My 6 month old veiled still has not shed!
- Thread starter Kam0408
- Start date
Lennoncham
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi welcome to the forums. We are going to need a little more information to help you figure out what is going on. Can you please copy and paste and fill in the information in this form.
Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.
Chameleon Info:
Cage Info:
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
--------------
Please Note:
Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.
Chameleon Info:
- Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
- Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
- Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
- Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
- Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
- Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
- History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
- Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
- Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
- Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
- Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
- Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
- Location - Where are you geographically located?
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
--------------
Please Note:
- The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
- Photos can be very helpful.
Kam0408
Established Member
Veiled chameleon, male, been in my care for 3 weeks. He is 6 to 7 months of a age. I handle him once every other day.
I feed him crickets, mealworms, super worms, and horn worms and a salad.
I gut load carrots.
Calcium with and without d3.
I hand mist and use a mist king mister, for 2 mins every 2 hrs.
Fecis are nice and solid with creme part.
Never been tested for parasites.
No history about him.
I have screen cage 17 by 17 by 32 but am about to upgrade to a 2 by 2 by 4
I have a tube uvb and a 75 watt heat bulb.
Schedule is 6 am to 7 pm.
Temp is usually 80-90 degrees and Humidity is usually 50% to 85%.
No live plants.
I am in Texas so usually humid and hot.
Kam0408
Established Member
Attachments
PabloTheCham
Chameleon Enthusiast
The cables of the mistking are supposed to come in thru the outside... now he can get too close to the basking light and if he sleeps on it he will wake up every 2 hours.
PabloTheCham
Chameleon Enthusiast
Ditch the salad and especially mealworms.
You need to gutload with a variety of fruits and vegetables, not just carrots.
PabloTheCham
Chameleon Enthusiast
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi. You do have a few changes to make in your husbandry that could be affecting shedding and more. Putting my feedback in red.
Veiled chameleon, male, been in my care for 3 weeks. He is 6 to 7 months of a age. I handle him once every other day.
I feed him crickets, mealworms, super worms, and horn worms and a salad. You’ve already been told not to feed mealworms. You could expand to using some other feeders though. Roaches make great feeders. Attaching feeder sheet.
I gut load carrots. You’ve already been given the gutload sheet. Keep in mind it isn’t just feeding to keep the bugs alive. Whatever you feed them will pass that nutrition on to your cham.
Calcium with and without d3. How often are you using each one? What about a multivitamin? These are important to get right. Basic supplementation schedule is calcium without D3 at every feeding except one per week. That one weekly feeding you’ll use calcium with D3 one week and multivitamin the next.
I hand mist and use a mist king mister, for 2 mins every 2 hrs. Way too much. Set your mist king to run for 2 minutes just before lights on and right before lights out. Mid day you can either use a dripper for about 20 minutes or do another misting. You do want the enclosure to dry out between misting.
Fecis are nice and solid with creme part. The cream part is urine, called urate. Cream color or even with a small amount of orange is ok. All orange or dark means dehydration.
Never been tested for parasites. I’m a believer in having this done along with a wellness vet visit.
No history about him.
I have screen cage 17 by 17 by 32 but am about to upgrade to a 2 by 2 by 4 Good for the upgrade.
I have a tube uvb and a 75 watt heat bulb. What is the strength of your uvb?
Schedule is 6 am to 7 pm. Ok...usually a 12 hr schedule is used but I won’t nitpick for an hour.
Temp is usually 80-90 degrees and Humidity is usually 50% to 85%. Both are too high. Basking temp should stay around 82-85 and daytime humidity should be between 30-50%. If you get rid of all the extra misting, your humidity will come down.
No live plants. Why not? Veileds will nibble on their plants so they need to be real and safe. They have been known to try eating a fake plant and get impacted, which is very serious. Start with pothos...they are great for chams and super easy to grow without having to invest in a special plant light. Here’s a link to safe plants, but many do have high light needs. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
I am in Texas so usually humid and hot.
So while I can’t say with any certainty why your cham isn’t shedding, I’d guess all that I told you needs to be changed is the cause. The changes you need to make aren’t just to do with promoting proper shedding, but also to prevent metabolic bone disease, infection and just keep your cham as happy and healthy as possible.
Can you post a pic of your whole enclosure? Also, just an FYI...that black vine is known to have small parts flake off. When he does eventually shed, if he rubs his face against it, there’s risk of a particle getting caught in his eyes.
Veiled chameleon, male, been in my care for 3 weeks. He is 6 to 7 months of a age. I handle him once every other day.
I feed him crickets, mealworms, super worms, and horn worms and a salad. You’ve already been told not to feed mealworms. You could expand to using some other feeders though. Roaches make great feeders. Attaching feeder sheet.
I gut load carrots. You’ve already been given the gutload sheet. Keep in mind it isn’t just feeding to keep the bugs alive. Whatever you feed them will pass that nutrition on to your cham.
Calcium with and without d3. How often are you using each one? What about a multivitamin? These are important to get right. Basic supplementation schedule is calcium without D3 at every feeding except one per week. That one weekly feeding you’ll use calcium with D3 one week and multivitamin the next.
I hand mist and use a mist king mister, for 2 mins every 2 hrs. Way too much. Set your mist king to run for 2 minutes just before lights on and right before lights out. Mid day you can either use a dripper for about 20 minutes or do another misting. You do want the enclosure to dry out between misting.
Fecis are nice and solid with creme part. The cream part is urine, called urate. Cream color or even with a small amount of orange is ok. All orange or dark means dehydration.
Never been tested for parasites. I’m a believer in having this done along with a wellness vet visit.
No history about him.
I have screen cage 17 by 17 by 32 but am about to upgrade to a 2 by 2 by 4 Good for the upgrade.
I have a tube uvb and a 75 watt heat bulb. What is the strength of your uvb?
Schedule is 6 am to 7 pm. Ok...usually a 12 hr schedule is used but I won’t nitpick for an hour.
Temp is usually 80-90 degrees and Humidity is usually 50% to 85%. Both are too high. Basking temp should stay around 82-85 and daytime humidity should be between 30-50%. If you get rid of all the extra misting, your humidity will come down.
No live plants. Why not? Veileds will nibble on their plants so they need to be real and safe. They have been known to try eating a fake plant and get impacted, which is very serious. Start with pothos...they are great for chams and super easy to grow without having to invest in a special plant light. Here’s a link to safe plants, but many do have high light needs. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
I am in Texas so usually humid and hot.
So while I can’t say with any certainty why your cham isn’t shedding, I’d guess all that I told you needs to be changed is the cause. The changes you need to make aren’t just to do with promoting proper shedding, but also to prevent metabolic bone disease, infection and just keep your cham as happy and healthy as possible.
Can you post a pic of your whole enclosure? Also, just an FYI...that black vine is known to have small parts flake off. When he does eventually shed, if he rubs his face against it, there’s risk of a particle getting caught in his eyes.
Lennoncham
Chameleon Enthusiast
Reptivite by zoomed. You want the one without d3 in it since you already have a d3 supplement. You will use this once every 2 weeks. So instead of giving d3 one week give the multivitamin then the next week d3 and repeat.
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Perfect!
