Climbing Upside Down...???

[allgreen]

Chameleon Info:
My Mary Jane is a 1 1/2 year old veiled chameleon. My boyfriend and I have had her for about 8 months. We very rarely handle her, only for terrarium cleanings. She eats about 10-15 large gut-loaded crickets a day. We feed her usually around noon time. We are not using any supplements as we are breeding our own crickets and feeding the supplements directly to them. She has had a water fall in her environment but it recently stopped working. We have had a dish of water for the past few weeks and mist 2-3 times daily. Her humidity is kept between 70-80* and temp between 70-80 in the day and 65 at night. She has a UVB bulb and a spot light, as well as a infrared light at night. She is in a 45 gallon glass tank. Recently she has been hanging out either towards the bottom of her tank or climbing up on the top. The past two days she has been hanging upside down on the top of the tank. We thought she may be trying to lay eggs (although infertile) but when we removed her from her tank and put her in a birthing container (a large plastic container with about a foot or more of compressed dirt (warm) that she can dig in..) she just laid around and didn't move anywhere. Worried, we put her back into her home. We put a large plastic bowl in there with the substrate so she would have a place to lay eggs if that in fact was the case. She has just been acting strange lately. She still eats and poops but not as much. She has been dark greens and browns during the day and night but around 5 or 6 pm she has been bright green and healthy looking. What could my problem be?

 

[carol5208]

Wow! There are a few things that are wrong here! First of all if you could post some pics of her that would be very beneficial. You are WAY over feeding her! At that age she should be fed every other day and about 6 large crickets or so with a treat of a worm here or there. 10-15 is what you feed a growing baby! No need for a night light. chams like it dark at night! Also, what are you supplementing with? Please fill this out so we can help you better! You should also be housing her in something larger than a 45 gallon tank! Preferably a screen enclousure! https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Gensen]

Agreed!

Wow! There are a few things that are wrong here! First of all if you could post some pics of her that would be very beneficial. You are WAY over feeding her! At that age she should be fed every other day and about 6 large crickets or so with a treat of a worm here or there. 10-15 is what you feed a growing baby! No need for a night light. chams like it dark at night! Also, what are you supplementing with? Please fill this out so we can help you better! You should also be housing her in something larger than a 45 gallon tank! Preferably a screen enclousure! https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Yes, according to what you wrote there could be several issues going on. A sceen enclosure is recommended over glass as Chams need lots of ventilation. Also the waterfall is a no, no... they are breeding grounds for bacteria and bacteria is bad.... same goes for any "standing dish" of water... not good for bacteria reasons but also sometimes Chams will poop in it and then you obviously do not want them drinking it either. And as Carol mentioned at her age the amount of food you are giving is way over-feeding. What do you mena oyu supplement the crickets? May I ask with what?
As Carol said if you could post some pictures of her and her enclosure and fill out the "help" form we can better assist you in what might be going on. She could be sick due to errors in feeding and husbandry. We will watch for the form and pics and help in any way we can....

 

[jr andrade]

Whats up with the glass? You don't need a bowl of water in there all thatll do is get her sick with all the bacteria and stuff, again the cage, your going to need a screened one, DIY, one of the sponsors, has very big ones for cheap, 95 shipped. Also is the uvb light linear or is it just the bulb? Your going to need a reptisun 5.0 or a reptiglow 5.0 LINEAR tube, the bulbs are just too bright and cause eye problems. As for the colors and problems your seeing she may be gravid but she isnt ready to lay yet, has she gotten bigger at all? please fill out the how to ask for help form to help us help you.

 

[ataraxia]

i personally know a breeder that successfully keeps veileds in glass aquariums for the last ten years. she has the prettiest/biggest male ive ever laid eyes on. although screen imo is better. if your girl is not obese and eating that many crickets. i personally would give her what she can eat. it is very important to supplement/dust your feeders as many on here will suggest to you. im not a fan of standing water even if you keep it clean. chams are clumsy at times and accidents happen. now for the hanging. im going to **assume** here that your cham was upside down near your basking bulb. maybe she does not have a vine or limb to perch up close enough to the heat source to bask at the temps she wants. this may not be the same case but i learned this with my male.

 

[Olimpia]

I'm with Carol and Gensen, a female of her age should not be fed that much. Her temps should also be kept in the low 80's maximum. Both these steps will help her NOT produce eggs, and if she does, keep the number of eggs low. Laying eggs cuts the life of your female, so to keep her healthy longer cut down her food and temps This blog will be your best friend with her: http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

However, don't cut her food yet, since we don't know if she's gravid and about to lay eggs. She needs all the strength she can get at this point. Please, fill out the link that was posted very thoroughly and hopefully we can pinpoint what might be wrong.