health questions about my baby veiled

[beeek0]

I have a female baby veiled, about 3 months old, that lately has been seeming to be sick.. She is very sluggish, sleeps during the day a lot, and her eyes look slightly sunken in.. I don't know how much she has been eating lately either.
I thought she could have been dehydrated so i watched her the other day as i sprayed her cage and i would see her drink. but today she seems very out of energy and tired...
what can i do? and is she sick?
here are a few pics of her i just took rightnow
https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=43620&stc=1&d=1320345130
https://www.chameleonforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=43621&stc=1&d=1320345151

 

[DavidBuchan]

You're right, she doesn't look well.......I can see she's underweight and dehydrated.....
Could you fill out the 'how to ask for help' form to see if there's anything easy to change?
Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Chameleon Info:
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.


Pictures are helpful

 

[bigcappa]

She definitely does not look good, please fill out the form DavidB pasted above.

 

[beeek0]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled, female, about 3 months old. Ive had her for about 2 weeks.
Handling - I've rarely ever handled her, about 5x at most.
Feeding - I feed her about 8 to 10 small to mid size crickets daily or every other day if i see there are still some in her cage. I gut load my crickets with carrots, spinach, various greens and veggies.
Supplements - I use flukers calcium d3 or repti-calcium with every feeding before i put the crickets into her cage.
Watering - I water her cage daily at least 2 to 3 times a day, and have a dripper system as well. I saw her drink a little bit a couple of days ago when i watched her for a bit after misting.
Fecal Description - the last dropping i saw of hers was mostly yellow with some brown in it, she left behind some yellow that stuck to her for a while afterwards..its consistency was pretty solid, i didnt see it when it was first laid. She has never been tested for parasites, but came from a pretty reliable website.
History - she has been weak, slow and looks underweight. her eyes are also sunken in a bit..

Cage Info:
Cage Type - She is in a 3x3x4' screen mesh cage.
Lighting - I am using one uvb/uva buld for basking and a ultra violet light strip as well.
Temperature - it is about 80 degrees for her basking area, depending on where she sits. its all around about 75 to 80 degrees at the top and 70 at the bottom, at night it gets down to about 70 degrees all around. I use a thermometer guage.
Humidity -it is about 55 to 60% at all times, at when i mist it can get up to 70% for a while. I maintain the humidity by using terrarium moss at the bottom of her cage and misting that as well. i use a hygrometer gauge.
Plants - I have one small pink hibiscus plant at the bottom of her cage.
Placement - Her cage is in my bedroom, no direct sunlight shines oh the cage, and is under my ceiling fan, which is on medium at all times for air circulation. Nobody goes in or out of my room except myself when i am home. At the moment her cage sits on the floor.
Location - I live in Tucson, Arizona.

Current Problem - She looks sick and underweight. I want to help her as soon and as well as I can before it gets any worse... anything will help!!..
please give me suggestions on what I should do about this situation.
Thank you.

 

[camimom]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled, female, about 3 months old. Ive had her for about 2 weeks.
Handling - I've rarely ever handled her, about 5x at most.
Feeding - I feed her about 8 to 10 small to mid size crickets daily or every other day if i see there are still some in her cage. I gut load my crickets with carrots, spinach, various greens and veggies.
Supplements - I use flukers calcium d3 or repti-calcium with every feeding before i put the crickets into her cage.
Watering - I water her cage daily at least 2 to 3 times a day, and have a dripper system as well. I saw her drink a little bit a couple of days ago when i watched her for a bit after misting.
Fecal Description - the last dropping i saw of hers was mostly yellow with some brown in it, she left behind some yellow that stuck to her for a while afterwards..its consistency was pretty solid, i didnt see it when it was first laid. She has never been tested for parasites, but came from a pretty reliable website.
History - she has been weak, slow and looks underweight. her eyes are also sunken in a bit..

Cage Info:
Cage Type - She is in a 3x3x4' screen mesh cage.
Lighting - I am using one uvb/uva buld for basking and a ultra violet light strip as well.
Temperature - it is about 80 degrees for her basking area, depending on where she sits. its all around about 75 to 80 degrees at the top and 70 at the bottom, at night it gets down to about 70 degrees all around. I use a thermometer guage.
Humidity -it is about 55 to 60% at all times, at when i mist it can get up to 70% for a while. I maintain the humidity by using terrarium moss at the bottom of her cage and misting that as well. i use a hygrometer gauge.
Plants - I have one small pink hibiscus plant at the bottom of her cage.
Placement - Her cage is in my bedroom, no direct sunlight shines oh the cage, and is under my ceiling fan, which is on medium at all times for air circulation. Nobody goes in or out of my room except myself when i am home. At the moment her cage sits on the floor.
Location - I live in Tucson, Arizona.

Current Problem - She looks sick and underweight. I want to help her as soon and as well as I can before it gets any worse... anything will help!!..
please give me suggestions on what I should do about this situation.
Thank you.

Im sorrry your little one isnt feeling well.
A couple things that might help.
Supplements- calcium WITHOUT d3 is for every feeding, calcium WITH d3 is twice a month, and a multivitamin is twice a month.
Try upping her mistings. If her urate is yellow, she is dehydrated (also noted from the sunken eyes). try a warm shower every day for 15-20 minutes.
See if you can find some hornworms, tiny ones. these are great for hydrating and weight gain.
Lighting- a reptiglo or reptisun 5.0 light is recommended for uvb, and a regular house bulb 40-60 watt for basking.
pleease remove the moss from the bottom of the cage. I know it probably looks nice etc. but chams can (and will) ingest it and become impacted.
You may want to try making her basking spot a bit warmer, around 83.

good luck!

 

[DavidBuchan]

Camimoms advice is all good, could you post a picture of the cage? I think it could probably do with a lot more leaves in it to make her feel comfortable. Also, it sounds like your gutloading could be a lot better for the calcium. Spinach is not great because it stops calcium absorption (baby leaves are better, but still just in moderation if you use it)., Here's a list of good or bad items to use https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ferretinmyshoes/446-basics-gutloading.html
I hope she feels better

 

[kinyonga]

Your chameleon definitely doesn't look well...I would recommend taking it to the vet ASAP.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Your chameleon definitely doesn't look well...I would recommend taking it to the vet ASAP.

Looking at the pictures again and you said sleeping during the day too........kinyonga is right, a vet is really the best idea

 

[beeek0]

Thank you everyone for the advice. I will be sure to take it all in and try to get her the best care she can. How much would taking her to a vet cost?

 

[litahudak]

Depends on where you take her. I have a little guy around the same size, he was acting the same way. At that size mine was too little to draw blood to test for parasites, but the vet was almost sure that's what it was. At least yours is eating. A midsize cricket is likely to big, though, judging from your pics ours are about the same size and mine is still on pinheads. A vet just to see (if they decide to not run any tests) won't run you more than 50 usually. Hope she feels better

Oh, and the showers really will help!

 

[kinyonga]

With the way she looks I wouldn't wait to get her to the vets. They can go down hill quickly.

Concening your husbandry...I would think she should be eating more.
What is the specific UVB light you are using.
You said the cage is on the floor...it would be better to raise it up higher. You said you have a ceiling fan on...it could be cooling her too much at night.
You said you use an ultra violet light at night. If its the type that produces UVB and she sits under it too much she may be overdoing the UVB.

Can you post a photo of the cage please?

 

[MommyOFtwo79]

I am new to this site, and am hoping to find someone who can also help with my chamelon.
He probably is about 5-6 months old. He was doing great until about a week ago, now appears to be dehydrated and very weak. We read somewhere to hand feed him (pedialyte, mashed crickets and a little calcium powder) he seems very alert, bright green color (except for one small patch that wont return to normal bright green color??) We feed him crickets which we gutload with those orange looking cubes. I spray his cage about 3 times a day. Maintain a temp of high 70's to low 80's, low humidity. No light at night. He is in a glass aquarium for now since he was so small. We only use plastic greenery and vines for climbing, hes done well with this. He;s eating for us, looks as if he is almost gagging at times, but than tries to eat. We dont hold him often, he gets VERY upset when we do. But he's shed atleast 4 times and his color gets more and more vibrant, very beautiful! What else should we be doing that maybe we've missed? I've read up on chameleons to educate myself, but i am now lost as to what to do for the little guy. He looks pathetic just laying on the bottom of the aquarium, but he sure is a fighter! We've also been spraying a little of that reptile spray on him once a day (adds electrolytes and moisture to the skin)....thanks!!! =)

 

[carol5208]

If he is laying on the bottom of the cage, that is not a good sign. you did not mention what type of lights you are using? A 6 month old chameleon should not be kept in an aquarium. That do not provide ample ventilation. You should have a basking light(uva) and a UVB light. It is critical that you are using the correct uvb. your crickets should be gutloaded much better with fresh fruits and veggies. You did not mention any supplements either to dust your feeders? I assume you are using them??