Eyes closed and hiding! Please help

[QuinnyNewCham]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, around a month or so. I’ve had him for not even 24 hours.
• Handling - I haven’t held him at all as soon as he got home he climbed right into the cage.
• Feeding - Ive feed him around 17 crickets so far. He ate before I took him home. So I fed him about 6 last night around 5. Today I had to feed him from his hiding spot he would not come out. He ate around 7:30 after lights on at 7, about 11 today.
• Supplements - ZooMeds for both but I’ve only given him the plain calcium today so far.
• Watering - Big Dripper at the top. I planned on 3, 2 min misting. So far he’s only seen 2 of them. I haven’t seen him drink sense he’s been here.
• Fecal Description - I haven’t seen any sense he’s been home unfortunately not.
• History - None that I know of.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - 16x16x30 screen cage with two walls covered with Saran Wrap.
• Lighting - zoo meds blueday bulb 60W and 5.0 uvb bulb in a double dome. 7-7 for daylight
• Temperature - cage floor is 74 and basking is 84. Lowest overnight temp is staying around the 74. In Tucson AZ we are luck to get it there during this time of year. I have a duel thermometer hygrometer at the bottom and single thermometer probe at the top.
• Humidity - lowest it ever gets at night is 46 and most has been 83 during the day just starting. I do several mistings. Having my swamp cooler on makes it humid already and it’s been cloudy and raining so it’s gone up. I use a Hygrometer at the bottom in chill spot I’ve created.
• Plants - yes just a Pothos and a ficus
• Placement - in a room on a dresser. The ceiling fan is above but never on. The air vent is kinda blowing at the cage. The top of the cage is almost tounching the ceiling. Just enough room for a spacer and the lights.
• Location - I live in Tucson Arizona.

Current Problem - Sense I brought him home he was acting funny but still moving and exploring pretty good. I went to put a feeder cup so I didn’t have to disturb him. In doing so I think I did. He ran to the topcorner and hid behind some fake plants I have as decor. After a little he just started napping. I got so worried he wouldn’t even move when I touched him. So I went to remove the decor and he woke up then did some more exploring. He is staying a bright green the whole time. Even ate after from my hand. But after sleeping all night he was still yet to come out. I even tried to feed him from there and bring his food farther for him to chase. Still nothing. I’ve very worried. Anything I could do? The vet is closed today

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

This is him. He comes in and out. I’ve been just barley peaking my head in to check. He comes out when I don’t go in there. So I’ve stayed out.

 

[Syreptyon]

Welcome to the forums! Here are a couple basic husbandry notes (thanks for filling out the form!).

Feeding: I imagine you only fed him that late in the day because you had just gotten him? Just to be clear, you should not be feeding your chameleon late in the day, since they require a good amount of time basking to digest their food. Better to feed early in the day only.

Supplements: We need you to be more specific with these. Which exact supps are you using? The brand name alone doesn't give us enough information to go off of. Also, you need 3 different supplements, not 2. In addition to the full name of each, how frequently are you planning on using each one?

Cage type: I'm sure you already know this, but they grow FAST. You will want to be ready to upgrade to 24x24x48 sooner than you think! Just keep that in mind while you watch the little guy grow

Lighting: You will want to get rid of both of those lights, unfortunately. Neither are good for chams. Blue bulbs produce unnaturally colored light, which is not at all necessary or recommended for chams. Replace it with a regular incandescent, household lightbulb of the same wattage. For the UVB light, make sure you switch to a linear model like the tube style reptisun 5.0. The compact bulbs are trash at distributing UVB evenly and have been known to cause eye problems.

Finally, for your actual concern: First off, I'll say that the hiding part is not unusual in the slightest, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Chameleons in general, and veileds especially, are characterized by their bad attitudes and lack of sociability. You probably did stress him out, but that's inevitable when you bring a new cham home for the first time. The best thing you can do is leave him alone absolutely as much as possible. Don't touch him, don't move around the decor in his enclosure - this will only exacerbate the problem and make it take longer to earn his trust. Now the closed eyes thing, however, is not at all a good sign. Hopefully he is just stressed out from the change of environment, but if this persists you will need to bring him in for a vet visit.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Welcome to the forums! Here are a couple basic husbandry notes (thanks for filling out the form!).

Feeding: I imagine you only fed him that late in the day because you had just gotten him? Just to be clear, you should not be feeding your chameleon late in the day, since they require a good amount of time basking to digest their food. Better to feed early in the day only.

Supplements: We need you to be more specific with these. Which exact supps are you using? The brand name alone doesn't give us enough information to go off of. Also, you need 3 different supplements, not 2. In addition to the full name of each, how frequently are you planning on using each one?

Cage type: I'm sure you already know this, but they grow FAST. You will want to be ready to upgrade to 24x24x48 sooner than you think! Just keep that in mind while you watch the little guy grow

Lighting: You will want to get rid of both of those lights, unfortunately. Neither are good for chams. Blue bulbs produce unnaturally colored light, which is not at all necessary or recommended for chams. Replace it with a regular incandescent, household lightbulb of the same wattage. For the UVB light, make sure you switch to a linear model like the tube style reptisun 5.0. The compact bulbs are trash at distributing UVB evenly and have been known to cause eye problems.

Finally, for your actual concern: First off, I'll say that the hiding part is not unusual in the slightest, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Chameleons in general, and veileds especially, are characterized by their bad attitudes and lack of sociability. You probably did stress him out, but that's inevitable when you bring a new cham home for the first time. The best thing you can do is leave him alone absolutely as much as possible. Don't touch him, don't move around the decor in his enclosure - this will only exacerbate the problem and make it take longer to earn his trust. Now the closed eyes thing, however, is not at all a good sign. Hopefully he is just stressed out from the change of environment, but if this persists you will need to bring him in for a vet visit.

Yes the late feeding was due to when I got him. I will make sure his feedings are earlier from now on then.

The Zoo Meds Calcium sample pack I have is without D3. I read he only need the D3 twice a month right now? All they were feeding him at Petsmart was calcium w/D3 so I figured he had enough of that. I was planning on a daily calcium dust w/out D3. And the Vitamins and Calcium w/D3 two days out of the month. When he gets older I was going to lessen the Daily Calcium to 4 times a week. I have the Zoo Meds Reptimines sample pack as well but I was planning on buying all new three from Rep-Cal instead of continuing with the Zoo Meds. I’ll attach a picture with of the new ones I’m buying.

I figured so! I was defiantly planning on building a bigger home for him just needed a starter.

Shoot okay. I’m wondering if the lighting has been part of the eye problem for him. I’ll be ordering new stuff today.

I’ll see if the lighting and alone helps. If not he’s seeing a vet ASAP. Thank you so much for all your help. I’ll updated with anything new. Hopefully things turn around for him!

 

[Alexander1]

Nope, if he’s acting like that take him back, it is NOT ok for his eyes to be closed OR napping during the day

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Nope, if he’s acting like that take him back, it is NOT ok for his eyes to be closed OR napping during the day

I was really considering that. I know they would and there is a healthy 4 month old for sale right down the street that was bread here. I was just trying to save the little guy

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Nope, if he’s acting like that take him back, it is NOT ok for his eyes to be closed OR napping during the day

I was able to return him and get my money back. They are going to keep me updated on his house and let me know when things get better just keep me updated. I went down the street to go pick up the veiled chameleon they had there. They wouldn’t let me take him home. They instructed me to get a different plant because the Pothos is poisonous?

I have gotten so many different mixed answers. Sent down so many confusing roads. Im left now with no Chameleon and hundreds of dollars worth of stuff that is supposedly not going to work out for my chameleons home

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I know you’ve heard both sides of this but there is nothing wrong with pathos...

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

I know you’ve heard both sides of this but there is nothing wrong with pathos...

That’s what I figured. I tried to show her but the rep at this local Exotic Pet Store won’t let me take him home. Untill I get a new plant in replacement of the Pothos. Ive met a local breeder and his hatchling will be ready in a few more weeks. I’m thinking of just waiting for that. It’s either that or pack everything up and sending it back.

 

[Kristen99]

Just be patient it will all work out for you it's better to be ready in advance spend your time doing research and it will all come together.

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

Just be patient it will all work out for you it's better to be ready in advance spend your time doing research and it will all come together.

Thank you... I’ve been trying hard for sure! It’s been about 3 weeks of research and buying his supplies here and there to build everything up. I think I was just too excited to finally have him home. To have to take him back next day kills me hahaha I just hope he is okay! I need to be patient for the breeder.

 

[Brodybreaux25]

I don’t think you did anything wrong here, sometimes things just don’t work out perfectly. Generally speaking chameleons from pet stores will be of lower quality than one from a breeder. One sign of a good Chamaeleon keeper is doing the research before putting it into practice, you are doing that, this will work out for you just be patient.

Wait for the breeder and take this time to tune up your enclosure like we talked about. It will all work out ...

 

[QuinnyNewCham]

I don’t think you did anything wrong here, sometimes things just don’t work out perfectly. Generally speaking chameleons from pet stores will be of lower quality than one from a breeder. One sign of a good Chamaeleon keeper is doing the research before putting it into practice, you are doing that, this will work out for you just be patient.

Wait for the breeder and take this time to tune up your enclosure like we talked about. It will all work out ...

I really appreciate the time and encouragement. I was just letting it get to me too much. I’ll fix the cage up nice and have it even better for the next baby. I’ll have an update soon! Thank you again.