Concerned about my Veiled Chameleon

[NatureGirl]

I have a approximately one year old, Male Veiled Chameleon. He has been in my care for 7 months. I do not handle my chameleon often. Probably only 8 or 9 times since i have had him. I would like to handle him more, but am nervous and dont know how to go about it.(plus i dont think he would like it AT ALL) Oh, his name is Rafael . I feed him 20 to 25 (sometimes more) gut loaded crickets a day. Every other day i dust the crickets with Zoo Med Reptivite with D3 (I heard somewhere that too much can be harmful) I feed Raf in the morning between 9 and 11. I have a water dish at the bottom of his cage with leaves intruding over it. I set up a contanter with holes on the top of my cage to place ice cubes in. The water drips perfectly over the leaves and into the dish. (drip lasts for up to 6 hours of the day) I mist his cage and all the leaves 3 or 4 times daily. I dont mist before "bed" so that less moisture is there when UVB light goes off. I have seen my chameleon both drink from leaves and also the dish (when water drips). His feces are small oval pebble type, medium dark brown sometimes a little green. They come in cluster of 2 or 3 sometimes. They are medium density. My chameleon has not been tested for parasites. Urine (or what i assume is?) tends to be yellowish, it has been white a couple times (dehydration, correct?)

His cage is a 16 in by 16 in by 20 in screen cage. I have been thinking about getting a taller and bigger cage for him soon. He has gotten lots bigger! I have a Zoo Med UVB Reptisun 5.0 UVB fluorescent bulb (i turn this on in the morning between 9 and 10) I have a Zoo Med Nocturnal Infrared Heat Lamp 75W (i leave this one on all the time) The temperature ranges from 60 degrees F (floor of cage) to 80 degrees F. The lowest over night temp has been around 55 Degrees(i try to keep it at 6) I have two Thermometers in the cage (one on top left back corner and the other one in the lower front right corner) I also have humidity cages in those places. The humidity levels range from 60% to 80%. The misting of his cage helps alot. i dont have AC going to my room, i try to keep it as "humid" in there as i can. I also place towels over his cage (at night mostly) but also when humidity is low, then i spray the heck out of his cage and all the moisture gets caught in because of the towels. I have not purchased any live plants yet, but would love to. I tried to grow some hibiscus plants for him, but they didnt make it. I have fake plants in there and jungle vine. I know what i have isnt enough. His cage is 4 feet up and near a window for natural sunlight in the day. He is in my room, which no one is ever in there unless i am. So it is nice and peaceful. There is a fan on the floor near him sort of, and below him. The top of the cage is 5 n some feet up. We are geographically Located in Jackson Country Wisconsin. (middle west of the state)



My current concern is with his diet and also one other. Two days ago i noticed Rafael not moving far from his location in the cage *basically same spot, just turning around n about) He then produced a WHOMPING poop (atleast i think, i didnt see him do it, it could also possibly be vomit) But it was huge and looked like undigested crickets, meaning, they still looked like crickets, all matted together in this 1.5 inch oval tear drop.they were all stuck together in what appeared to be clear mucus. He has since been moving around more (he usually is quite the adventurer of his cage) But has not eaten any of his food. (for the 3rd day now)

I am also concerned about his head. The top of his head, the helmet part, is bleeding. This just occured today while i was out of the house for 2 hours! i wish i was home to have seen what happened. Could he have possibly rubbed his head on something and a little bleeding is okay? What should i do when this happens? (if it happens again).

I tried to attach a picture of him (with a his bleeding spot) and a picture of him and his cage. They were kind of lousey pictures, he was super not into the picture taking.

Thank you.

 

[kinyonga]

What do you use for gutloading specifically?

IMHO you should be using a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings and only use the one with D3 a couple of times a month. Its true that D3 and prEformed vitamin A can build up in the system...but the feeder insects always have a poor ratio of calcium to phos....so it only makes sense that they should almost always be dusted with calcium to make up for it.
crickets a day. Every other day i dust the crickets with Zoo Med Reptivite with

You don't need a water dish...but as long as it is kept very clean/germ-free its okay...and as long as its not so deep that he could drown in it. Ice cubes are not recommended because they are too cold. You can just use a container of water with a very tiny hole in the bottom of it as a dripper.

A ceramic heat emitter is better to use if you need heat at night because it doesn't produce any light.

Where are the towels? Do they dry out?

Live plants (non-toxic) would be better since veileds eat plant material from time to time and could eat an artificial one by mistake.

You said the cage is near the window for the sunlight...he won't get any UVB if there is glass between the chameleon and the light.

Has he been tested for parasites?

Can you post pictures of the head please?

 

[NatureGirl]

I guess i am confused, i thought i was buying crickets that were already gut loaded. Perhaps i should read into more about feeding my crickets. (i have two pets now! a chameleon and crickets....)

The towels are place over the cage, and by towels i mean cloth beach towels/bath towels. I use them to keep the humidity from escaping as fast as it would from my screen cage. they are not wet, so they do not dry out.

Yes i have a UVB light, im not counting on outside light from my window to be is source of UVB.

No, he has not been tested for parasites. How do i do this?

I am having troubles attaching photos, but ive worked my way around it. They pictures are blurry because he was moving trying to run away from the camera, and also because i was taking the picture through the screen. ( He was way too scared for me to open his door and get a good picture of him that way)

 

[KCcham]

I cant tell from the picture real well, but it looks like you have some kind of substrate on the bottom of the cage??? Removing that will help....somtimes they can ingest substrate that can lead to problems.

 

[kinyonga]

To test for parasites take a fresh feces sample to a vet and they will test it. Parasites can be one reason for poor digestion but temperature can be another.

You can use a regular household incandescent light in a dome fixture for a basking light. If the chameleon can't warm up enough...it can't digest its food. For a male veiled the basking area of the cage should be in the mid to high 80's. The ambient temperature of the cage during the day should be in the high 70's at least.

For gutloading...most crickets are not gutloaded before you get them...some stores don't even feed them. You can give them a wide variety of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.).

The picture is a little blurry. I'm not sure why his helmet would be bleeding...but maybe it was from a cricket bite?? I would put some silvadene or flamazine on it until it heals to help ward off infection.

 

[NatureGirl]

Yes, that is one thing i forgot to mention, I am using Zoo Med Eco Earth Compressed Coconut Fiber Expandable Substrate. I try to keep it moist and i change it (and clean his entire habitat) monthly. Should i be doing more often? (that doesnt unclude regular cleaning of feces, water dish and his plants) I am going to try and get some live plants in there by tomorrow. (i live in a small town and need to travel to a bigger city) A friend suggested the substrate to me, but if i should not be using this, what should i be using? or should the bottom of the cage be bare? he does ocassionally go down there.

I also mass order my crickets(500 a box. This saves me money and also traveling every week for food.) i will definitely be feeding and "gut loading" them for now on!!!!

Thank you guys a lot for the great information and help.

 

[KCcham]

The bottom of the cage should be bare.

Gutloading is a must you are what you eat!

 

[NatureGirl]

I am still in the works on finding a vet and checking for parasites, BUT!!! i did take many steps of improvement thanks to your help. I cleaned out Raf's cage and got rid of all the substrate. I also am now gut-loading my crickets (them seem to enjoy it! haha). I also checked out a safe plant list and bought 3 awesome plants for him, im about to get it all ready to put in now. I have also been working on handing him more and encouraging hand feading. He let me touch and pet him quite a lot today.