Need help for baby veiled.....

[shedevil7953]

Hi guys. I'm getting concerned and don't want to wait until it's too late. I have a baby veiled that I'm guessing is close to 4 months old now. I haven't seen him drink since the second day I had him which is about a month now. I've been watching the stool and urates daily which seemed to be okay. Three days ago I noticed some yellow in about 1/4 of it. Then 2 days ago the yellow comprised about a third of it. Yesterday the yellow was comprising half of it. I've been misting thoroughly, misting him which he hates even with the warm water. I try to aim it in his mouth if he gapes.

Last night I decided to force water in him. I have some very small in diameter hypodermic needle holders (no needles) and filled one. I held him in my hand and he gaped at me twice so I got some water in his mouth. After that he wouldn't open his mouth again so I took the edge of the hypo and gently pushed the side of his mouth open so I could at least get a drop in there.

Now, he's not interested in his crickets and he was eating 14 small crickets a day. Sometimes more. Have I stressed him out too much? What should I do?

Thanks!

 

[Julirs]

Are you handling him too much? How are your temps. I rarely saw my Veiled drink when he was young-I just misted the cage until it was dripping 3X daily and watched the poop. Silkworms are full of moisture and a great feeder to rehydrate with. What is he in cage wise? Is there alot of action around the cage?

 

[shedevil7953]

I could be handling him too much. I try to get him out of his cage once a day to walk on me for a few minutes. I'd really like to get him used to me so he won't hiss and gape when I put my hand in the cage! Temps are between 75-80F ambient and around 80-85 basking. Humidity runs about 48%-53%. I mist in the morning and then in the evening when I get home from work. He's in what I call a juvie cage that's 18 X 18 X 24 high so it doesn't take much to mist to the point of dripping. I have 3 pothos in it and make sure they are misted well as the silk plants don't hold the moisture for dripping.

I thought silkworms were too large for baby chams? There's not a lot of action around the cage as he's been hunting for food until the past couple of days when I've been handling him for wetting him down in the sink.

Thanks.

Are you handling him too much? How are your temps. I rarely saw my Veiled drink when he was young-I just misted the cage until it was dripping 3X daily and watched the poop. Silkworms are full of moisture and a great feeder to rehydrate with. What is he in cage wise? Is there alot of action around the cage?

 

[Julirs]

Everything sounds OK-maybe just stop handling him for a few weeks. We didn't handle Leon much at all for the first 4 months and he is the friendliest easy to handle Cham I have.
Small silkworms are pretty darn tiny-they can eat soft bodied bugs that are larger.

 

[shedevil7953]

So I should stop trying to wet him down or force water into his mouth? I just checked with my local petstore and they don't carry live silkworms. However, there is a bait and tackle store in my town and they carry live beemoth..........would that work? Or should I try to find live silkworms online and have them shipped?

Thanks!

 

[Julirs]

Order some silkies-www.coastalsilkworms.com. I wouldn't try to force water unless his eyes are sunken in. Can you take a picture of him?

 

[shedevil7953]

I can tonight when I get home from work and post it. Okay to keep spraying him or just the plants?

 

[shedevil7953]

Okay, I checked out the silkie website and that is disgusting...all that you have to do to keep them alive! If I had many reps, I might consider it but not for just one! EEEWWWW!

Here's what I found out about the beemoth:

"Wax moth larvae, Galleria mellonella, and the lesser bee moth larvae, Achroia grisella, are each a good source of vital nutrients and are comparable, or in some cases superior, to other insects. Larvae have very low chitin levels and therefore are easier to digest than other insects such as mealworms and crickets.

Mulberry silk worms, Bombyx mori, are highly nutritious and very digestible. They, like the wax moth larvae, do not have a thick exoskeleton which increases their digestibility. Their calcium to phosphorous ratio is almost 1:1. To provide additional calcium, the larvae can be dusted with calcium."

Since I can get those locally, I think I'll try that first! HA!

 

[Julirs]

Wax worms are way to high in fat to feed as a staple. Silkworms are super easy-what seems so scary about them. I bought them 50 at a time when I only had one chameleon.
I would mist the cham and the plants-a light mist for 3-5 minutes at a time. Sometimes it takes a while to stimulate them to drink.

 

[shedevil7953]

It just seems like a lot of work and money for something I would feed occasionally, not daily like the crickets. You said the silkies were good for rehydration and that's all I was going to use the beemoth for, until I saw that the urates looked normal again. I'm assuming that's only a few days?

 

[Julirs]

You can use silkies for a staple-it is much better to use more than one staple feeder. Sounds like your guy is OK. I just got my order of 300 silkies-they are smalls and small enough to feed to the pygmies at the moment but after a few feedings they grow like crazy! I just handfed some to all of my chams-they think they are candy!

 

[shedevil7953]

sorry for the delay......at work LOL! thanks for the help!