Chameleon sleeping during the day. I think she might be sick (Please help)

[KayleePJ]

I have a veiled female chameleon. And she doesn’t seem to be doing to well. Last night her light went out around the time I usually turn it off. So I rushed this morning to go get her a new one. But aside from this. She’s been sleeping during the day. And seems very weak and clumsy. She wasn’t eating but I cleaned her cage and then put some crickets in there and she ate them. But she still isn’t looking too good. Her eyes are a little dark (they aren’t sunken in) and she’s being very lazy when she’s usually active. She’s had plenty of water. I always make sure of that.

Chameleon cage details:
•It’s about 3ft by 4ft tall. And glass with a mesh top.
•I have a 100w day light bulb that has uva and uvb rays
•I have moss in the bottom and plenty of stuff for her to climb on


Chameleon details:
•she’s around 6 or 7 months the place I got her from didn’t give me an exact age
•She’s never laid eggs before (a friend of mine with a chameleon thinks she might be pregnant)
•Shes usually very active and loves her food but today was just letting the crickets crawl on her for a while before she ate them (which she’s never done)

If you need any other info please feel free to ask I just really would like some help and guidance.

 

[Syreptyon]

Hi Kaylee! Welcome to the forums. You're in good hands and I'm glad you've reached out to us. There could be a lot going on here, but for starters I'll tell you that the light you are using is not at all acceptable for chameleons. Chameleons require a linear UVB light. Any all-in-one bulb will quickly lead to the decline of a chameleon. The moss in the bottom of the cage is a dangerous addition as well, which is not necessary or helpful to the chameleon, but instead harbors dangerous bacteria and moisture which may very well give your chameleon an infection.

In order for us to help, we will need a comprehensive review of your husbandry. Please don't leave out any details at all - the more the better. And including pictures of both the cage and the chameleon will be tremendously helpful. Please copy/past the following and fill in your answers:

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.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[Rlc1994]

Hello welcome to the forums!

We are going to need to see some pictures of the enclosure and chameleon to see what your working with. If it’s indeed a female you will need to read up on lay bins. Females need to be able to lay their eggs or they can become egg bound and die.

As for your enclosure it’s sounds like a fish tank. Does it have a ventilation bar near the bottom of the cage? Or does it just have the mesh top? Your lighting sounds like your using a mercury vapor bulb. If so these put out tremendous amounts of uvb and are only recommended in very large sized enclosures. You need a t5HO linear bulb light fixture for uvb. And a basking fixture for heat. Showing pictures of your light setup would helpful too.

I’m off to bed though for the night so hopefully more people will chime in. I’d recommend filling out that form @Syreptyon copied above and try to be as detailed as possible when filling it out.

 

[KayleePJ]

• Your Chameleon -
• The species: A veiled chameleon
• sex: female
• age of your chameleon: she’s about 6 or 7 months they couldn’t tell me exactly
• How long has it been in your care? She has been in my care for a 2 and 1/2 months not
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Not too often just when I leave her door open and she comes out.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Mostly crickets but sometimes meal worms.
• What amount? About 8-10 is usually How much she eats.
• What is the schedule? She goes to sleep at about 11pm and wakes up around 11am
• How are you gut-loading your feeders? I have the calcium gel water as well as the calcium food for crickets.
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? The brand is flukers (flukerfarm.com)
• Watering -
• What kind of watering technique do you use? I mist her cage whenever it gets dry
• How often and how long to you mist? About 30 seconds to a minute
• Do you see your chameleon drinking? Yes she drinks pretty good usually
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• Usually a yellowish or brown. Depending on if she eats meal worms or crickets.
• No she hasn’t been tested. But I’m taking her to the vet tmrw if she doesn’t start looking better
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
• I got her from petsmart. And the lady seemed to be very knowledgeable about chameleons. But didn’t give me much background information

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• It’s mostly glass with a door that opens in the front. Has a mesh top and a vent in the middle.
• Lighting -
• What brand: the light I’m using right now is a day blue light which provides basking heat uva and uvb rays
• model: it’s a day light blue with 100w
• and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule: I leave it on for 12 hours during the day. And off 12 during the night
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)?: Her basking spot is usually about 100 degrees F. the floor is about 80
• Lowest overnight temp?: it doesn’t ever get colder than 65 in her cage.
• How do you measure these temps? I have a thermometer and humidity gage in her house
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? It stays between 60 and 70% humidity
• How are you creating and maintaining these levels? I just mist her with water from a spray bottle every time her cage gets dry.
• What do you use to measure humidity? A humidity gage
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? No. I have fake ones.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? I usually keep her in my room. But right now she’s downstairs so everyone can keep an eye on her.
• Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? I have a fan and an air vent in my room. The vents above her cage. But it doesn’t point in her direction.
• At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? About 3ft
• Location - Where are you geographically located? In South Carolina

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
She’s been sleeping during the day, she hasn’t been eating regularly when I fed her today it took her forever to eat and she let the crickets crawl on her. Her eyes are darker than normal. and colors are much different than usual.

(I will post picture in a minute)

 

[KayleePJ]

The first picture is from when I first got her. To what she is looking like now.

 

[Syreptyon]

The first picture is from when I first got her. To what she is looking like now.

I thought you said her cage was 3 feet by 4 feet tall..? That enclosure is way too small for her

 

[KayleePJ]

I thought you said her cage was 3 feet by 4 feet tall..? That enclosure is way too small for her

It’s 2 and 1/2 feet by 4ft I believe. But I’m working on getting her a bigger one it just hasn’t come in yet.

 

[Syreptyon]

It’s 2 and 1/2 feet by 4ft I believe. But I’m working on getting her a bigger one it just hasn’t come in yet.

It's not even close to that. That is clearly a 12"x12"x18" exoterra

 

[KayleePJ]

It's not even close to that. That is clearly a 12"x12"x18" exoterra

I was estimating. It wasn’t exact. Im aware she needs a bigger cage. It’s on its way. I had to special order it.

 

[Syreptyon]

Other comments:

(1) Never feed chameleons mealworms, they have essentially no nutritional value and are an impaction risk.

(2) The calcium cricket food is unfortunately useless to chameleons and offers them nothing they need. All it will do is keep the crickets alive, not your chameleon. If you want a commercial gutload, then use Cricket Crack. Any fluker's product is, sadly, garbage. But there is nothing better than fresh produce like collard greens, mustard greens, escarole, papaya, sweet potato, etc

(3) The daylight blue does NOT offer any UVB whatsoever. Colored lights should not be used with chameleons at all. You need a regular incandescent hosuehold lightbulb for heat and a separate linear light for UVB, like a reptisun 10.0 or arcadia 12%

(4) 100F is massively too hot for her! Especially in glass, the poor thing is baking like she's in an oven. Absolutely no higher than 85.

(5) Live plants would benefit her significantly

(6) What about her calcium and multivitamin supplements?? Chameleons cannot live without these

 

[Syreptyon]

I was estimating. It wasn’t exact. Im aware she needs a bigger cage. It’s on its way. I had to special order it.

No... You were lying. No one in the world can mistake 1.5 feet for 4 feet. We need you to be honest with us if we are going to be able to help you

 

[KayleePJ]

No... You were lying. No one in the world can mistake 1.5 feet for 4 feet. We need you to be honest with us if we are going to be able to help you

Look. I’m 15 and doing my best. ill Ask my mom next time for a more accurate result. Sorry I’m not a mathematician.

 

[Syreptyon]

Look. I’m 15 and doing my best. ill Ask my mom next time for a more accurate result. Sorry I’m not a mathematician.

Have you ever seen a ruler before? Lol. I'm sure you know how tall you are. And I'm sure you know that 4 feet is just a handful of inches shorter than you are. That cage isn't even as long as your arm. Age is not an excuse here and accountability is very important in chameleon keeping.

More importantly are the husbandry changes I suggested, though. If these are not corrected quickly, she has little chance. With her eyes already closing so much, the truth is that she needs to see a veterinarian with chameleon experience.

 

[KayleePJ]

Other comments:

(1) Never feed chameleons mealworms, they have essentially no nutritional value and are an impaction risk.

(2) The calcium cricket food is unfortunately useless to chameleons and offers them nothing they need. All it will do is keep the crickets alive, not your chameleon. If you want a commercial gutload, then use Cricket Crack. Any fluker's product is, sadly, garbage. But there is nothing better than fresh produce like collard greens, mustard greens, escarole, papaya, sweet potato, etc

(3) The daylight blue does NOT offer any UVB whatsoever. Colored lights should not be used with chameleons at all. You need a regular incandescent hosuehold lightbulb for heat and a separate linear light for UVB, like a reptisun 10.0 or arcadia 12%

(4) 100F is massively too hot for her! Especially in glass, the poor thing is baking like she's in an oven. Absolutely no higher than 85.

(5) Live plants would benefit her significantly

(6) What about her calcium and multivitamin supplements?? Chameleons cannot live without these

I also have some calcium dust that I put on the crickets or meal worms before I put them In it’s called: exoterra calcium powder supplement.
My chameleon is also extremely picky. And doesn’t usually like anything other than her crickets. (She won’t even eat the freeze dried ones)
I’ll go get her a new bulb tmrw. I did a lot of research myself. And so did my mom. But the lady seemed to know what she was talking about so it made us second guess.
Right now her bulb usually emits 100. But I put it in the corner so she can get away from it if need be. But it’s only giving off about 90.
What kind of live plants could I put in there that are safe for her. (Someone said something about my moss. Should I take it out? If so what should I put in the bottom)
And calcium is listed above.

 

[KayleePJ]

Have you ever seen a ruler before? Lol. I'm sure you know how tall you are. And I'm sure you know that 4 feet is just a handful of inches shorter than you are. That cage isn't even as long as your arm. Age is not an excuse here and accountability is very important in chameleon keeping.

More importantly are the husbandry changes I suggested, though. If these are not corrected quickly, she has little chance. With her eyes already closing so much, the truth is that she needs to see a veterinarian with chameleon experience.

I plan on taking her to the vet tomorrow my mom already called. As I think I noted in my first post.

 

[Graves923]

I also have some calcium dust that I put on the crickets or meal worms before I put them In it’s called: exoterra calcium powder supplement.
My chameleon is also extremely picky. And doesn’t usually like anything other than her crickets. (She won’t even eat the freeze dried ones)
I’ll go get her a new bulb tmrw. I did a lot of research myself. And so did my mom. But the lady seemed to know what she was talking about so it made us second guess.
Right now her bulb usually emits 100. But I put it in the corner so she can get away from it if need be. But it’s only giving off about 90.
What kind of live plants could I put in there that are safe for her. (Someone said something about my moss. Should I take it out? If so what should I put in the bottom)
And calcium is listed above.

This has all the info you need to know about chameleons: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/
Pet stores are notorious for giving the wrong information, which is definitely the case here unfortunately.

You should get a screen cage sooner than later. You'll also need a LINEAR T5HO light fixture with a 5.0 UVB T5HO tube bulb.

Supplements, you need 3... Plain calcium NO D3 for daily use, Calcium WITH D3 used twice per month, and a multivitamin used twice per month.

Right now, you chameleon is getting NO UVB which means she is producing NO D3. No D3 in her ystems mean the calcium you are giving her is doing absolutely nothing for her. D3 helps transport the calcium to her bones. If she doesn't has metabolic bone disease yet, she will soon.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

Sorry I’m not a mathematician.

ROTFL
Thank you, I needed that!

 

[Brodybreaux25]

No

I plan on taking her to the vet tomorrow my mom already called. As I think I noted in my first post.

No mention of a vet in your first post. Not gravid.

 

[Thatwizard420]

Just answer the question? Why the attacks? Why dafuq people care if he gave the wrong cage dimensions? I thought I was Immature, but holy most of you just attack people. Thanks to all the ones that did help. I got nothing useful cuz everything been said. Imagine that was your 15yo son/daughter and gets attacked because he asked for help? It doesn’t make it right even if he’s 30,40,10.. All people Should be treated with respect. Especially from seasoned members. You’re the example in this Forum.

 

[Beman]

@KayleePJ Hi there hun. So you happen to have gotten an animal that requires a lot of their keeper to stay healthy...

You need the screen cage now not later and a T5HO fixture with a 5.0 UVB bulb. This needs to run the length of your new cage. I recommend the 24 inch wide cage and I will give you the link below for it. So you want a 24 inch fixture. Right now she is not getting any UVB. This is important because with out this they are unable to create D3 in their body. Their body uses this for strong bones and multiple functions. Right now without the correct bulb her body is absorbing the D3 in her bones to try and compensate for the lack of having proper lighting. This will make it to where her bones break extremely easily and she will not be able to lay eggs when it comes time and become egg bound. So this is really important to get corrected with the new cage and supplements.
Also 100 watt bulb is producing way too much heat for her little glass enclosure. You can actually use a regular household incandescent bulb. Ask your mom she will know what it is. Try a 60 watt bulb but that still may be too warm.

Get a thermal temp gun like this https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Las...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl
With this you can scan her body to make sure she is not too hot. She should not be any warmer then 85 degrees.

To make it more simple for a supplement you will want to get this one. Repashy Calcium plus LoD 3oz jar... https://www.amazon.com/Repashy-Calc...cium+plus+lod&qid=1563893976&s=gateway&sr=8-3
With this supplement it is the only one you will use and you will use it on every feeding.

To make things more simple for a gutload for your feeders get this... https://www.amazon.com/Repashy-Bug-...ds=bug+burger&qid=1563894228&s=gateway&sr=8-5
Follow the directions for making it and store it in the fridge.

This is a better cage then a reptibreeze and they have very fast shipping. Tell your mom this is a have to buy thing. If she stays in the little exo terra she will develop a respiratory infection and these require a vet and antibiotics to treat. They are 24inches wide by 24inches by 48 inches tall. so 2x2x4 in feet. So it will be the cage you can use forever with her and will accommodate adding a lay bin for her.(she will lay infertile eggs like a chicken does) https://www.diycages.com/collection...ducts/sc4-48x24x24-jumbo-vertical-screen-cage

As for everything else we can help you more when you are able to correct the cage, lighting, and supplement. But these are the things that must be done now for her to be ok. Let me know if any of this does not make sense. I have a 15 year old daughter... So I am trying to give my advice as if I were talking to my daughter.