Can't confirm new arrival is eating or drinking

[dksengineering]

• Your Chameleon – I have a newly purchased female Veiled Chameleon. I estimate her age at 6-8 weeks. She’s about 3” long not including tail. She arrived overnight UPS two days ago.
• Handling – I’ve never tried to handle her. Her release into her cage was done by placing her plastic shipping container next to something she could crawl out onto within her cage. I’ve tried to keep her stress free until she settles in.
• Feeding – I purchased 40 small crickets; 20 of which are unaccounted for after being released into the cage. I’m hoping she has eaten them but I cannot be sure. I’ve not seen her eat or drink but I’m not with her 24/7. The crickets have that yellow gell from the pet store to feed on and were also feeding on apples, lettuce, and are dusted with calcium.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? It’s only been two days. I’m just waiting to see her eat something. Not sure if she has.
• Watering – I mist the cage at evening to raise humidity and will make sure there is plenty on the leaves for her to drink at the morning misting. I mist the cage plants 3 more times during the night with a final misting around 7:00am. I have never seen her drink, even after having a droplet dangling from her chin.
• Fecal Description – In the two days I’ve had her, I’ve never seen a dropping. I am familiar with the shape and coloring and know what to look for.
• History – When she arrived, she had fibers dangling from her chin that looked like the purple paper bedding she was shipped in. I’m concerned she ingested some but have no way of knowing for sure.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type – I have a Combo cage. 18” x 18” x 36”
• Lighting – Arcadia ShadeDweller Pro 7% UV-B Kit mounted on top. 12 hours on starting at 7:00am and 12 hours off. Installed after photo was taken.
• Temperature – I have two Govee Hygrometer Thermometer H5075’s; one at the top of the cage and one at the bottom.

Bottom temps and humidity range: 67°overnight to 74°daytime.Humidity – 55% daytime to 91% overnight. The cage dries out nicely during the day.

Top temps and humidity range: 69° overnight to 78°daytime. Humidity – 50% daytime to 88% overnight.

There is no basking lamp. The cage is partially in front of a south facing window and she gets morning sun. She basks there until sufficiently warmed up then moves to a shady part of the cage. She’s been moving around nicely during the day but when I come home from work, she is hunkered down in the bottom of the cage trying to claw out. Her coloring is dark at this time. Overnight and the rest of the time, her coloring is good.

• Plants – see photos. Only Pothos at this time
• Placement – the cage is in a low traffic area away from vents. The top of the gage is 6 feet from the floor.
• Location – We are in South Carolina?

Current Problem – I can’t confirm she is eating or drinking. She seems to be thinning out. I see no signs of droppings and she shows no interest in drinking when droplets are dangling in front of her.

 

[Flick boy]

Hi and welcome. I'll let someone else go over your review. But until then I would recommend getting a feeder run ,like full throttle feeders, as crickets will scury and hide , and you won't be able to keep any track of feeding amounts, and if they are in there a bit they will also not have any food in them ,nor will they likely have any supplements on them , at this any age a baby cham should be eating loads , what size crickets.

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome! I've me like a half an hour and I'll go over your husbandry and see where I can offer some support and advice

 

[dksengineering]

Hi and welcome. I'll let someone else go over your review. But until then I would recommend getting a feeder run ,like full throttle feeders, as crickets will scury and hide , and you won't be able to keep any track of feeding amounts, and if they are in there a bit they will also not have any food in them ,nor will they likely have any supplements on them , at this any age a baby cham should be eating loads , what size crickets.

Thank you. Great advice on the feeder run. The were small crickets from Pet Smart.

 

[dksengineering]

Hello and welcome! I've me like a half an hour and I'll go over your husbandry and see where I can offer some support and advice

Thanks much!!

 

[elizaann2]

Please see my responses below in bold:

• Your Chameleon – I have a newly purchased female Veiled Chameleon. I estimate her age at 6-8 weeks. She’s about 3” long not including tail. She arrived overnight UPS two days ago. Where did you get her from, if you don't mind my asking
• Handling – I’ve never tried to handle her. Her release into her cage was done by placing her plastic shipping container next to something she could crawl out onto within her cage. I’ve tried to keep her stress free until she settles in. Wonderful!! Handling can be quite stressful for our chameleons so avoiding unnecessary handling is smart
• Feeding – I purchased 40 small crickets; 20 of which are unaccounted for after being released into the cage. I’m hoping she has eaten them but I cannot be sure. I’ve not seen her eat or drink but I’m not with her 24/7. The crickets have that yellow gell from the pet store to feed on and were also feeding on apples, lettuce, and are dusted with calcium. Crickets have a tendency to nibble at our chameleons at night. I would strongly suggest getting either a lunch log, feeder run or a shooting gallery to contain all your crickets. When you've got a growing baby its important to know how much she is eating daily AND you want to avoid a free range situation where the crickets go down to the bottom of the enclosure where all the poop also goes, walk through a poop spot and then go back up the enclosure where your darling girl will eventually eat it. I would also suggest getting a variety of feeders for her, BSFL, silkworms, grasshoppers and dubia are all good staple feeders. If you want to provide a treat for her, wax worms and super worms are great treat bugs. I've included a list of feeders for you to check out as well as a great way to gut load them so they are nice and healthy for your girl. You do not need to get the gel stuff from the pet store for hydration for them, just cut up an apple or a mandrain orange for that - all these bugs get their water from their food sources
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? It’s only been two days. I’m just waiting to see her eat something. Not sure if she has. Supplements are super important. Our chameleon's dont get all the nutrition they need to be healthy and strong in captivity. For a veiled you should be dusting each feeding with a phosphorus free calcium with out vitamin D3. Then on the 1st and 15th of the month you should be using a multivitamin with vitamin D3. Without these supplements we see MBD develop, eye issues and many other health concerns. If you aren't using supplements you'll need to purchase and use them right away. This is what I use:
• Calcium without D3 - on every feeding
• Repashy LoD - on the 1st and 15th of each month
• Watering – I mist the cage at evening to raise humidity and will make sure there is plenty on the leaves for her to drink at the morning misting. I mist the cage plants 3 more times during the night with a final misting around 7:00am. I have never seen her drink, even after having a droplet dangling from her chin. Good, you can also poke a hole through a Solo cup to make a cheap dripper for her to have more drinking opportunities during the day. Chameleons are shy drinkers and you may never see her drink, we monitor hydration through their poop. You want a white urate (the chameleon pee) and the poop you want to be firm to hold its shape but not hard. I install a dripper every day around 3 pm for my chameleons so they have a drinking opportunity in the morning when they wake up with the misting session, at 3 with the dripper and again just as lights turn off. Also where she just was shipped to you she is most likely dehydrated so I would provide more drinking opportunities than normal, once she is settled and well hydrated you can adjust this.
• Fecal Description – In the two days I’ve had her, I’ve never seen a dropping. I am familiar with the shape and coloring and know what to look for. Ok, young ones like her will be pooping maybe every other day or so. Keep a close eye on this and let us know when you find some poop.
• History – When she arrived, she had fibers dangling from her chin that looked like the purple paper bedding she was shipped in. I’m concerned she ingested some but have no way of knowing for sure. Do you have a picture of the fibers? I'm hoping impaction is not an issue here

Cage Info:

• Cage Type – I have a Combo cage. 18” x 18” x 36”. This is ok for now, however she will quickly (like within a few months) grow out of this size enclosure. I'd recommend working on getting her a larger enclosure as soon as possible. The minimum size requirement is a 24x24x48
• Lighting – Arcadia ShadeDweller Pro 7% UV-B Kit mounted on top. 12 hours on starting at 7:00am and 12 hours off. Installed after photo was taken. Will you share a photo of this? We typically use the 6% Arcadia UVB, with it being a little stronger I'll have @Beman give you advice on placement of the light and branches to ensure your baby isn't getting too much UVB.
• Temperature – I have two Govee Hygrometer Thermometer H5075’s; one at the top of the cage and one at the bottom. Fantastic, I love the Govee stuff, its been so nice to have in my enclosures!

Bottom temps and humidity range: 67°overnight to 74°daytime. Humidity – 55% daytime to 91% overnight. The cage dries out nicely during the day. Perfect!!

Top temps and humidity range: 69° overnight to 78°daytime. Humidity – 50% daytime to 88% overnight. Perfect!!

There is no basking lamp. The cage is partially in front of a south facing window and she gets morning sun. She basks there until sufficiently warmed up then moves to a shady part of the cage. She’s been moving around nicely during the day but when I come home from work, she is hunkered down in the bottom of the cage trying to claw out. Her coloring is dark at this time. Overnight and the rest of the time, her coloring is good. I'd be carful with the sun getting into your enclosure, I would worry that it could overheat baby, she shouldn't be clawing to get out of her enclosure, that is a sign that something is bothering her in her environment. Lets look into this and see if we can figure out how to get her comfortable with her home

• Plants – see photos. Only Pothos at this time. Good, the more plants and coverage the better, I'll attach a photo of one of my enclosures to help start some ideas for you, you want the top branches where she gets UVB to be 'out in the open' and the rest of the enclosure should be densely planted. Attaching a document with more safe plants, you'll want to be careful with what kind of plants you use in your enclosure as veiled chameleons tend to eat the plants in their enclosure
• Placement – the cage is in a low traffic area away from vents. The top of the gage is 6 feet from the floor. Good, height equals safety for chameleons so its important to have the top her branches be either at eye level with you or higher.
• Location – We are in South Carolina?

Current Problem – I can’t confirm she is eating or drinking. She seems to be thinning out. I see no signs of droppings and she shows no interest in drinking when droplets are dangling in front of her. Chameleons are shy drinkers and shy eaters. She is also getting used to a new home. Monitor her poops for hydration and food intake, also count how many feeders you find and remove from her enclosure at the end of the day to help you know she is eating.

Last thing: I follow this care guide for my chameleon https://chameleonacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Veiled-Care-Summary-2022C.pdf

Where you have a female chameleon you'll need to know that she will within the next month or so reach an age where she will start to develop eggs. She will lay them with or without a male, much like chickens do. Because of this you will want to have a lay bin for her and once she reaches a certain age you will want to scale back on her food intake and watch her basking temps. I dont remember the age where you will want to start this so I'll let @MissSkittles speak to that, but I do remember that her basking temp should be no more than 80 degrees and she should only eat 3 feeders every other day once she is old enough. (Lay bin information attached as well)

 

[Beman]

You want to buy the 6% UVB bulb for the fixture. The 7% is totally different output levels for shade dwelling species. Chameleons need the 6% version due to the UVA that is emitted from this one vs the 7%.

 

[MissSkittles]

You want to buy the 6% UVB bulb for the fixture. The 7% is totally different output levels for shade dwelling species. Chameleons need the 6% version due to the UVA that is emitted from this one vs the 7%.

I had asked about being able to use 6% bulbs in the Shade Dweller fixture and it’s not going to work the same. Here’s the thread that explains. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/uvb-fixtures-zoomed-or-arcadia.189550/#post-1760388

 

[Beman]

I had asked about being able to use 6% bulbs in the Shade Dweller fixture and it’s not going to work the same. Here’s the thread that explains. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/uvb-fixtures-zoomed-or-arcadia.189550/#post-1760388

Thank you. I just spoke to Todd with Light your reptiles. He is going to post a thread about the differences so we have a full reference for this in the forum. I had no clue that the ballasts Arcadia used were different on the shade dweller line.

 

[dksengineering]

Please see my responses below in bold:

• Your Chameleon – I have a newly purchased female Veiled Chameleon. I estimate her age at 6-8 weeks. She’s about 3” long not including tail. She arrived overnight UPS two days ago. Where did you get her from, if you don't mind my asking
• Handling – I’ve never tried to handle her. Her release into her cage was done by placing her plastic shipping container next to something she could crawl out onto within her cage. I’ve tried to keep her stress free until she settles in. Wonderful!! Handling can be quite stressful for our chameleons so avoiding unnecessary handling is smart
• Feeding – I purchased 40 small crickets; 20 of which are unaccounted for after being released into the cage. I’m hoping she has eaten them but I cannot be sure. I’ve not seen her eat or drink but I’m not with her 24/7. The crickets have that yellow gell from the pet store to feed on and were also feeding on apples, lettuce, and are dusted with calcium. Crickets have a tendency to nibble at our chameleons at night. I would strongly suggest getting either a lunch log, feeder run or a shooting gallery to contain all your crickets. When you've got a growing baby its important to know how much she is eating daily AND you want to avoid a free range situation where the crickets go down to the bottom of the enclosure where all the poop also goes, walk through a poop spot and then go back up the enclosure where your darling girl will eventually eat it. I would also suggest getting a variety of feeders for her, BSFL, silkworms, grasshoppers and dubia are all good staple feeders. If you want to provide a treat for her, wax worms and super worms are great treat bugs. I've included a list of feeders for you to check out as well as a great way to gut load them so they are nice and healthy for your girl. You do not need to get the gel stuff from the pet store for hydration for them, just cut up an apple or a mandrain orange for that - all these bugs get their water from their food sources
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? It’s only been two days. I’m just waiting to see her eat something. Not sure if she has. Supplements are super important. Our chameleon's dont get all the nutrition they need to be healthy and strong in captivity. For a veiled you should be dusting each feeding with a phosphorus free calcium with out vitamin D3. Then on the 1st and 15th of the month you should be using a multivitamin with vitamin D3. Without these supplements we see MBD develop, eye issues and many other health concerns. If you aren't using supplements you'll need to purchase and use them right away. This is what I use:
• Calcium without D3 - on every feeding
• Repashy LoD - on the 1st and 15th of each month
• Watering – I mist the cage at evening to raise humidity and will make sure there is plenty on the leaves for her to drink at the morning misting. I mist the cage plants 3 more times during the night with a final misting around 7:00am. I have never seen her drink, even after having a droplet dangling from her chin. Good, you can also poke a hole through a Solo cup to make a cheap dripper for her to have more drinking opportunities during the day. Chameleons are shy drinkers and you may never see her drink, we monitor hydration through their poop. You want a white urate (the chameleon pee) and the poop you want to be firm to hold its shape but not hard. I install a dripper every day around 3 pm for my chameleons so they have a drinking opportunity in the morning when they wake up with the misting session, at 3 with the dripper and again just as lights turn off. Also where she just was shipped to you she is most likely dehydrated so I would provide more drinking opportunities than normal, once she is settled and well hydrated you can adjust this.
• Fecal Description – In the two days I’ve had her, I’ve never seen a dropping. I am familiar with the shape and coloring and know what to look for. Ok, young ones like her will be pooping maybe every other day or so. Keep a close eye on this and let us know when you find some poop.
• History – When she arrived, she had fibers dangling from her chin that looked like the purple paper bedding she was shipped in. I’m concerned she ingested some but have no way of knowing for sure. Do you have a picture of the fibers? I'm hoping impaction is not an issue here

Cage Info:

• Cage Type – I have a Combo cage. 18” x 18” x 36”. This is ok for now, however she will quickly (like within a few months) grow out of this size enclosure. I'd recommend working on getting her a larger enclosure as soon as possible. The minimum size requirement is a 24x24x48
• Lighting – Arcadia ShadeDweller Pro 7% UV-B Kit mounted on top. 12 hours on starting at 7:00am and 12 hours off. Installed after photo was taken. Will you share a photo of this? We typically use the 6% Arcadia UVB, with it being a little stronger I'll have @Beman give you advice on placement of the light and branches to ensure your baby isn't getting too much UVB.
• Temperature – I have two Govee Hygrometer Thermometer H5075’s; one at the top of the cage and one at the bottom. Fantastic, I love the Govee stuff, its been so nice to have in my enclosures!

Bottom temps and humidity range: 67°overnight to 74°daytime. Humidity – 55% daytime to 91% overnight. The cage dries out nicely during the day. Perfect!!

Top temps and humidity range: 69° overnight to 78°daytime. Humidity – 50% daytime to 88% overnight. Perfect!!

There is no basking lamp. The cage is partially in front of a south facing window and she gets morning sun. She basks there until sufficiently warmed up then moves to a shady part of the cage. She’s been moving around nicely during the day but when I come home from work, she is hunkered down in the bottom of the cage trying to claw out. Her coloring is dark at this time. Overnight and the rest of the time, her coloring is good. I'd be carful with the sun getting into your enclosure, I would worry that it could overheat baby, she shouldn't be clawing to get out of her enclosure, that is a sign that something is bothering her in her environment. Lets look into this and see if we can figure out how to get her comfortable with her home

• Plants – see photos. Only Pothos at this time. Good, the more plants and coverage the better, I'll attach a photo of one of my enclosures to help start some ideas for you, you want the top branches where she gets UVB to be 'out in the open' and the rest of the enclosure should be densely planted. Attaching a document with more safe plants, you'll want to be careful with what kind of plants you use in your enclosure as veiled chameleons tend to eat the plants in their enclosure
• Placement – the cage is in a low traffic area away from vents. The top of the gage is 6 feet from the floor. Good, height equals safety for chameleons so its important to have the top her branches be either at eye level with you or higher.
• Location – We are in South Carolina?

Current Problem – I can’t confirm she is eating or drinking. She seems to be thinning out. I see no signs of droppings and she shows no interest in drinking when droplets are dangling in front of her. Chameleons are shy drinkers and shy eaters. She is also getting used to a new home. Monitor her poops for hydration and food intake, also count how many feeders you find and remove from her enclosure at the end of the day to help you know she is eating.

Last thing: I follow this care guide for my chameleon https://chameleonacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Veiled-Care-Summary-2022C.pdf

Where you have a female chameleon you'll need to know that she will within the next month or so reach an age where she will start to develop eggs. She will lay them with or without a male, much like chickens do. Because of this you will want to have a lay bin for her and once she reaches a certain age you will want to scale back on her food intake and watch her basking temps. I dont remember the age where you will want to start this so I'll let @MissSkittles speak to that, but I do remember that her basking temp should be no more than 80 degrees and she should only eat 3 feeders every other day once she is old enough. (Lay bin information attached as well)

Thank you for taking the time and providing such a detailed reply. You have helped a new keeper immensely!! In answer to your question: I'll hold off for now on stating where it was purchased in case there are issues. I don't want to give a false bad rap. She was well packaged and communication was great. A photo of the fibers is at the bottom of the original post (the enlarged closeup of the face). I am concerned about impaction. I never thought I would look forward to seeing poop.

Thank you again for such great support and suggestions.

 

[dksengineering]

You want to buy the 6% UVB bulb for the fixture. The 7% is totally different output levels for shade dwelling species. Chameleons need the 6% version due to the UVA that is emitted from this one vs the 7%.

Thank you!! Great information!

 

[dksengineering]

I had asked about being able to use 6% bulbs in the Shade Dweller fixture and it’s not going to work the same. Here’s the thread that explains. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/uvb-fixtures-zoomed-or-arcadia.189550/#post-1760388

Thank you. I'll give that a read. This is an awesome community!!

 

[dksengineering]

Thank you. I just spoke to Todd with Light your reptiles. He is going to post a thread about the differences so we have a full reference for this in the forum. I had no clue that the ballasts Arcadia used were different on the shade dweller line.

Thank you! I'll keep an eye out for the post.

 

[Beman]

Thank you! I'll keep an eye out for the post.

Here is the link https://www.chameleonforums.com/thr...ot-the-same-as-the-22-5-6-ho-fixtures.191400/

 

[GrannyK]

Welcome to the forum! What a cute little one you have there!

 

[elizaann2]

Thank you for taking the time and providing such a detailed reply. You have helped a new keeper immensely!! In answer to your question: I'll hold off for now on stating where it was purchased in case there are issues. I don't want to give a false bad rap. She was well packaged and communication was great. A photo of the fibers is at the bottom of the original post (the enlarged closeup of the face). I am concerned about impaction. I never thought I would look forward to seeing poop.

Thank you again for such great support and suggestions.

I totally respect that 100%. Those fibers on her chin don’t look like they will cause an impaction issue to me…. My guess is she is just new and a little dehydrated from her journey which is totally normal. Continue to provide extra misting or drippers so she can hydrate herself.

You are very welcome for all the help. Please keep us posted on how she does and let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Also welcome to the “poop club”. We are alll exited to see poop.

 

[dksengineering]

Good morning everyone,

Great news for all who have helped me with my first Chameleon. When I got home from work yesterday, I saw she had pooped (photo attached). Everything looks normal from what I've read. Does the yellow portion attached to the white portion indicate a dehydration issue? I think I remember reading that somewhere.

She was purchased online from BackwaterReptiles. It appears she was shipped out of South Florida.

I hand fed her 4 crickets and placed water droplets in her mouth and then put her back in her cage to recover from what I'm sure was the worst meal she ever ate. She did eat so I know she is getting nutrients and not simply wasting away.

I installed a feeder run and it works great. I'm anxious to see if she takes to it.

Things are looking up and I want to thank this community for all the excellent support.

 

[CalamityCrow]

Good morning everyone,

Great news for all who have helped me with my first Chameleon. When I got home from work yesterday, I saw she had pooped (photo attached). Everything looks normal from what I've read. Does the yellow portion attached to the white portion indicate a dehydration issue? I think I remember reading that somewhere.

She was purchased online from BackwaterReptiles. It appears she was shipped out of South Florida.

I hand fed her 4 crickets and placed water droplets in her mouth and then put her back in her cage to recover from what I'm sure was the worst meal she ever ate. She did eat so I know she is getting nutrients and not simply wasting away.

I installed a feeder run and it works great. I'm anxious to see if she takes to it.

Things are looking up and I want to thank this community for all the excellent support.

Glad to hear she pooped! That poop looks pretty normal. The orange there can sometimes happen if it's a while before they poop, or didn't get enough hydration at some point. That most of it is pretty white means she's probably getting hydrated enough. You want pure white ideally (but not runny egg-whites) so offering her more drinking opportunity isn't a bad idea at all. She should take pretty quick to the feeder run - I just got a new little guy and the breeder I got him from free-feeds crickets. In about 2 days he happily swapped from free-feeding on crickets to cup-feeding on dubia roaches and black soldier fly larvae (I HATE keeping crickets). They're big 'ol blockhead dummies sometimes but if they're feeling generally well/hungry, they'll find where their food is.

Keep us in the loop and feel free to keep asking questions!

 

[Beman]

Good morning everyone,

Great news for all who have helped me with my first Chameleon. When I got home from work yesterday, I saw she had pooped (photo attached). Everything looks normal from what I've read. Does the yellow portion attached to the white portion indicate a dehydration issue? I think I remember reading that somewhere.

She was purchased online from BackwaterReptiles. It appears she was shipped out of South Florida.

I hand fed her 4 crickets and placed water droplets in her mouth and then put her back in her cage to recover from what I'm sure was the worst meal she ever ate. She did eat so I know she is getting nutrients and not simply wasting away.

I installed a feeder run and it works great. I'm anxious to see if she takes to it.

Things are looking up and I want to thank this community for all the excellent support.

Hey there. Make sure you get a fecal done on this one.... And make sure if you have more than one cham you are not cross contaminating until you know she is parasite free.

 

[dksengineering]

Hey there. Make sure you get a fecal done on this one.... And make sure if you have more than one cham you are not cross contaminating until you know she is parasite free.

Any idea what the going rate is for a fecal check I should expect from a Vet?