My Carpet Chameleon Not Acting Right??

[HollySaurusRex]

Omg everyone, thank you so much! so i called the lady i got him from and told her about the weird tongue motion and she texted me this morning and told me he might be thirsty and to spray him directly to see if he needs to drink. I sprayed on him directly with a light spray from my mister and he started turning green alittle i was so excited! i'm going to get the cups up in the enclosure and start the cup feeding process.. now will they just see them moving in the cups (i'm going to start with small meal worms) and just shoot them out of there with their tongue? i've never cup fed before.. and also where can you get that coconut cover stuff? or is that the best idea for the bottom of my tank without taking all the substrate out? i really can't thank you guys enough!

 

[Wykd]

you can google coconut liner and your location and find places that sell it by the ft. you dont want the round stuff or premolded just flat rolled out kind.

There are more than few ppl on here that use that liner, I am going to pick some more up myself tomorrow.

 

[del33]

you don't think they could'nt swallow those glass pieces? I do. You would be amazed at what can fit down their throats. I would have something way bigger to cover up. JMO They might not choke on those pieces but they surely could cause an impaction.

Although the glass stones look small in the pic, what isn't shown is the carpet cham to relate to their size. The stones are more than twice the size of my carpet's head and there is no physical or physiological way that he could ever ever swallow them.

Decorative glass stones... can mess with a chameleon they look shiny and they may think its wet and sling their tongue out to get water off them. I would not do the glass stone, because of that, but that's just me.

Black river rock is popular as long as its the bigger pieces that cant be swallowed.

I thought the exact same thing when putting them in. They do look shiny and wet but I personally don't have any issues with them. We make sure he gets plenty of real water. I only used them since I couldn't find any smooth river rocks. Nevertheless, I see your point.

Please note people that my recommendation of the glass rocks were for a person with a carpet cham that could never get big enough to ingest them. Some people just don't realize how small carpets really are. I would never use them on a larger cham like a panther, veiled, parsons, etc...

With that said, I'll edit my post and remove the glass comment although I did mention first the river rocks.

OP, I hope that your little guy is doing better today and not displaying the same tongue licking/hanging issue.

 

[HollySaurusRex]

This morning he was dark, but when i sprayed him he started turning alittle green i hope he's feeling better today! and my sister (23 years old) used to drink and throw parties alot.. so she has those cups for jello shots.. that should be ok for small meal worms right? i was thinking of making 2 small holes in the cup and putting one of those bread ties through it to be able to wrap it around a branch so it'll be secure? do you think that will be ok? i'm going to try this when i get home! and thank so much about the roll idea! i am going to check this out now

 

[del33]

Omg everyone, thank you so much! so i called the lady i got him from and told her about the weird tongue motion and she texted me this morning and told me he might be thirsty and to spray him directly to see if he needs to drink. I sprayed on him directly with a light spray from my mister and he started turning green alittle i was so excited! i'm going to get the cups up in the enclosure and start the cup feeding process.. now will they just see them moving in the cups (i'm going to start with small meal worms) and just shoot them out of there with their tongue? i've never cup fed before.. and also where can you get that coconut cover stuff? or is that the best idea for the bottom of my tank without taking all the substrate out? i really can't thank you guys enough!

When you spray him directly, be careful that you don't completely cover his nostril hole and have him aspirate the water (you don't want that). Try and aim for the front of the mouth and let the water bead on his lips so he can just lap it up. These guys are so small that you have to be really careful. Also, changing color immediately is usually a sign of stress so don't let that mislead you. I never feed my guy small mealworms since they have so little meat to exoskeleton ratio and hardly provide any nutrition. I would just stick with 1/4" or smaller well gutloaded crickets. If you want to feed worms, you can try hornworm or silkworm hatchlings which would be healthier.

 

[HollySaurusRex]

ok! i will make sure i get healthier and meatier worms for him.. and also, what do i gutload with? i mean i've dusted with the reptivite and the reptocal for my jackson.. but never gutloaded anything? so can you explain and give some examples of products i can/should use for this.. and ok i will make sure not to cover his nostrils

 

[Elizadolots]

For your feeder cup, cut the bottom out and cover it with screen. That way it will drain when you mist. Failing that, your feeders might drown.

 

[Chameleonic]

Here is a blog from a senior member with loads of gutloading (and bug nutrition too) info on it - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html
There are also commercially available options for gutloading like bug burger by repashy which are often used

 

[HollySaurusRex]

Thanks so much! i never would have thought about the screen, good thinking! and thanks for the link to read up on this, you guys are fantastic helpers!