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[Tydis]

I am worried about my little male Nosy Be.
He is pretty much staying upside down on top of his cage all day, his eyes are staying closed a fair amount of time and his skin coloration is pretty white.

Any ideas about what could be causing this?

I'll get a picture up soon.

There is a picture from two days ago. I will get one up from today asap.

Picture from today

Also he has not eaten anything today.

 

[Jordan]

Can you post more specifics about his care? Cage size, dimensions, supplements, feeders...etc..

 

[Tydis]

Can you post more specifics about his care? Cage size, dimensions, supplements, feeders...etc..

His cage is about 25h x 18w x 16d
I've been feeding him about 16 1/4" crickets a day, no supplementation.
I've only had him for 4 days.

I think it may have been too cold in his cage, it just recently dropped down to 38 outside, the cage dropped around 20 degrees because my mother refuses to turn on the heat, I got every space heater in the house I could find and turned them on to get the ambients up. Sense then he is feeling a little bit better.

Do you think he is in a pre-shed state?

 

[Julirs]

Do you have a heat lamp on him? He shouldn't be able to get too cold if you do. He may be hanging underneath the flourescent light (if you have one) to warm up.

 

[Tydis]

Do you have a heat lamp on him? He shouldn't be able to get too cold if you do. He may be hanging underneath the flourescent light (if you have one) to warm up.

Yes i have a heat lamp, it was only getting up to about 80 though. It's not sitting around 95ish in his basking corner.


Is there any reason he is pretty much staying on top of the cage?

 

[Julirs]

I have had babies that do that, even though temps are OK. I would not get the basking temps too high for a baby.

 

[Tydis]

A tad more information for you all.

Cage dimensions (L x W x H)? 12x18x20
Cage location? On top of an entertainment center.
Ambient room temperature range (using a thermometer for accuracy)? 75
Materials cage is made from (i.e. screen, glass, a combination of both, wood, etc.)? screen with plastic bottom
Substrate on cage bottom (if any)? N/A
Type(s) of plants inside the enclosure (was anything new introduced into his/her environment over the past several weeks?) 4 small plants from Petco, didn't say what kind but they said they were reptile safe and a larger ficus.
Type(s) of branches or vines used? Two Fluker's bend-a-branches.
Brand and wattage of UVA/UVB source? Reptisun 5.0 Compact Fluorescent. Was sitting directly on top of cage until today.
Brand and wattage of heat source? Zoomed Ceramic Heater, 100 watt. Household 60w incandescent bulb to provide visible light.
Light/heat cycle (i.e. 10 hrs. a day, 12 hours a day) Reptisun and 60w 12 hours a day, ceramic heater 24/7 because the room drops down to below 65 at night.
Any lights or heat used at night? See above
Using a thermometer to determine (no guessing or approximating), what are the temperature ranges inside the cage (highs & lows) - including directly under the heat source at the highest point your chameleon would be able to bask. 95 at basking point, 75 on far end.
Method of watering (i.e. misting, dripping, both . . .water fall, etc.) Frequent misting with warm water and dripping.
How often is he/she watered each day (once, twice, more?) Mist two to three times a day, drip cup refilled when empty.
Diet - Foods you are giving him/her (what types and how often?) ~12-18 1/4" crickets daily.
Are the insects free range fed, or offered in a cup? Free range fed.
Feeder insect diet (i.e. what are the crickets and other insects eating?) Flukers high calcium cricket feed.
Supplementation (brands, amounts used, schedule of usage) N/A
Excrement - Does he/she poop regularly and if so, does it appear normal or running, discolored or unusually smelly? he was pooping regularly, none today.
Activity level (i.e. normal & alert, sleepy & lethargic?) Normal and alert, today sleepy and lethargic.
Any unusual behaviors you have noticed? He has been hanging from the screen ceiling all day, not eating, not drinking unless sprayed with warm water for awhile.
Handling (how often & for how long of a period?) Basically none.

 

[Julirs]

A few things I see-change to a Reptisun 5.0 flourescent tube and ditch the ceramic heater-that could be drying him out. 95 is too high for a baby-use just the 60 watt light bulb and be sure that you have a good digital thermometer with a probe to check temps. I would have to say on top of the entertainment center is bad, even though they do not hear, they would certainly feel vibrations of the TV/Stereo and then people would always be staring at him when they are watching TV. I would not use the ceramic heater 24/7 unless the room drops well below 60-65, and if it does a room heater would be better than the ceramic heater-they can make things so dry.

 

[PardalisGirl]

Caging.............

Hi there.............You need to get that compact flourescent light out of there NOW! There are several threads on this site about eye and skin damage caused by those. They are extra bad for juvie chameleons. Get a Reptisun 5.0 TUBE light and set the fixture for it across the cage. You need to supplement your juvie cham on a regular basis. He is going to get MBD or an eye problem if you don't. Please do some reading on supplementation. There have to be many threads on the subject somewhere. I agree about not having the cage on something like a TV center or any other thing that makes noise or vibrations. Keep us posted. He is a cute little guy. Walking upside down is pretty normal for a young one like that

 

[Tydis]

A few things I see-change to a Reptisun 5.0 flourescent tube and ditch the ceramic heater-that could be drying him out. 95 is too high for a baby-use just the 60 watt light bulb and be sure that you have a good digital thermometer with a probe to check temps. I would have to say on top of the entertainment center is bad, even though they do not hear, they would certainly feel vibrations of the TV/Stereo and then people would always be staring at him when they are watching TV. I would not use the ceramic heater 24/7 unless the room drops well below 60-65, and if it does a room heater would be better than the ceramic heater-they can make things so dry.

Is lifting the 5.0 12 inches from the top of the cage good enough or does it need to be replaced asap?
I ditched the heater last night, replaced it with ZooMed 75wt basking bulb. Will this be okay?
After replacing it his color came back.
Yay!
He is, however, still staying upside down with his eyes closed most of them time. :'(

Oh, the entertainment center has no tv or anything like that in it, it was just the best base for his cage, it does not get used.

Hi there.............You need to get that compact flourescent light out of there NOW! There are several threads on this site about eye and skin damage caused by those. They are extra bad for juvie chameleons. Get a Reptisun 5.0 TUBE light and set the fixture for it across the cage. You need to supplement your juvie cham on a regular basis. He is going to get MBD or an eye problem if you don't. Please do some reading on supplementation. There have to be many threads on the subject somewhere. I agree about not having the cage on something like a TV center or any other thing that makes noise or vibrations. Keep us posted. He is a cute little guy. Walking upside down is pretty normal for a young one like that

See above question about the compact. I have it that way for now.
I got supplementation the day before he got sick. I will begin using it as soon as he begins eating.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!

What are you going to use for supplementation?

Calcium, phosphorous, vitamin D3 and vitamin A are the main players in bone health and need to be in balance. You need to look at what you are feeding the insects and what you are supplementing/dusting them with when considering the balance.

Most insects that we use as feeders have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. so dusting with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings is recommended to help make up for this.

If the chameleon is kept only under UVB lights and gets no direct sunlight then its likely that it will need a little D3 (twice a month lightly).

Vitamins dusted a couple of times a month lightly will help to ensure that its not missing some vitamins in its diet. If you use one with a beta carotene source of vitamin A then it won't build up in the chameleon's system. However, there is controversy about whether all chameleons can convert beta carotene to vitamin A or not...so some people recommend using a little preformed vitamin A once in a while too. Preformed vitamin A can build up in the system and excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD.

Gutoading the insects is recommended too. I use a wide variety of greens and veggies for this.

I have used the Reptisun 5.0's for a long time now and have not had any eye problems with my chameleons.

 

[Tydis]

Welcome to the forum!

What are you going to use for supplementation?

Calcium, phosphorous, vitamin D3 and vitamin A are the main players in bone health and need to be in balance. You need to look at what you are feeding the insects and what you are supplementing/dusting them with when considering the balance.

Most insects that we use as feeders have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. so dusting with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings is recommended to help make up for this.

If the chameleon is kept only under UVB lights and gets no direct sunlight then its likely that it will need a little D3 (twice a month lightly).

Vitamins dusted a couple of times a month lightly will help to ensure that its not missing some vitamins in its diet. If you use one with a beta carotene source of vitamin A then it won't build up in the chameleon's system. However, there is controversy about whether all chameleons can convert beta carotene to vitamin A or not...so some people recommend using a little preformed vitamin A once in a while too. Preformed vitamin A can build up in the system and excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and lead to MBD.

Gutoading the insects is recommended too. I use a wide variety of greens and veggies for this.

I have used the Reptisun 5.0's for a long time now and have not had any eye problems with my chameleons.

My Plan is to use Rep-Cal Calcium with D3, Rep-Cal Herptivite, and Miner-Al-0 (no dD3)
Monday/Thursday - Herp
Tuesday/Friday - Rep-Cal
Wednesday/Saturday - Miner-All

This is what the original breeders of my little guy suggested I do, then when he is older drop it down to calcium and herp once a week.

That will start as soon as he starts eating on his own.
Of course it is subject to change, but thats the plan for now.

 

[Tydis]

Just a quick update to say that Blizzard is doing much better, his illness was due to over exposure to UV bulb. I followed the advice i was given and turned any UV off for a week, now have a 5.0 tube glowing in there and he loves it.

I'll post pictures of the little guy up later tonight.


Thank you all so much.

 

[Chameleons Northwest]

Wonderful news. Thank you for letting us know.

 

[dectr6]

If your using space heaters, I would suggest getting a good digital humidity gauge as space heaters can really dry out the air. You may need to get a humidifier or some means of getting humidity up when your not misting. Glad to hear he's doing much better. David