health concern for male veiled cham.

[Raoul Duke]

2 ft tall by 1 ft long exo terra glass terrarium. ( if the person selling me my chamelon had told me i would have needed a bigger terrarium i would have bought it for him)
100 w day lamp but i have been only using the 75 watt infared with the 15 watt uvb lamp . i thought he might be getting burned by the 100 watt.

i put ice cubes in the top of his cage every few hours and mist with luke warm tap water. he has plenty of branches from outside trees and fake plants. i plan on getting him a bigger terrarium with real plants buthave not been able to yet.

His basking spot reaches about 91 degrees at its highest point and in the mid 80s at its lowest .

he eats very well ,sometimes over 10 crickets a day i dont use the calcium powder every day but every other .

Health Concerns
The end of mr Dukes tail is i dont want to say it but rotting and i noticed the black spots when we first bought him but it has just gotten worse it looks like it could be spreading but im not sure.

In the past dew days he has been acting somewhat strange i have been taking him out everyday so he could get his exercise but now when i take him out he kind of acts delerious trying to climb things that arent there .

i dont know if hes getting good sleep either because when i take him out at night he falls asleep on the collar of my shirts im from chillicothe ohio if any one can help fill me in on whats going on with me little guy it would be greatly appreciated .

 

[jannb]

First get him out of that small glass cage.

Don't use ice cubes. Make a drip cup by punching a a few tiny holes in the bottom of a plastic cup for a slow drip.

How old is he? You have it to hot for him. 100 watt is too much. I use 40 to 60.

You need a reptisun 5.0 UVB tube bulb

Do you have calcium with d3? You should also use d3 several times a month

Post some pictures please

Where do you live? Do you have a chameleon vet?

Here's a link to get some good info on veiled chams: http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

 

[Raoul Duke]

what is a tube light?
the bulbs we use are the same shape as a lamp lightbulb.

we do have a reptisun lamp though.

what watt and brand should i use in the day time and in the night time?

we've only had him a couple weeks.. we're not sure his age really?? he's only a about 3 - 4 inches longg i think.

 

[Raoul Duke]

is this cage big enough? or no.
http://www.epetproducts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=47_305&products_id=1900

post a link to a decent cage for me thankkk you.

 

[jannb]

what is a tube light?
the bulbs we use are the same shape as a lamp lightbulb.

we do have a reptisun lamp though.

what watt and brand should i use in the day time and in the night time?

we've only had him a couple weeks.. we're not sure his age really?? he's only a about 3 - 4 inches longg i think.

Tube UVB would be like 18 inchs or 24 inches long.

For basking just use a regular light bulb like you'd use in your house but not a coil one

It sounds as if he's young. He should not get hot not above 80 to 82

 

[jannb]

is this cage big enough? or no.
http://www.epetproducts.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=47_305&products_id=1900

post a link to a decent cage for me thankkk you.

That cage would be fine for now as he gets older he would need a larger one. You could also check out lllreptile.com

 

[Raoul Duke]

theres some photos.

any ideas about what to do about the tail ? :/

 

[jannb]

Can't see any photos....try again. SORRY.....found them.

 

[Raoul Duke]

no problem!

i'm just super worried about his tail..
and earlier today he acted strange.. like he was trying to climb up onto things that weren't there?

 

[jannb]

The tail looks bad. You need to take him to the vet and until you can get a vet appt. try using some neosporin or even better Zymox and best Silvadene if you can get it.
Where do you live?

 

[Raoul Duke]

mann

i was hoping it was just somthing that would clear up. but it seems to be getting worse. tail rot?

 

[Raoul Duke]

i live in ohio.
ehhh.

how much does a lizzard vet cost! haha. geeesh.

does he look healthy other than the tail issue??

 

[jannb]

You need to do ALL the things I mentioned earlied.....proper lighting and supplements are very important.....and a screened cage. As far as I can tell from the pic he looks ok other than the tail. Here's a link to OH vets. http://www.herpvetconnection.com/ohio.shtml

When you make your appt you can ask about the price. My vet charges about $50.00 for a check up and another $15.00 for a fecal check which you need, too. Jann

 

[Raoul Duke]

i emailed a vet.
so we're getting an appointment set up!

yess we need to buy him a bigger screened cage asap.

 

[jannb]

Read the Raising Kitty that I sent you. That helped me ALLOT when I first got Luie. Jann

 

[Malicious]

Jann is right on that blog from Brad, TONS, of usefull information. A chameleon is unlike any other pet, things can be tuff for the first time owner, yet the reward is well worth all that time and dedication. Read as much as you can, along with asking as many questions as you need. The only dumb question is one that goes unasked. There is also a search feature on the top header. For faster answers try there first. All of us were in your shoes at one point and time and were overwhelmed at first, but made it through. Enjoy your stay and welcome to the forum!

-Jay

 

[Raoul Duke]

thaaaank you

i'm in the process of getting him a screen cage asapppp.

i think we're definitely gonna have to take him to the vet.
which is an hour away. blahhhhh.

 

[jannb]

thaaaank you

i'm in the process of getting him a screen cage asapppp.

i think we're definitely gonna have to take him to the vet.
which is an hour away. blahhhhh.

Don't feel bad my vet's 2 hours away.

 

[chambabysitter1]

thaaaank you

i'm in the process of getting him a screen cage asapppp.

i think we're definitely gonna have to take him to the vet.
which is an hour away. blahhhhh.

Try LLLreptile for the cages, good prices, good quality. You can get a proper lighting setup as well.

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
Once again linking brads blog because it is amazing. Read it through and through and you will have an awesome understanding of what is needed.

Can't stress proper lighting enough.
My neighbors didn't get proper lighting for their cham, and had a similar setup as yours.

Almost 3/4's of a year and this is how she turned out.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/babysitting-chameleon-looks-sick-20940/

There is a good ending to the story.
www.chameo.org to the rescue! Thanks to Elisa at ChamEO she made an excellent recovery and will live a somewhat normal life.


Far drives for vet's are worth it. There are way too many posts here where chameleons seem to die from chameleon inexperienced vets. That extra hour drive will be so worth it. Not like you have to go a lot either.

 

[kinyonga]

If he's acting odd I would wonder if he has an infection from the tail issue?
I really think you need to take him to a vet.