Is he healthy !?!?!

isamu

isamu

New Member
Hi Guys,

Got our chameleon a week ago, sold as a 3 week old veiled hatchling. He is eating great, and we have seen him drink water, but not much though.

Could you guys please tell us if he looks healthy ? He blinks one eye more often than the other, and he goes dark most of the time. Is this normal.

Any help would be appreciated :) And thanx for the great forum !!!!!

Some pics of our Steve ;)

Steve05.jpg


Steve04.jpg


Steve03.jpg


Steve02.jpg


Steve01.jpg
 
Little Stevie looks a bit dehydrated. How about you tell us about your husbandry? This is from the "How to ask for help" sticky:

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - What kind of cage are you using? What is the size?
  • Lighting - What kind of lighting are you using? How long do you keep the lights on during the day?
  • Temperature - What temperature range have you created? Basking spot temp? What is the temperature at night?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas?
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What kind of schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What are you dusting your feeders with and what kind of schedule do you use?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
  • Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.
Pictures can really help as well.
 
Cage Info:
* Cage Type - What kind of cage are you using? What is the size?

- We are using the Exo-terra terrarium that he came with. Screen top, glass sides. I think its the smallest in the range 30cm x 30 cm x 45 cm (I think)

* Lighting - What kind of lighting are you using? How long do you keep the lights on during the day?

- We use the Repti-Glo 5.0 UVB (26 Watt) during the day. Just went from the 13 Watt to the 26 Watt. At night we switch all light off, and keep him warm in the room with an oil heater.

* Temperature - What temperature range have you created? Basking spot temp? What is the temperature at night?

During the day time the temp is about 25C, basking spot is about 30C. At night it goes down to about 20C, and we take the heat lamp off (The red one).

* Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels?

- Ranges between 50 and 80. We spray well with warm water twice a day, and we have a drip system that runs for about 1 hour twice a day as well. There is a small water bowl in the bottom of the cage, but he does not go there.

* Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?

- We use all artificial plants, some with big leaves, some small, with some of those bendable vines, as well as smaller twigs and sticks.

* Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas?

- He is in our guest room, with NO traffic. We keep the door closed. There is a fan in the room, but we have not used it, but we are thinking about it, for airflow purposes. He is not directly under the fan.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.

- Veiled / 4 weeks / Male

* Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What kind of schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?

- Feeding pinheads, about 15 - 25 a day. He eats a lot, and runs for the feeding dish when we put new crickets in.

* Supplements - What are you dusting your feeders with and what kind of schedule do you use?

- We dust them with calcium, as well as vitamin. (Vitamin only once a week, calcium every day all day)

* Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Do you see your chameleon drinking?

- See above. Have seen him druink, but only about twice in the last week (Since we got him)

* Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.

- His droppings are solid, not fry. Urates (White part) is white, small, but does look SLIGHTY yellow.

* Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

- We are worried that he is dehydrated, and need help on what to do :)
 
Brad, No ;)

This is our first little one, well, our first chameleon. We were told they are hardy and easy to care for, and dont really have problems.

We are used to snakes and Tarantulas :)
 
It was once said on these forums that on a scale of 1 to 10 regarding reptile husbandry a chameleon would be about a 20.
I agree with this statement.
That being said they are wonderful rewarding animals to keep and, while
we are constantly learning, we are able to provide them with what they need...knowledge is the key.
Regarding your current husbandry:
I think the enclosure is fine for a baby...you'll have to start planning for his
future home in the next few months. Plenty of info regarding this in the
enclosures forum.
The red heat lamp should go away. In fact you may not need a basking light at this stage. Babies are terrible at thermoregulating and can get too hot...especially in a mostly glass enclosure. He may get enough heat from the flourescent if he has a branch that comes within a few inches of the top of the enclosure. (check temps) I would say no warmer than 80 degrees f. for him right now.
At night they require at least a 10 degree drop in temp mid to high 60's is perfect. (sorry I'm not converting to Celsius).
Artificial plants are fine for him but think about adding a real one (check plant list on forums) For his future home you will want to create a densley planted jungle of safe live plants.
Does your calcium supplement contain vit. D3? You need both w/ and w/out.
W/ D3 a couple times a week and w/out 3 times at this stage. Vit. once a week is good.
If you can run the dripper for several more hours a day it will be of great benefit to him. Remove the water dish, he will not use it and it will only cause problems (ie: drowned feeders, poopy mess, drowned baby chameleon, bacteria metropolis, etc....)

-Brad
 
The calcium that we use every day contains no D3.
The vitamin suppliment contains calcium and D3 (this we use once a week)

What age do you think he is?

Can you shed any light on the eye blinking every now and then?
Thanks
 
I think the age you were told is accurate.
cal w/ D3 would be a great addition to your supplement arsenal.
The blinking MAY be due to hydration issues....it's not possible to diagnose online
and I am not a vet, but I would address that first.
Also:
Pinhead crickets are great! At this point your list of possible feeders is really short and these are a great staple...however...they must be gutloaded to be of maximum benefit.
Also try offering fresh collard greens to him. He may not be interested at this age but veileds do eat some
plant matter and collards are my favorite due to their high calcium content.

-Brad
 
Last edited:
The pinheads are fed with cricket food and carrots, is this sufficient?
We have not tried any other feeder insects yet, we thought he may be too small still. What do you suggest?
 
Thanks for the feedback. We are going to try to run the dripper fro more hours in the day.
Does he look fine otherwise?
 
Crickets are fine for now.
Cricket food is generally a product for maintaining insects
and not for gutloading for a reptile.
To properly gutload pull 25 crickets the night before feeding and place them in a seperate container (I use the plastic container pre-washed salad comes in) with most or all of the following:
cooked egg yolk
grated carrot
grated apple
grated sweet potato or squash
collards or romaine lettuce
bee pollen
(this is a good list but by no means the only ingredients you can use)
Do not use:
tomato
brocolli
spinich
catfood
dogfood
fishfood
All could be potentially harmful for your chameleon.

-Brad
 
He looks good other than that to me. Your husbandry sounds pretty solid, including your temps. I wouldn't toss out the basking lamp for the time being unless the little guy is visibly moving away from it. The extra available heat may help him fight off what sounds like it could be the start of some eye issue. It is possible that is what the photos are showing, too. Turning on the fan to circulate air would be a good thing.

Keep misting him a lot, especially since it sounds like he might be having trouble with his eye.
 
Thanks for all the info guys.
We mist him him (the cage) twice daily.
Does the dark coloration show that he is cold?
 
Listen to Heika about the basking light.*
Just make sure it doesn't get too warm.
I agree that the fan should help with that.

*actually, always listen to Heika...she has great success and sound advice :)

-Brad

Yes, dark coloration enables the absorbtion of heat and can mean he's chilly.
 
When misting the cage, should we mist him directy as well?
If the dripper runs for two hours a day and with misting twice a day, should this be sufficient to help with the dehydration issue?

Is he severly dehydrated or only slightly?
 
If possible the dripper should run all day.
I keep a collection container covered with mesh, held on with a rubberband
at the bottom of the enclosure to catch the water.
misting him directly is okay but not his face. Babies at this age
have been known to aspirate if water gets in their nostrils.
multiple mistings a day with a dry out period in between is recommended.
An additional great way to rehydrate is with silkworms.
You can order little ones from Coastal or Mulberry farms (be sure to order chow as well)
He will LOVE those and they are high in protein as well as moisture.

-Brad

I don't think it is severe but it does need addressing.
 
Thanks for all the feedback.
We are going to try the silkworm (hopefully we can get small enough ones) :)
We will try to run the dripper for longer periods.

Will the extra heat and water help with the eye issue?
 
Hopefully hydration will solve the problem
keep us posted.
Here's another option for a feeder:
Blatta Lateralis are quite small as nymphs
and really nutricious!
Feed them the same gutload you feed the crickets.
http://www.thebugpros.com/home.htm
You won't have a problem getting small enough silks.
You might want to get some eggs too for later hatching.
You can keep them in the fridge till you're ready to hatch more.

-Brad
 
With most feeders the rule is no longer than the space between the chameleons eyes.
This doesn't apply to silkworms, however.
They are soft and squishy. up to 1/4 to 1/2 inch worms would be fine (1/2 might be a little big)
Get really small ones, they grow super fast and will definetely outgrow their usefullness as a feeder for your baby if you start with too big a size.
I have ended up letting mine grow to full size and cocoon in the silkworm drawer. Hopefully I'll have breeding moths soon and can start over.

-Brad
 
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