Help with a baby veiled..

L

lilblacky

New Member
Got a baby veiled on tuesday from lllreptiles.com and i put him in a plastic tub with vines in it for him to crawl around on because i was told that his 65 gal tank was too large.

So here we are a few days later and I've seen him drink 1 time and I dont belive he has eaten yet. Ive offered small crickets, fruit flies, and small dubia roaches but he doesnt seem to be interested in anything. All he does is chill there with his eyes closed all day. He doesn't walk around or anything.

He is 3-4 weeks old and is a lighter shade of green with like 3 brown spots on each side of his body. Also, from head to the end oh his tail he is about 3-4 in long.

Just called the vet to see how much it was to have him looked at, and I wouldn't have the money for that until saturday.

If anyone could help me out here it would be greatly appreciated =( I'm kindda stressin over this lil guy cuz i dont want him to die
 
Id love to help you out, but first, go through and fill this in. The more details you include, the better, and we can hopefully figure out whats wrong with him.

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Describe your cage construction (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
* Lighting - What brand, model, and type 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?
* Location - 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?


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.
* Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

Nic
 
First of all, congratulations on the new member of your family!

Secondly, yes, please answer the questions Nicodemayo provided.

Thirdly, I would suspect his temperatures are off. What are his temperatures in his bin, and how are you providing light/warmth?

You may not see him eat or drink. They often will wait until you disappear. A better indication at that age is whether you see any little poops in there. Have you detected any? The poops/urate may be on branches or on the floor of the bin.

Are the crickets/dubias very very tiny? If they aren't they may be spooking him.

But my guess would be temps, and the fact that he is in a new environment. Don't freak out and spend all day staring in at him. He may need more privacy. You've got a very very young baby there and they spook easily.

I look forward to seeing more info.

And a photo would be great.
 
Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Right now he is in a plastic storage tub that I originally made to house crickets so it's got vents on the side.its about 20in long, 12in wide, and 15in deep. That is inside of a 65gal mesh cage on its side so i can lay the lights on it.
* Lighting - I have a ReptiGlow 5.0, and a heat lamp, not sure what kind of bulb that is because i can't find the lil box it came in. and they are on from 8a.m. till 7p.m.
* Temperature - Teamps range from low 70's high 60's to 78 in the basking spot. Measure them with a digital thermometer/hygrometer
* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Humidity stays around 50% and I use a little mister bottle to disperse the water. While I am at work I have my roomies spray it down like twice but I do it before i leave for work (8a.m.) and when I get home (6p.m.)
* Plants - Currently im just using a fake silk vine
* Location - The cage is in our second living room that we have and never use So there isn't anyone ever in there. There is a fan but its not on and an air vent. The top of the cage is about 3ft off the ground.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Male Veiled 3-4 weeks old and I have had it for 3 days
* Handling - Minimal. Only really when I took him from the box he came in to his cage
* Feeding - I have been trying to feed him fruit flies, small crickets,and small dubia roaches.
* Supplements - I haven't gotten any in him because he hasn't eaten yet.
* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I have a mist spray bottle. I usually just spray around and make sure you can see water drops on the leaves and what not 4 times a day. I saw him drink once the first day i had him so did my bro, but nothing since then
* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? He's only pooped once and it was brown and white not odd coloration or anything and no he hasn't been tested yet
* History - Got him from LLLReptiles.com and was shipped overnight on monday and got him tuesday
* Current Problem - The little guy hasn't been eating or drinking. All he does is sit there with his eyes closed... there was even fruit flies and crickets right in front of him and he wasn't even interested
 
The thing with baby chams under or at a month old is how easy they can dehydrate-and when that happens the first thing is usually closed eyes. I would try to mist him with nice warm water-mist him lightly--it won't hurt him. He also is probably only used to eating crickets-they should be no larger than 1/4ths at this age, and only put in like 5 or so at a time and hold off on the flies and roaches. The plastic tub sounds like a great size. I rest the 5.0 on top of that container-15" deep puts it in a good range, and then use a 25W or 40W bulb to keep one side of the tub at about 80 degrees. Paper towel in the bottom holds a little humidity also.
 
Thank you for the additional information.

He would have arrived very thirsty, so I would expect you to have seen him drink that first day, as you did. It is likely he is drinking when you are not looking. Our baby chams will freeze in place when I watch them in their tub, unless I am misting them. Then, if they are in a group, they will run around. When I have kept a baby cham in a bin by itself, it usually froze in place whenever I watched, whether I was misting or not.

I would say it is just getting acclimated, except for the closed eyes. That is not good.

The closed eyes tells me it is not feeling well. A simple thing to try is raising its temps. We do keep our baby veiled chams at about 84 degrees. In fact, they seem to like it even warmer than that, but we strive for 84 degrees.

If it were me, I would raise the temperature. You would be amazed at the difference a few degrees in temperature can make, even in adult chameleons. But these babies do need warmth, for their metabolism to work and also to fight infection. I realize some people probably recommend cooler temps, but we kept our veiled babies in the mid 80'sF range and didn't lose any to illness or lack of eating.

You just got him Tuesday, and already saw a poop from him, so it's not time to panic yet.

Let us know how he does tonight and tomorrow.

Perhaps some others will chime in with more advice. Ah- I see that Julirs has written. That's great.
 
Last edited:
Great idea Julirs, about the paper towels. We use them in the bottom of our bins. Should have mentioned that too.

Also what you mentioned about misting the actual chameleon. I do mist ours, body, leaves, and all. It always amazes me how wrinkly they can look in the morning, and how quickly they plump up when I mist them directly. Of course, they act like I'm spraying them with agent orange, but it's good for them. I do even mist them at night. Especially during their first weeks.
 
I will be sure to keep everyone posted...

Tomorrow i will see if i can get the temps a lil higher for him and hopefully that will help
 
Blacky, also, the silk vines are OK, but it might be good to try and get some kind of plastic ones that water will bead up on, the silk ones would be like trying to drink water off a shirt.

IM sure you could find a very small ficus benjamina at one of the homedepots out here. it would be great for him, just repot it with potting soil *organic, and no vermiculite*..

as for the cage i have, ima clean it this weekend, we can probably arrange some kind of pickup monday.. or something.


hmm, he is really small, the eyes shut during the day are really not good.
 
yea i think im going to take those ones out and replace them with some plastic ones i have in my frog cage... ill just clean those off and stick em in there
 
lilblacky said:
yea i think im going to take those ones out and replace them with some plastic ones i have in my frog cage... ill just clean those off and stick em in there
Click to expand...

Be sure to wash them VERY good with hot soapy water and rinse well before you put them in.
 
Distance of the uvb tube (the dont emit to much heat) should be 2-3 inches from the top of the cage allowing him to be within 6-12 inches of the light...i keep mine directly on top... gesang and julirs are right about the temps... i would mist him with warm water and keep his enclosure "settings" as optimal as possible.. imo i think he is either one dehydrated,two impacted, or three he has a parasite load...if his problem is one or two then the warm mistings and getting him to drink will help..If his problem is 3 you'll have to get meds from a vet..i hope he gets well soon.. i sent you a pm..
 
hmmm iight i may stick something under there to lift em up a lil and try the warm water thing tomorrow... what exactly do you mean by impacted? Oh and I hit you back
 
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