Female veiled chameleon

Destany

Member
My chameleon olive has plenty of crickets to eat but just isn’t eating them. If we put them in front of her and hand feed she will eat one or two but she isn’t just eating on her own like she had been since we got her.
I also noticed she is laying down on her basking spot during the day she closes her eyes a lot during the day. She didn’t do this before either.
She shed last week.
She still is moving around and exploring, she just recently started climbing on the screen of her cage.
 

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Hi. :) It’s hard to tell from your pic, but I’m wondering if perhaps the crickets are too big for her. If they aren’t smaller than the space between her eyes, she won’t be able to eat them. Little ones usually need 1/4” crickets or smaller, which are really hard to get from most pet stores. You could also try bsfl (aka calci worms, pheonix worms) which should be small enough and are readily available at most places.
If you’d like to rule out any possible problems, we can review all of your husbandry and make sure it’s spot on. Having everything as perfect as possible is extremely important for little ones and our girls. If you’d like to do that, just copy/paste the following with your answers.
  • 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.

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Please Note:
  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
 
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled chameleon - Female - 4 months old - almost a month
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Not very often only when cleaning the cage
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Small crickets also tried meal worms but she was never interested - 8 or so a day before she stopped eating her crickets - been using a gut load food for insects. Also have had fruits and veggies for the crickets to eat.
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I haave been dusting the crickets with repti calcium
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a mister it is set for 30 seconds every 3 hours. - I see her drink all the time.
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? White and black - no she has never been tested for parasites
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. - bought her at pet smart little over a month ago. They told us she was probably around 3 months old then.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screened cage. 24x24x48
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Using uvb t5 5.0 reptisun light strip. Plus a 50 watt basking bulb.
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Have a couple different thermometers one is measuring by her basking spot which stays at about 79 to 82.5 rest of the cage is around 72-75
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Have a hygrometer it stays at about 50 always rises to about 80-85 when her mister comes on.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? There is 1 live plant in her cage that she like to hang out on recently. We did have another one in there but it started dying. The plant we have now is a umbrella tree.
  • 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? She is located in our bed room. It’s not a high traffic area only me and my husband. We do have air conditioning in our room and fans but she is on the other side of the room with a shower curtain around the sides of her cage.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? We are in Ohio.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. She recently started laying down on her branches and closing her eyes a lot during the day.
She also have stopped eating very much and only eats sometimes when we hand feed but she will only take 1-2 crickets.
 
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled chameleon - Female - 4 months old - almost a month
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Not very often only when cleaning the cage
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? Small crickets also tried meal worms but she was never interested - 8 or so a day before she stopped eating her crickets - been using a gut load food for insects. Also have had fruits and veggies for the crickets to eat. The size of the feeders may be why she isn’t eating them. You may need to order the right size (check the forum sponsors). Attaching feeder and gutload graphics. You don’t say which gutload product you’re using and some like the orange cubes are not good for more than keeping your bugs alive.
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I haave been dusting the crickets with repti calcium If you’re using the one you posted a pic of, you’re giving her way too much D3, which can build up to toxic levels. Stop using that immediately. What you want for use for every feeding is a phosphorus free calcium without D3. The calcium with D3 should be used for only one feeding every other week. You also need a multivitamin (without D3) which will also be used one feeding every other week, alternating weeks with the calcium with D3. Since she’s gotten so much D3 and it will take time to get it out of her system, I would suggest not using it again for about a month.
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a mister it is set for 30 seconds every 3 hours. - I see her drink all the time. It would be better to mist for at least 2 minutes, 2-3 times a day…just before lights go on/off and mid day is optional. You want to give the enclosure time to dry out in between misting.
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? White and black - no she has never been tested for parasites Coming from Petsmart and with her current condition, I strongly suggest a vet visit with a fresh fecal to check for parasites. More on this in a bit.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. - bought her at pet smart little over a month ago. They told us she was probably around 3 months old then.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screened cage. 24x24x48 Perfect
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Using uvb t5 5.0 reptisun light strip. Plus a 50 watt basking bulb. Perfect. What is the distance between your lights and her basking area? It should be around 8-9” to provide optimal uvb levels.
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Have a couple different thermometers one is measuring by her basking spot which stays at about 79 to 82.5 rest of the cage is around 72-75 Excellent. Do make sure not to let her basking temp to get any higher though. We try to keep our babies and girls around 80.
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Have a hygrometer it stays at about 50 always rises to about 80-85 when her mister comes on. Okay. Ideal range is between 30-50%. Reducing the mistings will help bring humidity down a bit.
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? There is 1 live plant in her cage that she like to hang out on recently. We did have another one in there but it started dying. The plant we have now is a umbrella tree. Having all live safe and clean plants is essential for veileds, because they nibble their plants. They have been known to eat a fake leaf and get impacted. Safe plant list below. Remove the artificial and hang on the outside of the door for added privacy. The mossy vines are also a hazard. I prefer using natural sticks and branches (avoid pine and sappy ones) that I give a scrub with dish soap, rinse very well with the hose and dry in the sun. For artificial vines, I like Fluker’s foamy ones.
  • 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? She is located in our bed room. It’s not a high traffic area only me and my husband. We do have air conditioning in our room and fans but she is on the other side of the room with a shower curtain around the sides of her cage. Is she on a stand or the floor? Height = safety for chameleons.
  • Location - Where are you geographically located? We are in Ohio.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. She recently started laying down on her branches and closing her eyes a lot during the day. Eyes closed during the day is a huge red flag that something is wrong. I’m not a vet, but I suspect it may be from too much vitamin D3. A vet visit is definitely needed and the sooner the better. They go downhill very fast. If you need help finding a good vet, these may help. https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/area-by-area-country-vet-list.32880/ https://arav.site-ym.com/search/custom.asp?id=3661 It isn’t uncommon to have to travel a little distance for a good vet.
She also have stopped eating very much and only eats sometimes when we hand feed but she will only take 1-2 crickets.
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I don’t think the crickets are too big for her. She has ate them just fine up until last week. I wasn’t giving her the calcium everyday I would sprinkle the calcium on the crickets when I got them but by time she would eat them they would already be sprayed with water every time it went off. I will switch the calcium though like you said
 
I don’t think the crickets are too big for her. She has ate them just fine up until last week. I wasn’t giving her the calcium everyday I would sprinkle the calcium on the crickets when I got them but by time she would eat them they would already be sprayed with water every time it went off. I will switch the calcium though like you said
So the feeders should only be dusted right before feeding them to the chameleon. If there is an excess of the calcium with D3 in the bowl she is getting it when she does hit a feeder. This supplement used more the 2 times a month can cause major issues. Calcium without D3 should be used at every feeding unless it is a multivitamin or D3 day. This is the only way to balance the phosphorus to calcium levels of the feeders.

The feeders should not be any larger then 1/4 of an inch long. Larger and they tend to back off and will not eat.
 
Is this stuff okay?
 

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Be aware though that herptivite only has PrOformed vitamin A in it (along with all the other vitamins) it not PrEformed so you will have to watch for signs of hypovitaminosis A. I used it for years with
Veiled chameleons though and never had any problems.
 
The herptivite would rotate every other week on the opposite weeks from the calcium with D3. Than all additional feedings need plain phosphorus free calcium without D3.
 
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