Can someone help me?

G

GryphonSlade

New Member
I have a female veiled chameleon, I bought her January 2. so she's about 9 months old. She was doing so well up until recently, these past couple weeks, she hasn't been eating like at all. I usually fed her crickets, and the occasional mealworms. She is sprayed 2-3 times a day. I even took her to the vet and got a physical exam, and they said she was fine. But when she is in her cage, she is always dark and stressed. She had never been like that before, and I was wondering if any of you could help me figure out whats wrong with her? Sorry if this is a vague description, I've never used a forum before, so I'm not so good at it.
 
Hello, welcome to the forum:) Best to fill out the form, it makes it easier to work out what might be wrong (and to rule other things out, more importantly)


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful

Fill out the following, keep a copy for yourself to use if you need help again. It's the protocol of this forum. You'll give other experienced users the info they need to assist you.
 
Last edited:
Uh, I'll try my best with this.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Female, around 8-9months. Since January 2nd, thats when I bought her
Handling - Barely. I did my research and its not good to handle her, I only handle her if I'm cleaning her cage or maybe wanting to hold her :>
Feeding - Mostly Crickets, alittle mealworms, but recently I bought silkworms and Lobster roaches, The normal amount of crickets I put in were around 15. Like 3:30pm everyday, I bought something at the petstore called cricket gutload, so thats pretty much it, and I have cricket quencher
Supplements - I use ExoTerra Calcium w/o D3, RepCal Calcium with D3, and RepCal Herptivite Multivitamins, the schedule is I use the calcium w/o D3 everyday, and the Repcal calcium with D3 and the Multivitamins two times a month.
Watering - When I first got her, I used the ice cube technique, and sprayed her two to three times a day. I still do spray her 2-3 times a day, for about a minute or so with lukewarm/hot water. When I bought her new cage, it came with a little dripper, so I'm using that now as well as the sprays. I've seen her drink once before, since I'm not around all day, its not like I can constatnly see her drink
Fecal Description - Well she's barely pooped recently, since she hasn't been eating, but when she does it looks normal, just really small, with the brown and white. She has never been tested for parasites.
History - Uhm, not really, I've only had her for 9 months. And she's been fine and happy and healthy until recently. And I really have no idea why. OH, and something that was weird, is when I took her to the vet, she was completely fine, green and everything, but when she was back home, she turned back to the brown colour she is.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Its a screen cage. The dimensions I believe are 24x24x48. I just bought it, cause her old cage was small.
Lighting - My heat bulb is ZOOMED Repti Basking spot lamp 75w, my UVA/UVB light is ReptiGLo 5.0 UVB tube. I turn her lights on at 7:10am, and try to turn it off by 7:10pm, but usually around 8:30pm, because I have school, and don't have a timer.
Temperature - I have no idea, I don't have a thermometer, I never had the chance to buy these.
Humidity - again, I dont know.
Plants - I have fake plants right now, since I just moved her into a bigger cage, I'm tyring to find her a live plant, since the plants I had in her previous cage, barely even fill up this cage.
Placement - It's in my bedroom, near a window.
Location - I live in Delaware.

Current Problem - She hasn't eaten for a few weeks, and is constantly stressed, even though I took her to a vet, and they said she was fine, and that it might be reproduction starting, or shes just bored with her food, which is why I bought a differnet kind online. She did eat at few silkworms, but thats it.

Here come a boat load of pictures.

This is Potatoes, thats her name.
http://i51.tinypic.com/2yni1dt.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/2e0iomd.jpg
http://i55.tinypic.com/b6ptt5.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/1z1bvb4.jpg
as you can see, she is highly stressed, and has been for these few weeks of not eating.

This is her cage, I know its REALLY empty, its cause I just got this new cage and I'm going to buy her a real plant to put in the middle. http://i51.tinypic.com/23s6tl5.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/33cpzc6.jpg

Here is a few things I use, lights/powder:

http://i56.tinypic.com/68tweg.jpg

And surprisingly when I went up there, she did have a poop, so heres an example of her poop, which I'm amazed she still is, even though she hasn't been eating.

http://i55.tinypic.com/fyjwd1.jpg

--

I hope this is the info you needed, :C Sorry If I seem alittle iffy, I love this chameleon so much, and I really don't want to lose her, I've researched for her so much, and everything, so if you guys can help, that'd be great.
 
I think you should put a laying bin in there. Maybe put a fake vine running right down to the top of it so she has easy access. Jann gave you a link to her info on laying bins. That's the information you need.
 
The setup sounds good - you really should check the temps properly though. It seems very much like laying could be on the cards, as she's a good size and the right sort of age for it.........it would explain not eating and seeming stressed - follow Janns advice and hopefully that'll sort it all out.....If she does lay, remember she'll need extra mistings and calcium (and if my recent laying female is anything to go by she'll eat like a little green horse as soon as she's laid.....)
 
Okay, I'll put a bin in her cage, the vet I went to suggested I put a mix of sand and dirt? What do you guys think? I just want all opinions. haha.
 
GryphonSlade said:
Okay, I'll put a bin in her cage, the vet I went to suggested I put a mix of sand and dirt? What do you guys think? I just want all opinions. haha.
Click to expand...

Yes, I used compost and sand, about 40% sand in mine.....you want it just damp enough to dig a tunnel that won't collapse easily. Be prepared to take her out of the cage if she doesn't show any signs of digging after a day or two (I think they just much prefer to lay on the very lowest ground they can find, so putting her in a separate trash can as suggested by Jannb is what I would recommend)
 
DavidBuchan said:
Yes, I used compost and sand, about 40% sand in mine.....you want it just damp enough to dig a tunnel that won't collapse easily. Be prepared to take her out of the cage if she doesn't show any signs of digging after a day or two (I think they just much prefer to lay on the very lowest ground they can find, so putting her in a separate trash can as suggested by Jannb is what I would recommend)
Click to expand...

Do you have any specific brands that I should use? And how much I'll need?
 
This is what I use $2.50 at Home Depot.

1a06e587-0605-42ef-a7ab-3c6ebe4df50c_400.jpg



Here is a link to my laying bucket I used a 5 gallon bucket some 1x2's and a piece of plywood. You can take the bottom out of your cage and put it on top of the plywood with a branch running to the sand/dirt mixture.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/karma-gave-me-23-eggs-today-52308/
 
If she does start scratching around the bin, she'll want privacy. You might want to tape paper over some (all?) of the cage walls to block her view. You can tear a little hole in the paper for you to peek through.

If she digs around but seems unable to get a tunnel going, you can try starting a tunnel for her. Take a finger or two and open up a hole as deep as you can reach. Many people have reported this as a very successful technique.

Good luck!
 
Hey, this may be a dumb question, but What kind of Soil/dirt should I buy? Like what brand and everything, I was already recommened a sand, so I'm fine with that, but I don't want to like buy the wrong kind of dirt?
 
I got her the sand in the bucket and everything today. But she doesn't seem interested in it at all. I even covered the outside of her cage for privacy. But she is still just sitting on the one branch. She seems thin to me? But still has energy to hiss at me and walk. Is there anything else I could do besides wait to see if she is interested in the sand?
 
GryphonSlade said:
I got her the sand in the bucket and everything today. But she doesn't seem interested in it at all. I even covered the outside of her cage for privacy. But she is still just sitting on the one branch. She seems thin to me? But still has energy to hiss at me and walk. Is there anything else I could do besides wait to see if she is interested in the sand?
Click to expand...

Could you post a new pic so we can see the bucket setup? And she doesn't look thin in the first pics you posted..........it's worth waiting a couple of days to see if she'll go for it, but if she's actually not ready to lay then how about trying some variety of insects to see if she'll start eating again..........
 
Well I did do the variety of insects thing. Before I had just fed her crickets and the occasional mealworm. So after the vet visit, I ordered silkworms and the vet recommended lobster roaches, so I got them as well. She did eat a few of the silkworms, but I don't have anymore of them. And she hasn't been interested in the roaches. But I guess I'll wait the couple days to see if she notices the bucket.
 
Well, I'm stumped if she's not gravid tbh...........has she been moving around more than usual? Or less? Has she been much more hissy? Did she already go through a phase of being more shy and hissy or is she just a late bloomer, maybe?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Baileyrob1189
Possible Eggbound Chameleon
Replies
18
Views
1K
ferretinmyshoes
ferretinmyshoes
AlliG
Sick, Rescued Veiled Girl
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
absolutbill
absolutbill
USSTrioceros
Need advice: what else should I ask vet to check
Replies
10
Views
3K
USSTrioceros
USSTrioceros
N
Is my chameleon sleeping or ill?
Replies
7
Views
979
MissSkittles
MissSkittles
Jle5116
Help with husbandry questions
Replies
17
Views
3K
GrannyK
GrannyK
Back
Top Bottom