to help make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous found in most feeder insects.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous - free calcium D3 powder twice a month to ensure that it gets some without overdosing it and leaving it to produce the rest from its exposure to the UVB. D3 produced from exposure to UVB won't likely build up in the system as long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB when it wants to.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. This leaves you in charge of the vitamin A supplements so that your chameleon won't be overdosed with it. Vitamin A from prEformed sources can build up in the system but vitamin A from prOformed sources won't.

Calcium, vitamin A, vitamin D3, and phosphorous are all important players in bone health and other things in the system and need to be in balance.

Appropriate temperatures aid in digestion and thus indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Feeding /gutloading the insects such as crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms with a wide assortment of greens such as collards, escarole, endive, dandelion greens, kale, etc and veggies such as carrots, sweet red pepper, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, etc will also benefit your chameleon.

Can you post some photos of her please? I'm hoping she doesn't have MBD and isn't egg bound. Do you know how old she is? Does she have any mustard colored splotches on her?

Why did you mention burn in the title?

 

[reptileguy112]

I did not mean squirting water in her mouth when she hisses.When she eats and her mouth is slightly open I want to put a drop of water in her mouth with a dropper.I have read to do this before.I said with the Uvb and night light together on it is 86F.I have no light on at night and it drops to 72-75.She has NEVER hissed at me before and has only hissed one time at my bird when we past my room to give her outside time.

 

[reptileguy112]

Sorry, I forgot to mention the burn part.SHe has small scale sized gray spots on her.They look like shedding but I want to make sure.The lights are 8 inches away when she is in her basking spot.

 

[inlinefourpower]

Tough to say without a picture. But judging by the description I'd say no. If there's several and they're scale sized it sounds too small and too numerous. Must be some other problem.