poppototamus
New Member
Hi folks,
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled, male, 6 to 7 months, in my care since September 2012
Handling - tried handling once after a few weeks to settle in, got bitten, now do not handle at all
Feeding - I began feeding him crickets and super worms, crickets on rapashy insect gutload with vegetables and fruit on the side, supers on oats/wheatbran/rapashy gutload and carrots/lettuce/apples. I originally fed him 7 crickets and three supers daily but since his hunger strike began, I put about five crickets in every other day and he may eat one or none. I purchased dubias but could never get him to eat those and gave them to a friend, i now have silkworms and hornworms eating the chow they came with (a brownish, sweet smelling paste), which he also does not seem interested in eating.
Supplements - feeders get dusted with repcal (calcium with no d3) every feeding, and with herptivite and rapashy calcium plus twice a month.
Watering - I use a humidifier over the cage that drops fog on the plants and creates beads of water on the leaves. I have not ever seen him drinking in the two months i've had him
Fecal Description - the poo part is always dark brown, the urates are always white to pale yellow, but he doesn't go as often lately since he hasn't been eating much.
History - I purchased him at a reptile show, he has never been anything but terrified of me.
Cage Info:
Cage Type -the cage is wood frame, all aluminum screen except the bottom which is a plastic tray on plywood. it is 4.5 feet tall by three feet wide by two feed deep.
Lighting - I use an ExoTerro reptiglo 5.0 cfl, and two incandescent bulbs to heat and light the cage. the lights go on between 5 and 7 am and off between 5 and 7 pm.
Temperature - His basking spot is regulated to 87 degrees F by a thermostat with a probe and a secondary thermometer with a probe to double check. the bottom of the cage is room temperature, about 70 degrees during the day. Night time temperature levels may drop to 60 degrees, but the house is heated, so never below that.
Humidity - I use a humidifier on high which drops fog over half the cage and allows moisture to bead up on the plant leaves. I measure humidity with a digital hygrometer in the foggy half of the cage and it ranges from 60 to 80 percent during the day. I turn off the humidifier at night, but it runs all day. The non-foggy half of the cage is totally dry.
Plants - I use one large live schefflera and some fake vines with leaves as well as a bunch of sticks of varied sizes and heights for perching.
Placement - the cage is in a corner of my office, he can see me when i sit at my desk and he can see us sitting on the sofa in the other room but he's pretty out of the way, no vents etc. The top of the cage is about 5 feet off the ground.
Location - the northern central valley, California (cool and rainy december through february, baking hot and dry in the summer, may freeze once or twice annually).
Current Problem - Creature appears to be totally disinterested in food. originally he would eat crickets and super worms like they were the best thing in the world but now he will walk right by crickets hanging out on the screen. I have tried waxworms, dubia roaches, silk worms, and horn worms and he seems unstimulated by all of these things. He spent the last two weeks shedding, which seemed like kind of a long time to me, but since it went on in patches maybe not. He is still super active, he jams around his cage climbing up and down the sticks and the plant, his colors range from bright green to darkish green, he isn't really ever pale anymore the way he used to get when i would open the cage in the beginning. He still poops, just smaller poops than he used to, and frankly I can't tell if he is thin or not because he changes sizes from a puffed up pancake under his lights to a skinny log when he sees me open the door. I should probably take him out and weigh him to get a reference point but handling seems to stress him out so much I've been just trying not to bother him.
I've not taken him to a vet since his general demeanor seems unchanged, but we have lots of good exotic vets in the area.
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled, male, 6 to 7 months, in my care since September 2012
Handling - tried handling once after a few weeks to settle in, got bitten, now do not handle at all
Feeding - I began feeding him crickets and super worms, crickets on rapashy insect gutload with vegetables and fruit on the side, supers on oats/wheatbran/rapashy gutload and carrots/lettuce/apples. I originally fed him 7 crickets and three supers daily but since his hunger strike began, I put about five crickets in every other day and he may eat one or none. I purchased dubias but could never get him to eat those and gave them to a friend, i now have silkworms and hornworms eating the chow they came with (a brownish, sweet smelling paste), which he also does not seem interested in eating.
Supplements - feeders get dusted with repcal (calcium with no d3) every feeding, and with herptivite and rapashy calcium plus twice a month.
Watering - I use a humidifier over the cage that drops fog on the plants and creates beads of water on the leaves. I have not ever seen him drinking in the two months i've had him
Fecal Description - the poo part is always dark brown, the urates are always white to pale yellow, but he doesn't go as often lately since he hasn't been eating much.
History - I purchased him at a reptile show, he has never been anything but terrified of me.
Cage Info:
Cage Type -the cage is wood frame, all aluminum screen except the bottom which is a plastic tray on plywood. it is 4.5 feet tall by three feet wide by two feed deep.
Lighting - I use an ExoTerro reptiglo 5.0 cfl, and two incandescent bulbs to heat and light the cage. the lights go on between 5 and 7 am and off between 5 and 7 pm.
Temperature - His basking spot is regulated to 87 degrees F by a thermostat with a probe and a secondary thermometer with a probe to double check. the bottom of the cage is room temperature, about 70 degrees during the day. Night time temperature levels may drop to 60 degrees, but the house is heated, so never below that.
Humidity - I use a humidifier on high which drops fog over half the cage and allows moisture to bead up on the plant leaves. I measure humidity with a digital hygrometer in the foggy half of the cage and it ranges from 60 to 80 percent during the day. I turn off the humidifier at night, but it runs all day. The non-foggy half of the cage is totally dry.
Plants - I use one large live schefflera and some fake vines with leaves as well as a bunch of sticks of varied sizes and heights for perching.
Placement - the cage is in a corner of my office, he can see me when i sit at my desk and he can see us sitting on the sofa in the other room but he's pretty out of the way, no vents etc. The top of the cage is about 5 feet off the ground.
Location - the northern central valley, California (cool and rainy december through february, baking hot and dry in the summer, may freeze once or twice annually).
Current Problem - Creature appears to be totally disinterested in food. originally he would eat crickets and super worms like they were the best thing in the world but now he will walk right by crickets hanging out on the screen. I have tried waxworms, dubia roaches, silk worms, and horn worms and he seems unstimulated by all of these things. He spent the last two weeks shedding, which seemed like kind of a long time to me, but since it went on in patches maybe not. He is still super active, he jams around his cage climbing up and down the sticks and the plant, his colors range from bright green to darkish green, he isn't really ever pale anymore the way he used to get when i would open the cage in the beginning. He still poops, just smaller poops than he used to, and frankly I can't tell if he is thin or not because he changes sizes from a puffed up pancake under his lights to a skinny log when he sees me open the door. I should probably take him out and weigh him to get a reference point but handling seems to stress him out so much I've been just trying not to bother him.
I've not taken him to a vet since his general demeanor seems unchanged, but we have lots of good exotic vets in the area.
). The 'terrible teen' stage is upon you....hunger strikes along with more territoriality and possible aggression. The good news is it'll only last a couple of months and then he'll likely calm down a fair bit.
