Help! My chameleon isn't opening his eyes!

[laurenx]

Please help!!!!!! I own a baby veiled chameleon and he hasn't been opening either of his eyes. I'm getting very worried because he hasn't been eating either.

He is about 9 months old and has been VERY healthy up until now. He has two bulbs, one is uvb and the other is a basking lamp, 75 watt. His tank is usually around 85-90 degrees. He has lots of plants to climb around on, and I mist his cage twice a day. I feed him meal worms every other week for a couple months, then I switch to crickets, then back to meal worms, and so on.

He is not acting normal at all. Last night I cleaned everything in his cage, gave him new water, and put a humindifier near his cage.
I don't know what else to do, please help!!!

 

[JohnDoe]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Fill this out and someone with more experience will hopefully chime in

 

[Sinfulintent]

I feed him meal worms every other week for a couple months, then I switch to crickets, then back to meal worms, and so on.

could you elaborate on this, to me it seems as though you feed him every other week, with one food, for a while, then after a few months you switch to crickets and feed every other week.

why don't you have crickets as the staple of his diet, with meal worms thrown in with them. Get some more feeders such as horn worms to give him a treat now and again.

but like John Doe said fill out the form and we'll be able to help you more.

 

[laurenx]

Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it! I just filled it out and went more in depth with my feeding schedual.

 

[laurenx]

My Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon. Male? (Not totally sure). Around 11 months old, I have had him for 9 months.
Handling - I have only handled him about three times, I heard they didn't like to be held by humans because it stresses them out.
Feeding - I feed him meal worms and small crickets. I give him meal worms for about three months, then switch to crickets and then back to meal worms, and so on.. I heard you are supposed to change up his diet so they don't go on hunger strike. When I am feeding him meal worms I give him 10 meal worms about every 10 days and when I feed him crickets I give him 12 crickets about every 10 days. He usually eats them all within the first 3-4 days.
Watering - I mist his cage with a spray bottle twice a day. He likes to drink the water dropplets off the top.
Fecal Description - His droppings are usually liquid white with black in the middle. He has never been tested for parasites.
History - He has been VERY healthy up until now. I just changed his bulb from 50 watt to 75, could that be the problem? The 50 watt was keeping his cage around 80-85. I did not think that was hot enough.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass. 20 wide x 12 tall x 12 deep.
Lighting - He has two lights. One is a long uvb bulb, and the other is a 75 watt heating bulb, I believe it's made by exo-terra or zoo med. I turn on his lights when I wake up around 9, and turn them off at bed around 11.
Temperature - I have a thermometer by his basking spot which is usually 85-90 during the day and 78 durring the night.
Humidity - I have a humidity thermometer which usually reads 20-40%. After sparying it might get up to 50-60%.
Plants - No live plants.
Placement - In a quite corner in my room. The top of the cage is probably around 4 feet high.
Location - Michigan.

Current Problem - I own a baby veiled chameleon and he hasn't been opening either of his eyes. I'm getting very worried because he hasn't been moving around much or eating. He is not acting normal at all, he is usually very strong and climbing all over the place. Last night I cleaned everything in his cage, gave him new water, and put a humindifier near his cage because when I did a little reaseach it said he might be dehydrated. I don't know what else to do, please help!!!

 

[joeandsoph]

I'm no expert and people here will be able to help you a lot more than me but feeding every other week is not enough. Personally I have a female so her eating habits differ to males because of egg laying etc. and I have to limit her food. But what supplement are you using?

 

[szpond]

Pictures can help us. Your feeding is definitely off, he should be getting fed about every other day at this point. An exact amount I am unsure of, I'm sure a veiled owner will chime in.

I see you didn't include supplements...do you dust your feeders at all? Have you ever?

Have you ever changed your UVB bulb since you brought him home?

How often do you clean his area? A tank does not have very good ventilation with just a top screen, bacteria build-up can cause health issues.

Has he ever seen a vet?

 

[laurenx]

I'm no expert and people here will be able to help you a lot more than me but feeding every other week is not enough. Personally I have a female so her eating habits differ to males because of egg laying etc. and I have to limit her food. But what supplement are you using?

I sprinkle the crickets with calcium dust, I know you're not an expert but do they need more vitimins than that? Are males supposed to constanty have food?

 

[szpond]

Ah, I mean a staple of crickets. Mealworms have a hard exoskeleton that chameleons have a hard time digesting.

 

[szpond]

I sprinkle the crickets with calcium dust, I know you're not an expert but do they need more vitimins than that? Are males supposed to constanty have food?

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Here is a care sheet you should read thoroughly. Pay extra attention to supplements and feeding. Unfortunately it seems as though veiled chameleons tend to be pretty unforgiving of improper supplementation. They require 3 different kinds of supplements, as laid out in the care sheet. I wish I could go more in depth for you, but I am currently in class. I hope I helped a bit!

 

[szpond]

"Plain calcium" refers to Calcium powder Without vitamin d3 (It helps to see a picture or even a few pictures to help out. We do have veterinarians on the forum that are extremely helpful in their wisdom, though it is always recommended to see a vet. I would in your case as well.


I am in Michigan as well, about 30 miles from Detroit. If you think you may be near me, I could suggest a vet or two. Go ahead and PM me and I'll respond after class

 

[laurenx]

Pictures can help us. Your feeding is definitely off, he should be getting fed about every other day at this point. An exact amount I am unsure of, I'm sure a veiled owner will chime in.

I see you didn't include supplements...do you dust your feeders at all? Have you ever?

Have you ever changed your UVB bulb since you brought him home?

How often do you clean his area? A tank does not have very good ventilation with just a top screen, bacteria build-up can cause health issues.

Has he ever seen a vet?

I will post some pictures shorty. I have noticed that recently he has been changing colors & patterns that I have never seen before. I have never taken him to a vet.

I usually dust the crickets with calcium powder but that is all. Do they need more supplements than that?

I have not changed my uvb, I changed my heating bulb from 50 watt to 75 about two weeks ago. Could that be causing an issue?

I clean his tank about every 10 days. Now that I know tanks can hold more bacteria I will clean it more often, like once a week. I was about to buy him a larger tank, would you recommend a screen cage instead?

Thank you so much

 

[Banders675]

vet

Get him out of that glass cage. Use a screen cage. Take him to the vet.

 

[Banders675]

ubv

I will post some pictures shorty. I have noticed that recently he has been changing colors & patterns that I have never seen before. I have never taken him to a vet.

I usually dust the crickets with calcium powder but that is all. Do they need more supplements than that?

I have not changed my uvb, I changed my heating bulb from 50 watt to 75 about two weeks ago. Could that be causing an issue?

I clean his tank about every 10 days. Now that I know tanks can hold more bacteria I will clean it more often, like once a week. I was about to buy him a larger tank, would you recommend a screen cage instead?

Thank you so much

Change the ubv every 6 months (per our vet)

 

[camimom]

read the care sheet that was posted.

YOur cham, is not being cared for properly.

im not attacking you, but you need to change alot of things.

1- the cage, he should be in a screen cage, preferably a 24x24x48 inch cage.

2- supplements- they need a plain calcium without d3 every feeding, a calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month.

3- he should be misted 4-5 times a day. i hope you dont have a bowl of water, as they dont recognize standing water as a drinking source.

4- Feeding- stop doing what you are doing. he needs to be fed every other day, to every two days, MAX. one feeding every 10 days isnt good. also, he needs to not be getting so many mealworms all at once, those are treat bugs, not staple bugs.
Its like you eating ice cream every meal for 3 months straight, then eating a salad every meal for 3 months straight.
Crickets, roaches, and silkworms are staple bugs, everything else is a treat bug. and no one bug should make up more than 40% of his diet.

5- post photos of him and we can tell gender.

6- mealworms can cause impaction in the bowels. they have a hard exoskeleton, which can cause ablockage.

read the caret sheet, and make the appropriate changes. NOW. or he could get much sicker.

 

[leedragon]

this problem use to be because of the light been too strong make sure that is enough shade, rasi uo the light higer up for start with, you can feed him every day until he becomea a juvenile, also you can have hin in a glass terrarium just make sure the hole top is screen and som of the front too

 

[szpond]

Just able to get to a computer. Well put. Care sheet is the "Chameleon Bible" - I'd go along with all of these changes ASAP.

Could we get a photo of your set-up as well? Photo of your cham, at a couple different angles?

He is very weak at this point -- getting him up to health will be very hard to do without his eyesight -- definitely see a vet.

read the care sheet that was posted.

YOur cham, is not being cared for properly.

im not attacking you, but you need to change alot of things.

1- the cage, he should be in a screen cage, preferably a 24x24x48 inch cage.

2- supplements- they need a plain calcium without d3 every feeding, a calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month.

3- he should be misted 4-5 times a day. i hope you dont have a bowl of water, as they dont recognize standing water as a drinking source.

4- Feeding- stop doing what you are doing. he needs to be fed every other day, to every two days, MAX. one feeding every 10 days isnt good. also, he needs to not be getting so many mealworms all at once, those are treat bugs, not staple bugs.
Its like you eating ice cream every meal for 3 months straight, then eating a salad every meal for 3 months straight.
Crickets, roaches, and silkworms are staple bugs, everything else is a treat bug. and no one bug should make up more than 40% of his diet.

5- post photos of him and we can tell gender.

6- mealworms can cause impaction in the bowels. they have a hard exoskeleton, which can cause ablockage.

read the caret sheet, and make the appropriate changes. NOW. or he could get much sicker.

 

[laurenx]

read the care sheet that was posted.

YOur cham, is not being cared for properly.

im not attacking you, but you need to change alot of things.

1- the cage, he should be in a screen cage, preferably a 24x24x48 inch cage.

2- supplements- they need a plain calcium without d3 every feeding, a calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month.

3- he should be misted 4-5 times a day. i hope you dont have a bowl of water, as they dont recognize standing water as a drinking source.

4- Feeding- stop doing what you are doing. he needs to be fed every other day, to every two days, MAX. one feeding every 10 days isnt good. also, he needs to not be getting so many mealworms all at once, those are treat bugs, not staple bugs.
Its like you eating ice cream every meal for 3 months straight, then eating a salad every meal for 3 months straight.
Crickets, roaches, and silkworms are staple bugs, everything else is a treat bug. and no one bug should make up more than 40% of his diet.

5- post photos of him and we can tell gender.

6- mealworms can cause impaction in the bowels. they have a hard exoskeleton, which can cause ablockage.

read the caret sheet, and make the appropriate changes. NOW. or he could get much sicker.

Thank you so much, I had no idea I was doing so many things wrong! The guy at the pet store did a HORRIBLE JOB at telling me how to care for my cham.

I will now start misting him a lot more. I just went to the store & bought him a new uvb light, silkworms, crickets, mulitvitamin powder, calcium powder with d3 & without d3. This is my baby I am willing to do everything I can.

I am trying to figure out how to upload pictures now.

 

[szpond]

Curious, where did you get your chameleon from?

OH, where did you find silkworms in MICHIGAN?!?! I've been looking everywhere!!!! Managed to find one place in Lansing that had 5 hornworms. Bought all of them!

 

[laurenx]

Curious, where did you get your chameleon from?

OH, where did you find silkworms in MICHIGAN?!?! I've been looking everywhere!!!! Managed to find one place in Lansing that had 5 hornworms. Bought all of them!

My boyfriend bought him for me as a present, since I love animals and I have always wanted a chameleon! They are so cool!!! He bought him at Moby Dicks pet store in Waterford MI. They have hornworms there and also carry silkworms sometimes! They also sell silk worms in battlecreek but that's too far for me.