General Health

[iya78]

I had purchased my baby vieled chameleon about 2 weeks ago, I asked the pet store owner all sorts of questions from, what type of cage, lighting, food etc. He gave me all the info that I thought I needed:

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon,
sex, female,
and age, he never told me, but I am going to call him tomorrow to find out, I will post it then.
How long has it been in your care, for 2 weeks.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I only handle her when she gets herself stuck on the top and that seems to be happening almost ever day.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? Crickets
What amount? She has been eating about one a day, that I notice, I try to keep an eye on her, but she could possibly sneak one in every now and then. What is the schedule? I was told to keep ten in there and then when I notice she is out, to put ten more.
How are you gut-loading your feeders? The only thing he told me to do is to put lettuce at the bottom of tank for them to eat.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I have not purchased a supplement yet, I learned from reading on this site that it is a must to use it, so going out to purchase some tomorrow.
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? I spray down the leaves until the are drenched. Twice a day
Do you see your chameleon drinking? Yes, she drinks a lot.
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Color, Dark grey to black and white.
Consistency, solid
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. When I purchased her, she was in a cubed tank with several other chameleons. I had asked the pet store owner if a glass cage would be alright to have a cham in and he showed me his full grown female cham that was in a 7 foot glass tank and said that she was raised in a glass tank and is doing well.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Glass, 10 gallon tank. He said that that size would be suitable for awhile.
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? Exo Terra Sun Glow for day, and nite glow for night. Both 25 w
What is your daily lighting schedule? 10 hours of sun glow, 13 hours of niite glow.
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? I believe temp is around 80 degrees and overnight drops to 70-75. I have not purchased a thermometer yet, but do intend to tomorrow.
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity levels are unknown, I have no way to measure them, was unknown to the fact that I had to measure humidity.
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? I am using artificial plants.
Placement - Where is your cage located? In my living room.
Is it near any fans, air vents, No
or high traffic areas? She is placed in a area that is the beginning of the hall, so yes she is passed quite often.
At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? 2 ft

Location - Where are you geographically located? Colorado

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. Just want to make sure that I get all the knowledge to maintain good health for my little Cha Cha.
I was told that she is supposed to be eating 15 to 20 crickets per day, by a member, but I don't think that she would be able to consume that much, these crickets are not pin heads, they are around 1/2 a inch, I thought that she was eating good when she eats one a day, sometimes two.

She has had something white hanging from her nose, I think it might be skin shed, but she shed around a week ago, it has only been there for around 3 days.

She usually drinks a lot, but for two days she just wouldn't drink or maybe I just didn't see her, but usually right when I spray she goes to a very drenched spot and begins to lap up. Today I finally seen her drink a little, not as much as she usually does, but she did drink.

I am sorry if a lot that I am doing is wrong, but I did ask my pet store owner all sorts of questions before purchasing, and asked him to let me know all that I needed to be aware of. That is why I became a member on this site, to fix any wrongs that I am doing. I thank all that can provide help, and please do not be to harsh on me. The things that I know now that I need, supplements, thermometer, etc, I am going to get a.s.a.p. That is a definite promise, the health my little cutie is important to me.
Just found out today bay calling reptile store owner, that she is 4 months old.

 

[Elizadolots]

Is there a "reptile" store in your area? As opposed to a big box pet store like PetSmart or PetCo? If so, visit and make friends. You'll probably find that they sell their feeders for considerably less than the pet store..and, they will have better advice. Make sure you ask who at the store has the most experience with your animal and find out when that person will be in, so you know when to come back to ask questions. The person that knows your animal can't be there all the time, but when you contact that person, you'll get better (if still imperfect) information.

And, remember, anything but the most general of information (vets experienced in chameleons are good, chameleons need to be well hydrated, the food you give our feeders is the food you give your chameleon, maybe one or two others) is subject to debate and even as people try to help you here, they will debate it.

As far as I can tell the big questions you need to be concerned with are:

does the poop look good? That means, is it largely a big ugly grey/brown mass with some nice white sticky stuff hanging on it (like bird poop).

If so, yay! If not...cause for concern.

Does it eat? (do I need to explain that?)

Does it keep its eyes open almost all day? (yes is good, maybe not or no is "post a question")

Be aware that chameleons do not want you to see them...so, if they know you are watching, they will probably try to look like a leaf...leafs don't drink or eat...so, back off. consider "poop viewing" your way to know if drinking and eating is happening.

 

[Ellron]

About the white nose thing, it could be from over supplementing, but since you didnt mention supplementation, I'm not sure. Be sure to supplement though as it is very important. Find more information by using the search tool up in the tool bar of the forum.

Also, the lighting situation. You are going to want a 5.0 Reptasun linear 18" tube. You can buy fixtures for them at home depot. You also want a basking light, which can just be a regular 70 watt bulb. For your young veiled you will probably want the basking area to be around 80F.

If you have any more questions be sure to ask.

 

[SpinyFranky]

IYA,

I am going to be nice But there are serious issues going on here.

First may I ask where you live?

25 watts is to low for basking in most areas.

During the night there should be no light. Unless temperatures are dropping below 60* then I would advise using a ceramic bulb or space heater. Actual light will prevent your chameleon from sleeping.

You will need a separate source of Heat and UVB - sun glow in my opinion is very difficult to use, unless of course you have a UVB meter and a lot of patience.

The aquarium is ok for now, but once the animal hits 3-4 months it will become a requirement for it to have a screen or partial screen cage.

Gut loading is much more than just throwing some lettuce. You need a separate container for crickets. Give the crickets romaine, kale, mustard greens, honey, oranges, sprouts, carrots, apples, e.t.c. The nutrients from the food enters the crickets which in turn enters your chameleon when the crickets are consumed. 10 a day, not 10 and when they are gone add 10 more.

Speaking of consumption, you chameleon should be eating around 8-10 adequately sized crickets a day. The crickets needs to be dusted in Calcium powder which is w.o D3. Once or twice a month use Calc w/ D3 and once a month use a multi vitamin.

When you say the chameleon is getting stuck, it sounds like your setup is not prepared properly, there should be many spots to hide and climb for your animal. I will attach a picture for reference.

If your chameleon seems to be really going for the water, that would suggest she/he is thirsty and that you are not misting enough. Preferably add a dripper ( with safe water pan ) and mist three times per day for at least one minute at a time. This will also help with humidity.

-------------------------------------------
When I mentioned eating 15-20 a day, that was referring to a panther of mine that was forced to eat food not proportional to her size. Thus she consumed more to make up for it. Given properly sized food your chameleon should be eating 8-10 per day, with this slowing to every other day once the animal reaches maturity.

This is what your setup should look like ( with unique Heating and UVB sources ) of course you will have to adjust since you are using an aquarium.

 

[kinyonga]

You said.....she gets herself stuck on the top"...what do you mean?

If she is fed the right size crickets then she should be eating 10 or 15 a day.

I gutload/feed my crickets a wide variety of greens (dandelions, collards, kale, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, celery leaves, etc.)

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos., its important to dust the insects with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for it.

Dusting with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month ensure that it gets some D3 without overdoing it. The rest of the D3 should be produced through its exposure to UVB. You said you used a sun-glo bulb...I don't think it has any UVB...it says its broad spectrum (not full spectrum).

I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene (prOformed) vitamin A won't build up in the system like prEformed vitamin A will...however there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert it. If need be you can give the chameleon a little prEformed once in a while. Excess prEformed vitamin A may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD...so be careful with it.

You said..."I am using artificial plants"...I would recommend using real non-toxic plants that have been well-washed...both sides of the leaves.

Living where you do, it will be okay to use a glass cage with a screen lid as long as you make sure that you don't leave any water laying stagnant on the floor of the cage.

I also recommend not using any substrate.

When the female is sexually mature, she will need a place to dig to lay eggs in her cage. She won't have to be mated to lay eggs.

You said..."She has had something white hanging from her nose, I think it might be skin shed, but she shed around a week ago, it has only been there for around 3 days"...can you post a picture of this....or is it gone now?

Is she lethargic or active? Does she sleep during the day?

 

[reptoman]

temperature

Hi iya78, for temperature and humidity, make sure you get a digital thermometer with humidity guage. You can get one of these at Home Depot or Lowes in the garden section for around $12.00. The type I am referring to will have a wired probe that you can affix near the basking site to see what the basking temp is at all times. You may want to move the probe to lower areas in the cage as well to see that you have a varying temperature so that your cham can self regulate. When I got my first cham, i put the basking branch too far from the basking light and it resulted in my cham crawling on the screen top all the time, apparently trying to get warm. It is critical that you measure the basking spot temp to make sure it is not too hot or too cold. I have panthers but have seen on here that for a young veiled the basking spot should be around 85 degrees F. Good luck!

 

[iya78]

You said.....she gets herself stuck on the top"...what do you mean?

If she is fed the right size crickets then she should be eating 10 or 15 a day.

I gutload/feed my crickets a wide variety of greens (dandelions, collards, kale, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, celery leaves, etc.)

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos., its important to dust the insects with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for it.

Dusting with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month ensure that it gets some D3 without overdoing it. The rest of the D3 should be produced through its exposure to UVB. You said you used a sun-glo bulb...I don't think it has any UVB...it says its broad spectrum (not full spectrum).

I dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene (prOformed) vitamin A won't build up in the system like prEformed vitamin A will...however there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert it. If need be you can give the chameleon a little prEformed once in a while. Excess prEformed vitamin A may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD...so be careful with it.

You said..."I am using artificial plants"...I would recommend using real non-toxic plants that have been well-washed...both sides of the leaves.

Living where you do, it will be okay to use a glass cage with a screen lid as long as you make sure that you don't leave any water laying stagnant on the floor of the cage.

I also recommend not using any substrate.

When the female is sexually mature, she will need a place to dig to lay eggs in her cage. She won't have to be mated to lay eggs.

You said..."She has had something white hanging from her nose, I think it might be skin shed, but she shed around a week ago, it has only been there for around 3 days"...can you post a picture of this....or is it gone now?

Is she lethargic or active? Does she sleep during the day?

She reaches for the top and some how gets it, but there really is no way for her to get down, I may be just freaking out, she does get herself up, I am just scared that she won't be able to get down.
The guy at the reptile store suggested that I feed her 1/2 inchers and she, that I noticed, one or two a day.
I will begin to gut load my crickets with your suggestions, thank you.
And I am going to purchase some calcium dust today, Thanks for all the info on that too.
You were right about the bulb it is a uva broad spectrum bulb, so the one I need is a uvb full spectrum, right?
The guy at the reptile store said to make sure I use peat moss and mulch at the bottom to keep in humidity, is that not right?
I heard about the laying of the eggs, when does a female become sexually mature? That has me worried.
As far as the white thing hanging from her nose, it has fallen off, I was all happy to notice that today, she looks completely cute again.
She is active, she climbs up and down, across the leaves and even walks on the bottom. Sometimes I do notice that her eyes are closed, but it doesn't last that long.
I thank you for all your help

 

[iya78]

Found out by calling store owner, that she is 4 months old.

 

[pssh]

Yes, you need a linear UVB light (reptisun 5.0 is best) and she will need a laying bin soon.

No substrate, try using the moss with some organic fertilizer free soil or sand and put it in a tub that has at least 10-12 inches of soil and is big enough for her plus a few inches on all sides including above her. Make sure it's moist. Veileds can become sexually mature as early as 4 months.

Http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com is a good website to read.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."She reaches for the top and some how gets it, but there really is no way for her to get down, I may be just freaking out, she does get herself up, I am just scared that she won't be able to get down"...I would either make sure that she can't get up there in the first place or make sure she has a way to get down. As long as she can't burn herself by getting too close to the lights it won't hurt her to climb around on the cage lid.

You said..."The guy at the reptile store suggested that I feed her 1/2 inchers and she, that I noticed, one or two a day"...I tend to err on the side of using a bit too small rather than too large when the chameleon is young.

You said..."Thanks for all the info on that too"...I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium and Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3 and Herptivite in the manner I explained earlier in this thread.

As was said...the most commonly recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent tube Repti-sun 5.0.

You said..."The guy at the reptile store said to make sure I use peat moss and mulch at the bottom to keep in humidity, is that not right?"..as I said, I don't recommend using any substrate with chameleons (with exceptions like brevs.)

The female can become sexually mature as early as 4 months. If your husbandry is good and you are careful not to overfeed her once she is old enough to produce eggs, there shouldn't be any problems with the egglaying. You definitely need to provide her with a place in the cage to dig to show you that she is ready to lay eggs...and when/if she does start digging, do not let her see you watching her. I control the diet and temps for my females to stop them from producing eggs...here's the site about it....
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

Glad to hear the white thing fell off!

You said..."Sometimes I do notice that her eyes are closed, but it doesn't last that long"...if they keep their eyes shut most of the time, it means there is a problem...so just keep an eye on her.

You're welcome for the help!

 

[stickytongue]

i believe the reason she "gets stuck at the top" is because she has inadequat lighting and needs to get closer to the uv source.

 

[Elizadolots]

From what I've seen and read, they often look fairly incompetent when it comes to moving from one branch to another or one height to another. This is particularly true when they are moving DOWN.

I know it seems weird with an animal that can nail a cricket from 18 inches with its tongue, but they don't seem to be able to see their own feet. I suspect you are just overly concerned. I know I've been there.

If it's really bothering you, then maybe try to hang a vine close to where this happens (or even, hanging off of the place it happens).

 

[iya78]

Well she started eating more crickets lately. I started gutloading my crickets with veggies and I also dusted them with calcium, and now all of a sudden she ate 5 1/2 inchers today, pretty shocking. I am really happy!!