Help! Never posted before! Fearing my cham is sick!

L

LisaBaby

Member
Just purchased my first Veiled Cham. After doing a ton of research for the past few months. When I purchased her she was very active. Now all she wants to do is sleep. She will fall asleep right in the middle of eating, drinking, climbing.. EVERYTHING. She has not darkened in color at all and her eyes are NOT sunk in. I am so worried about this beautiful chameleon and hope someone can help! Heres some info...

* Cage Type - 18''x18'' glass cage with screen lid. Designed for Chams
* Lighting - 5.0 Reptiglo UVB bulb 12 hours a day and 75watt red heating bulb 12 hours a day
* Temperature - Is beteen 75 at lowest spot and 86-88 degrees at basking spot. Night temp is around 80
* Humidity - Level is always between 45 and 55 depending on when I mist. I generally mist her 4 to 5 times a day because I fear the humiddity level is to low.
* Plants - Fake plants/vines.
* Location - In the corner of my bedroom. Very low traffic area.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon. Female. Just bought from PetSmart a week ago. About 4" long.
* Feeding - 10 crickets every 3 days
* Watering - Misting her cage for about a minute 4 to 5 times daily.
 
LisaBaby said:
Just purchased my first Veiled Cham. After doing a ton of research for the past few months. When I purchased her she was very active. Now all she wants to do is sleep. She will fall asleep right in the middle of eating, drinking, climbing.. EVERYTHING. She has not darkened in color at all and her eyes are NOT sunk in. I am so worried about this beautiful chameleon and hope someone can help! Heres some info...

* Cage Type - 18''x18'' glass cage with screen lid. Designed for Chams
* Lighting - 5.0 Reptiglo UVB bulb 12 hours a day and 75watt red heating bulb 12 hours a day
* Temperature - Is beteen 75 at lowest spot and 86-88 degrees at basking spot. Night temp is around 80
* Humidity - Level is always between 45 and 55 depending on when I mist. I generally mist her 4 to 5 times a day because I fear the humiddity level is to low.
* Plants - Fake plants/vines.
* Location - In the corner of my bedroom. Very low traffic area.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon. Female. Just bought from PetSmart a week ago. About 4" long.
* Feeding - 10 crickets every 3 days
* Watering - Misting her cage for about a minute 4 to 5 times daily.
Click to expand...

night temps should be no higher than 75 and is he 4'' nose to vent? it might be to hot during the day
 
Pictures?

Hi there....pictures really would help. A picture of the little girl and a picture of your set up. What size crickets are you offering her? How long have you had her and when did she become lethargic? What type of supplements are you using and how often?
 
Is your UVB light source a tube style or coil style light? I'm not saying it's the solution to her problem, but it should be a tube style bulb. The coil styles have been known to cause health problems.

Also, just for basic care of her, if you have any substrate in her cage, that should be taken out as well. If you want, you can put paper towels on the bottom, but they will need to be changed often. Most of us have nothing on the bottoms of our cages.

10 crickets every 3 days is not enough. She should be getting about 10 small crickets per day, or maybe every 2 days, depending on her size. She needs a lot of nutrition to grow. Which leads me to the next thing. Are you giving her supplements? She needs calcium and vitamins. One of the other members on here, Pssh, knows a lot about this part.

Her temps should probably be a bit lower since she is a baby. a max of 82/83 will be okay for her. The night time temps should be in mid 70's.

As you can already tell, these little creatures are a lot of work, and they are also very delicate to their environments, which is why great care is needed.
 
dmaizer: I just switched the bulbs about two days ago .. which was like 2 days after she started acing so strange. I felt it was to cold in her cage considering it never got warmer then 72 degrees.
 
pardalis: I got her 9 days ago she started acting like this about 4 or 5 days ago. And no suppliments as of yet. I can't figure out which ones I should use. I tried mealworms and she wouldnt get near them. I did purchase some powder reptocal "for all reptiles .. includes calcium and d3" will this work.

No longer using a coil bulb.
 
Making more sense.........

So you were using on of the spiral shaped UVB bulbs and changed it? That spiral bulb could be part of the problem. Some brands have been "fixed" but other brands may still provide UVB in a fashion that causes eye problems and even skin burns. It may take a few days for her eyes to get back to normal. Her temperatures are a bit on the high side too. The 88 degree high range should be at the very top of the cage, like the screen. It should be about 80 to low 80's in the main basking area. She should be able to move up to get warmer and down to get cooler. You really need to visit the Raising Kitty blog that Brad on the forum has. You have to get on a supplement schedule to prevent MBD. That is, when she eats. I think her main problem is eye discomfort from using that spiral bulb. Keep misting her a lot to keep her hydrated. Is she drinking? And move the temps down a little. Read Brad's blog information about temperatures and supplementation and check back with us tomorrow to tell us if she is improving of getting worse.
 
That makes sense! I noticed that light was so so bright it hurt my eyes! Not only that but it wasnt giving off much heat. But those were the kind I was told to get. Glad I changed them. Thanks a lot. :]

I keep trying to mist her but she comletely HATES when she gets wet .. its to the point now that i was lightly misting around her and she jumped off of her vine onto the ground. She has plenty of room to get close and far from the heat and the closest she can get to the light is about 6=7"

Also... Should I start preparing for her to lay eggs. About when does that start? And as of now I have a soil like bedding made for them .. the kind you mix with water, will that be okay for her to lay eggs in??
 
Honestly, if she doesn't seem any more active or better at all tomorrow i'd take her to the vet. Babies and females should not have a basking spot above 83 degrees and the rest of the cage should be around 70. At night it needs to drop into the sixties. How are you measuring her temps and humidity?

You should be using a phos free calcium without d3 at least 5 times a week, (I'll get back to you on the specific number for calcium with d3 in a bit or in a PM) calcium without d3 2-6 times a month, and a multivitamin without vit A.

EDIT: Do not mist her directly if she doesn't like it, mist around her. She will not need a laying bin until she is five to six month old. If you keep them temps low like I said she may never even have eggs. Substrate is not good, remove it as she can ingest it. It can block her intestines and cause an impaction. That means either a very big vet bill or a dead Cham.
 
How old?

If she is 4" in total length she has a lot of growing to do before eggs are an issue. The Raising Kitty place will help you with that later. You need to work on getting her into a normal state of health first. Does she drink? Misting around her is good if she freaks when directly misted. Thats fairly common. You need to make sure she is drinking. What do her poops look like? What colors are they? Pictures of her and her cage really would help. Any chance of getting some?
 
Ughh !! Right now her stomach is suckked in on both sides and shes itching her face on a branch all while her eyes are closed :[
 
Hopefully the light being changed and the temperature in the basking area dropped to the low 80's will help...also, I would change the red bulb to a normal incandescent light...if you even need one to keep the temperature in the right range.

What size are the crickets you are using to feed it? If it is only 4 inches from nose to tail tip then it should be eating more like 10 pinhead sized crickets a day...dusted with phos.-free calcium at most feedings and that have been fed a nutritious diet/gutloaded.

I also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder and twice a month with a vitamin powder with a beta carotene source of vitamin A.

Do you have a substrate in the cage? Is the chameleon pooping?

I don't like it that she's sucking her sides in. Does she sit with her mouth open and her head raised? Your best bet might be a vet.
 
I have seen her suck her sides in a couple of times. When she just did it she did have her head up in the air and she opened her mouth twice. Im so worried!! ..

I just went to look at her again and she is in the middle of her cage, head up, stomach sucked in, 3 feet on the branch one up in the air.

This makes no sense. I really wonder if she has been ill since I got her but she hid it or something?
 
Open mouth means over heating. However if she looks like an emaciated dog when she does it, she could be very very ill. Does she have anoticible 'skinny stomach' under her rib cage?
 
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