ive been trying to get help from ppl to help me identify my chams symtoms and a diagnoses on if he aint feeling good or not. so hopefully someone will actually respond to this thread this time. So my cham doesnt show any interested in eating but we leave crickets in his cage and i catch him eating the odd one. He doesnt move around much and he is only 10 months old and if he is that young dont you think he should be more active then staying in one spot through out the whole day unless i bring him out. Also the other thing is that his grip isnt as strong as it used to be. can anyone please help me and give me some sort of idea to help my cham and get him more active. i cant afford to take him to the vet and he doesnt seem to poop anymore so im thinking he is constepated or something.
doesnt anybody care?
- Thread starter trippers
- Start date
jannb
Chameleon Enthusiast
Please fill out the ask for help form so that we can help you to help your chameleon. Also please post some pictures of your chameleon and his cage.
How to ask for help
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.
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 to 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 - The current problem you are concerned about.
Pictures are helpful
How to ask for help
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.
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 to 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 - The current problem you are concerned about.
Pictures are helpful
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ Here is the form. Are you offering any other types of feeders besides crickets???
heres a pic
heres a link to my fb that shows the picture best my camara could do
plus Trip dont stay still long enough to take a pic of his leg
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1731324556113&set=a.1526472394937.68181.1028483579
heres a link to my fb that shows the picture best my camara could do
plus Trip dont stay still long enough to take a pic of his leg http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1731324556113&set=a.1526472394937.68181.1028483579
PrettyInInk87
New Member
Your link is currently unavailable.
You said..."i've been trying to get help from ppl to help me identify my chams symtoms and a diagnoses on if he aint feeling good or not. so hopefully someone will actually respond to this thread this time"...first of all, if you keep making a new post to ask for help with the same chameleon and its issues, its hard for us to follow what is going on. We have to keep looking up your other posts if we want to do the best job we can of helping you...and that means we have to waste time doing this. We answer the posts on here because we love chameleons...and we do it even though its often a thankless "task" and takes up a lot of our time.
You also don't want to give us the information we ask for so that we might have a better idea of what could be going on with your chameleon.
You said..."my cham doesnt show any interested in eating but we leave crickets in his cage and i catch him eating the odd one. He doesnt move around much and he is only 10 months old and if he is that young dont you think he should be more active then staying in one spot through out the whole day unless i bring him out"...it might be that the cage is too cold for him....might be that he is sick...might be a number of things....but without appropriate information from you we can only guess. Maybe you are feeding him too often so he's not hungry.
You said..."the other thing is that his grip isnt as strong as it used to be"...hmmm...this can happen from calcium issues...might be caused if he's sick....might be that he is cold too for that matter.
You said..."he doesnt seem to poop anymore so im thinking he is constepated or something"...if he's not eating, then he won't poop. If he's too cold, he won't poop as much because his rate of food digestion will slow down. A chameleon won't eat if its ingested substrate that can't pass through its system. A chameleon won't eat if its sick.
Sorry I can't be of more help.
You also don't want to give us the information we ask for so that we might have a better idea of what could be going on with your chameleon.
You said..."my cham doesnt show any interested in eating but we leave crickets in his cage and i catch him eating the odd one. He doesnt move around much and he is only 10 months old and if he is that young dont you think he should be more active then staying in one spot through out the whole day unless i bring him out"...it might be that the cage is too cold for him....might be that he is sick...might be a number of things....but without appropriate information from you we can only guess. Maybe you are feeding him too often so he's not hungry.
You said..."the other thing is that his grip isnt as strong as it used to be"...hmmm...this can happen from calcium issues...might be caused if he's sick....might be that he is cold too for that matter.
You said..."he doesnt seem to poop anymore so im thinking he is constepated or something"...if he's not eating, then he won't poop. If he's too cold, he won't poop as much because his rate of food digestion will slow down. A chameleon won't eat if its ingested substrate that can't pass through its system. A chameleon won't eat if its sick.
Sorry I can't be of more help.
C
ChameleonsInMyHouse
Guest
first off, i would like to say that just getting mad and showing signs of frustration will not realy invite people to help you. as others said, one post is all we need with more detailed information, not multiple threads with the same thing. its just out of respect, and sometimes, people cant answer you right away, especially if not providing all the proper information. we would love to help you, but like Kinyonga said, you need to be clear. and Kinyonga brought up a ton of good points to troubleshooting the proble, just help us so we can help you.
this is just word of advice because I used to do this, and people just really started blowing me off and ignoring me all together. i know it can get frusturating at times, and i know that it seems like no one cares, but trust me, we do. we help everyone out with as much as we can for the chameleon, not so much of the individual, just like in a real social life, we will draw close to some and go above and beyond for forum friends. but respect and patients is all the members here ask and want
in regards to your chameleon, please fill out the help form with detailed information, and will start troubleshooting for ya
this is just word of advice because I used to do this, and people just really started blowing me off and ignoring me all together. i know it can get frusturating at times, and i know that it seems like no one cares, but trust me, we do. we help everyone out with as much as we can for the chameleon, not so much of the individual, just like in a real social life, we will draw close to some and go above and beyond for forum friends. but respect and patients is all the members here ask and want
in regards to your chameleon, please fill out the help form with detailed information, and will start troubleshooting for ya
Trips Info
If I came across mad and frustrated its only because i want to know whats wrong with my lil dude. I dont want him to die it would be crushing.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Vield, male, about 8-9 months. How long has it been in your care? since July 5th
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? About once or twice aday. He falls asleep in my hoodie. I think he likes the heat
Feeding - Crickets, Superworms with the heads cut off. He as also eat 2 fuzzy mice but that was like 4 months ago. He use to eat like 16 small crickets when he was younger but now we get him larg and he went from eating around 12-13 everyday. Now for about the last a week week and a half. He eats around 11:30 usally and 8:30-9 at night. But hes got around 4 crickets in his cage for him to munch on through out the day. I give them Fish food, Oatmeal, and a bannana. The superworms are fish food and oatmeal in there container.
Supplements - the brand of Calcium is Fluker's With vitamin D3 phosphorus free. what is the schedule? every feeding we either sprinkle with a dust over teh crickets before feeding Trip. Or i dip a cricket in the calcium before feeding it to him. Superworms, i just cut th heads off and give them to him normal.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? I have a blue spray bottle 500mL. I mist his cage and plants and stuff about 4 times a day. And mist Trip about 3 times out of the four. He drinks from the water bottle where teh water comes from about twice a day? I see him drinking from his cage pole when i wet it with water but hardly ever. He usally drinks from the bottle.
Fecal Description - He is a light green with yellows and some aqua colors, even orange at times but iv noticed that hes not so bright more like dull colors or green and yellow and brownly in some spots when hes in his cage. When i bring him out he lightens up in color a bit more. hes never been tested for anything cuz none of the pet stores that iam close to dont know anything about chams which really sucks. He hasnt pooped for about a week or so.
History - He use to boogy all over his cage now he just lays on his branch and rarely moves around like he use to. He's got a bump on his horn that as been there for about a month and a half. But i helped him take care of it by keeping it clean best of my ability. looks like a burn but he's sheading still. The wound is healing but slowly. I think he fell off his cage , or got to close to his heat light.
Cage Type - Its a screen cage EcoTerra Flex airium. 65 inch.
Lighting - I dont know the brand of the lamp that holds the light but we got a Basking 125 wats exo terra. his heat lamp is 100 wats , exo terra sunglo neodymium daylight lamp. I turn his basking light off at night around 11:00-11:30. and i dim his heat light cuz its got a dimmer on it. in the morning i turn his basking light back on and turn the dimmbed heat light back up to bright again around 8:30-9am.
Temperature -Humidity is 30 which its suppose to be 60 we were told but it wont stay at 60 no matter how much i keep up with it. His basking light is 82 83 which is suppose 85-95 and the heat lamp is 80 which is suppose to be 90-100. Ive put towels around his cage at night to try to hold the heat in. The night temp stays about the same as day ? I got 3 circular temperature gages. The flooring use to be wood chips but we through them all out and boild his leaves and wood in hot water after having lil wood ants infest the cage. We got rid of them all. now we just have a garbage bag for his flooring for easy cleaning purposes. We are in the middle of making him a bigger cage but we want him healthy before anything
Plants - no live plants all fake dont have a green thumb to keep live plants alive lol
Placement - In my living room by the heat vent. Hes about 5 feet from the floor.
Location - Corunna Ontario Canada just South of Sarnia Ontario
its not letting me upload any pictures is there a way i could send someone these pics so u can see them???
If I came across mad and frustrated its only because i want to know whats wrong with my lil dude. I dont want him to die it would be crushing.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Vield, male, about 8-9 months. How long has it been in your care? since July 5th
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? About once or twice aday. He falls asleep in my hoodie. I think he likes the heat
Feeding - Crickets, Superworms with the heads cut off. He as also eat 2 fuzzy mice but that was like 4 months ago. He use to eat like 16 small crickets when he was younger but now we get him larg and he went from eating around 12-13 everyday. Now for about the last a week week and a half. He eats around 11:30 usally and 8:30-9 at night. But hes got around 4 crickets in his cage for him to munch on through out the day. I give them Fish food, Oatmeal, and a bannana. The superworms are fish food and oatmeal in there container.
Supplements - the brand of Calcium is Fluker's With vitamin D3 phosphorus free. what is the schedule? every feeding we either sprinkle with a dust over teh crickets before feeding Trip. Or i dip a cricket in the calcium before feeding it to him. Superworms, i just cut th heads off and give them to him normal.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? I have a blue spray bottle 500mL. I mist his cage and plants and stuff about 4 times a day. And mist Trip about 3 times out of the four. He drinks from the water bottle where teh water comes from about twice a day? I see him drinking from his cage pole when i wet it with water but hardly ever. He usally drinks from the bottle.
Fecal Description - He is a light green with yellows and some aqua colors, even orange at times
but iv noticed that hes not so bright more like dull colors or green and yellow and brownly in some spots when hes in his cage. When i bring him out he lightens up in color a bit more. hes never been tested for anything cuz none of the pet stores that iam close to dont know anything about chams which really sucks. He hasnt pooped for about a week or so. History - He use to boogy all over his cage now he just lays on his branch and rarely moves around like he use to. He's got a bump on his horn that as been there for about a month and a half. But i helped him take care of it by keeping it clean best of my ability. looks like a burn but he's sheading still. The wound is healing but slowly. I think he fell off his cage , or got to close to his heat light.
Cage Type - Its a screen cage EcoTerra Flex airium. 65 inch.
Lighting - I dont know the brand of the lamp that holds the light but we got a Basking 125 wats exo terra. his heat lamp is 100 wats , exo terra sunglo neodymium daylight lamp. I turn his basking light off at night around 11:00-11:30. and i dim his heat light cuz its got a dimmer on it. in the morning i turn his basking light back on and turn the dimmbed heat light back up to bright again around 8:30-9am.
Temperature -Humidity is 30 which its suppose to be 60 we were told but it wont stay at 60 no matter how much i keep up with it. His basking light is 82 83 which is suppose 85-95 and the heat lamp is 80 which is suppose to be 90-100. Ive put towels around his cage at night to try to hold the heat in. The night temp stays about the same as day
? I got 3 circular temperature gages. The flooring use to be wood chips but we through them all out and boild his leaves and wood in hot water after having lil wood ants infest the cage. We got rid of them all. now we just have a garbage bag for his flooring for easy cleaning purposes. We are in the middle of making him a bigger cage but we want him healthy before anything Plants - no live plants all fake dont have a green thumb to keep live plants alive lol
Placement - In my living room by the heat vent. Hes about 5 feet from the floor.
Location - Corunna Ontario Canada just South of Sarnia Ontario
its not letting me upload any pictures is there a way i could send someone these pics so u can see them???
Cainschams
New Member
Start a photobucket.com account. Upload the pics there. After they are uploaded scroll over top of the pic. Copy and past the IMG code in the thread and your pics will show up.
PrettyInInk87
New Member
If I came across mad and frustrated its only because i want to know whats wrong with my lil dude. I dont want him to die it would be crushing.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Vield, male, about 8-9 months. How long has it been in your care? since July 5th
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? About once or twice aday. He falls asleep in my hoodie. I think he likes the heat
Feeding - Crickets, Superworms with the heads cut off. He as also eat 2 fuzzy mice but that was like 4 months ago. He use to eat like 16 small crickets when he was younger but now we get him larg and he went from eating around 12-13 everyday. Now for about the last a week week and a half. He eats around 11:30 usally and 8:30-9 at night. But hes got around 4 crickets in his cage for him to munch on through out the day. I give them Fish food, Oatmeal, and a bannana. The superworms are fish food and oatmeal in there container.
Supplements - the brand of Calcium is Fluker's With vitamin D3 phosphorus free. what is the schedule? every feeding we either sprinkle with a dust over teh crickets before feeding Trip. Or i dip a cricket in the calcium before feeding it to him. Superworms, i just cut th heads off and give them to him normal.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? I have a blue spray bottle 500mL. I mist his cage and plants and stuff about 4 times a day. And mist Trip about 3 times out of the four. He drinks from the water bottle where teh water comes from about twice a day? I see him drinking from his cage pole when i wet it with water but hardly ever. He usally drinks from the bottle.
Fecal Description - He is a light green with yellows and some aqua colors, even orange at times
History - He use to boogy all over his cage now he just lays on his branch and rarely moves around like he use to. He's got a bump on his horn that as been there for about a month and a half. But i helped him take care of it by keeping it clean best of my ability. looks like a burn but he's sheading still. The wound is healing but slowly. I think he fell off his cage , or got to close to his heat light.
Cage Type - Its a screen cage EcoTerra Flex airium. 65 inch.
Lighting - I dont know the brand of the lamp that holds the light but we got a Basking 125 wats exo terra. his heat lamp is 100 wats , exo terra sunglo neodymium daylight lamp. I turn his basking light off at night around 11:00-11:30. and i dim his heat light cuz its got a dimmer on it. in the morning i turn his basking light back on and turn the dimmbed heat light back up to bright again around 8:30-9am.
Temperature -Humidity is 30 which its suppose to be 60 we were told but it wont stay at 60 no matter how much i keep up with it. His basking light is 82 83 which is suppose 85-95 and the heat lamp is 80 which is suppose to be 90-100. Ive put towels around his cage at night to try to hold the heat in. The night temp stays about the same as day
Plants - no live plants all fake dont have a green thumb to keep live plants alive lol
Placement - In my living room by the heat vent. Hes about 5 feet from the floor.
Location - Corunna Ontario Canada just South of Sarnia OntarioSorry to say but there are LOTS of things that need correcting... I only have Panthers but I will try as best I can to help you out.
Handling, First off, a Cham should NEVER close his/her eyes during the day since they are diurnal they sleep at night. You should not be handling your little guy once or twice a day UNLESS he comes to you on his own and is not stressed by it. Handling is a heavily debated subject, I myself think it's ok to do daily as long as your Cham is totally cool with it. I don't handle my Cham's at all (except during cage cleanings or sun time) because they hate me. Lol!
Feeding, Crickets are a good staple while Supers should only be used as treats. Your Cham also need plenty of different types of worms and feeders to get all of his proper nutrition. Waxworms (treats), reptiworms, silkworms, hornworms, Roaches, Flies, and the list goes on. I'm not too certain about pinkies for Chams but I wouldn't use them. Best way to gutload your feeders would be with lots of fresh Veggies (search for a good gutloading thread).
Watering, Some Chams drink only during mistings and other will drink from Drippers. Do you have a dripper? I'd suggest getting one and letting it run all day so that your little dude has access to water all day. Misting him 3 to 4 times is ok as long as you let the cage dry between mistings.
Fecal Description, what the question is asking is pretty much what does his poop look like not your Cham. Lol!
Lighting, most of us use a Repti-Sun linear bulb with hood and a seperate heat lamp with a regular house bulb 40 to 60 watts. The reason he could be closing his eyes could be because of the bulb you are using now. 10:30 to 11 pm is WAY too late for lights to go out. You should have him on a 12 hours on 12 hours off schedule. I turn my Chams lights on at 7 am and lights off at 6 pm.
I'd also suggest to get a digital thermometer and hygrometer, the small circular ones aren't very accurate and can give you false numbers. I'm glad you got rid of the substrate since there is a danger of him accidentally ingesting some of it and becoming impacted, it harbors a lot of bacteria, and is a PAIN to clean. You should have at least one live plant in his enclosure to aid with the humidity. Ficus are VERY easy to care for and your Cham will love it. Pothos are also a good choice to go with and easy to care for. Look up a list of Cham safe plants.
You can make a Photobucket account, copy, and paste the link onto your thread and BAM you have a picture in your thread.
If I missed anything or gave wrong information PLEASE feel free to chime in and correct me.
PrettyInInk87
New Member
I just posted a little help, it just took me a little while to type and read everything. Good luck!
C
ChameleonsInMyHouse
Guest
If I came across mad and frustrated its only because i want to know whats wrong with my lil dude. I dont want him to die it would be crushing.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Vield, male, about 8-9 months. How long has it been in your care? since July 5th
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? About once or twice aday. He falls asleep in my hoodie. I think he likes the heat
if this is during the day thats not good, healthy chameleons are supposed to be active no matter what throughout their whole day cycle
Feeding - Crickets, Superworms with the heads cut off. He as also eat 2 fuzzy miceim sure you know now, but mice and lizards are very bad foods for chameleons in captivity. too much fat and protein will lead to gout, edema and sometimes death but that was like 4 months ago. He use to eat like 16 small crickets when he was younger but now we get him larg and he went from eating around 12-13 everyday. Now for about the last a week week and a half. He eats around 11:30 usally and 8:30-9 at night. But hes got around 4 crickets in his cage for him to munch on through out the day. I give them Fish food (dont use fish food, another very high fat and protein product inyour chams system, Oatmeal , and a bannana. (oatmeal isnt very nutrious and bananna is high in potassium, i wouldnt use them in big portions, or not use at allThe superworms are fish food and oatmeal in there container.
Supplements - the brand of Calcium is Fluker's With vitamin D3 phosphorus free. what is the schedule? every feeding we either sprinkle with a dust over teh crickets before feeding Trip. Or i dip a cricket in the calcium before feeding it to him)that is too much D3, this is probably early signs of MBD you are expeirencing, d3 should only be used once or twice a month.). Superworms, i just cut th heads off and give them to him normal.
(you do not need to cut the heads off, fyi
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? I have a blue spray bottle 500mL. I mist his cage and plants and stuff about 4 times a day. And mist Trip about 3 times out of the four. He drinks from the water bottle where teh water comes from about twice a day? I see him drinking from his cage pole when i wet it with water but hardly ever. He usally drinks from the bottle.
IMHO i think you should still be misting every day, he may not be pooping because he is slightly impacted, also too the amount of d3 you have been giving him, may have started to mess with his insides, do you use ANY plain calcium and do you even use a multivitamin? please get Rep-Cal's brand of calcium, calcium D3 and Herptivite, i recommended it and havent used anything other than
Fecal Description - He is a light green with yellows and some aqua colors, even orange at times
History - He use to boogy all over his cage now he just lays on his branch and rarely moves around like he use to. He's got a bump on his horn that as been there for about a month and a half. But i helped him take care of it by keeping it clean best of my ability. looks like a burn but he's sheading still. The wound is healing but slowly. I think he fell off his cage , or got to close to his heat light.
Cage Type - Its a screen cage EcoTerra Flex airium. 65 inch.
Lighting - I dont know the brand of the lamp that holds the light but we got a Basking 125 wats exo terra. his heat lamp is 100 wats , exo terra sunglo neodymium daylight lamp. I turn his basking light off at night around 11:00-11:30. and i dim his heat light cuz its got a dimmer on it. in the morning i turn his basking light back on and turn the dimmbed heat light back up to bright again around 8:30-9am.
(IMO i would have his lighting go from 7-7 or 8-8, this is more intune with a natural setting, and i also believe it energizes the chameleon alot better. also, where is the UVB light? a reptiSUN linear light 5.0 is what you need, please get one if not provided. and no lights on at all during the night
Temperature -Humidity is 30 which its suppose to be 60 we were told but it wont stay at 60 no matter how much i keep up with it(invest in a cool mist humidifer and place it in the room). His basking light is 82 83 which is suppose 85-95 and the heat lamp is 80 which is suppose to be 90-100(its not supposed to be 100 degrees, that is too hot in captivity 98dF is a good basking temp for a male veiled (adult of course). Ive put towels around his cage at night to try to hold the heat in. The night temp stays about the same as day
Plants - no live plants all fake dont have a green thumb to keep live plants alive lol, (just do a little research, it is quite simple to have a live plant in your chams enclosure. it is also very benificial and will greatly help with your humidity issues.
Placement - In my living room by the heat vent. Hes about 5 feet from the floor.
Location - Corunna Ontario Canada just South of Sarnia Ontario
(another canadian
its not letting me upload any pictures is there a way i could send someone these pics so u can see them???(you may e-mail them to me at [email protected] , no worries at all. i will also post them on here for a better suggestion)
i hope this helps a bit. i know you are worried, it is something that realy hurts us. it isnt your fault at all, but the care you have been giving him is very wrong BUT can be fixed (maybe not in a physical sence, but health wise) it sounds liek you're catching it early. the info you got was probably from the petstore, or a careless care sheet. you have found a great place at chameleonforums, and i hope we didnt ruin your experience here so far. we are here to help as much as we can!
jcal...I think under fecal the chameleon is being described...not the poop.
You said he hasn't pooped for a week or so...what color was the poop and the white part of it when he was pooping?
It would be good if you could post a picture of the bump on his casque (horn, as you are calling it) and of the bumps on his leg. I'm sure someone can help you figure out how to post them. What are you cleaning the bump with? If its a burn....did you move the light away a little further so it won't happen again?
You said..."we got a Basking 125 wats exo terra. his heat lamp is 100 wats , exo terra sunglo neodymium daylight lamp. I turn his basking light off at night around 11:00-11:30. and i dim his heat light cuz its got a dimmer on it. in the morning i turn his basking light back on and turn the dimmed heat light back up to bright again around 8:30-9am"...he shouldn't have any light at night and he needs a UVB light (most recommended...long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light). I don't know if one of the ones you mentioned is a UVB or not. Unless the cage gets below the mid 60's or so at night, the chameleon doesn't need any extra heat...and if it does you need a source of heat that doesn't produce light...like a ceramic "bulb".
Your basking temperatures seem good...so that shouldn't be preventing him from eating. Your supplements need some work...and if he has been getting too much D3 from supplements it may be having an affect on his calcium which might be why his grip is not so strong, can cause constipation, etc. Read what I posted below about the supplements please.
You said..."no live plants all fake"...it would be better for them to be real and non-toxic, well-washed - both sides of the leaves...since veileds sometimes eat plants. You don't want him to eat the fake leaves. Pothos plants usually do well...even for people who don't have a green thumb!
Here's some information that should help you improve your husbandry/care.......
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.
Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).
If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light.) D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).
Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you and your parents to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
Hopefully the pictures will give us some more incite into what is going on with your chameleon too!
You said he hasn't pooped for a week or so...what color was the poop and the white part of it when he was pooping?
It would be good if you could post a picture of the bump on his casque (horn, as you are calling it) and of the bumps on his leg. I'm sure someone can help you figure out how to post them. What are you cleaning the bump with? If its a burn....did you move the light away a little further so it won't happen again?
You said..."we got a Basking 125 wats exo terra. his heat lamp is 100 wats , exo terra sunglo neodymium daylight lamp. I turn his basking light off at night around 11:00-11:30. and i dim his heat light cuz its got a dimmer on it. in the morning i turn his basking light back on and turn the dimmed heat light back up to bright again around 8:30-9am"...he shouldn't have any light at night and he needs a UVB light (most recommended...long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light). I don't know if one of the ones you mentioned is a UVB or not. Unless the cage gets below the mid 60's or so at night, the chameleon doesn't need any extra heat...and if it does you need a source of heat that doesn't produce light...like a ceramic "bulb".
Your basking temperatures seem good...so that shouldn't be preventing him from eating. Your supplements need some work...and if he has been getting too much D3 from supplements it may be having an affect on his calcium which might be why his grip is not so strong, can cause constipation, etc. Read what I posted below about the supplements please.
You said..."no live plants all fake"...it would be better for them to be real and non-toxic, well-washed - both sides of the leaves...since veileds sometimes eat plants. You don't want him to eat the fake leaves. Pothos plants usually do well...even for people who don't have a green thumb!
Here's some information that should help you improve your husbandry/care.......
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.
Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).
If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light.) D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).
Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite.)
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you and your parents to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
Hopefully the pictures will give us some more incite into what is going on with your chameleon too!
jcal
Member
jcal...I think under fecal the chameleon is being described...not the poop.
haha.... and people accuse me of not listening
Trippers, this is not a 24 hour helpline. We do our best to help each other but we also have other things going on, as I'm sure you do too. I would love to offer some help but it would take me a while to type a response because I can see quite a few things that need to be changed in your husbandry but I'm in class right now and am already distracting my neighbor just reading the details you've provided. My point is give people a chance to get back to you before getting more frustrated! I'm sure some of the others are typing stuff up for you right now. And if not then when I get out of class at 5 I will. I know your worried about your little guy but have some patience and give people a chance to respond.
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