My supposed male chameleon had 9 babies 💀 idk what to do

Raya.

New Member
Okayy so i got a chameleon a few months ago from a reptile store and when we first got it they told us it was a male chameleon and that its just fat. We didnt know better so obviously we believed them. Fast forward to last night we notice she had babies ! It was so shocking because this whole time we thought our chameleon was a male ! Anyways she has 10 babies but one of them was very very tiny and unfortunately did not make it. So now i have the baby chams in a plastic container and i put a few plants & sticks in their for them until i get them a cage.
How am i supposed to tale care of them ? I really dont want any of them to die and they all seem healthy and fine they been moving around and trying to climb and stuff. What kind of insects should i feed them ? Also, momma chameleon looks like she might be sick ? Or maybe it’s just because she gave birth but I just want to make sure i do everything right. Someone help 😩
 

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Is the female on the floor of the cage?
@Kaizen @JacksJill

You need fruit flies or pinhead crickets to feed them.

Your female is very thin...not just from having the babies but just thin...so there might be something going on with her.
Has she been eating and drinking ok before she had the babies? Has a
She eaten since she's had them?
 
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She appears to be a jacksonii jacksonii. She looks dehydrated from the birth. Start by giving her either a horn or silkworm or an extra misting.
We can walk you thru raising the babies. Here are some pod casts to get you started.

and some care sheets and a sub-species comparison

 
Is the female on the floor of the cage?
@Kaizen @JacksJill

You need fruit flies or pinhead crickets to feed them.

Your female is very thin...not just from having the babies but just thin...so there might be something going on with her.
Has she been eating and drinking ok before she had the babies? Has a
She eaten since she's had them?
She has not been at the bottom of the cage at all & she was eating and drinking fine but she doesnt seem like she likes the worms as much so we got her crickets and dubia roaches and shes been eating the crickets and we just put some dubia roaches in there for her to eat too after giving birth. She has drank water since giving birth (last night) but i havent seen her eat yet and she didn’t want any worms when i tried handfeeding her.
She just peed & this is what the pee looks like. Is that normal ?
 

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Welcome to the group! I’m so sorry you got the wrong info when you purchased her. What a surprise to find those babies!! It’s scary and seems like an overwhelming thing but take some deep breaths and just watch the videos and do your research and the great people here will help all they can and you and your chameleons will do fine.
 
Im just worried about the babies now because i just seen the mommy eat and drink but the babies look dead but i know they’re not because when i poke them they’re still alive but only a couple are up and moving the rest are just laying there
 
Welcome to the group! I’m so sorry you got the wrong info when you purchased her. What a surprise to find those babies!! It’s scary and seems like an overwhelming thing but take some deep breaths and just watch the videos and do your research and the great people here will help all they can and you and your chameleons will do fine.
Thank you guys so much ! Im just sooo worried about them i dont want them to die
 
I also read online that im able to put some fruits in the baby chameleons enclosure is that okay to do as well ?
 
The babies didn't look good in the photos you posted.

They won't eat fruit but it might attract fruit flies.

How have you been looking after the babies? Watering? Feeding? Temperature?

They need some tiny branches that they can walk on.
 
They need food to! Petco carries flightless fruit flies and some pet stores carry pinhead crickets. You need to get some ASAP and feed them as well as get a plant they can climb on. They’re probably very stressed. Jackson chams don’t eat any plants or fruits, only bugs.
 
The babies probably won't eat for 24 hours but start offering flightless fruit flies anyway. Some of your babies may not make it if they aren't active already. Import takes it's toll on the developing young. Your girl may not eat for 24-48 hours either but then should be ravenous. Keep giving her opportunities to drink.
Setting up a good bin for the babies and hunting down some food for them locally or on line is the most you can do for them at this point. They are too small to handle and treat.
 
So unfortunately 4 of them passed away :( we tried our best to keep them alive by force feeding them and we kept making sure to keep all the chameleons up & active & i can definitely say they’re looking 100% better than before & we got fruit flies as well as some pinhead crickets for them & been misting their enclosure. & as far as mommy shes doing way better too shes been drinking alot of water & she ate a few times yesterday as well. We’re going to get more small sticks for the babies & some leaves etc..
I really appreciate all the help i got from everyone because this was the most stressful thing i been through 😂
 

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You’ve done really well! It does look very dirty and wet down in that container the babies are in. I think I would clean it out and then put them back in. Don’t handle the babies, just lift the branches they’re on and set them in a clean container while you clean this one and I wouldn’t use anything to clean it but hot water. I believe the babies are very sensitive to any cleaning chemicals. Maybe ask @JacksJill before cleaning it though, I’m not an expert.
 
You said..."So unfortunately 4 of them passed away :( "...I'm not surprised. Some didn't look well even yesterday.

You said..."we tried our best to keep them alive by force feeding them"...I wouldn't be force feeding them at only a day old. What were you feeding them and how did you do it?

You said..."we kept making sure to keep all the chameleons up & active & i can definitely say they’re looking 100% better than before"...you shouldn't be handing them any more than absolutely necessary. They need to sleep at night. What temperature are you keeping them at? They need to not be fussed overrode handled...just given the things they need to survive right now. They are hard to keep alive if things aren't done correctly and if the mother can in gravid at the best of times.

You said..."we got fruit flies as well as some pinhead crickets for them & been misting their enclosure"... @JacksJill ? @Kaizen ?

You said..."as far as mommy shes doing way better too shes been drinking alot of water & she ate a few times yesterday as well...good to hear that.
 
Again, my apologies for being so slow to respond. Are you able to separate the babies into individual enclosures? How’s mom now? Force feeding any chameleon—neonate to geriatric—is just about the last resort in any situation. If you can separate the babies, and provide them the proper temps and day/night humidity, they’ll be ravenous within 24 hours.
 
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