Help with my cham!

[Wolfloveschams]

Can you guys please help me? I am so worried...my guy has started to sleep during the day. He sits in his plant(usually curled up on top of the leaves with his head laying on the leaf. I don't know what to do and I really don't want to lose Kumar. He mostly stays in his plant hidden all day. He will come out for food and water. He hunts down his food and comes right up to the dripper to drink. He eats all of the food too. He moves around good and moves fast if food is around. His eyes are not sunken at all and look perfectly healthy. His poop looks good so I just don'r know what else it could be. I think He is supposed to be higher up(his enclosure)?
My best guess is stress... because he always looks like he is hiding. Also, every time he needs to be handled for adjustments to his enclosure he is always patient and good. But I think it was maybe 2 days ago my wife was holding him and he hissed and lunged at her. We handle him minimal times as stated. Only when it is necessary for a tweak on the enclosure. Can someone please give me some advice?

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, male, 4 months. Been in my chare for 1 1/2 months.
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? Only when I need to clean the enclosure.
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? 10 Chrickets a day w/ some wax worms every once in a while. I also put carrots, kale, or lettuce around his cage for him to eat during the day.
• What is the schedule? I feed him around 12pm
• How are you gut-loading your feeders? I gut load the crickets with carrots and kale(sometimes)
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? I have been dusting the chrickets with calcium w/ vidD every 2 weeks with a multivitamin every week
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? I use a dripper about 2 times a day for about 30 mins. (I have no drainage system at all!! So I put a shallow bowl at the bottom and watch from a distance as it runs, then clean it up at the end.
• How often and how long to you mist? I mist as much as I can! The humidity is always at 40% when I mist only twice a day, so I mist alot so it stays at 70%
• Do you see your chameleon drinking? I personally have only seen my chameleon drink about 5 times since i had him, but my wife says she always sees him drink.
• Fecal Description - White urate with brown/black poop. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No, he has never been tested.
• History - He was basking in the light alot until I moved his vine down some. It was high up to the light and I measured about 90-95 degrees where he was sitting but he was breathing with his mouth open so I figured he was hot. Now he no longer opens his mouth but he does not bask in the middle any more. But in his corner plant(where he is pictured) is the highest temp in the enclosure and that is where he is all the time so i figure he is ok now.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) Screen with plastic bags taped around tightly because I was ot keeping heat or humidity.
• What are the dimensions? 18x18x36
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? UVB 5.0 and 60 watt basking
• What is your daily lighting schedule?9-9
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Floor temp 70, baking temp 85
• Lowest overnight temp? 65
• How do you measure these temps? thermometer with temp and humidity
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? 60-70
• How are you creating and maintaining these levels? Misting about 7 times a day maybe more and keeping plastic bags taped around.
• Plants - Are you using live plants? no
• If so, what kind? N/A
• Placement - Where is your cage located? In my bedroom
• Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? There is a ceiling fan kind of where he is but rarely on if it is it is on low.
• At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor? 5'5 foot off the floor
• Location - Where are you geographically located? Pennsylvania

 

[MoyaChan]

I'd add a live plant to the center. Seems like his only option to hide is that where he is on the pictures.

 

[brownie64]

Yah like MoyaChan said he needs more plants, and vines so he will have more places to hide. That way he will feel more secure, and less stressed. You need to get some calcium without d3 to give at every other feeding you are not giving him something else, and I would only give the multivitamin twice a month. your enclosure should dry out in-between misting's it should be around 45-50% with it jumping up to 70-75% right after misting. If you keep it too wet in his enclosure it could cause trouble with mold, and bacteria. Which in-turn can cause him to have respiratory issues. At his age I would go with a basking temp of about 85 degrease, and after he gets older around 8+ months I would bring it up to at lest 90 decrease. Also after he reaches about 8 months you will need to get him a larger enclosure of two feet wide, two feet long, and four feet high. I hope this helps, Good luck

 

[jajeanpierre]

If they are not hungry, they tend to just sit. Chameleons are mostly an ambush predator--they wait very patiently for food to come within range. If they aren't hungry they just sit there, sometimes coming out to sun, sometimes just hiding.

Your cage is pretty barren. He needs climbing and hiding places in the whole cage, not just two places. Also, I find the plastic plants as they come out of the bag to be too dense to be really usable for the chameleon--I pull off about half the fake leaves and string the "vines" around to it is more open, giving him room to use the whole plastic plant but also giving him hiding places plus places for the water to collect. I also zip tie bunches of the fake leaves to bare natural branches throughout the cage.

Use bare branches with all the tiny twiggy ends left on. I use Live Oak because that is what is on my property. Don't use cedar, juniper or pine because of all the resins in t he bark. Yes, I leave the bark on and, no, I don't sterilize it. Fill the cage with pathways for him to move around in.

A safe, living plant is the best for a lot of reasons.

Also, if your ambient temperature in the rest of the cage is low, he will only hang out at the top as close to the light as possible. Sometimes they are pretty lethargic if there isn't enough actual light. Most reptile cages are incredibly dark and that shuts them down.

I didn't look over the details of how you keep your chameleon, but did notice a response about supplementing calcium. A growing chameleon needs calcium without Vitamin D at every feeding. Once grown, males don't need as much. A female always needs a lot of calcium.

 

[oneillchameleons]

The reason he's staying there is because it's the only place he can feel safe and get his body temps up. Like the others above said, you need a ALOT more perches and plants if he's going to feel secure. Also I would avoid feeding too much of one thing to him and your feeders. For instance, if you are leaving kale and carrots for him to eat, then gutloading with kale and carrots, your cham will only get those vitamins and nutrients and no others. After a while the overload of the same vitamins and minerals can become toxic. Variety is the key!
You should also be dusting with calcium WITHOUT d3 at every feeding. We don't just do this to give them calcium, it balances out the calcium/phosphorous ratio of the feeder insects we use.

 

[Wolfloveschams]

Ok, thanks for all the info! I will start dusting calcium with out d and put way more vines, branches, and leaves. I will also start gut loading with more variation.
I will keep you all updated on his progress.

Do you think I need to pick up his cage some?
Also, do you have any suggestions on how to put in a draining system?

 

[Wolfloveschams]

Also, when adding a live plant I feel as though it will bring in unwanted bacteria and other things...how do I know that it is safe?

 

[jajeanpierre]

Also, when adding a live plant I feel as though it will bring in unwanted bacteria and other things...how do I know that it is safe?

You don't.

Avoid plants that have been sprayed, replace the soil with organic soil, make sure it is a plant that is edible and make sure it is not treated with that long acting systemic insecticide the big box store plants now have. I would definitely wash a store-bought plant several times with dishwashing soap and water to remove the sprayed insecticides. Soap and water will not remove the systemic insecticides which are in the plant and doesn't wash off. I would be afraid it will leech out into the water on the leaves. I can't remember the name of the product, but the plants are labeled that they are protected from bugs for months. It sounds something like nicotine.

A chameleon is an animal that lives in bushes and trees. There are bacteria in their environment. You can't remove them all and it is probably not healthy to even try. Do you worry about lying in the grass in your yard or your dog chasing sticks you find on the ground?

I would not use any plant that a bird has defecated on.

 

[brownie64]

Ok here is a safe plant list I use.http://flchams.com/chameleon-safe-plant-list/

 

[Wolfloveschams]

alright, I am going to go out today and try to pick up a plant....I am also going to go out into my yard and cut some nice branches for his enclosure.
jajeanpierre, how do you feel about sterilizing or no.

 

[brownie64]

I would if it were me why take the chance.

 

[Wolfloveschams]

true, thanks for the reply. I heard to put the branches in the oven. Is that the way to do it?