Female Veiled Chameleon Sitting on Cage Floor, Dark Colors

[GlennFrog]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female Veiled Chameleon, Est. Age 3-4 months, I've had her for about two weeks.
Handling - I handle her as little as possible; sometimes (no more than once every few days) I move her under the dripping area.
Feeding - I feed her 5-6 small/med crickets a day. I buy small ones in bulk but some are slightly larger than the space between her eyes. The crickets are fed Fluker's Orange Cube Complete Cricket Diet. I don't know what my pet store uses to feed their crickets.
Supplements - ZooMed ReptiCalcium w/o D3, dusting approx every other feeding.
Watering - I have a Big Dripper set on top of the cage that drips down over the plastic climbing plants. I mist twice a day for about 30sec-1min, until I see the water dripping off of the plants. I've never seen her drink.
Fecal Description - Yellow-brownish, solid droppings. She may have been tested for parasites by the pet store but I haven't taken her to a vet.
History - She came from a local pet store that seemed to be taking good care of her. She liked the heat lamp that I recently stopped turning on because of advice that I received on these forums about keeping females somewhat cooler (low 80s range).

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage, 18" Wide x 18" Deep x 36" Tall.
Lighting - All Living Things 18" Slimline UVB light; I also have daytime and nighttime heat lamps that are not in use currently.
Temperature - The cage is kept in the low 80s, that is mainly maintained by the outside temp of my area (Southern California). Temp measured in cage by a ZooMed combo temp/humidity gauge.
Humidity - Right now her cage is in the low 50% humidity range, misting as stated above. This is an area that I am personally concerned with as I've never received strict instructions for misting/humidity.
Plants - All of the plants provided are artificial.
Placement - The cage is in the corner of the room in a low traffic area. It is not near any fans or air vents. The top of the cage is approx 5.5-6ft off the floor.
Location - I live in Southern California.

Current Problem - Carmen has been sitting down on the cage floor, butt touching the ground, for the past few hours. This is how she's been sitting. She spent all day yesterday away from the dripper area and I'm worried she may be dehydrated. How can I help her hydrate? She is also much darker than normal; she only seems to turn this coloration when I pick her up so I'm thinking something isn't right. I have seen her eat, and the crickets don't stick around long even when I don't see her eat personally, but I've never seen her drink at all. She also has her eyes closed frequently during the day, which I've read is a warning sign that something may be wrong. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[jannb]

Sorry to hear that Carmen is not doing well. It might very well be time for a vet visit. There's a good chameleon vet in the LA area, Dr. Greek. Closing the eyes in the daytime is a sign that there is a problem. I do see a few things that you need to change in your husbandry and I'd get a good temp gun to check the temps. You need a good digital one. I have a link to one in my blog. I'd try warning her up a bit with a small wattage household bulb. Those gages you have may not be reading correct. I wouldn't trust those things. You also need allot better gut load. I have a list of veggies and fruits that are good to use along with a good dry gut load in my blog. That Fluker's stuff is not any good. She also needs a large variety of feeders and you need not only calcium to supplement with but also calcium with d3 and multivitamin. I have the ones I use in my blog also. The width of the feeders should not be bigger than the space between the eyes....not the length so she should be able to eat a 1/2 inch cricket. Did you get a laying bin in her enclosure just incase it could be eggs?
Here's my blog and I will find you Dr. Greek's info.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html#comment2073
Dr. Greek: http://gavh.net/

 

[GlennFrog]

Thanks for helping me out jannb, and thanks for the clarification about feeder size and supplementation. I really don't think it's eggs as she's so young and thin, but installing a laying bin couldn't hurt so I'll give that a try. I really think that the problem is that she is dehydrated. Is there any way I can help that more directly? I read that forcing them to drink can lead to aspiration, but is there a way to coax her into drinking more water? All I can think of doing is keeping her under the dripping area or spraying her with the mister to try to get her to drink the sprayed water, but those don't seem like very good ideas.

 

[Kiwiflage]

Every bit of advice I had has already been mentioned by Jann..... See a vet, I wish you and your little girl the best of luck

 

[jannb]

Thanks for helping me out jannb, and thanks for the clarification about feeder size and supplementation. I really don't think it's eggs as she's so young and thin, but installing a laying bin couldn't hurt so I'll give that a try. I really think that the problem is that she is dehydrated. Is there any way I can help that more directly? I read that forcing them to drink can lead to aspiration, but is there a way to coax her into drinking more water? All I can think of doing is keeping her under the dripping area or spraying her with the mister to try to get her to drink the sprayed water, but those don't seem like very good ideas.

Being dehydrated can also keep them from eating. To get her to drink you have to mist her for a VERY long time With some nice warm water until she drinks. Some here use the shower method. I'll see if I can find a link to that. The very best to you and that sweet little girl.
Shower Chamber: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ataraxia/594-shower-chamber-treatment.html

 

[GlennFrog]

So I just gave her a long, direct misting of warm water and I finally saw her drink. I know she's not instantly better but it is a relief to have seen her get some water in her. She also changed off of her dark colors as soon as she started drinking, and she's back to a resting light green. I'm going to try the shower method when I get home from school today. Thanks again for all of the help. I really appreciate it.