My first cham

[newchamgurl]

Recently I had been interested in getting a chameleon. I researched quite a bit and toyed with the idea. Then someone posted their chameleon for sale, cage and all, on the local Sell It facebook page. I jumped at the offer and now I have my first chameleon. She's very skittish and I am worried about her health because I'm not sure how the previous owner handled her. The lady I got her from said that she hasn't been held very much and that she usually forces her out of the cage with a glove on...not the best for such a shy baby.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled, female, 6 months. I've had her since Saturday morning (4 days)
• Handling - I haven't touched her since I put her in the cage.
• Feeding - I'm feeding her crickets powdered with calcium without D3 and mealworms and waxworm, which I just found out aren't so good for her. 5 crickets and two worms in the morning. I've fed the crickets blackberries and butternut squash. The pet store gave me that jelly stuff for water.
• Supplements - I have ReptiCalcium without D3 and Reptivite, both Zoo Med's. I don't have the D3 stuff yet and I haven' given her the multivitamins yet. I was going to start them on Sunday and then switch between D3 and the vitamin every other Sunday.
• Watering - I have a dripper and a hand mister. I mist and drip quite often; about 4 -5 times a day. The humidity gauge has shown pretty low (around 20 -30%) until today. Right now, right after misting, it shows 50% but the cage dries out pretty quickly. I've only seen her drink once--she licked the top screen where the water has beading. I'm worried that she's dehydrated.
• Fecal Description - Her poop is pretty big and it's really dark. Her urate is pretty yellow. I have pictures. She hasn't been to the vet or been tested.
• History - The previous owner didn't hold her much and forced hr out of the cage when she did. The supplements I have are from her. They are both pretty full so I don't think my cham has gotten a lot of nutrients. I don't think she's had D3 at all. I didn't ask the lady where she got her, but I'm guessing Petco.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - It's a screen cage on all 6 sides. It's 30 in tall and 18x18.
• Lighting - t's a Zoo Med's light system with a UVB and heat lamp. I probably need to change the UVB light. They come on at 9 and turn off at 9. I have a timer. I also have a night heat lamp. It's a 50w blue bulb from Exo Terra. I only use it when the temp in the cage seems low.
• Temperature - The thermometer is in the middle of the cage. It's usually in the mid 70s. It does drop a bit at night, but then I turn the heat lamp on because I don't know how much it should drop and I can't measure it while i'm sleeping. I have a thermometer from Petco.
• Humidity - See Watering. I only spray and mist. The gauge is also from Petco.
• Plants - I have two live plants. One the lady gave me. It's really leafy and the cham doesn't seem to like it. I bought the other from Walmart because I didn't have much of an option. It was only labeled as a bonsai. I thoroughly washed it before I put it in the cage.
• Placement - t's in my room so it's not too high traffic. It's also by a window. The top is 5 feet from the floor.
• Location - I'm in Southeast Missouri.

Current Problem - She cowers when I look at her and runs away when I put my hand in the cage. I tried to see if she would eat from my hand and she curled up in the highest corner. She turns really dark. I'm not sure if she's super afraid of me or if she's trying to blend into the dark vine.

I'm also not sure if she's getting enough water and she's still too scared of me to put her in the shower.

I'm just looking for some advice and opinions on her health.

 

[newchamgurl]

 

[MoyaChan]

The urate should be mostly if not at all white, as far as I know, and yours is yellow which suggests dehydration.
(and probably other things I don't know about so I leave it to the experts)

 

[Mshelle88]

Did the last owner ever give it water?

They don't drink standing water by the way. The cage has to be misted.

That's a sign of dehydration as above user said.

 

[alphakenc]

Plz bring the fresh cheese doodle poop to a vet so they can perform a fecal test for you,that will be my friendly suggestion to you
Beautiful chamy u have she is a lucky grlygrl.

 

[newchamgurl]

Mschelle88, I know they don't drink standing water. I've been misting and using a dripper.

Alphakenc, thanks. I'll figure out where I can take it.

Does anybody think she looks healthy/unhealthy?

 

[alphakenc]

@newchamgurl,looks cute outside,but inside needs 911,fecal test will require u to bring the poop in within 1 to 2 hours,hopefully it just need some rehydration thats all,you can try some shower method,see if that help,good luck to ur babychamy.

 

[jajeanpierre]

She looks dehydrated inside the cage. Are the first pictures "Ashley's Post" are taken by you or were they the 'for sale' pictures posted by the seller?

She desperately needs hydration and probably a laying bin asap. The bonsai looks like it might be a ficus. Make sure you give her calcium without Vitamin D at every feeding. Get a new UVB light as well. Better safe than sorry. I would give her a few weeks to sort herself out before you bother getting a fecal done if you decide to get a fecal. The current protocol zoos are using with reptiles is to not try to eradicate parasites unless the animal is showing signs of ill health from them. Zoos have trained staff that should be able to notice an animal in decline--I can't say that is true of the average pet owner having seen so many pictures of obviously broken-legged animals that the owner didn't notice which I found amazing. If she does have parasites, she will likely have a very high count because all the stress of a new home, etc., will have suppressed her immune system. Give her a few weeks to get her immune system back up and running and then you will have a more accurate gauge of her parasite load if she has any parasites.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Question: what are those red things beside the yellow urate? Is that her stool? I bought a veiled from PetSmart once and he spent the next week pooping out giant pieces of bark bedding and rocks. The pieces of bark were larger than a normal sized poop. Poop (the brown stuff) size is determined by how much t hey eat and how hydrated they are. It should be very dark brown and formed in an oval shape. How moist is it is dependent on what the animal is eating. I can have really soft stool when I only feed something really moist such as silkworms. It looks loose, but a fecal check by the vet shows it's clear.

 

[newchamgurl]

jajeanpierre, the red bark is just the substrate at the bottom of the cage. She hasn't been eating it.

Yes, the "Ashley's post" picture is from the previous owner. I just bought a humidifier and I've been spraying a lot. Today's poop had more white in it. Part of it was yellow but one end was white. I already threw it away or I would show you a picture. I have been giving calcium without D3 at every feeding. I also have a variety of fruits, veggies and dry feed for the crickets. I bought the feed according to this website's Resource page.

I was afraid that she needed to lay eggs. I'm going to go get organic soil and sand right now!!

Thanks so much for your help!

I still haven't seen her drink water, but I've read that some chams won't drink in front of people....

 

[jajeanpierre]

jajeanpierre, the red bark is just the substrate at the bottom of the cage. She hasn't been eating it.

Yes, the "Ashley's post" picture is from the previous owner. I just bought a humidifier and I've been spraying a lot. Today's poop had more white in it. Part of it was yellow but one end was white. I already threw it away or I would show you a picture. I have been giving calcium without D3 at every feeding. I also have a variety of fruits, veggies and dry feed for the crickets. I bought the feed according to this website's Resource page.

I was afraid that she needed to lay eggs. I'm going to go get organic soil and sand right now!!

Thanks so much for your help!

I still haven't seen her drink water, but I've read that some chams won't drink in front of people....

Take out the bark substrate. Sometimes they eat it when they snap up a bug.

You most certainly didn't get a chameleon that looks anything like the one in the seller's picture! The seller should be ashamed.

Rehydrating takes a while, days. Often one part of the urate (the white part) is yellow, but if most is white that's okay.