closed eyes

[yungzerk]

i recently just bought a veiled chameleon about a month ago, he’s been doing super good with all the correct lights and humidity (cage size etc..). He’s been eating super good and is very active but recently i noticed he closes his eyes for a couple of minutes during the daytime, is it something i should be worried about? or do you think it’s cause he’s still semi new and only about 3 months old

 

[elizaann2]

Hello and welcome! He should not be closing his eyes during the day. This should be a red flag that something is off or wrong. Lets do a husbandry review to ensure that you have everything down correctly. Unfortunately there is a lot of incorrect information on chameleon care out there so its always good to double check . Copy and paste the form below and fill out your answers, the more info you can give us the better. If you can also include pictures o your boy, his enclsure and the lights on top that would be great too!

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 do 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 -

 

[yungzerk]

Hello and welcome! He should not be closing his eyes during the day. This should be a red flag that something is off or wrong. Lets do a husbandry review to ensure that you have everything down correctly. Unfortunately there is a lot of incorrect information on chameleon care out there so its always good to double check . Copy and paste the form below and fill out your answers, the more info you can give us the better. If you can also include pictures o your boy, his enclsure and the lights on top that would be great too!

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 do 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 -

Hello! thank you very much for replying and i apologize for the short information i provided i was just worried and sent out a post.

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon , Male and about 3 months old. I’ve only had him about a month now
• Handling - I try not to handle him as he is new, but i reached my hand below him once just to see his reaction and he puffed up and didn’t like it so i won’t be trying that again soon.
• Feeding - Mainly crickets, but he’s eaten 2-3 very small hornworms as a treat. Typically 5-6 large crickets, but if he’s hungry i’ll feed him more. I used to feed him every other day, but i seen online i should let him eat as much as he wants since he’s still growing. I gut load my crickets with hearty greens, such as kale carrots etc..
• Supplements - i dust his crickets with zoo med repti calcium without d3 every feed. and i use reptivite zoo med calcium with d3 2 times a month
  
• Watering - I have a dripper running throughout the day, and a fogger throughout the entire night, still need a misting system but i still mist when the lights turn off, and when they turn on. I mist for 2-3 mins. Yes i’ve seen my little guy drink quite a lot!
• Fecal Description - poops are looking good, the white part is mostly white and only about %25-50 orange (this varies) . No, he is still newish and i unfortunately don’t have the income to visit a vet right now, but i eventually will.
• History -

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Reptibreeze screen cage 24x24x48
• Lighting - zoo med 150W basking light (basking spot wasn’t close enough to heat so i had to buy a higher wattage). and a repti zoo t.5 5.0 UVB with reflector strip. lights turn on at 6:45am and turn off at 6:45pm since it’s winter time
• Temperature - basking spot is 89 degrees- mid range is 72- and bottom of the cage is 65. lowest temperature at night would be 60ish. i measure it with a highly accurate thermometer gun
• Humidity - 40-50 during the day and 70-80 during nighttime, it used to be higher when i had a glass cage but it’s been harder to keep in humidity with a screen cage, but i plan on wrapping parts of the cage so the humidity is able to stay in so he can have higher humidity levels at night. with a dripper running all day and night, and a fogger throughout the night and i mist on a constant schedule ? zoo med temp and humidity combo(i plan to upgrade to something more accurate when i can)
• Plants - I only have 2 fake plants in his cage, but the live plants i have are a gardenia, ficus tree, and 3 other assorted plants that are animal safe but i’m not entirely sure what kind they are
• Placement - My cage is on my dresser which is probably 3 feet above the ground and isnt near anything that could be effect temperature or humidity. The cage probably reaches 6-7 feet on top of my dresser
• Location - I live in dry arizona so i try my best to keep his humidity up but during summer i’m sure ittl be harder

 

[Lt.WorfReportingForDuty]

Hello! Welcome to the community. Your Cham is such a cutie! I love his little spots on his side.

One thing that helped me raise the humidity of the screen cage is to attach a plastic board to the back, on the outside of the cage. I also painted it so it looks like the jungle. I’ll attach a picture so you can see I forget the type of plastic but it came in a roll on Amazon. I just punched holes in the sides and zip-tied it to the corners of the cage. As a bonus it also protects the wall from getting sprayed by the mister. So far I’ve only covered one side of the cage, but it’s gotten way dryer in my area over winter so I might try doing the sides too until spring. Adding more live plants will also help raise the humidity, or as your live plants you already have grow that will help too.

Additionally, you will need a multivitamin. There are many available. Here is a resource that describes the benefits of some main brands. I use ZooMed Reptivite without D3. Make sure the multivitamin you get doesn’t have d3, since you’re already dosing a calcium WITH d3 every other week. I’ve made that mistake before.

https://chameleonacademy.com/ep-125-chameleon-supplementation-basics/

Also, could you measure the distance from the UV light to his basking spot? It could be too close or far away, but since you’re giving him the Calcium with D it might not be a huge issue.

When you measure the temperature when he basks, could you see how hot his cask gets? That’s the part that usually gets burned since it’s much closer to the heat than the rest of his actual body.

One more thing, if possible, could you snap a picture of his full face? I can kind of see a dark spot on the front of his right lip area in the last picture, but I’m not sure if that’s just a shadow.

 

[yungzerk]

Hello! Welcome to the community. Your Cham is such a cutie! I love his little spots on his side.

One thing that helped me raise the humidity of the screen cage is to attach a plastic board to the back, on the outside of the cage. I also painted it so it looks like the jungle. I’ll attach a picture so you can see I forget the type of plastic but it came in a roll on Amazon. I just punched holes in the sides and zip-tied it to the corners of the cage. As a bonus it also protects the wall from getting sprayed by the mister. So far I’ve only covered one side of the cage, but it’s gotten way dryer in my area over winter so I might try doing the sides too until spring. Adding more live plants will also help raise the humidity, or as your live plants you already have grow that will help too.

Additionally, you will need a multivitamin. There are many available. Here is a resource that describes the benefits of some main brands. I use ZooMed Reptivite without D3. Make sure the multivitamin you get doesn’t have d3, since you’re already dosing a calcium WITH d3 every other week. I’ve made that mistake before.

https://chameleonacademy.com/ep-125-chameleon-supplementation-basics/

Also, could you measure the distance from the UV light to his basking spot? It could be too close or far away, but since you’re giving him the Calcium with D it might not be a huge issue.

When you measure the temperature when he basks, could you see how hot his cask gets? That’s the part that usually gets burned since it’s much closer to the heat than the rest of his actual body.

One more thing, if possible, could you snap a picture of his full face? I can kind of see a dark spot on the front of his right lip area in the last picture, but I’m not sure if that’s just a shadow.

Thank you so much for the info! and your cage is absolutely gorgeous and so is your chameleon, his/her colors are beautiful. The UV light is about 12-16 inches from the closest branch, but i could move it forward and the UV light would only be about 6 inches above his basking branch (i’m not sure what is too close or too far). Also thanks for the information about the multivitamin i had no idea about that. and as far as the picture goes this is probably the best picture i’ll get for a while but ill send in another if his attitude decides to change lol, but that dark spot is just a little bit of dirt he got on him when he was eating a cricket from the bottom of his cage!

 

[yungzerk]

Thank you so much for the info! and your cage is absolutely gorgeous and so is your chameleon, his/her colors are beautiful. The UV light is about 12-16 inches from the closest branch, but i could move it forward and the UV light would only be about 6 inches above his basking branch (i’m not sure what is too close or too far). Also thanks for the information about the multivitamin i had no idea about that. and as far as the picture goes this is probably the best picture i’ll get for a while but ill send in another if his attitude decides to change lol, but that dark spot is just a little bit of dirt he got on him when he was eating a cricket from the bottom of his cage

Hello! Welcome to the community. Your Cham is such a cutie! I love his little spots on his side.

One thing that helped me raise the humidity of the screen cage is to attach a plastic board to the back, on the outside of the cage. I also painted it so it looks like the jungle. I’ll attach a picture so you can see I forget the type of plastic but it came in a roll on Amazon. I just punched holes in the sides and zip-tied it to the corners of the cage. As a bonus it also protects the wall from getting sprayed by the mister. So far I’ve only covered one side of the cage, but it’s gotten way dryer in my area over winter so I might try doing the sides too until spring. Adding more live plants will also help raise the humidity, or as your live plants you already have grow that will help too.

Additionally, you will need a multivitamin. There are many available. Here is a resource that describes the benefits of some main brands. I use ZooMed Reptivite without D3. Make sure the multivitamin you get doesn’t have d3, since you’re already dosing a calcium WITH d3 every other week. I’ve made that mistake before.

https://chameleonacademy.com/ep-125-chameleon-supplementation-basics/

Also, could you measure the distance from the UV light to his basking spot? It could be too close or far away, but since you’re giving him the Calcium with D it might not be a huge issue.

When you measure the temperature when he basks, could you see how hot his cask gets? That’s the part that usually gets burned since it’s much closer to the heat than the rest of his actual body.

One more thing, if possible, could you snap a picture of his full face? I can kind of see a dark spot on the front of his right lip area in the last picture, but I’m not sure if that’s just a shadow.

also sorry i completely forgot about the cask part, but his cask only gets to 91 degrees when he’s under his basking spot

 

[Lt.WorfReportingForDuty]

Ok I see. Sometimes a dark spot on their lip or in their mouth can be an infection so that’s why I asked.

Besides the multivitamin I’m not sure..
@Beman @MissSkittles are more experienced than I am, I wonder if they could take a look at him too.

Here’s a thread with a really great graphic that shows that the proper distance the UVB light should be from the Cham. Note: the measured distance should be from the chameleon’s body which is typically 2” or so above the basking branch.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-far-should-i-keep-my-t5-ho-light.181755/

Also I missed this the first time. Since he’s growing you can feed him every day as much as he wants, 1-2x a day. Here’s another graphic I love, that shows which gut-loads have the most calcium and nutrients with less phosphorus (phosphorus blocks the ability of the cham to absorb calcium so we want to minimize it.). It’s: I think kale has high phosphorous, so I would opt for another leafy green like watercress or dandelion greens if you can. im wrong, I just double checked and kale is good. Oops!

 

[yungzerk]

Ok I see. Sometimes a dark spot on their lip or in their mouth can be an infection so that’s why I asked.

Besides the multivitamin I’m not sure..
@Beman @MissSkittles are more experienced than I am, I wonder if they could take a look at him too.

Here’s a thread with a really great graphic that shows that the proper distance the UVB light should be from the Cham. Note: the measured distance should be from the chameleon’s body which is typically 2” or so above the basking branch.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-far-should-i-keep-my-t5-ho-light.181755/

Also I missed this the first time. Since he’s growing you can feed him every day as much as he wants, 1-2x a day. Here’s another graphic I love, that shows which gut-loads have the most calcium and nutrients with less phosphorus (phosphorus blocks the ability of the cham to absorb calcium so we want to minimize it.). It’s: I think kale has high phosphorous, so I would opt for another leafy green like watercress or dandelion greens if you can. im wrong, I just double checked and kale is good. Oops!

Okay perfect, thank you so much for all of the info! He’s been doing so good other than closing his eyes sometimes during the day so hopefully i can get it figured out but i appreciate all the help!

 

[Kodyf]

We want you to have the best husbandry you can have for the comfort of the chameleon. Their could be more things for people to recommend to you when more experienced members enter this thread such as @Beman and @MissSkittles.
I will say what I do notice from my experience and before I start your Cham is gorgeous and the terrarium looks beautiful.
Their are a couple problems with the lighting you are using.
A chameleon likes to naturally get both UVB and heat at the right temperature and distance from the uvb bulb while they bask. Using a 150 watt heat bulb means your basking area is probably too far from your uvb lamp and finding the ideal distance ratio between these bulbs will be nearly impossible. That is why 60w incandescent bulbs are recommended, this bulb will produce the correct amount of heat for the chameleon to get closer to the uvb bulb. The pro tip for this is, using a lower wattage bulb allows you to raise the basking spot where it needs to be to make it the most ideal basking spot. The 150w bulb is the opposite, you cannot raise the basking branch higher/closer to the UVB because you are exposing the chameleon to temperatures that are potentially harmful. I hope I have explained this understandably. I have wrote about this to others in a different thread but intense 150w basking bulbs should be used for reptiles such as a bearded dragon who lives in climates similar to the heat that gives off I will also attach a diagram of the heat it gives off by distance.

 

[yungzerk]

We want you to have the best husbandry you can have for the comfort of the chameleon. Their could be more things for people to recommend to you when more experienced members enter this thread such as @Beman and @MissSkittles.
I will say what I do notice from my experience and before I start your Cham is gorgeous and the terrarium looks beautiful.
Their are a couple problems with the lighting you are using.
A chameleon likes to naturally get both UVB and heat at the right temperature and distance from the uvb bulb while they bask. Using a 150 watt heat bulb means your basking area is probably too far from your uvb lamp and finding the ideal distance ratio between these bulbs will be nearly impossible. That is why 60w incandescent bulbs are recommended, this bulb will produce the correct amount of heat for the chameleon to get closer to the uvb bulb. The pro tip for this is, using a lower wattage bulb allows you to raise the basking spot where it needs to be to make it the most ideal basking spot. The 150w bulb is the opposite, you cannot raise the basking branch higher/closer to the UVB because you are exposing the chameleon to temperatures that are potentially harmful. I hope I have explained this understandably. I have wrote about this to others in a different thread but intense 150w basking bulbs should be used for reptiles such as a bearded dragon who lives in climates similar to the heat that gives off I will also attach a diagram of the heat it gives off by distance.

thank you very much i tried my best! So should i try to attach a branch closer to the basking spot? i have a 60W lightbulb on standby but i wasn’t using it before because the basking spot only reached 70-75 degrees. and thanks again!

 

[Kodyf]

thank you very much i tried my best! So should i try to attach a branch closer to the basking spot? i have a 60W lightbulb on standby but i wasn’t using it before because the basking spot only reached 70-75 degrees. and thanks again!

Yes, you should raise the basking branch and use your probe thermometer to get the temperature at a constant 78-80 degrees. What is the brand/type of 60w bulb you are using if you don’t mind me asking, the reason I ask is because some of the brands/types of this bulb do not work properly. You can read a lot on the internet on what is recommended for basking temperatures for a veiled but the internet is not always correct google likes to think they need 85-95 but that is too hot. The beauty of keeping a chameleon in captivity is we the keepers make it the most ideal environment. Their is controversy on this from people saying that a veiled chameleon can manage those temperatures because they do in the wild which is true, but their is a system to keeping a veiled chameleon healthy in captivity and high basking temperatures from compact bulbs does not mimic the sun at all and can actually damage the eyes and dehydrate the Cham.
A very short period of time ago I came to this forum for support to help my chameleon have a good quality of life, the people here are so caring and helped me make sure my Cham Iris is healthy and happy, I’ve made mistakes with my care while I was a new keeper that I’ve since changed and fixed which gives me peace of mind. We do not look at anyone negatively for asking for help, we love that you have come to ask and get well informed on giving your Cham the best life possible.

 

[yungzerk]

Yes, you should raise the basking branch and use your probe thermometer to get the temperature at a constant 78-80 degrees. What is the brand/type of 60w bulb you are using if you don’t mind me asking, the reason I ask is because some of the brands/types of this bulb do not work properly. You can read a lot on the internet on what is recommended for basking temperatures for a veiled but the internet is not always correct google likes to think they need 85-95 but that is too hot. The beauty of keeping a chameleon in captivity is we the keepers make it the most ideal environment. Their is controversy on this from people saying that a chameleon can manage those temperatures because they do in the wild which is true, but their is a system to keeping a chameleon healthy in captivity and high basking temperatures from compact bulbs does not mimic the sun at all and can actually damage the eyes and dehydrate the Cham.
A very short period of time ago I came to this forum for support to help my chameleon have a good quality of life, the people here are so caring and helped me make sure my Cham Iris is healthy and happy, I’ve made mistakes with my care while I was a new keeper that I’ve since changed and fixed which gives me peace of mind. We do not look at anyone negatively for asking for help, we love that you have come to ask and get well informed on giving your Cham the best life possible.

it’s a zoo med 60W basking light, but this is great to hear! the only reason i ever put in such a high wattage bulb was because while researching i came across a lot of forums saying they needed 90-95 for basking, but ill make sure to replace my bulb right now and attach a branch that’s closer, thank you for the insight! i know a lot of forums and stuff out there is inaccurate

 

[Kodyf]

it’s a zoo med 60W basking light, but this is great to hear! the only reason i ever put in such a high wattage bulb was because while researching i came across a lot of forums saying they needed 90-95 for basking, but ill make sure to replace my bulb right now and attach a branch that’s closer, thank you for the insight! i know a lot of forums and stuff out there is inaccurate

Most of the care on the internet is from old care sheets and the best care hasn’t fully surfaced the internet yet, you can easily find yourself reading info that is harmful to your Cham still today pet stores incorrectly care for these lizards and send you home with these delicate animals with incorrect care sheets. What is great about this forum is, this forum has been around for over a decade, the knowledge that experienced members have here has been accumulated from the years of trial and errors of other keepers and prior threads. That is why the info we have to offer here on chameleon husbandry is top-notch. I have one last question, is the zoo-med 60w bulb you’re using colored or incandescent?

 

[yungzerk]

Most of the care on the internet is from old care sheets and the best care hasn’t fully surfaced the internet yet, you can easily find yourself reading info that is harmful to your Cham still today pet stores incorrectly care for these lizards and send you home with these delicate animals with incorrect care sheets. What is great about this forum is, this forum has been around for over a decade, the knowledge that experienced members have here is accumulated from the years of trial and errors of other keepers and prior threads. That is why the info we have to offer here on chameleon husbandry is top-notch. I have one last question, is the zoo-med 60w bulb you’re using colored or incandescent?

it’s a “daylight blue” bulb, but it doesn’t give off any color thankfully but if you think there’s a better option throw it my way! and yes this whole website has been so helpful i wish i knew about this website a long time ago!

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. Your little cutie is a little cutie! I’ll go thru all of your husbandry, but need a bit of time.

 

[Kodyf]

The daytime blue bulbs are all bad for the chameleon eyes. Even if it doesn’t look like it gives off color it actually does because the glass on the bulb isn’t correctly colored. No one likes to hear you got to spend another $10 on one of these bulbs but I’m going to attach a picture of a bulb you can go pick up at your local petsmart and it will work fine. The 60w daytime heat lamp by exo terraria is incandescent. Other options will work if you can’t find that just make sure the bulb is not colored at all. It should look almost like a normal light bulb.

 

[yungzerk]

The daytime blue bulbs are all bad for the chameleon eyes. Even if it doesn’t look like it gives off color it actually does because the glass on the bulb isn’t correctly colored. No one likes to hear you got to spend another $10 on one of these bulbs but I’m going to attach a picture of a bulb you can go pick up at your local petsmart and it will work fine.

okay perfect! i never actually used the blue daylight bulb in his cage thankfully but i’ll be sure to buy this bulb, thanks a lot!

 

[yungzerk]

Hi and welcome. Your little cutie is a little cutie! I’ll go thru all of your husbandry, but need a bit of time.

hello! and thank you so much, i heard your one of the experts, excited to hear from you

 

[Kodyf]

okay perfect! i never actually used the blue daylight bulb in his cage thankfully but i’ll be sure to buy this bulb, thanks a lot!

You’re welcome and best of luck to you and your Cham and I’m happy to welcome you to chameleon forums. @MissSkittles will give a more in depth husbandry review I’m not as capable as her or other experienced members on giving a full review but I hope the lighting recommendations I provided give some help.

 

[yungzerk]

You’re welcome and best of luck to you and your Cham and I’m happy to welcome you to chameleon forums. @MissSkittles will give a more in depth husbandry review I’m not capable of giving that but I hope the lighting recommendations help.

yes im excited to hear back, and thank you again for taking the time out of your day to help me with my mistakes! i’m hoping everything works out with my little guy!