I think my Cham is sick

ChamRandal

New Member
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male had him since December at a guess he is only 4 mths of age.
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? On average once a day
Feeding - I’ve only been able to get him to eat crickets but I offer super worms and woodies. I use Picies Gutload and Superfood
Supplements - URS ultimate calcium on his crickets
Watering - I have a water bottle I spray over the plants three times a day for a few minutes and a mister that is on at 8am and again at night before bed at 7pm for 10 mins I’m not seeing him drink
Fecal Description - Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No
His poop was black with a white tip but the past 5 days it’s non existent and yellow


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Reprilr One (Glass, Screen, Combo) 60x45x60
Lighting - EcoTech UVA UVB light on from 8am till 7pm
Temperature - temp range would be 24-29degrees under reptile one 80 watt bulb that self regulates with a thermometer and will not go over 29 degrees at highest basking place. Lamp sits 6inches above highest branch
Humidity - sits at around 70 measured which th a reptile one hydrometer
Plants - live plants in terracotta pots pothos and silk reptile one plants in back wall of cage to create more hiding space
Placement - terrarium located in family room at r conditioned and fans running keeping the house temp at around 25 degrees
Location - Queensland Australia sub tropical climate similar to Florida

Current Problem - The current problem is that 5 days ago I saw Randal vomit he is off his food, sitting on the bottom of his terrarium eyes appear dark and closed. Fecaes are smaller and a yellow tip have not seen him drinking from leaves or his water bowl nor eat. At 4 months not treated for any parasites either.
I’m happy to find an exotic vet but want to make sure I keep him going until I can get to someone tomorrow after Easter.
I know he needs a bigger cage but being in Australia I’m finding it difficult to find the correct dimensions for him, he currently is only approx 12-15cm long any advice is greatly appreciated especially to help get him drinking
 

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Hi and welcome to the forum. :) I’m sorry that your little guy isn’t doing so well. I’ll go thru your husbandry and see if I can find a possible cause.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. :) I’m sorry that your little guy isn’t doing so well. I’ll go thru your husbandry and see if I can find a possible cause.
Thank you so much I’ll change anything that’s required asap the bottom of his cage is Astro turf too as I though that was the easiest thing to rinse off weekly I did have peat moss type substrate but it was so hard to keep clean with the moisture he requires
 
I’ll put my feedback in bold. If it is something more important, I’ll use bold red. I tend to talk a lot so will be splitting this up into two parts.
Your
Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male had him since December at a guess he is only 4 mths of age. That looks about right, but then he would have been a tiny hatchling when you got him. 😦
Handling
- How often do you handle your chameleon? On average once a day Right now it’s best to not handle him unless needed. The stress that it causes is only going to add to him being sick.
Feeding
- I’ve only been able to get him to eat crickets but I offer super worms and woodies. How much are you feeding him and how often? Since you got him so very young, he should have been getting all he can eat, twice a day. At the age of around 3-4 months old is when that is reduced to once daily in the morning and then in about a month the amount is reduced to about 20+. If he has not been getting enough to eat, his growth will be stunted. I suspect he is probably older than 4 months and this is what has happened. It is unusually rare for a tiny hatchling to be sold, by even the most unscrupulous of pet stores. It’s possible that the superworms and roaches are too big for him. The rule of thumb is anything larger than the space between the eyes is too big. I’ve no idea what insects you have available there, but maybe try adding a bit more variety. Attaching a couple of graphics to help guide you. I use Picies Gutload and Superfood I’m not familiar with this and in looking it up, I can’t find any details on ingredients. I will advise to feed primarily fresh greens, veggies and a bit of fruit and maybe add the Pisces product to just round things out. That is what I do but use Repashy Bug Burger. I don’t specifically gutload by definition, but instead keep my insects well fed so that they are healthy and more nutritious.
Supplements
- URS ultimate calcium on his crickets Very important! Does this contain vitamin D3? Is this the only supplement you are using? How often are you using it? This maybe at least part of the problem, if not the whole. If your calcium does not contain vitamin D3, and you are not giving any other supplements, then he is greatly deficient. If it does contain D3, he is getting overdosed, which is just as bad as not getting any. Vitamin D3 is essential for converting calcium into a usually form, so without that, he’s just peeing out the calcium you give. Vitamin D3 is fat soluble, so is not so easily or quickly processed and excreted and can build up to toxic levels. Unfortunately there is no way to eliminate it other than time. Some have said that getting natural unobstructed sunlight which will produce D3 can help, but I’m not sure if that is valid. However, when getting natural D3 from the sun, the body makes just enough that is needed and overdose is impossible. Now to multivitamins, which are just as important. With such a limited diet and not getting any multivitamin supplement, your little guy is lacking important nutrients to keep his body working properly. All of this combined may be the problem, or at least a big part of it. Here is my recommendation. You want to use a phosphorus-free calcium with no D3, lightly dusted on every feeding (except when using a different supplement). I have no idea what you have available there but the best to use is a combination D3/multivitamin and either of these - Repashy calcium plus LoD or ReptiVite with D3. These two are the only ones which I am aware that contain preformed vitamin A, which is the type of A that it is known that chameleons can use. This is also a fat soluble vitamin so it is given carefully. You want to use the multivitamin/D3 combo just one feeding every other week.
** If neither of these combo products are available to you, you will need to buy a phosphorus free calcium with D3 and a multivitamin. Each of these will be used one feeding every other week, but not at the same time. For example, days 1 & 14 use the calcium with D3 and days 7 & 21, use the multivitamin.

Watering
- I have a water bottle I spray over the plants three times a day for a few minutes and a mister that is on at 8am and again at night before bed at 7pm for 10 mins I’m not seeing him drink This might be a bit much. Misting for a few minutes right before lights go and and then off is ideal. If needed, an additional shorter misting for maybe a minute can be done mid day. You want the enclosure to have a chance to dry out. Many chameleons are secretive about drinking. We go to the urate to determine hydration status.
Fecal
Description - Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No This too could be the problem. Besides making him sick all over, parasites are known to stunt growth. Definitely you need to have him tested for parasites.
His poop was black with a white tip but the past 5 days it’s non existent and yellow The white is urate (urine) and white or with a little yellow on one end is ok. The darker the urate is, the more dehydrated he is.

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Cage Info:
Cage Type - Reprilr One (Glass, Screen, Combo) 60x45x60 This is maybe ok for a baby chameleon, but is already much too small for him. The minimum size needed is a 60x60x120 or equivalent. Chameleons need height and to be higher than us if possible. I have chosen to give all of my chameleons double sized enclosures, so they are 120cm wide as well as tall, and even the girls are using all of the space. Not everyone can provide the double, but if you can, it’s wonderful.
Lighting
- EcoTech UVA UVB light on from 8am till 7pm I’ve not heard of this brand, so can’t speak for its quality. Here we have ReptiSun and Arcadia, which are the only brands that I personally trust. I recently tested a budget brand and it was not able to provide the needed level of uvb. If you have access to a solarmeter 6.5, you can test your uvb levels. At a distance of about 20 cm, the UVI should be around 3.0. Also, I can’t tell if you have a T5 or T8. Uvb is just as important as correct supplements, as its artificial sun which produces natural D3 in the body. The standard is a T5 ho fixture with either a 5.0 or 6% bulb. Then there needs to be a distance of about 20-22 cm between light and basking area. If you have a T8 fixture, then you need a 10.0 or 12% bulb and the distance needs to be about 15 cm. Most uvb bulbs lose effectiveness after approx 6 months and need to be changed, except Arcadia is good for a year. Your schedule is good by the way.
Temperature
- temp range would be 24-29degrees under reptile one 80 watt bulb that self regulates with a thermometer and will not go over 29 degrees at highest basking place. Your temps are good. 29 is a bit high for a young chameleon. Usually we keep babies and girls no higher than around 26-27. I doubt highly this is the cause of him not doing well, so it’s ok but just make sure it doesn’t go higher. Lamp sits 6inches above highest branch This is a bit too close. The distance needs to be dictated by your type and strength of uvb, so see above.
Humidity
- sits at around 70 measured which th a reptile one hydrometer This is much too high and greatly increases his risks for respiratory infection. Daytime humidity should be between 30-50% and ventilation needs to be adequate. Looking at your enclosure, I’m not seeing any ventilation around the base of the door. With glass and enclosed enclosures, there needs to be a decent amount of vents toward the bottom, which will create chimney type ventilation. Air goes in the lower vents and gets drawn up and out thru the top. Signs of respiratory infection include holding head up (stargazing), open mouthed gaping, thick or ropy saliva, labored breathing, etc. If you aren’t able to get him a new enclosure right now, you’ll need to at least get a small computer type fan and have it sitting on top sucking air up and out.
Plants - live plants in terracotta pots pothos and silk reptile one plants in back wall of cage to create more hiding space Pothos is your new best friend. Our veiled friends like to nibble their plants (for reasons yet unknown) so it’s extra important that they all be live and safe. Only one bite of a fake plant can cause a bowel obstruction. I’m not sure if the little guys nibble their plants, but always better safe than sorry. The adults can range from an occasional nip here and there to completely devouring their plants. I use my fake plants hanging on the outside of my enclosures to give my chameleons a sense of a little extra privacy.
Placement
- terrarium located in family room at r conditioned and fans running keeping the house temp at around 25 degrees Ok.
Location
- Queensland Australia sub tropical climate similar to Florida Ok. I’m in Florida. lol
I haven’t gone over naturalistic hydration as I’ve thrown a ton of stuff at you already.

Current
Problem - The current problem is that 5 days ago I saw Randal vomit he is off his food, sitting on the bottom of his terrarium eyes appear dark and closed. Fecaes are smaller and a yellow tip have not seen him drinking from leaves or his water bowl nor eat. At 4 months not treated for any parasites either. None of this is good as you know. With vomiting, I suspect a parasite or blockage, but he did a poo. Does his poo have an unusually foul odor? Is there a large amount of mucous to it? He needs a vet asap.
I’m happy to find an exotic vet but want to make sure I keep him going until I can get to someone tomorrow after Easter. I can tell you how to give him some water and food, but with him being little it is more difficult and has a higher risk of harming him. So, try dripping a little water on the end of his nose and see if he might take a drink. Hopefully he will and you can at least keep him hydrated until, you can get to a vet. If you can get him drinking like that, you could also try popping a small cricket into his mouth when he opens it. I’m not as concerned about him eating, as I am for him to drink, but being young, he can’t go as long as an adult can without some nutrition. I don’t want to tell you to force fluids or food, because that has the potential to cause a little guy too much harm. Just find a vet asap.
I know he needs a bigger cage but being in Australia I’m finding it difficult to find the correct dimensions for him, You may need to make your own. While I have gone over enclosures, it can wait a little. Priority is getting whatever is wrong with him corrected and getting him healthy. he currently is only approx 12-15cm long any advice is greatly appreciated especially to help get him drinking
I’ve given you a ton of info and didn’t even go over a few things. If your little one isn’t brought back to health quickly, none will matter any. The younger the chameleon is, the quicker they decline. They have no resources to fall back upon, so once they fall ill, the more serious and urgent it is. I do hope I’ve been of some help and that you can get your little guy to a vet asap. I want to think that since so very many of our exotic species come from Australia that you should have vets with more reptile experience and knowledge, but it doesn’t work that way. I can tell you that it is often difficult to find a vet who is experienced and knowledgeable with chameleons. Many of them will tell you to soak your chameleon to hydrate it, or take it into a warm shower. Neither of these is good to do. They do not absorb moisture thru their vents or skin.
For in depth husbandry info, https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/ Do explore the site fully. There is a ton of info there, plus pod casts n e zine and many videos on YouTube. Another source for husbandry is https://www.neptunethechameleon.com/
 
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