Is anything wrong with my chameleon?

[Caarson]

I really have a lack of understanding when it comes to understanding if my Chameleon is sick.

(It's a veiled chameleon.)

It's eyes & skin are wrinkly. I'm not sure if thats normal

I think my cage is pretty well done. (Also yes, it does often eat out of the eBay cup, I've seen it happen on multiple occasions)

Here's who I bought it from:
http://flchams.com/chameleon/premium-naval-bloodline-baby-veiled-chameleons-for-sale/

I would be extremely grateful if someone can tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, it would mean so much!

 

[jamest0o0]

Hey, so first of all, i would lose the bark chips, they pose a risk for impaction. You don't want to have anything they could mistakenly eat. How muh are you misting? in the one picture he looks like he might be dehydrated. Chams tend to get wrinkles before shedding as well. Check out the help form sticky and fill that out, people can use that to see if there's any problems in what you're doing.

 

[Caarson]

Hey, so first of all, i would lose the bark chips, they pose a risk for impaction. You don't want to have anything they could mistakenly eat. How muh are you misting? in the one picture he looks like he might be dehydrated. Chams tend to get wrinkles before shedding as well. Check out the help form sticky and fill that out, people can use that to see if there's any problems in what you're doing.

I'm misting about 5 to 2 times a day, about 4 sprays per mist.

• Your Chameleon - Male, Veiled Chameleon, in my care for about a month

• Handling - Once everyday

• Feeding - I'm feeding my Chameleon mealworms, with Reptivite and calcium with D3.

• Supplements - I'm dusting the food with rep-cal, and Reptivite everyday

• Watering - I took a old windex spray bottle (I cleaned the hell out of that thing) and I mist the cage with about 5 sprays 2 or 5 times a day, often seeing my chameleon drinking

• Fecal Description - The poop is brown, and has a healthy consistency, the chameleon has never been tested for parasites
• 
  
• Cage - everything in this kit is what I have ; (https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/zoo-med-repti-breeze-chameleon-kit?cm_mmc=PLA-GG-_-PTC_P_CA_PLA-GG_FY16_NB-AllProducts-PLA-_-Companion-Animal_All-Products-_-92700017525101642&kwid=p17525101642&device=c&gclid=Cj0KEQjwrYbIBRCgnY-OluOk89EBEiQAZER58q3wLBH_2eZzEMG1qbmGKc5Czwc1ZjcOkMloIzB9qRUaAgNi8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds)
• Humidity - My humidity is 10% according to this zilla monitor.
• Plants - I am using live plants, this plant
• Placement - The cage is located behind my door of my room, not a high traffic area
• Location - Villanova, PA.
  

 

[jamest0o0]

No expert on veileds, but i dont see a spike, might be a female.

Feeding- don't feed mealworms, replce with superworms and use as a treat(i prefer 1-2x a week) also gutlod your feeders and dust everyday with calcium no d3, dust with calcium d3 2x a month, and a multivitamin 2x a month. Example: one saturday dust with d3 next saturday dust with multi, following d3, and so on...

4 sprays seems like too little, but i don't have a veiled so someone else can hopefully tell you more on that. Humidity is too low...

Place cage so basking spot is eye level if it is not already.

 

[Caarson]

No expert on veileds, but i dont see a spike, might be a female.

Feeding- don't feed mealworms, replce with superworms and use as a treat(i prefer 1-2x a week) also gutlod your feeders and dust everyday with calcium no d3, dust with calcium d3 2x a month, and a multivitamin 2x a month. Example: one saturday dust with d3 next saturday dust with multi, following d3, and so on...

4 sprays seems like too little, but i don't have a veiled so someone else can hopefully tell you more on that. Humidity is too low...

Place cage so basking spot is eye level if it is not already.

Okay, I've increased my humidity though it should be noted that my basking temp is now 105.

Despite seeing my chameleon drink a ton, it still has wrinkly eyes, it's parent appears to have them too

Possibly it just was born with them?

 

[jamest0o0]

105 is too high, he's going to get burnt. Check out the caresheets

 

[Caarson]

105 is too high, he's going to get burnt. Check out the caresheets

This is simply the basking spot, the cooler part of his cage is 64 degrees

 

[Lennoncham]

theres no way your humidity is at 10% I think your humidity gage is broken. Your Cham is deffinity not getting enough water/ misting that's why you see him drink every time.
Here's a link to the care sheets for veileds
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[Lennoncham]

This is simply the basking spot, the cooler part of his cage is 64 degrees

105 is way to high for a basking spot. Should be about 85.

 

[poison]

I don't believe 105 is high enough to burn Cham skin it's also not a bad thing so have access to such temps to allow them to choose it if they desire. So long as you also have acces to lower basking temps and the ambient temp isn't too high.The Cham will choose on its own.

 

[Caarson]

theres no way your humidity is at 10% I think your humidity gage is broken. Your Cham is deffinity not getting enough water/ misting that's why you see him drink every time.
Here's a link to the care sheets for veileds
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

The gage was flipped the wrong way, the humidity is really at 40%

I've also purchased this to ensure proper access to water

 

[jamest0o0]

This is simply the basking spot, the cooler part of his cage is 64 degrees

I get that it's the basking spot. It's not uncommon to see cham's get burns on here. I have seen mine try to sit right under a bulb before i moved it. Personally i'd lower it just because it's not necessary and why take the risk?

 

[jamest0o0]

I don't believe 105 is high enough to burn Cham skin it's also not a bad thing so have access to such temps to allow them to choose it if they desire. So long as you also have acces to lower basking temps and the ambient temp isn't too high.The Cham will choose on its own.

This isn't true, i have seen my cham and read others here who have talked of theirs getting as close to the bulb as possible. If i didn't stop mine he would burn himself for sure. Unless my cham is just a little slower than the rest, which could be a possibility lol

 

[poison]

I don't see any risk at 105. UNLESS the Cham is able to touch the screen top of the enclosure with its back while its basking. Has anyone been to Madagascar and documented the temps that these guys have access to and actually bask at?

 

[Lennoncham]

I don't see any risk at 105. UNLESS the Cham is able to touch the screen top of the enclosure with its back while its basking. Has anyone been to Madagascar and documented the temps that these guys have access to and actually bask at?

Well seeing as it is a veiled chameleon I don't think you would be studying them in Madagascar. You would be in Yemen or Saudi Arabia

 

[poison]

oops my mistake you're right just a dumb moment I swear lol. Would still like to know if anyone has documented the temps they are seen basking at.

 

[poison]

This isn't true, i have seen my cham and read others here who have talked of theirs getting as close to the bulb as possible. If i didn't stop mine he would burn himself for sure. Unless my cham is just a little slower than the rest, which could be a possibility lol

Hi, my only argument pretty much was that 105 is not harmful. We seem to both agree that the bulb itself can be harmful but 105 is not a hard temp to achieve while keeping distance from the bulb.

 

[Andee]

105 is harmful, it is dangerous because chameleons have poor heat receptors on their skin and will bask (even if they can't touch the light) until they get a burn because they bask until their internal temperature reaches an appropriate level and will not move until then. Many chameleons can get a burn just from sitting in a basking spot that is too high. My chameleon did, he has severe burns from a basking temp that was supposedly in the correct parameters (90 degrees) but because he sat in the area too long he has burns all over him which started really making themselves visible as he healed and scarred. He went to the vet for these burns. I now refuse to go over 88 for any chameleon unless it is desert species (which you cannot get them in the pet trade yet from what I know).

The whole thing is geckos will be literally touching a basking spot light (if you have a climbing species) but they move out of it once warm enough within a minute. Chameleons will sit for hours in a spot that is 90+ just trying to warm themselves up internally.

As far as misting you need to mist for AT least 2 minutes every misting and have a longer misting preferably once a day for 6-8 minutes which will help him/her clean out their eyes. They are dehydrated from the looks of the chameleon's eyes and need a good long misting. The fact that it's a veiled and you see it drinking especially since it's a baby is an immediate red flag for me.

 

[jamest0o0]

Hi, my only argument pretty much was that 105 is not harmful. We seem to both agree that the bulb itself can be harmful but 105 is not a hard temp to achieve while keeping distance from the bulb.

Hey i don't mean to argue, i know you know you're stuff. you're probably right with that, i just meant if someone is new they might not know chams are pretty dumb when it comes to heat and will accidently burn themselves if the bulb isn't a safe distance away. I almost did this myself, but luckily caught him in time.

 

[poison]

No worries. Chams are still a newish field for me. Though I've kept them in the past most people here have had much more experience with them so I'm learning new things everyday especially when crazy person names andee decides to drop a bunch of knowledge on everyone. I like to debate and argue. It's never hostile