Concerned for Veiled Cham

[Liana_Walter]

Posting this information on behalf of my mother, who is very worried about her Chameleon.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Male, adult Veiled Cham, unknown age since he was a rescue. He's been in her care for 1 1/2 years.
• Handling - He's handled sparingly every day, since it causes him large amounts of stress. And he bites.
• Feeding - He gets crickets once a day; about 3 to 5 of them. large crickets dusted with calcium daily and vitamins weekly
• Supplements - Repticalcium and Reptivite
• Watering - they use a watering bowl and he gets sprayed three times a day.
• Fecal Description - solid feces with a bit of white to it.
• History - I don't know much about him since he's a rescue my mom got but basically they couldn't take care of him anymore so she went and got him. [She runs a reptile rescue.]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - large screen cage. dunno the dimensions but it's a little shorter than a 20 L rested upright and just a bit wider. opens in the front
• Lighting - we use flood lights for heat. UVB light. we have a thermostat to measure temps and humidity. light goes on about 7-8am and goes off about 9pm
• Temperature - the basking spot is about 85-90 and about 80 near the bottom of the cage. lowest overnight tempt is 71. we measure with a thermostat.
• Humidity - humidity is about 90% during mistings and goes down throughout the day until the next misting. we have a humidity gauge. we use spageum moss to help maintain the levels and they have a water bowl in there plus the multiple sprays.
• Plants - we have a pothos plant in a small plastic tub at the bottom of the cage plus lots of fake plants for hiding places and branches [fake] for climbing and fake vines for climbing
• Placement - It was in the reptile room but he wasn't doing well so he got moved into the living room where there is lots of noise [I think he's stressed] there's an overhead fan but it's not on much during cooler weather. the cage sits next to my mom's computer on the desk with a wall on the back and right sides of it
• Location - Northwestern Mississippi

Current Problem - the problem is that he seems weak and is barely climbing. He's not acting like his normal rude self and can barely hold on. also he seems to have shed that isn't going away and the top of his [do I call it a crest?] on his head is completely white.

 

[kinyonga]

Please post a couple more photos.

 

[Liana_Walter]

Here's more. This is the best I can do. Phone doesn't take good pictures.

 

[Antihero383]

What type of uvb light are you using? It appears his casque has been burned in the past or is currently being burned, I am not an expert on health issues though. His eyes also look sunken to me which would indicate dehydration.

 

[Liana_Walter]

This is my mother's cham, she runs a reptile rescue. She uses the same type of UVB light that I have, I think the brand is Exo Terra.
I really appreciate the help from this community. I'll put up any additional information as I recieve it.

 

[Liana_Walter]

UPDATE

Okay so I went over there this weekend and looked over the cham. They originally had his light inside the tank with him, which he was going right up to and getting burned on. She immediately took this out and has started giving him a combo of water and unflavored pedialite to help with the dehydration. As of this morning when I left there he was starting to perk up considerably, though he isn't totally better yet. If there's anything else you guys think might be wrong with him I'd really appreciate the advice.

Though he's not mine, I do have three chunky lizards of my own at home and I would like to see my mom's do well too.

 

[Liana_Walter]

UPDATE : New's on my mom's cham. Thanks for those helping me help her.

"He's getting better slowly; he's started trying to climb again and is drinking water/pedilite quite a bit. he had four and a half droppers from me [my mom] this morning, and he's getting better sprayed. His stuck shed is gone and the white spot from before looks like it's getting better"

 

[KRuehle]

UPDATE : New's on my mom's cham. Thanks for those helping me help her.

"He's getting better slowly; he's started trying to climb again and is drinking water/pedilite quite a bit. he had four and a half droppers from me [my mom] this morning, and he's getting better sprayed. His stuck shed is gone and the white spot from before looks like it's getting better"

For future reference, which I hope you'll never need, there are aointments that can be applied to burns to help the healing process!

 

[Liana_Walter]

Okay thank you, I"ll let her know. What is it called?

 

[KRuehle]

Okay thank you, I"ll let her know. What is it called?

I've only heard of Silvadene, but there might be others. I don't know if you put it on a fresh burn, but a lot of owners take their chams to the vet after burns and they prescribe it to protect the fresh, new skin after the burned, dead skin falls off. Not sure if its availible without prescription. Maybe some other more experienced members could chime in.