Chameleon temp

[Kaitlynbusta330]

What temperature does a chameleons body have to be able to. Eat and digest food in a healthy manner

 

[djdanny402]

Depends on the type of chameleon ,
But usually between 80-85 degrees sounds about right for basking
with lower temps , lower in the enclosure.

 

[Kaitlynbusta330]

She’s a veiled chameleon. I bought a temperature gun and measured her body temp and it was 93.2 degrees Fahrenheit, but she was in her basking spot. She hasn’t been eating really anything so I was wondering if maybe the temperature in the cage isn’t right for digestion.

 

[funnyCAT140]

Here's a link to the veiled care sheet: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
It has all the temps in it. Females basking should be 85 degrees.

 

[hopps31]

She’s a veiled chameleon. I bought a temperature gun and measured her body temp and it was 93.2 degrees Fahrenheit, but she was in her basking spot. She hasn’t been eating really anything so I was wondering if maybe the temperature in the cage isn’t right for digestion.

There are a lot of contributing factors why she may not be eating. If you fill out the information in this link with as much detail as you can, we may be able to help see if something needs to be tweaked to help get her eating again: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

Also if you are positive she is a female she needs a laying bin, here is a great link to read: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[kinyonga]

You have to be careful with female veileds...if you keep them too warm and overfeed them it will lead to large clutches and likely to reproductive issues, MBD and prolapsing. How old is your female. Post a photo of her please. She will digrest food fine if the basking temperature is in the mid to low 80'sF.

 

[Kaitlynbusta330]

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. Howlong has it been in your care?
• Veiled chameleon, sex is unknown,I’ve had her for a little over a month now.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• I really never handle her, she isfriendly and has never snapped at me, sometimes if I hold my hand out in front of her she climbs on me.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Size small crickets, dusted withcalcium plus(not sure of the name brand, I’m not home right now) I giveher crickets until she doesn’t wantanymore so about 4-5.(when we waseating). And about 2 mealworms.
• Supplements - What brand and typeof calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Repashy calcium plus.
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How oftenand how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• I must the cage 2 times a day, once in the morning and once at like6:00pm. I must usually half thebottle, until the plants are dripping and the humidity is up.
• Fecal Description - Briefly notecolors and consistency from recentdroppings. Has this chameleon everbeen tested for parasites?
• She pooped yesterday, as she’s does usually every day. It all looks the same, solid but soft.
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might beuseful to others when trying to helpyou.
• I ordered her on undergroundreptiles.com

 

[Kaitlynbusta330]

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Zoo med open breeze screen cage.(threw the box away so not sure of size, I’ll post a picture)
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• 100w daylight blue reptile bulb in the cage, unsure about uvb as I throughthe box away, but it’s a coiled bulb. Iturn the light on at 7-8 a.m. and shut it off around 9 p.m.
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnighttemp? How do you measure these temps?
• The only temperature I know is from the temperature gage in the back of the cage which stays at 75-80. She has a basking spot in middle of cage and areas where she can cool down if needed to.
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating andmaintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• When I mist the cage, the humidity level goes from about 40 to 80, with a towel in the back of the cage to keep humidity in. I also use ahumidity gage.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Fake plants.
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what heightis the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• My cage is next to my bed, on a night table. Yes it is by a vent but I have the vent closed off.
• Location - Where are yougeographically located?
• Pekin, Illinois.

 

[Kaitlynbusta330]

 

[hopps31]

Thanks for filling out the form.

He/she which you can tell by looking at the back of its feet and see if there is a tarsal spur, your picture is to blurry and I can't tell.

I have a few suggestions.
1- It needs way more foliage in the middle and top, they love to have cover and hide to feel safe. Live plants are great to help with the humidity as well. I like pothos, they are easy to find and grow, there is a safe plant list with other varieties on here as well, make sure you wash both sides of the leaves well.
2- I would remove the substrate on the bottom, if ingested it can be an impact issue especially with he/she being so small.
3- The temp and humidity gauge you have are very inaccurate, also they are not at all telling you what the actual basking spot is, an infrared temp gun is much more accurate and you can just "scan" the spot and immediately know the temp.
4- I would move the light to one side or the other so there is more of a temp. gradient, also I would switch to a linear(long tube) bulb so the whole enclosure can have uvb rather than just one spot like you get with the coil type. I use Reptisun t5 HO 5.0. Also 100 w bulb seems way to strong for such a small enclosure, babies dehydrate very quickly.
5- What are you gut loading(feeding) the crickets? I would also get rid of the mealworms they are not a great feeder, you could switch to superworms. Also variety of feeders is key, some suggestions are hornworms, silkworms, dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae. She/he should be eating anywhere from 10-15 appropriate size feeders every day.
6- Her fecal should have a brown area and a white tip(urates), you said it all looks the same color?

 

[kinyonga]

In addition to what's been said already...

Lights ...i would change the blue light for a regular white household incandescent bulb.

Plants ...I would replace them for real ones to help with the humidity.

Dripper...I would set up a dripper to run for an hour or so every day. It can be a tall deli cup with a tiny hole in the bottom so it drips at the rate of o e or two drips per second.

 

[Kaitlynbusta330]

Thanks for filling out the form.

He/she which you can tell by looking at the back of its feet and see if there is a tarsal spur, your picture is to blurry and I can't tell.

I have a few suggestions.
1- It needs way more foliage in the middle and top, they love to have cover and hide to feel safe. Live plants are great to help with the humidity as well. I like pothos, they are easy to find and grow, there is a safe plant list with other varieties on here as well, make sure you wash both sides of the leaves well.
2- I would remove the substrate on the bottom, if ingested it can be an impact issue especially with he/she being so small.
3- The temp and humidity gauge you have are very inaccurate, also they are not at all telling you what the actual basking spot is, an infrared temp gun is much more accurate and you can just "scan" the spot and immediately know the temp.
4- I would move the light to one side or the other so there is more of a temp. gradient, also I would switch to a linear(long tube) bulb so the whole enclosure can have uvb rather than just one spot like you get with the coil type. I use Reptisun t5 HO 5.0. Also 100 w bulb seems way to strong for such a small enclosure, babies dehydrate very quickly.
5- What are you gut loading(feeding) the crickets? I would also get rid of the mealworms they are not a great feeder, you could switch to superworms. Also variety of feeders is key, some suggestions are hornworms, silkworms, dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae. She/he should be eating anywhere from 10-15 appropriate size feeders every day.
6- Her fecal should have a brown area and a white tip(urates), you said it all looks the same color?

I bought a temperature gun, I just haven’t removed the other gages. I want to get a pothos, but I don’t known how I’m going to put it in my cage because the cage isn’t not tall, I would rather have real plants, I’m just not sure how I’d set it up. And that is what her fecal looks like, I meant that it all looks the same, like no changes in it. I gutload my crickets with lettuce, apples, and I’ve used potatoes one time. I also bought the cricket diet, it’s the orange cubes? I can’t remember the name. Today I got her to eat 2 crickets because I would put them next to her and she’s open her mouth up at them and I’d pop one in her mouth and she would eat it. I don’t want this to be how I have to feed her.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."that is what her fecal looks like, I meant that it all looks the same, like no changes in it"...
Here's a thread on poop that should help you...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/poop-101.120171/

You said .... "I gutload my crickets with lettuce, apples, and I’ve used potatoes one time. I also bought the cricket diet, it’s the orange cubes?"...the cubes are not much good IMHO I would recommend that you feed/gutload the crickets, superworms, roaches with dandelion greens, kale, endive, escarole, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, carrots, and a BIT of fruit such as berries, melon, apples, pears etc.

You said..."Today I got her to eat 2 crickets because I would put them next to her and she’s open her mouth up at them and I’d pop one in her mouth and she would eat it. I don’t want this to be how I have to feed her"... What size are the crickets!? Do they fit in her mouth comfortably? Are they about the distance between her eyes? If you're going to put one in her mouth make sure it ends up between her teeth.

 

[Kaitlynbusta330]

Yes, the crickets are small. I’ve seen her eat bigger ones than the ones I just bought, and yes I only put it in the tip of her mouth so when she bites down she only crunches the head, then she starts eating it and it goes down fine.

 

[Kaitlynbusta330]

Also I have a 60w bulb instead of my 100w bulb, should I switch it to the 60w?

 

[hopps31]

Also I have a 60w bulb instead of my 100w bulb, should I switch it to the 60w?

It really depends on what the basking temp. is reading. I personally only use a 40w and when they were smaller I even had the 40w on a lamp dimmer to acquire the right basking spot!

@kinyonga is amazing and so knowledgeable, whatever she suggests I would go with!!

Gut loading is important as crickets are not very nutritious by them selves so it is important that they eat good so your cham can

Also UVB is very important, so when you have a chance I would change it out for a linear!

They do sell little pothos you could start with

She is so cute and little, Congratulations, I meant to say that last night

 

[Kaitlynbusta330]

Thank you so much!

 

[kinyonga]

@hopps31 said..."@kinyonga is amazing and so knowledgeable, whatever she suggests I would go with!" ..thanks for the compliment but I don't have all the answers even after all these years. I doubt I'll ever be done learning about them.

 

[hopps31]

@hopps31 said..."@kinyonga is amazing and so knowledgeable, whatever she suggests I would go with!" ..thanks for the compliment but I don't have all the answers even after all these years. I doubt I'll ever be done learning about them.

I feel if I could have 1/4 of your knowledge about them, I would be doing great That is one thing that amazes me, there really is something new and fascinating to learn about them all the time!

 

[kinyonga]

There is for sure always something new to learn about them!