I am frustrated with this issue

Bay687

New Member
my little guy jenkins isn't drinking water or eating??? i have no idea why, i tried figuring this out and can't seem to understand why he isn't drinking water or eating.. well im not quite sure about the eating, im pretty positive he's not eating but the drinking water, his eyes seem to sink in a little like hes trying to sleep during the day, and im offering crickets, phoenix worms, he has plants and vines and branches, the humidity goes from 40% to 60% 5.0 reptisun , i got it all, hmmm.. just confused why he is not eating, he doesnt look stressed? and i have cardboard in between both cages between frost and him so they dont see each other
 
Please fill out the Help form. I'll begin though.

Ambient temp in room and cage?
Size of cage? Type of cage?
What kind of Chameleon?
How old?

There are a lot of factors it could be and the more details you give us the better we can try to help you.

.... Dan
 
Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Screen cage... 36x24x18
* Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 ... light turns on at 9am stays on till 9 pm, my basking light turns on at 8am and turns off at 830 pm ... the room tempature is around 75 ... but the basking light says its 89
* Temperature - its mid 80's to low 90's during the days, the night is dropped when the light turns off, i let my misting system cool it off for twenty minutes so it drops till bout 70
* Humidity -roughly anywhere from 40 percent humiditiy to 60 percent
* Plants - definitley have live plants, some hisbiscus and the fake vines and wood doodles
* Placement - its in my bedroom next to the corner, not really a place where a lot of people are around, another chameleon cage next to it, but is being blocked by cardboard.. sits about six feet high off the ground from top of cage
* Location - phoenix az


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - i have a 4 month old male veiled chameleon.. i have had it about a month
* Handling - i havent really handle my chameleon, ive notice it alot picker than my nosy be, i just let it be, it tends to stress out when i open the cage to put food in, but other than that few seconds that it hisses at me, i leave him alone
* Feeding - im feeding him crickets, i gutloaded with cricket chop and oranges, i was feeding fruit flies when i first got him, and i will be feeding house flies soon, i let the crickets roam all day when i let them in around 8am, then i take out at night
* Supplements - rep cal calcium with vit.d and rep cal herptivite and zoo meds reptivite with d3.. and i switch on and off with the batch of feeders, i tend to give more calcium just a bit more
* Watering - i water for ten minutes every 3 hours from a misting system, goes off at 830, 1130, 230, 530, 900 .. and i havent seen him actually drink water yet but there is plenty water available
* Fecal Description - the reason why i believe he's not eating is because i havent seen fecal in awhile, but it was brown black.. just your normal looking fecal
* Current Problem -trying to figure out some good ideas to get him to drink or eat, because his eyes seem sunken in, not too bad, but he looks like he wants rest during the day.. and he's not attempting to eat it looks like when i offer worms
 
You said..."rep cal calcium with vit.d and rep cal herptivite and zoo meds reptivite with d3.. and i switch on and off with the batch of feeders, i tend to give more calcium just a bit more"...IMHO you are giving too much D3 and and using the vitamin powder too often to begin with.

Is the UVB a compact or long linear fluorescent tube?

You said that there hasn't been any feces lately...do you have a substrate in the cage?

Is there any white part along with the poop?

Do you gutload the insects? With what (specifically)?
 
I'm no expert, but it seems like he's almost getting to much water. Also, I'd possibly try letting the light and heat be on a while before the misting begins. I'd make sure his cage is not wet at bedtime.

He sounds to me like he may have a URI. ,,, Just a guess though.


.... Wait and see what the senior members have to say.

Goodluck with him.
 
i give the d3 like once or twice a week

couldn't tell you.. its the reptisun 5.0 uvb light i bought at petsmart, and bought the zoo med cover for it too
i have some bark at the bottom but he doesnt go anywhere near the bottom he just stays on the plants, but the bark is to keep humidity in

havent seen the poop really

and yes i gutload with oranges, i also use water crystals and cricket chop
 
I dust at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for the usually poor ratio of cal. to phos. found in many of the feeder insects. I dust twice a month lightly with a vitamin powder (Herptivite) and twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder.

Your chameleon shouldn't be sleeping during the day. Its usually an indication that something is wrong with it.

What kind of bark? Cedar? Cypress? Pine?

If the bulb is long like a fluorescent light (12" long or longer)...then its likely okay. If its only a few inches long and spiral-like or folded back and forth then it could be causing problems.

IMHO your gutload needs improvement...you can feed crickets, roaches, superworms a wide variety of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.).

You said..."his eyes seem sunken in, not too bad, but he looks like he wants rest during the day"...veileds tend to pull their eyes in a little when they are sleeping.

If you can't solve the problems quickly it will mean a vet visit.
 
You've probably heard this lots of times by now! but ill say it once more :] do not use any more powder calcium, that should only be given 1 time a month or at the most 2! if your cham. gets natural sunlight the calcium d3 can get eliminated!
 
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