help me save a cham

[cushcameleon]

And Ill give you any I can, I admire your compassion greatly beleive it not, I wouldnt call you either, just that was what came to mind about buying them, The petstore guy from brooklyn is out to make money at the end of the day, so if hes not, he wont see it as profitable or worth his time.

I hope the cham thrives in your care, it may become your favorite!
best wishes

Thanks for the encouragement jo .

 

[jojackson]

Your welcome Cush,
A few of my favorite reptile pets, the ones Im most fond of, are rescues that made it good in my care. Im proud of them, they live healthy happy lives as naturally as possible, and Im proud of me for having lent a hand.
Go with your heart, thats living!

 

[cushcameleon]

Ok so now my questions are on what to do next. I checked her cage and she is sleeping soundly. What feeders should I use and what method of feeding should I provide? I am thinking cup feeding crickets, although I have never had any succesful attempts thus far . How many times should I supplement her feeders? She is also blinking a lot and shutting her eyes, which I'm guessing is from the coil bulb the pet store was using; how long will it take for her to regain health in her eyes? I currently have her under a 5.0 reptisun fluorescent tube and a 60w incandescent heat bulb.

 

[jojackson]

I would say remove the coil Uv and give a few days without, its eyes should improve, its a bit like snowblindness to begin with, if she wasnt under one at the store, theres likely no damage done, simply get a tube when possible. May open her eyes as normal after as little as a few hours or days. If not, investigate further.

Feeding her will depend on her current condition and activity. If its alert, offer a few different things in the cup, or even in your hand. Crickets are hard to cupfeed in my personal experience, dam things jump.
Anyway, test her food response and see how she goes. If shes eating, then try to offer a variety of feeders, whatever way is easiest, just keep her eating if possible unless she dosent poo.

Hydration is crucial above all, setting up a dripper to run as long each day as possible (more opportunity for it to drink) and misting a few times a day, lightly over her face if possible, just dont drown her.

All normal cage parameters apply, unless its unable to move comfortably or independantly without falling.

Atleast one vet checkover (maybe a feacal for parasites) couldnt hurt. A parasite load will slow her recovery if she is ill.

Minimise stress wherever possible, low traffic quite room, up high as possible off floor.

 

[cushcameleon]

I would say remove the coil Uv and give a few days without, its eyes should improve, its a bit like snowblindness to begin with, if she wasnt under one at the store, theres likely no damage done, simply get a tube when possible. May open her eyes as normal after as little as a few hours or days. If not, investigate further.

Feeding her will depend on her current condition and activity. If its alert, offer a few different things in the cup, or even in your hand. Crickets are hard to cupfeed in my personal experience, dam things jump.
Anyway, test her food response and see how she goes. If shes eating, then try to offer a variety of feeders, whatever way is easiest, just keep her eating if possible unless she dosent poo.

Hydration is crucial above all, setting up a dripper to run as long each day as possible (more opportunity for it to drink) and misting a few times a day, lightly over her face if possible, just dont drown her.

All normal cage parameters apply, unless its unable to move comfortably or independantly without falling.

Atleast one vet checkover (maybe a feacal for parasites) couldnt hurt. A parasite load will slow her recovery if she is ill.

Minimise stress wherever possible, low traffic quite room, up high as possible off floor.

I am using a reptisun 5.0 tube, not a coil bulb. Should I still remove it for a few days?

 

[jojackson]

Only if its closing its eyes, rubbing its eyes alot, the tube wont hurt it or make it worse, might just be a bit uncomfortable. If it seems fine in that regard it probly is. I misunderstood, I thought you still had the spiral compact, so that was at the store?

Hows it doing?

 

[Docility]

I would try and find supers, and horn worms for high moisture content/ fat. she looks a bit skinny, but she would have had to of broken her leg MBD at 2 months is very unlikely unless she wasnt fed. crickets that are fed orange slices have a high moisture content as well. just fatten her up, and hydrate her. you supplements wont change too much and let nature take its course. if she continues to gap get a lower W bulb.

What key information do you need to know?

the color your looking for will be Lima bean green, or kiwi color that will be her healthy happy color

 

[cushcameleon]

Only if its closing its eyes, rubbing its eyes alot, the tube wont hurt it or make it worse, might just be a bit uncomfortable. If it seems fine in that regard it probly is. I misunderstood, I thought you still had the spiral compact, so that was at the store?

Hows it doing?

Yes, the pet store was using a coil UVB bulb and had no heat bulb whatsoever. She has also been rubbing her eyes on the branches, so its definitely from that coil bulb from the pet shop. She is very skinny though, so is it ok if I leave the reptisun tube on?

 

[jojackson]

Yeah leave the tube over it. Have you closely measured the temp at the place she basks? They expose the largest area possible (the side) to the heat to more effectivly warm up. That said, they gape to cool down sometimes, but rarely at the same time. Id think the gaping was a healthy defense thing because you are present. Its been infront of hundreds of people, perhaps with less than considerate kids, in the store, probly stressed a bit.

Keep an eye on pooing, by now you know what to look for there. She is a bit skinny, so while ever shes eating healthy gutloaded bugs its a bonus.
Pending a vet report or an unexpected turn for the worse, I think she will recover if you be patient and keep the food, water and warmth happening.

So far so good.

 

[cushcameleon]

I would try and find supers, and horn worms for high moisture content/ fat. she looks a bit skinny, but she would have had to of broken her leg MBD at 2 months is very unlikely unless she wasnt fed. crickets that are fed orange slices have a high moisture content as well. just fatten her up, and hydrate her. you supplements wont change too much and let nature take its course. if she continues to gap get a lower W bulb.

What key information do you need to know?

the color your looking for will be Lima bean green, or kiwi color that will be her healthy happy color

She was at one point a good green color, but for most of the day she was almost solid black and directly under the heat lamp. The basking spot is reading between 85-90 degrees. The fact that she never leaves her basking spot makes me worry that she may burn herself or her casque, what can I do to prevent this? I currently have the bulb six inches away from the basking spot.

 

[cushcameleon]

Yeah leave the tube over it. Have you closely measured the temp at the place she basks? They expose the largest area possible (the side) to the heat to more effectivly warm up. That said, they gape to cool down sometimes, but rarely at the same time. Id think the gaping was a healthy defense thing because you are present. Its been infront of hundreds of people, perhaps with less than considerate kids, in the store, probly stressed a bit.

Keep an eye on pooing, by now you know what to look for there. She is a bit skinny, so while ever shes eating healthy gutloaded bugs its a bonus.
Pending a vet report or an unexpected turn for the worse, I think she will recover if you be patient and keep the food, water and warmth happening.

So far so good.

Ok will do, she definitely does have some attitude . She has puffing up several times throughout the day at both me and my roommate.

 

[liquidsweetness]

How big is she? Its hard to tell from the pics. I think you might want to cool down that basking temp if she's very small. The lights are off now aren't they? If its dark outside it should be dark in her cage.

 

[cushcameleon]

How big is she? Its hard to tell from the pics. I think you might want to cool down that basking temp if she's very small. The lights are off now aren't they? If its dark outside it should be dark in her cage.

Yes she has been sleeping for several hours now. She is about 5 inches, almost the length of my full grown rudis chameleon, but she is very skinny as you can see.

 

[liquidsweetness]

I would cool that basking spot down just a little, maybe move it another inch or two away. Just to be on the safe side. Since she is so thin, she could dehydrate easily if she stays in that spot so much. I would try to get her to eat as much as you can, at least until she fattens up some and if you can get her to eat phoenix worms, they are naturally high in calcium. Definately dust everything for a few days, because the store probably didn't. I hope she does well for you, she doesn't look too bad, but a bit frail. Good luck!

 

[Docility]

She was at one point a good green color, but for most of the day she was almost solid black and directly under the heat lamp. The basking spot is reading between 85-90 degrees. The fact that she never leaves her basking spot makes me worry that she may burn herself or her casque, what can I do to prevent this? I currently have the bulb six inches away from the basking spot.

the age old test of stick you hand palm away to expose the more sensitive back side of your hand put it where she basks, and at her highest point she can get to it. if it starts to hurt you then its to hot and needs to be further away, or lower W. if it doesnt terms of burning wont happen she will just be warm.

I took my female from work she stayed black for about 3 days after moving her from that place. now i never see her anything, but lima been green, and an awesome tigerstripe camo when i stress her out by cleaning, or moving around her too fast

the important thing about the UVB is you need to make sure she can escape it so she can bask, and vice versa. also she will need some what im going to call blackout spots like under big plant leaves where she can escape all the light from everything (other than ambient)

 

[cushcameleon]

the age old test of stick you hand palm away to expose the more sensitive back side of your hand put it where she basks, and at her highest point she can get to it. if it starts to hurt you then its to hot and needs to be further away, or lower W. if it doesnt terms of burning wont happen she will just be warm.

I took my female from work she stayed black for about 3 days after moving her from that place. now i never see her anything, but lima been green, and an awesome tigerstripe camo when i stress her out by cleaning, or moving around her too fast

the important thing about the UVB is you need to make sure she can escape it so she can bask, and vice versa. also she will need some what im going to call blackout spots like under big plant leaves where she can escape all the light from everything (other than ambient)

The hand test is a great idea, I'll try that out tomorrow.

 

[Syn]

You've read this forum, and hopefully seen how bad coil bulbs are... yet you used one?

I personally would have rather have him outside a couple hours a day until you can get a tube bulb. Just make sure it's not too hot, again, they don't thermoregulate well.

Sorry if you've changed it since your post, as soon as I saw it I wanted to post my suggestion for you.

 

[cushcameleon]

You've read this forum, and hopefully seen how bad coil bulbs are... yet you used one?

I personally would have rather have him outside a couple hours a day until you can get a tube bulb. Just make sure it's not too hot, again, they don't thermoregulate well.

Sorry if you've changed it since your post, as soon as I saw it I wanted to post my suggestion for you.

I have never used a coil bulb on any of my chameleons before. Both my veiled and rudis are under reptisun 5.0 fluorescent tubes. Please read all the posts in this thread so you can understand whats going on, then you will noticed that I said the pet store was using a coil bulb, which is why she is suffering from snowblindness. Now back to the current condition of my veiled, she is currently all black and walking on the floor of the cage. Should I move her back to the top or should I not touch her? What would cause her to do this?

 

[Julirs]

By her body shape and color I am thinking this is a cham older than everyone thinks. Maybe 6 months or older. It is so hard to tell from the pictures-can you take a few more? Has she eaten for you yet?

 

[cushcameleon]

By her body shape and color I am thinking this is a cham older than everyone thinks. Maybe 6 months or older. It is so hard to tell from the pictures-can you take a few more? Has she eaten for you yet?

No she has not, I have not tried to feed her yet. I will take pictures as soon as I can. What should I do with her right now? She is black and still on the bottom of the cage. Could it just be because she is in a new environment?