Inherited a Chameleon and I am clueless

[challengedone]

A friend of mine graduated this semester leaving me with his veiled Chameleon. I assume the chameleon is an adult. Sadly enough my friend did not know how to care for the poor gal either, due to the fact, oddly enough, she was a stray. She just wandered into our yard this summer, living in Michigan this is a very strange site. And she comes with health issues, probably unintentionally caused by my friend. Her health is deteriorating, I went to the local pet store and I am doing every thing as instructed. I am regulating the 10 g cages temp heat and light in the day with the bulbs they provided me, dark at night. I am gut loading the crickets, as well as using a Vitamin C powder which she was eating but has recently started to slow down while not completely stopping. I am misting the cage once a day or so. She struggles to move so I am making the assumption she has MBD. I feel absolutely horrible for her and I really don't know what to do. Reading more about MBD I have learned that broken bones are common but I do not believe this to be the case as of yet, however she does not move frequently that I observe, I will leave and come back to find that she has moved by her cage position though. I have had her less than a week. I cannot afford a vet bill. But I am willing to take any other measures I can to get her back on track. She absolutely refuses to eat worms and she will not eat crickets when I offer them to her unless it is on her own time. I usually feed her about 4 per day because that is what my friend instructed but I dont even know if that is the right amount. I usually put the four in and the first few days she would eat them quickly but recently she eats them much slower, I don't usually see her eat them any more, but notice they are gone later in the day. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I feel like such a tyrant.

 

[Fate X]

well lucky you,you inheritited yourself a chameleon. post pics of her id love to see her if you can.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

What part of the world are you located" Someone nearby may be able to help.

 

[Treetop Chameleons]

where in MI are you i live in plymouth thats just outside of ann arbor if you need any help just let me know. one thing for sure make sure she is in a screen cage not a glass cage they need lots of moving air. also you said that she is in a 10 gal cage that is way to small for a veiled chameleon. you need to get her a tall screen cage hear i will make you a list of things that might help.

1.screen cage
2.get a spray bottel and spray her down real good 2 times a day.
3.try feeding her 3 crix in the morn and 3 crix in the evening.
4.make sure you have a 5.0 uvb bulb this is realy importint.
5.you need a 75w heat lamp.
6.you need to make sure she has lots of non toxic or fake plants to hide in.
7.keep her cage between 70 and 80 degrees
8.right now till she get back on trak holding her would be out of the question.
9. keep her away from cold drafts this is MI and its cold so keep her in a area away from windows till spring.

if she still wont eat the crix try silk worms my chams love them.if you need any help or have any q,s hit me back. good luck.

 

[challengedone]

Thanks alot for your reply, Heres what I can tell you.

1.screen cage- I cannot afford at the moment but will get one as soon as I can. I am a college student, I am trying to work with what I got at the moment.

2.get a spray bottel and spray her down real good 2 times a day.- This is something I already do.

3.try feeding her 3 crix in the morn and 3 crix in the evening. -This is something I will definitely try.

4.make sure you have a 5.0 uvb bulb this is realy importint.- On the packaging of the UV bulb I have it says it is a Slimline reptile fixture with a super UV Lamp. The lamp is called "Super UV T-8 Fluorescent lamp". It is 18" long 15 watts. It says that it simulates natural daylight while producing 3%+ UVB and 7% UVA to promote Calcium Absorption.

5.you need a 75w heat lamp.- This is something I already have

6.you need to make sure she has lots of non toxic or fake plants to hide in.- I do have some non toxic fakes and a few real life ones.

7.keep her cage between 70 and 80 degrees. I had some trouble with this that I believe I corrected this morning, I came home and my room was down to 60 degrees I work at night so I would only see daytime temps and was not concerned. When I came home and saw the temp was so low I completely reorganized my room. Hopefully the changes will allow for extra warmth at night.

8.right now till she get back on trak holding her would be out of the question.-
I do little holding of her, sometimes when I am doing something with her cage I take her out but that is about it.

9. keep her away from cold drafts this is MI and its cold so keep her in a area away from windows till spring. Unfortunately My room is filled with windows but I have put the cage in the prime spot now. I am from Big Rapids but I will be moving to the Mt Pleasant Area for about a month and will be taking her with me. I initially had put her in front of a window because I was told that Natural sunlight was the best and I was hoping the window would allow for some of this during the day. I now know this was an awful idea.

 

[kk1020man]

I have a chameleon that has stopped eating and I started hand feeding him Repta-Aid from Petsmart and now he is slowly on his way to getting healthy. It is difficult to do and it took me almost two hours the first time, but he has gotten much better in the past four days and eats the food in less time.
Try looking on craigslist for supplies. They are much cheaper and sometimes free. I needed a 40 gallon tank for my Skink so I posted a want ad in the pet section and I ended up getting three large aquariums, two with stands, for free. Somewhere out there may have a screen cage just sitting around that they don't use anymore. If you need any plants, look at craft stores. They are also cheaper, especially damaged or sale items.
I know how you feel since I also have a sick chameleon and I can't afford a vet bill either. Good luck with everything and don't give up!

 

[SierraNevada]

1.screen cage- I cannot afford at the moment but will get one as soon as I can. I am a college student, I am trying to work with what I got at the moment.

2.get a spray bottel and spray her down real good 2 times a day.- This is something I already do.

3.try feeding her 3 crix in the morn and 3 crix in the evening. -This is something I will definitely try.

4.make sure you have a 5.0 uvb bulb this is realy importint.- On the packaging of the UV bulb I have it says it is a Slimline reptile fixture with a super UV Lamp. The lamp is called "Super UV T-8 Fluorescent lamp". It is 18" long 15 watts. It says that it simulates natural daylight while producing 3%+ UVB and 7% UVA to promote Calcium Absorption.

5.you need a 75w heat lamp.- This is something I already have

6.you need to make sure she has lots of non toxic or fake plants to hide in.- I do have some non toxic fakes and a few real life ones.

7.keep her cage between 70 and 80 degrees. I had some trouble with this that I believe I corrected this morning, I came home and my room was down to 60 degrees I work at night so I would only see daytime temps and was not concerned. When I came home and saw the temp was so low I completely reorganized my room. Hopefully the changes will allow for extra warmth at night.

8.right now till she get back on trak holding her would be out of the question.-
I do little holding of her, sometimes when I am doing something with her cage I take her out but that is about it.

9. keep her away from cold drafts this is MI and its cold so keep her in a area away from windows till spring. Unfortunately My room is filled with windows but I have put the cage in the prime spot now. I am from Big Rapids but I will be moving to the Mt Pleasant Area for about a month and will be taking her with me. I initially had put her in front of a window because I was told that Natural sunlight was the best and I was hoping the window would allow for some of this during the day. I now know this was an awful idea.

Is the chameleon in a 10 gallon aquarium? Not good.

Also...Be careful what the pet store tells you. Probably 1% of pets stores know anything...especially with chameleons. You did the right thing coming here. Do your reading.

I would also suggest Rep-Cal Herptivite, Rep-Cal Calcium with vit(D), and Miner-All made by "Sticky Tongue Farms".

A UVB Reptisun 5.0 is very important!

And ... it's BOTTLE. Not bottel. lol

Good luck

 

[challengedone]

Wrong Cage Size

I thought the aquarium was 10 g but I lied, it is actually 30, I do not know if that is good enough but it should be way better.

 

[Treetop Chameleons]

i hope everything works out for you, and putting it by a window is not necessarily a bad idea just not in the winter. in the summer i will put both of my cages outside on the deck and the love it.let us know how it all works out.

 

[Treetop Chameleons]

one more thing if you are short on cash you can pickup a nice sized screen cage at pet smart for under 40 $

 

[Fate X]

a 30 gallon fish tank is a terrible idea she will have no room to climb up or down to thermoregulate as best she can right now in what appears to be her deterioating health,if i was you i would buy a reptitarium for about 25.00$ she might be overheater in the tank.i would already have gotten her a mesh cage.