lewiswilkinson
New Member
My yemen chameleon isnt eating, and seems to have swolen neck, it also seems to have no strength when climbing can any one help me out and tell me if im doing anything wrong 
Help please !
- Thread starter lewiswilkinson
- Start date
Please fill out the questions from this post...be as specific as possible....
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
Can you post a picture too please?
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
Can you post a picture too please?
lewiswilkinson
New Member
yea 2 mins cheers
lewiswilkinson
New Member
Your Chameleon - ,it is a yemen, i dont no the sex and it is 1 year old. ive had it for just under a year.
Handling - i handle it once a day.
Feeding - locusts at the minute 2-3 a day there large, one in morning before work and then one when im back then one before i go to bed.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? i dont
Watering - i water the tank twice a day ive seem him drink plenty of times but not lately.
Fecal Description - large black and quite solid it hasnt been tested for paracites.
Cage Info:
the tank is a exo terra tank i will upload a picture
Lighting - the light is on for 12 hours a day the light is Exo terra 5.0 uvb bulb
Temperature - the temp is from 24-26 degrees it has not basking spot but has a heat mat.
Location - Where are you geographically located? newcastle
i set the tank up the way the man in the shop told me to
Handling - i handle it once a day.
Feeding - locusts at the minute 2-3 a day there large, one in morning before work and then one when im back then one before i go to bed.
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? i dont
Watering - i water the tank twice a day ive seem him drink plenty of times but not lately.
Fecal Description - large black and quite solid it hasnt been tested for paracites.
Cage Info:
the tank is a exo terra tank i will upload a picture
Lighting - the light is on for 12 hours a day the light is Exo terra 5.0 uvb bulb
Temperature - the temp is from 24-26 degrees it has not basking spot but has a heat mat.
Location - Where are you geographically located? newcastle
i set the tank up the way the man in the shop told me to
To tell what sex it is look at the heel...if there is a little bump out the back (called a tarsal spur) its a male....
http://web.archive.org/web/20060819051951/www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/glossary/tarsalspur.html
Its important to know if its female since they can lay eggs without having mated...so you need to have a place for her to lay them so she won't become eggbound.
Its possible you aren't feeding it enough...depending on its sex and how big the locusts are.
If you haven't been giving it any supplements and you've had it for a year, its possible it has MBD. Are its arms and legs straight or do the arms have what looks like a second elbow? Does it lift its body off the branches? Can it extend the tongue fully? Is its jaw and casque flexible?
You need 3 different supplements....see below for more information.
A heat mat is useless IMHO. The chameleon sits high in the cage as a rule...and looks for the light to bask in. It needs to have a basking temperature in the low to mid 80'sF if its a female and in the high 80'sF if its a male. When the temperatures are too cool, the chameleon can't digest its food properly so it won't get the benefits of the nutrients in it.
Have you changed the UVB lately?? The UVB drops off after 6 months or so and the bulb needs to be replaced when it does.
You said..."i set the tank up the way the man in the shop told me to"...many shops have poor ideas of what a chameleon needs unfortunately.
Here's some information I often post for newbies...
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light.
Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it.
If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light.) D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it.
Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while.
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs....so its important too. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060819051951/www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/glossary/tarsalspur.html
Its important to know if its female since they can lay eggs without having mated...so you need to have a place for her to lay them so she won't become eggbound.
Its possible you aren't feeding it enough...depending on its sex and how big the locusts are.
If you haven't been giving it any supplements and you've had it for a year, its possible it has MBD. Are its arms and legs straight or do the arms have what looks like a second elbow? Does it lift its body off the branches? Can it extend the tongue fully? Is its jaw and casque flexible?
You need 3 different supplements....see below for more information.
A heat mat is useless IMHO. The chameleon sits high in the cage as a rule...and looks for the light to bask in. It needs to have a basking temperature in the low to mid 80'sF if its a female and in the high 80'sF if its a male. When the temperatures are too cool, the chameleon can't digest its food properly so it won't get the benefits of the nutrients in it.
Have you changed the UVB lately?? The UVB drops off after 6 months or so and the bulb needs to be replaced when it does.
You said..."i set the tank up the way the man in the shop told me to"...many shops have poor ideas of what a chameleon needs unfortunately.
Here's some information I often post for newbies...
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light.
Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it.
If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light.) D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it.
Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while.
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs....so its important too. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
lewiswilkinson
New Member
the chameleon is strong and eats everytime i place a locust in the tank, its just been recently where it has changed im not going to take the advice from the shop where i got it, im going to research properly and change whatever im doing wrong, thanks for advice.
lewiswilkinson
New Member
Many thanks for this !!!!!!
Gensen
New Member
So am I understanding correctly?
You are saying that you do not supplement? That could be a big part of whatever is going on... and although you did not see any initial signs of trouble during the first year due to lack of supplementation you may be seeing the begging of those affect.... I would strongly recommend researching and choosing a supplement schedule and start right awasy with one... good luck to you and your guy/gal!
You are saying that you do not supplement? That could be a big part of whatever is going on... and although you did not see any initial signs of trouble during the first year due to lack of supplementation you may be seeing the begging of those affect.... I would strongly recommend researching and choosing a supplement schedule and start right awasy with one... good luck to you and your guy/gal!
Hoj
Friendly Grasshopper
ya i would listen to these guys on here alot of pet shops dont seem to give the best advise (my experience im sure there are some great shops out there) i have asked all kinds of questions on here and always get quick very helpfull responces to all of my questions. best of luck
