Is my veiled getting sick?

Rangothechammy

New Member
Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - Veiled, male, roughly 8-9 months old. I've had him for 7 months
  • Handling - Almost never, I stick to the "don't touch just look" rule of thumb unless he needs to go to a vet or if I'm moving him into a new cage.
  • Feeding - Crickets, dubias, superworms. I used to feed BSFL too but haven't been able to get any recently. Normally as much as he'll eat but lately it's been 2-4 medium-size crickets, 1-2 medium and 2 small dubias, and occasionally some superworms. Was daily but lately, it's whenever he'll eat. For crickets, I use fluckers high calcium cricket diet (however I try not to use it as much as possible) as well as mustard and turnip greens, sweet potato, and papaya. For dubia and superworms I use the same fruits and veggies.
  • Supplements - I've been dusting with zoo med calcium without D3 daily, as well as repashy calcium plus. Then every other week I dust with zoo med calcium with d3 and rapashy calcium plus. I can't remember the name of the breeder I was watching on youtube but he said he does a little bit of vitamins daily, and I had been doing that for a while but this last week I stopped cause I was worried about it possibly being too much and I think I'd probably just dust with it the same day I do D3 for now on.
  • Watering - He has a misting system. during the day it's 1 minute every 3 hours, and at night it's 1 minute every hour. I try to let the cage dry out during the day so sometimes I mist less than that, only during the day though. He also has a fogger, but its only on at night when the temps drop. I've never seen him drink in the 7 months I've had him, but I do check his urates and they are always almost completely white or mostly white with a small part of it orange.
  • Fecal Description - fecal matter is solid and completely brown, urates are like I said above. He has not been tested for parasites but I think I'm going to have a vet visit soon (just need to get my paycheck as the only vet I've found doesn't do those credit lines) and will bring in a stool sample.
  • History - He's been to the vet before with some of the same symptoms he has now, probably around 4-5 months ago. Vet prescribed liquid calcium that I gave him every day until he was back to normal. She said he had a calcium deficiency due to having the incorrect UVB. Gave him the liquid calcium and changed to the correct bulb and was back to normal within a week. Other than that he did successfully pass a sperm plug a few days ago, I believe it was his first one, or at least the first I've seen him pass. I noticed something white sticking out of his vent but it came out when he pooped. I did see a very very small amount of blood at the very end (the last part that came out of his vent), I read this happens sometimes so I wasnt TOO concerned. Don't think he prolapsed as his vent looks normal.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Screen cage 2ft x 2ftx 4ft
  • Lighting - Arcadia t5ho 24in I believe it's a 10.0, the bulb says 6% UVB. I really need to get a plug that turns them on at the same time every day but right now I turn it on when I wake up around 9-10 am and leave it on for 12 hours. in the pictures im providing the UVB is just laying on top of the cage, I changed this just now so its 8in from his basking spot.
  • Temperature - Basking is around 85-90F but mostly stays around 88F. Can't say for sure but id assume the cage floor is around 70-75F. The lowest overnight temps are in the low 60s. I measure temps with one of those reptile thermometers that have the wire go into the cage, The wire is right at his basking spot.
  • Humidity - Daytime is around 45-50%, nighttime is as close to 80% as possible, and normally stays around 75%. I mist every few hours and he has live plants. I use a hydrometer to measure the humidity.
  • Plants - All live. Bromeliads, pothos, money tree, and umbrella tree. I forget the scientific name of the umbrella tree but I am 100% certain it's the one that is none toxic to chams. I checked the scientific name on the label before I bought it.
  • Placement - At the foot of my bed facing away from me. There are two-floor fans pointed away from his enclosure. There is an air vent above his cage but its probably two feet away from it. He's in my bedroom which I do spend a good amount of time in when I'm home, however, I'm mostly at my pc or in my bed which he can't see from his cage. I do have a parakeet who is on the other side of the room which he can see, however, I've always had them set up like that which I don't think bothers him, but I'm not opposed to moving my bird out of view.
  • Location - North Texas.

Current Problem - I want to start by saying a little over a week ago he only had calcium-dusted superworms to eat, this was only for a week though, before that he had his usual feeders. I fell on some hard times this last month and was unable to buy his normal feeders until last weekend. I'd say it was probably last Wednesday he started refusing food altogether, which at first I wasn't too concerned about, figured he was just bored of them or remembered one time when he got bit on the cheek by one of the superworms and just decided he didnt want them anymore. Kept trying to feed him the same until last Saturday when I was able to go get a bunch of crickets and dubias. Gut fed the feeders in the AM and went to feed my cham in the PM. Still refused to eat, so I started getting worried. I think last Sunday or maybe Monday he finally ate two crickets but as soon as he realized it was me feeding him he stopped eating. Like he looked at me and then went back to his basking spot and refused to eat anything else. Over this last week he has calmed down a little and eaten a little more each day, for example, today he ate one small and one medium dubias and two medium crickets dusted with calcium without D3. Much better compared to the beginning of the week when I could barely get him to eat two small crickets. However, during this last week, I noticed he seemed off. He's almost laying on his branches like he's lethargic. I have seen him move around his cage off and on but he does seem to always go back to his basking branch and just lay there. And then the worst case happened, he started closing his eyes. I was super freaked out because we've been through this before and I didn't know where I went wrong other than him being stuck to just dusted superworms for a week. I immediately went to the pet store to buy a new t5ho just in case it was time for a new one, bought a bunch of crickets and dubias, and cut the daily vitamin dusting. Kept a close eye on humidity and heat to make sure they were all correct and even started misting him with lukewarm water here and there in case something was bothering his eyes. probably this Thursday he passed a sperm plug and as soon as he did he started acting normal. But then the next day was back to laying on his branches and occasionally closing an eye. Once in this last week, I saw him close both eyes while basking but I've been checking on him pretty frequently and for the most part, only one eye is closed. I know either way this isnt a good sign and am still pretty worried about him. He does seem to also have some shed that hasn't fully come off. he shed last probably three weeks ago. But yeah thats pretty much all I've got, i read branch hugging can be a sign of MBD and im super freaked out. Probably going to try to get him into the vet in the next week just to be safe. But if anyone has any advice I'd really appreciate it. The last two pictures I'm attaching were taken at the same time, I apologize for the quality of the last one, was trying to show he only had one eye closed while the other was still open.
 

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If the cage looks dirty or bare right now i apologize! Some of his plants started dying recently (assuming bc i dont have grow lights for them and hes not by a window) and im in the process of replacing them with new ones! I would also like to add that his bones don't seem misshaped at all. his casque is straight and he does move around his cage just fine. My main concern is the somewhat lack of appetite, branch hugging and closed eyes. Thinking maybe I need to get him onto that liquid calcium again and redo my supplement cycle but idrk.
 
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I’m sorry to hear your little man is not acting normal. Do you have a vet? I recommend a check up and fecal with a vet that has good chameleon knowledge. He could have parasites or another
Illness or both. This place is suppose to have some good vets. Call and get an appointment with the one that sees chameleons the most.
https://texasavian.com/

There’s also Dr. Greg Moore in that area that sees chameleons.
https://southlakevet.com/
 
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I’m sorry to hear your little man is not acting normal. Do you have a vet? I recommend a check up and fecal with a vet that has good chameleon knowledge. He could have parasites or another
Illness or both. This place is suppose to have some good vets. Call and get an appointment with the one that sees chameleons the most.
https://texasavian.com/

There’s also Dr. Greg Moore in that area that sees chameleons.
https://southlakevet.com/
Update. He’s doing much better. He ended up being treated for the same issue as last time. Vet gave me liquid calcium and after a few days he was standing on his basking branch instead of laying on it and I haven’t seen him close his eyes once! We also decided that the repashy calcium plus everyday was too much so we are switching to phosphorus free calcium without d3 every feeding and rotating between calcium with d3 and rapashys calcium plus lod every other week! Now if I could only get him to stop being so hooked to his super worms everything can get back to normal. Speaking of, any advice on how to do that? I offer dusted roaches and crickets to him everyday and he doesn’t really seem all that interested in them. But vise versa if I show him a super worm the lil man goes crazy for them. I figure he’s addicted from the week where that’s all he had. I know they aren’t staple diets so I’m a lil concerned on if I should completely stop offering them or put one in his feeding bowl with other feeders so maybe he’ll see the crickets and roaches and eat some of those too. Idk what do you guys think? I’ve read if you gut load them they can be okay for the cham to eat but I’d also prefer him to not be eating them only ya know?
 
A098BB4B-C971-4420-BF38-40545E301C43.jpeg
I figured I’d share his new cage setup while I’m here. I changed out most of his plants with new clean pothos. Open to criticism if y’all see anything I should fix! Lemme tell ya though he was not happy bout the changes and is still definitely a lil grumpy at me coming into his home and changing everything around. Bonus points if you can spot him
 
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Looking good so far, are those Exo Terra vines? If, please ditch them (I know they’re expensive) but they’re known for causing eye troubles. When a cham starts rubbing his head during or before shedding. They release small particles that get in their eyes and cause infections. While removing, just add some extra real branches. Get them out of your garden, just rinse them with water and you should be fine.
 
Looking good so far, are those Exo Terra vines? If, please ditch them (I know they’re expensive) but they’re known for causing eye troubles. When a cham starts rubbing his head during or before shedding. They release small particles that get in their eyes and cause infections. While removing, just add some extra real branches. Get them out of your garden, just rinse them with water and you should be fine.
saw this earlier and went hunting for some real ones! was a bit of an ordeal to get him off of the fake ones, Lil man gave me a little hiss and nudge in the process, but now he has a real branch for basking on! Thanks for the advice!
 
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