How can I make sure I’m not stressing my chameleon

Allisonb74

New Member
I have a male and female veiled chameleon and I’m worried that my female might be egg bound. So I set up an appointment with the best reptile vet I could find and I was wondering if anyone could give me a few pointers. I’ve never worked with females before, I also including a picture of my female.
 

Attachments

  • BD415B67-2E0C-41B1-A5A9-A4BB02E03B30.jpeg
    BD415B67-2E0C-41B1-A5A9-A4BB02E03B30.jpeg
    262.8 KB · Views: 85
Hey welcome! I have a few questions and I will attach a questionnaire for you to fill out.

1. How long have you had her?

2. Is she somewhere where her and them male can see each other?

3. Do you have a lay bin setup in your enclosure?

4. why do you suspect she is eggbound?

Please fill this out if you could.

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.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types 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?
  • Placement - 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?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.






Also -- if you do take her to the vet I would search these forums for some hospital bins/transport bins. I use a cat carrier with sticks in it to take my girl to the vet.
 
Just based on your picture the very first thing I would recommend is putting up some sort of visual barrier between the cages. If they can see each other, they are both going to be stressed out and if your female doesnt feel safe then she wont lay her eggs and she will become egg bound.
Fill out the form linked above (copy and paste it so we get the exact format please!) but you should put something between them right away.
 
Hey welcome! I have a few questions and I will attach a questionnaire for you to fill out.

1. How long have you had her?

I’ve only had her for about a week

2. Is she somewhere where her and them male can see each other?

Yes they can see each other but they’re in different set ups

3. Do you have a lay bin setup in your enclosure?

Yes that was on of the first things I got, it has eco earth in the laying bin

4. why do you suspect she is eggbound?

I’m not entirely sure how old she is and the environment I purchased her from was very pour. They didn’t have a laying bin or the correct light bulbs for her cage.

Please fill this out if you could.

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
It’s a female veiled chameleon I was told her age was 6 to 7 months but I not sure if that’s accurate, and she’s been in my care for a week now.

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?

I have only handled her once. The day I brought her home I had set up her cage and tried to leave her alone, but I had to but the eco earth in later so I did go back into the enclosure.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
She was on a full cricket diet before we got her. Once we got her home she wouldn’t eat the crickets, So I got hornworms and after the first two days she started to eat them. I know that the hornworms are very high in calcium so I prefer to use them as feeder. But I also use a exoterra multi-vitamin once a week for both of them on superworms or crickets.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?

exoterra multi-vitamin and repashy superfoods calcium plus
The multi-vitamin once a week
The calcium every other day

  • 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 reptifogger humidifier setup for both of the enclosures that normally runs for 20 to 30 minutes twice a day, and I have a pump mister that I spray both enclosures with in the morning before the lights go on. They both also have leaf drippers with rock shaped bowls to keep a constant water movement.

  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
No they have not been tested for parasites.
The female’s droppings are dark in color and oval shaped.

  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
It is a zoo med repti breeze screen enclosure 18x18x36


  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
I have two zoomed tropical uvb and heat lighting kits that came with 5.0 uvb and 60w daylight bulbs
I spray the cages down first thing in the morning and I turn in the humidifier. After that I turn the lights on and and get their food together. Once I feed them both and make sure their water is clean I leave they’re lights on for the majority of the day, I get off work around 4:30 so I shut their lights off and let them cool down for 15 to 20 minutes before I mist the cages again. Than I turn the lights back on until 6:30 or 7:00 when the sun starts to set I shut the lights off and put on a 60watt night time bulb just to make sure the temperature doesn’t go too low durning the night.

  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
I have two digital thermometers on both cages the basking spot is roughly 4 inches from the lightning unit it’s self and it stays in between 75 and 80 than the bottom of the enclosure cools down between 70 and 75


  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
I also have a humidity gage in both enclosures in between the basking spot and the bottom of the bottom, with the humidifier and the mister running two or three times a day it tends to be in the 65% to 70% humidity most of the time.

  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
I do not have live plants but I have a mix between the fabric fake leaves and the plastic ones.

  • Placement - 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?
The enclosures are next two each other in front of my window separated by the humidifiers. The air vent is next the the enclosure but it’s facing the opposite direction so I have a fan on to try and keep a good air circulation but the fan is always on low when it’s on. The females cage is on a stand but the males cage is so big I had to put it on the floor.


  • Location - Where are you geographically located?
I’m in Florida


Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

I’m worried that my female might become egg-bound from the stress of moving her and taking her to the vet.

--------------
 

Attachments

  • 70A73820-49FE-482F-A0DC-0F26B24EED45.jpeg
    70A73820-49FE-482F-A0DC-0F26B24EED45.jpeg
    175 KB · Views: 67
  • C37F4495-2EC5-4340-82EC-6DD145425554.jpeg
    C37F4495-2EC5-4340-82EC-6DD145425554.jpeg
    160 KB · Views: 67
I agree with all the info you were already given... Also you need to get new UVB lighting for both cages. This should be a T5HO linear fixture with a 5.0 UVB bulb. You want to place this directly on the cage running down the middle and the basking area needs to be 7-8 inches below it for proper UVB levels. I believe that is your males cage that has the netting... He is trying to get up higher because he is way too low. The compact UVB bulbs you are using now do not produce adequate levels or provide enough UVB coverage. They are at risk for developing MBD which is particularly dangerous in females.
 
Now what is the pot with water? If this is their drinking source this needs to be changed out as well. It is a bacteria time bomb waiting to happen. You will want to either use little drippers and have drip pans for the cages or use an automated dripper with drip pans for the cages. This is important you do not want to recycle the water like you are because it could get fecal matter or insects in it. You do not want them to then drink this same water. The water needs to come in at the top and drip down plants to the bottom into a drip tray. Check out www.dragonstrand.com for their drip trays. and you may like their dragon ledges so you can anchor branches higher without tearing through the screen. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom