My chameleon won’t eat

[rileyandvenus]

No soaking the chameleon. This is actually very stressful for them and does not help. They are not like other reptiles that need baths. Chameleons do not hydrate through the skin like that. They drink from their plants leaves and surfaces after you mist them down really well. Unfortunately many vets are not well versed in chameleon husbandry and give entirely wrong information.

oh no!!!!!! thank you so much for informing me, i will not soak again.

 

[rileyandvenus]

10.0 UVB, 24-watt. i set the hood right on top of the roof of the cage so the distance from the bottom of the fixture to the first branch i would guess is a few inches. however, he usually hangs a little lower and basks where the sun from the window hits him. i should probably get a new heating lamp though since his is a 60 watt blue compact bulb which might be way too hot and is not the white iridescent like you suggested. hope this makes sense!

crickets are also small, half inch.

 

[Beman]

crickets are also small, half inch.

Reduce cricket size to 1/4 of an inch. this may help. How big is baby in inches tip of nose to vent (start of the tail).

 

[Beman]

10.0 UVB, 24-watt. i set the hood right on top of the roof of the cage so the distance from the bottom of the fixture to the first branch i would guess is a few inches. however, he usually hangs a little lower and basks where the sun from the window hits him. i should probably get a new heating lamp though since his is a 60 watt blue compact bulb which might be way too hot and is not the white iridescent like you suggested. hope this makes sense!

And you are positive you bought a linear T5HO fixture not a T8? Do you by chance have a link to what you bought? If this is the case the UVB exposure is much too high for a chameleon. With a T5HO fixture and a 10.0 bulb you need 11 inches between where the bottom of the fixture is and the branch to put them in the right UVB level.

So your window gets direct sun? If so this is going to cause issues with temps in the enclosure making them much hotter than they should be. I recommend not having right in front of a window with direct sun. The cham will bask down in the sun light thinking they are getting what they need but the glass from the window filters out all UVB. Then they also will bask even if it is much too hot for them. This is when dehydration issues can set in. These can become very serious as chams can die when they get heat issues.

The 60watt blue bulb is ok. When it dies you can replace with a standard 60watt incandescent. I think you have two things going on here... Basking is far too close to the top of the cage where the lights are and you have a window that is causing the ambient temps to increase.

 

[rileyandvenus]

Reduce cricket size to 1/4 of an inch. this may help. How big is baby in inches tip of nose to vent (start of the tail).

without his tail i would say about 2 and a half inches, i’ll attach a photo of him on my hand to give a bit more reference

 

[rileyandvenus]

And you are positive you bought a linear T5HO fixture not a T8? Do you by chance have a link to what you bought? If this is the case the UVB exposure is much too high for a chameleon. With a T5HO fixture and a 10.0 bulb you need 11 inches between where the bottom of the fixture is and the branch to put them in the right UVB level.

So your window gets direct sun? If so this is going to cause issues with temps in the enclosure making them much hotter than they should be. I recommend not having right in front of a window with direct sun. The cham will bask down in the sun light thinking they are getting what they need but the glass from the window filters out all UVB. Then they also will bask even if it is much too hot for them. This is when dehydration issues can set in. These can become very serious as chams can die when they get heat issues.

The 60watt blue bulb is ok. When it dies you can replace with a standard 60watt incandescent. I think you have two things going on here... Basking is far too close to the top of the cage where the lights are and you have a window that is causing the ambient temps to increase.

https://www.chewy.com/zoo-med-reptisun-100-uvb-t5-ho/dp/257675 here is the link to bulb.
I will move him from window, and move the branches, thanks!

 

[Beman]

https://www.chewy.com/zoo-med-reptisun-100-uvb-t5-ho/dp/257675 here is the link to bulb.
I will move him from window, and move the branches, thanks!

Ok so with that bulb you need the distance to the branch. We typically only recommend the 5.0 version because the output distance is not as far. So with the one you have you want to make it a total of 11 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the highest branch. This may mean lifting this fixture up off the cage. I have seen people get creative doing this. Even some that use the metal brackets for bookshelves in the wall and set the fixture on those brackets at the right height.

Start reading through every module in this husbandry program. And then come back here to ask questions. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

 

[rileyandvenus]

Ok so with that bulb you need the distance to the branch. We typically only recommend the 5.0 version because the output distance is not as far. So with the one you have you want to make it a total of 11 inches from the bottom of the fixture to the highest branch. This may mean lifting this fixture up off the cage. I have seen people get creative doing this. Even some that use the metal brackets for bookshelves in the wall and set the fixture on those brackets at the right height.

Start reading through every module in this husbandry program. And then come back here to ask questions. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

thank you so much for all of your help!

 

[Beman]

thank you so much for all of your help!

My pleasure. Come ask questions when your done reading through the husbandry program. Then I would also suggest us doing a husbandry review just to double check everything. Let me know if that is something your interested in and I will post the form.