I need my chameleon's to eat again!

[mswilly]

Hello,

I have two veiled chameleons, Gus and Marley. Gus is 2 and a half, while Marley is 3 and a half. I am having problems getting either of them to eat.

Right now, Marley is my biggest problem. I have only had him a few months and it seems to me that he's been abused in the past. He has an awful scar running down his side, and just doesn't seem to be completely all there....he's a bit of a klutz. When I bought him, the previous owner had him on electrolytes because his tongue didn't work properly (it doesn't extend like it should) and told me he ate 15 to 20 insects a day. I have not seen eat that many at all. I still have him on the electrolytes, but the max I can feed him is usually three or four insects PER WEEK. I know this is not enough. In terms of getting him to drink, its almost impossible. Even having him in the shower, it seems he has a difficult time trying to drink on his own. I'm not entirely sure what to do, as I have been hand feeding him, but I heard forcing them to drink with a syringe is a bad idea. Any suggestions?

In terms of Gus, I don't know what it is lately, but he's acting quite lethargic. He eats, but not like he used to, and he just can't seem to get enough water, no matter how many times he is misted per day. I started showering him as well, because he drinks so much. He also tries to sleep during the day. He is in a 4 by 2 foot cage (this is approximate) and I have live plants in there with him. His lights are turned on/off pretty much the same time every day/night, and he's misted a couple times per day.

I would love some advice, as I just want my cham's to be eating normally again. thanks

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!

Please fill in the questions in the "how to ask for help" thread in the health forum.

 

[mswilly]

Chameleon Info: MARLEY
Your Chameleon - 3 year old male veiled chameleon, in my care for four months
Handling - handled about two or three times a week
Feeding - At first, was feeding crickets gut loaded with fresh veggies and then dusted with calcium powder, and then went to superworms dusted with calcium. Also on electrolytes
Watering - Misted twice a day, once in the morning and once at night, also homemade dripper system turned on every other day.
Fecal Description - Orange feces. As far as I know, he has never been tested for parasites.
History - I think he was abused before I had him. Not necessarily by his last owner, but he has a pretty bad scar running down his side. He can't extend his tongue properly, and therefore needs to be hand fed all the time

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Homemade screen cage, its huge. Its about four feet tall, 4 feet wide and 3 feet deep
Lighting - Most of it is Exoterra brand, turned on at 8am every morning and turned off at about 6pm. Red heat lamp stays on at night.
Humidity - cage is misted twice a day
Plants - All live plants in his cage, I'm not sure what kind they are
Placement - Cage is located in a quiet corner of the living room. I am aware thats its a high traffic area, but the cage is too big to fit anywhere else.
Location - Canada

Current Problem - see previous post.

Chameleon Info: GUS
Your Chameleon - 2 1/2 year male veiled chameleon, been in my care for just over a year.
Handling - every other day.
Feeding - fed crickets, mealworms and super worms currently, dusted with calcium supplement. Usually tried to feed every other day.
Watering - misted twice a day, and also using a dripper system every other day
Fecal Description - white fecal matter, never been tested for parasites.
History - I've had Gus for over a year now, and he has been fine until these last few months I've had him

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Also home made screen cage, smaller than Marley's, but not too small. (Marley is a lot bigger than Gus)
Lighting - All exoterra, turned on at 8 am, off at 8 - 9 pm
Temperature - basking temperature is between 26 to 28 degrees celcius
Plants - mixture of both fake and real plants, although not sure what kind it is again.
Placement - cage is located in my bedroom, in a quiet corner. well heated and well ventilated.
Location - Canada

Current Problem - see above post.

 

[kinyonga]

I don't see the temperature listed for Marley, but I'll assume its the same as for Gus.

You said..."Orange feces"...do you mean urates or feces?? There should be brown poop and white urates.


You said you have a red heat light on at night...unless your house drops into the mid to low 60's at night there is no need for heat at night. You can use a regular incandescent household bulb instead of the red one....it would be more natural for him since they look to sunlight to warm them up and not to red light.

How old are the UVB lights?
Where do they sit in the cage? How warm is the cage at the bottom?

Tongue issues can be from nutrient imbalance, injury, infection and even dehydration....and if Marley's urates are orange, then it sounds like he could be dehydrated. Running the dripper every day might help....but if he still won't take water, as a last resort, you can give him some with a needleless syringe. Be careful that he doesn't aspirate it though. Its always more stressful too if you have to force them. How do you give him elecrolytes?

Regarding Gus...drinking excessively can be an indication of organ damage or other issues.

Regarding eating, I would expect them to slow down in the winter but not as low as you are saying Marley has slowed to.

 

[Bernie]

Can we see some pics of them?

 

[mswilly]

How do I post images on here? I took some photos but for some reason can't figure out how to post them

Sorry, I meant orange urates!

The UVB light in Gus's cage is brand new as of a week ago, and it sits on the top of his cage (but his highest perch is about a foot from the light). Marley's would be about four months old, as the previous owner told me he had just replaced them before I bought him. Same thing, sits on top of the cage but his perch is about a foot away from the light.

The last owner also told me that Marley always had the red heat light on every night for him, so thats why I have been leaving it on. I do know that he had his lights on a timer, and so I am wondering if maybe that has anything to do with it as well? (I can't get the timers to even work for me, so I've just been turning the lights on and off by hand around the same time every morning/night) His electrolytes have been given to him by a small syringe that came with the electrolytes. I have given him water like this before, but it seems he ends up spitting out more than he takes in.

 

[Echoezra]

Can you be specific about exactly what lights and exactly what supplements you use? That would help us try to help figure out what might be wrong and try to improve things.
You just said "calcium" I believe and there is suppose to be an assortment of supplements given at different frequencies depending on the brand - there are many different brands of calcium, and some have high levels of D3 in them that if given every day could affect other things like vit A levels for example which could maybe be the source of the tongue issue for starters.
As for the orange urates, dehydration.
I know humidity is a big issue at my house (also Canada), so even with misting way more frequently than twice a day, I had to buy a humidifier to keep things up to a minimal level. I ended up buying a mist king as well and it's heavenly.
make sure you're gutloading your crickets (and superworms!) really well with fresh vegetables, so they'll be nice and juicy to get moisture in them that way, and try to get a hold of some silkworms (first) and then hornworms to offer as feeders too so they get a variety and because they are high in moisture content.
(I say to try the silkworms first because a) they're cheaper, and b) mine LoVE the hornworms SO much that if I offer them first they only want that, haha so they have to eat some crickets or silks first to "earn" their hornworms, lol. So get them used to the silkworms first and coming off of only crickets and supers, t should be a really neat treat for them anyway.
But they should both help with helping hydrate them from the inside out.
Getting rid of that red light should help them sleep better, which may help their appetite and also help the cage not dry out so much too. I know, believe me, that canadian winters get cold, but even when I think my house is "freezing cold" when i get up in the morning, and check the temps, it's usually never cold enough to require a source of night heat for the chameleons. We never keep our thermostat at 60 or anything. I'm just a wimp. Lol.
If you do however keep a very cold house, or have crazy drafty 100 year old farmhouse or something, you're better off with a heater for the cham's room with a thermostat set to keep the room at 65 or whatever at night, those infrared portable furnace types would be great because they're supposed to be less drying of the air, so they wouldn't affect the humidity as much as a regular space heater type and they're less dangerous. If not heating the room, then go for a ceramic heat emitter type of bulb that gives off heat but no light. They say they can't see the red light, but that's debatable, and has been known to disturb some cham's sleep rhythms.