I need help!

[Mar.921]

My veiled chameleon isn’t doing very well he hasn’t eaten and won’t drink any of his water and barely opens up his eyes what should I do

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome. In order to better help you figure out what is going on with your chameleon, you’ll need to provide us with much more information about your husbandry. If you could answer all of the following questions in as much detail as possible and include pics of your chameleon and entire enclosure, including lights and floor, we can help you to see what might be going on and better advise you.
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.

 

[Mar.921]

Hi and welcome. In order to better help you figure out what is going on with your chameleon, you’ll need to provide us with much more information about your husbandry. If you could answer all of the following questions in as much detail as possible and include pics of your chameleon and entire enclosure, including lights and floor, we can help you to see what might be going on and better advise you.
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.

• The species is a veiled chameleon, male, 3 months old I’m pretty sure, I got him in October.
• I would usually hold him once a week or not at all
• I usually feed him crickets or mill worms sometimes, three crickets morning and night, I usually would just by the food for the crickets from petsmart
• I won’t usually dust my crickets with calcium morning and night but on weekends I would dust my crickets with d3
• The water system I use is a plant dripping that has water drip off the leaves, I mist my cage in the morning for two minutes in the morning and night, yes but he hasn’t been for four weeks now
• He hasn’t pooped lately but the last time I seen his poop it was kinda yellow and runny
• He did fall last week on his perching branch and I didn’t have the water I usually use so I had to replace it with a different water and a week later he started acting weird
• The cage is mesh so it has a good air flow and I don’t really remember the dimensions of the cage but I bought the chameleon kit so that might help
• For my heat light I just bought a led light from Walmart and the uvb light I got from pet smart and it is a 5.0 reptson I believe, I usually have the lights on for 12 hours and then off for 12 hours
• The temp during the day is usually 65 and the humidity is usually 50 and at night 60, I measure the temp by a thermometer in my cage
• Humidity is usually at 50 when I don’t mist the cage and when I do it’s at 70 , I maintain the levels by misting the cage with a squirt bottle for two minutes, thermometer in my cage is how I measure the humidity
• I am not using live plants,
• My cage is kinda located near the entrance of my room where I walk into my room, I do walk by my cage a lot, my cage is on the floor
• I’m in the Midwest

 

[Mar.921]

here’s what I use as a heat light

 

[Mar.921]

• The species is a veiled chameleon, male, 3 months old I’m pretty sure, I got him in October.
• I would usually hold him once a week or not at all
• I usually feed him crickets or mill worms sometimes, three crickets morning and night, I usually would just by the food for the crickets from petsmart
• I won’t usually dust my crickets with calcium morning and night but on weekends I would dust my crickets with d3
• The water system I use is a plant dripping that has water drip off the leaves, I mist my cage in the morning for two minutes in the morning and night, yes but he hasn’t been for four weeks now
• He hasn’t pooped lately but the last time I seen his poop it was kinda yellow and runny
• He did fall last week on his perching branch and I didn’t have the water I usually use so I had to replace it with a different water and a week later he started acting weird
• The cage is mesh so it has a good air flow and I don’t really remember the dimensions of the cage but I bought the chameleon kit so that might help
• For my heat light I just bought a led light from Walmart and the uvb light I got from pet smart and it is a 5.0 reptson I believe, I usually have the lights on for 12 hours and then off for 12 hours
• The temp during the day is usually 65 and the humidity is usually 50 and at night 60, I measure the temp by a thermometer in my cage
• Humidity is usually at 50 when I don’t mist the cage and when I do it’s at 70 , I maintain the levels by misting the cage with a squirt bottle for two minutes, thermometer in my cage is how I measure the humidity
• I am not using live plants,
• My cage is kinda located near the entrance of my room where I walk into my room, I do walk by my cage a lot, my cage is on the floor
• I’m in the Midwest

 

[Mar.921]

Here’s the pictures

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

Theres alot that needs to be fixed but you are not feeding enough and he seems to be dehydrated

 

[PoseidonTheChameleon]

I dont have time to go through everything right now so maybe someone else will, if not then I'll go through it in a little.

 

[Mar.921]

Theres alot that needs to be fixed but you are not feeding enough and he seems to be dehydrated

I dont have time to go through everything right now so maybe someone else will, if not then I'll go through it in a little.

any help will be helpful please

 

[Mar.921]

Theres alot that needs to be fixed but you are not feeding enough and he seems to be dehydrated

What should I do to get him to drink water

 

[MissSkittles]

I’m afraid your chameleon doesn’t look good at all. Being so young, I’m afraid the odds are not in his favor. You need a qualified veterinarian to see him ASAP. Tell them it’s an emergency, as it is. You can try to hydrate him by dropping water in the very back of his mouth. Avoid the front...that is where the airway is. Attaching a pic to better show. Red is airway...blue is where you need to put some drops of water. Just a couple at a time. You also need some heat for him. He needs to be at around 80*...no higher. Is best to put him in a hospital bin. Any box or bin with a towel on the bottom and a couple of branches or small plant he can grip. I’ll go over your husbandry, but if you don’t get immediate care for him, I’m sorry to say it won’t make any difference.

 

[Mar.921]

I’m afraid your chameleon doesn’t look good at all. Being so young, I’m afraid the odds are not in his favor. You need a qualified veterinarian to see him ASAP. Tell them it’s an emergency, as it is. You can try to hydrate him by dropping water in the very back of his mouth. Avoid the front...that is where the airway is. Attaching a pic to better show. Red is airway...blue is where you need to put some drops of water. Just a couple at a time. You also need some heat for him. He needs to be at around 80*...no higher. Is best to put him in a hospital bin. Any box or bin with a towel on the bottom and a couple of branches or small plant he can grip. I’ll go over your husbandry, but if you don’t get immediate care for him, I’m sorry to say it won’t make any difference.
View attachment 288534

Do I have to open his mouth will that hurt how do I get his heat to 80

 

[MissSkittles]

Putting feedback in red. Please don’t get caught up in this right now. Your primary focus needs to be getting your little one to a vet. After he recovers, then you need to make the changes I’ll be suggesting.

• The species is a veiled chameleon, male, 3 months old I’m pretty sure, I got him in October.
• I would usually hold him once a week or not at all
• I usually feed him crickets or mill worms sometimes, three crickets morning and night, I usually would just by the food for the crickets from petsmart Mealworms aren’t good for chameleons. The cricket cubes are only going to hydrate the bugs...not offer any nutrition. The better you feed the bugs, the more nutrition they provide for your cham. Attaching feeder and gutloading sheets.
• I won’t usually dust my crickets with calcium morning and night but on weekends I would dust my crickets with d3 This is one of, if not the biggest problem...too much vitamin D3. It is fat soluble, meaning it stays in the body rather than being peed out. You should be using a phosphorus free calcium WITHOUT D3 at every feeding except one per week. For that one feeding, you’ll use the calcium with D3 every other week and the one feeding on the weeks in between, you’ll use a multivitamin.
• The water system I use is a plant dripping that has water drip off the leaves, I mist my cage in the morning for two minutes in the morning and night, yes but he hasn’t been for four weeks now
• He hasn’t pooped lately but the last time I seen his poop it was kinda yellow and runny Not so good. A check for parasites is a good idea.This too could be adding to the problem.
• He did fall last week on his perching branch and I didn’t have the water I usually use so I had to replace it with a different water and a week later he started acting weird What kind of water did you use? I doubt this was brought on by water, unless there were some serious chemicals in it.
• The cage is mesh so it has a good air flow and I don’t really remember the dimensions of the cage but I bought the chameleon kit so that might help For now this size is ok. Adults need a minimum of 2x2x4’ enclosures.
• For my heat light I just bought a led light from Walmart and the uvb light I got from pet smart and it is a 5.0 reptson I believe, LED lights aren’t any good for basking as they provide little to no heat. You would need either an incandescent or a halogen. Start with a 60w and that should provide correct temps. The uvb sold by chain pet stores are T8, which aren’t as effective as T5. With a T8, basking branch needs to be 6” down from the light. I usually have the lights on for 12 hours and then off for 12 hours
• The temp during the day is usually 65 Way too low. Needs to be 80*. Without adequate heat, he can’t digest and his metabolism is ver slowed. 65 is a good temp for night time. and the humidity is usually 50 and at night 60, I measure the temp by a thermometer in my cage
• Humidity is usually at 50 when I don’t mist the cage and when I do it’s at 70 , I maintain the levels by misting the cage with a squirt bottle for two minutes, thermometer in my cage is how I measure the humidity Ideal humidity range is between 30-50%.
• I am not using live plants, You need to. Veileds will eat at their plants and have been known to eat a fake leaf and get impacted, which can be fatal. Pothos is perfect for chameleons. As you replace all the fake plants with real ones, hang the fake on the outside of the enclosure for added privacy. Here’s a safe plant list. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
• My cage is kinda located near the entrance of my room where I walk into my room, I do walk by my cage a lot, my cage is on the floor Chameleons feel safest when they are higher than us. They live in trees so being so low is stressful.
• I’m in the Midwest

There are some great resources for learning all about chameleon keeping. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/
Really explore all this site has to offer. It is the most accurate and up to date info. Another great resource is Neptune the chameleon on YouTube.
But right now...I can’t stress it enough...YOU NEED A VET!
I would suggest printing out the form of your husbandry to save playing 20 questions at the vet. I wish you and your little one the very best of success.

 

[MissSkittles]

Do I have to open his mouth will that hurt how do I get his heat to 80

Yes, you will need to gently open his mouth. You may need some help...another pair of hands makes things easier. Very gently hold his casque to keep his head somewhat still and help to open his mouth. This will be extremely stressful for him so if you can’t get it easily, just leave him be. The vet can give him some fluids.

 

[cham girl]

emergency chameleon vet asap meanwhile hospital bin, warm him to 80max he needs his UVB closer on his bin and I would use calcium in the water NO D3 a credit card will help you keep his mouth open but no more then 2 drops at a time as they show above

 

[Mar.921]

emergency chameleon vet asap meanwhile hospital bin, warm him to 80max he needs his UVB closer on his bin and I would use calcium in the water NO D3 a credit card will help you keep his mouth open but no more then 2 drops at a time as they show above

I don’t know what to do I have no vets near me that specialize in reptiles

 

[cham girl]

same here you will lose him fast if you don't get him some UVB and calcium water see above

 

[Mar.921]

same here you will lose him fast if you don't get him some UVB and calcium water see above

I don’t wanna loose him he means so much to me

 

[cham girl]

I don't think you should take a chance take a chance, but I will help, I have done several successfully but a vet can hydrate him better cause your little guy is in very bad shape, I would call the vet and talk to him personally and see if they might give you some injections of calcium and fluids for you to do at home,

 

[cham girl]

they will do the first one and show you how its done, it is worth a long distance drive to find an experienced vet you probably have just one day left.