My chameleon keeps falling out of her tree/vines

shade34321

New Member
So for the past two days I keep having to pick my chameleon up off the floor of her cage in the morning when I wake up. Now When she's done there she's trying to get out and I figured she was trying to climb back up since she can see the wires on the outside but can't get to them. I didn't think much of it the first time and picked her up and put her in her bush and left it at that. This morning it happened again and I did some more research and found out she might be trying to lay eggs so I went out and got her a 18 gallon plastic container and filled it halfway with sand, got the sand from this link.

Well when I got back she was in the top corner of her cage scratching at the glass trying desperately to get out. Also her nose was black. So I brought in the hibiscus tree I have for her put her in it, and put a vine from the sand box to her tree. Several times she went to the edge of the a limb on the branch and almost fell off so I had to catch her. I left for a bit and asked the lady to watch her while I was out and just let her free roam. Well she apparently fell out of the tree while I was gone. Any suggestions as to what might be wrong with her?

Female Veiled, not sure of age

I try to handle her once a week, mainly to take her outside to get some sun on her tree. She really likes the hibiscus tree.

I feed her daily around 12-15 crickets every morning. For the crickets I feed them the left overs of the cricket food I bought and a mixture of fruits and vegetables. I dust them with calcium and heptivite before I feed them to her and swap out the calcium with calcium w/ D3 twice a week.

I have a cup in her plant for water that I change out daily.

Her fecal looks normal as far as I know.

She's currently in a glass terrarium but I just ordered her a screen one and I'm waiting on it to be delivered. I do believe her current set up is to small.

Her temps around 80-90 at the perch where she basking, it gets pretty hot in GA sometimes so that's why I say 80-90 but I try to keep it a consistent 85. Other spots in her cage are around 78-82.

Her humidity in the morning is around 40% before I spray her down and it's around 40% again when I get home from work so I spray her down again.

There is a ficus benjamina in her terrarium but when I get the new one I'll probably get a hibiscus shrub instead. Usually when I put her on the hibiscus tree she goes to town eating the leaves.

Her cage is in my office and there are no fans or air vents. It is a high traffic area since we walk by it constantly when we leave and come back. When I get her new cage I plan to put it another location in my office near a window. While there will still be a lot of traffic in that room she'll be farther away from it.

Pictures of her)

Thanks!
 
Besides the basking bulb you're using, what other type of lighting are you using? She needs to have a 5.0 UVB bulb over her cage. She will not survive without it. If you aren't using one, I'd go buy one ASAP.
 
Do you use a dropper or mist her? I ask because you said you have a cup for her in the tree. Chameleons don't naturally drink from standing water. They prefer drips and moving water. I know veileds are more likely to munch on plants than others species, but she may be dehydrated and looking desperately for water.

Put her on her hibiscus shrub and get a spray bottle. Mist her for a long time, like five minutes, and see what happens. It may take her a minute or two to relax and start drinking.

If you can post some photos, I'm sure the folks on the forum can help tell if she's dehydrated.

Just my thoughts.
 
Sorry, just saw your photos :) So cute!

I don't own a veiled, so you will want to verify this info with the great care sheets available on the forum.

Did you mean you dust her feeders with calcium AND a multivitamin everyday? You might be over doing it with the vitamins and D3. From what I have read, vitamin imbalances can affect grip, which might be why she is falling.

Can a veiled owner jump in and discuss supplementation schedules?
 
@JaclynCali I do have a UVB light, sorry forgot to mention it. It's on the backside of her cage where as the heat lamp is in the front.
 
@Lathis I mist her daily. I've been told that if you put the water in a glass cup they will associate it with water and thus drink from it. I still make sure there is enough water in her cage to make sure she has enough to drink. I don't have any pictures of any fecal matter, mainly because I was in the process of cleaning her cage when she was out and thus it was all gone. I use the multivitamin and calcium w/o D3 Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Multivitamin and calcium w/ D3 on Tuesday and Saturday. If I need to cut back I can, I wasn't quite sure how much she should get of every supplement but I knew she was supposed to get less calcium with D3. Thanks for the reply!
 
Yeah, you should double check my info, but that seems too heavy for the multivitamin. She should probably get the herpavite like twice a month instead of nearly every day.
 
Hello, I could not open your pictures so I am just going off what you said. I would stop ALL supplements of any kind for a week. Then I would use plain calcium every other day and multivitamins once a month and calcium with d3 once a month. Use multivitamins and then use calcium with d3, 2 weeks later, alternate with the multivitamins. Use each once a month.

What size is her terrarium? Also you are overfeeding unless the crickets are way to small. Try 5 normal sized crickets a day. It will take her a while to adjust, but she needs to go on a diet.:( She will not love you for that.

If she needs to lay, she needs complete privacy. Wrap her cage so no one can see into it. Leave her alone. You can peak in on her but try not to let her see you.

Try those things and get back to me.
 
Hi again, someone just sent me the link to your pictures. That is not a laying bin. If she is falling you do not want her in a tree. You also do not want her out in the open. Get a laying bin that is totally away from everything. Do you have a closet? Otherwise put her in a corner. She must be away from everything!!!!

Can you take her home for a while? She could die if not allowed to lay properly.
 
I will follow that supplement routine. Currently her crickets are around medium to large and there aren't any left overs, hence why I kept giving her as many. When I get her new cage, either today or tomorrow. I will put the laying bin in her cage and put her off in a secluded corner. What do you mean can I take her home for a while? Also what do you recommend for a lay bin? Thanks for the help!
 
I will follow that supplement routine. Currently her crickets are around medium to large and there aren't any left overs, hence why I kept giving her as many. When I get her new cage, either today or tomorrow. I will put the laying bin in her cage and put her off in a secluded corner. What do you mean can I take her home for a while? Also what do you recommend for a lay bin? Thanks for the help!

Sorry, I can't remember anything today, so I copied your post so I would sound logical.

When you say office I assume office as in work, are you talking home office? If so my mistake. For a laying bin I often use a flower pot that is 10 or 12 inches at the top. You can also use a small trash can - cleaned of course- that is at least 12" deep 12 inches wide and 12 deep, or as close to that as you have.

I would still cut down on her crickets, that much food will encourage her to lay more often. I have a female quad that would eat forever if I would let her. I should change her name from Annie to pig.:eek:

You are on the way to getting everything correct, just hang in there. You are also welcome to PM me if you have more questions.:)
 
Yeah I meant my home office. The container I have for her bin is this one. It's roughly 16x16x24. That should be fine right? I may need to put more sand in it though since it's only halfway full right now. I will cut down on her crickets, actually switching over to dubais in about a month. Sound like I'm missing anything? Thanks for all of your help!
 
Lol...I don't think you want me to help you...I only showed the clean parts of my office. I like to keep her stuff clean though there are times when her cage gets dirtier than I want:/ Thanks for the help and I'll let you know what happens. I did notice yesterday as well, once I got home when she would climb down out of the tree and want to go off and explore and started climbing everything.
 
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