Is there something wrong with my cham?

S

shanerw

New Member
So recently about 2-3 days ago, my chameleon has been starting to act strange. She is much less energetic and has not eaten at all today. Usually she loves crickets and will go after them as soon as i give them too her but today she just looked at them and let them run away. She also hasn't been lifting up her body as much and seems very very weak. I sometimes think she is gravid but shows no bright colors at all. Please lmk if you can think of anything that is wrong with her. To save comments I will give you guys my cham info. Thank you

Chameleon- I have a Female Veiled Chameleon, I was given no age but I predict around 4-6 months by now.

Handling- I rarely handle her anymore since she has been acting strange, but before that about two to three times a week.

Feeding- I give her 2 crickets and two mealworms in the morning at around 6 am EST. Then fed again around 9:30 pm EST which i give her 3 crickets, and a wax worm. I do not gut load my cham, but might start.

Supplements- I use Repti Calcium w/o D3 and Reptivite with D3. She is given one cricket a day with Calcium and two crickets a week with reptivite.

Watering- I mist her cage throughout the day once in the morning, once when i get home from school then again when i get home from work. I also have a dripper that drips constantly throughout the day but very slowly. ALso a hot mist humidifer is used at night next to her cage.

Fecal- Slight hint of orange usually but mostly white, never tested for parasites.

Cage- Her cage is 16''x16''x30'' using a 13 Watt 5.0 UVB light bulb and a Daylight blue bulb at 60 watts both turned of around 9-10pm

Temps- Usually sits at around 80-85 F in basking site but can get to 65-70 F at night.

Humidity- Usually stay between 40-60% humidity

Plants- Mostly fake but just got a live Umbrella for her.

My Chameleon: (Her name is Kiwi)
IMG_2602.JPG IMG_2611.JPG IMG_2612.JPG IMG_2613.JPG
 
shanerw said:
So recently about 2-3 days ago, my chameleon has been starting to act strange. She is much less energetic and has not eaten at all today. Usually she loves crickets and will go after them as soon as i give them too her but today she just looked at them and let them run away. She also hasn't been lifting up her body as much and seems very very weak. I sometimes think she is gravid but shows no bright colors at all. Please lmk if you can think of anything that is wrong with her. To save comments I will give you guys my cham info. Thank you

Chameleon- I have a Female Veiled Chameleon, I was given no age but I predict around 4-6 months by now.

Handling- I rarely handle her anymore since she has been acting strange, but before that about two to three times a week.

Feeding- I give her 2 crickets and two mealworms in the morning at around 6 am EST. Then fed again around 9:30 pm EST which i give her 3 crickets, and a wax worm. I do not gut load my cham, but might start.

Supplements- I use Repti Calcium w/o D3 and Reptivite with D3. She is given one cricket a day with Calcium and two crickets a week with reptivite.

Watering- I mist her cage throughout the day once in the morning, once when i get home from school then again when i get home from work. I also have a dripper that drips constantly throughout the day but very slowly. ALso a hot mist humidifer is used at night next to her cage.

Fecal- Slight hint of orange usually but mostly white, never tested for parasites.

Cage- Her cage is 16''x16''x30'' using a 13 Watt 5.0 UVB light bulb and a Daylight blue bulb at 60 watts both turned of around 9-10pm

Temps- Usually sits at around 80-85 F in basking site but can get to 65-70 F at night.

Humidity- Usually stay between 40-60% humidity

Plants- Mostly fake but just got a live Umbrella for her.

My Chameleon: (Her name is Kiwi)
View attachment 216781 View attachment 216782 View attachment 216783 View attachment 216784
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Have you read the veiled care sheet here? She needs more food, and all in the morning so she can bask and digest it all. You must gutload everything!!! Don’t handle her as much as you were, and only with a positive reward, like going outside or being fed. You need to dust every feeder every feeding with phosphorous-free calcium without D3 every feeding, phosphorous-free calcium with D3 twice monthly, and a multivitamin twice monthly, or in your case, the Reptivite with D3 twice monthly and calcium without D3 daily. When you get the money, invest in an automated mister and a t5HO 10.0 linear uvb bulb and fixture. Go to the hardware store and get a regular white light heat incandescent bulb to replace the blue bulb, and grab a timer for the lights, too. Chams need 12 hours of basking and uvb and 12 hours of complete darkness. The veiled care sheet here has proper basking temps and feeding amounts. Does she have a lay bin? Take her to the vet.
 
ERKleRose said:
Have you read the veiled care sheet here? She needs more food, and all in the morning so she can bask and digest it all. You must gutload everything!!! Don’t handle her as much as you were, and only with a positive reward, like going outside or being fed. You need to dust every feeder every feeding with phosphorous-free calcium without D3 every feeding, phosphorous-free calcium with D3 twice monthly, and a multivitamin twice monthly, or in your case, the Reptivite with D3 twice monthly and calcium without D3 daily. When you get the money, invest in an automated mister and a t5HO 10.0 linear uvb bulb and fixture. Go to the hardware store and get a regular white light heat incandescent bulb to replace the blue bulb, and grab a timer for the lights, too. Chams need 12 hours of basking and uvb and 12 hours of complete darkness. The veiled care sheet here has proper basking temps and feeding amounts. Does she have a lay bin? Take her to the vet.
Click to expand...
What Should I gut load with? should i feed her at night then still? I have a timer however it is reversal, as in when one bulb is on the other isnt. she does not have a lay bin currently but will get her one in the upcoming week. And i will look into the automatic mister any one you use as a preference? Thanks for the quick response and ill checkout the care sheet
 
shanerw said:
What Should I gut load with? should i feed her at night then still? I have a timer however it is reversal, as in when one bulb is on the other isnt. she does not have a lay bin currently but will get her one in the upcoming week. And i will look into the automatic mister any one you use as a preference? Thanks for the quick response and ill checkout the care sheet
Click to expand...
Gutload with either a quality commercial mix like Pangea, Mazuri, Cricket Crack, or Repashy, or use organic fresh fruits and veggies off of the gutload and nutrition tab in resources, or both. You can also purée the fruits and veggies and add them into unflavored gelatin to make feeding cubes. Don’t feed her at night, only in the morning. I feed one hour after my lights come on. Get a splitter and put both lights on the same schedule for during the day. The care sheet here has lay bin requirements. MistKing is the best mister on the market, but some people have success with an Exo Terra Monsoon
 
ERKleRose said:
Gutload with either a quality commercial mix like Pangea, Mazuri, Cricket Crack, or Repashy, or use organic fresh fruits and veggies off of the gutload and nutrition tab in resources, or both. You can also purée the fruits and veggies and add them into unflavored gelatin to make feeding cubes. Don’t feed her at night, only in the morning. I feed one hour after my lights come on. Get a splitter and put both lights on the same schedule for during the day. The care sheet here has lay bin requirements. MistKing is the best mister on the market, but some people have success with an Exo Terra Monsoon
Click to expand...
Thank you, I Ordered the 10.0 UVB bulb and the Mazuri gut loading stuff as well as the Zilla Power Center timer. I'm going to the home Depot soon to get the white bulb and will get the mistking soon enough. I'll let you know if she gets any better.
 
shanerw said:
Thank you, I Ordered the 10.0 UVB bulb and the Mazuri gut loading stuff as well as the Zilla Power Center timer. I'm going to the home Depot soon to get the white bulb and will get the mistking soon enough. I'll let you know if she gets any better.
Click to expand...
Awesome! Thanks for taking initiative!
 
I would still recommend taking her to an exotics vet that has cham experience to make sure nothing more is going on
 
ERKleRose said:
I would still recommend taking her to an exotics vet that has cham experience to make sure nothing more is going on
Click to expand...
I will schedule an appointment as soon as i find a vet for chams near me, however it is not looking good i contacted 3 vets already before hand and all three did not service chams
 
shanerw said:
I live in Bethlehem Pennsylvania
Click to expand...

You can try Dr. Jennifer Boyer at Macungie Animal Hospital. She is by appointment only as far as I can recall, but definitely sees lizards. You can call and see if she has experience with chameleons.

Macungie Animal Hospital
161 East Main Street Macungie, PA 18062 (610) 421-4013

From the website...

Dr. Jennifer Boyer sees exotic pets by appointment only. If you have an emergency, please call to see if Dr. Boyer is available. If she is unavailable, the following hospitals see exotic pets on an emergency basis:

1. Quakertown Veterinary Clinic (215-536-6245)
2. University of Pennsylvania (Ryan Veterinary Hospital) (215-898-4680)
3. Wright Veterinary Medical Center (610-865-2611)

Hope that helps :).
 
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