need help on food alternatives

Dongdong

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled chameleon, M, 5 cm long (not sure of the age), been with me 1 month
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? never, as he does not liked being handled
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? 8 crickets every morning Free roam) gut loaded with carrots
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? calcium D3
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? misting with a plant spray, 2-3 mins, did not see him drinking before the attack
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? yellowish green droppings,not tested for parasites.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. does not likes being handled but now allows me to hold him to feed water as he is very weak

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screen, 20 inch height, (am at office now will need to go back to measure)
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 6pm-10 pm. have to check on bulb model
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? ambient low is 30 degree celcius, not measured
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? daily misting, not measured
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? dwarf umbrella ficus
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
on a table, in the living room, we walk pass this to get to the kitchen, there is a ceiling fan, bottom of cage is 1.2 m off the ground.
Location - Where are you geographically located? Singapore

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
on sat morning, i found my chameleon being attacked by one of the crickets, i had to flick off the cricket but it has left a wound, subsequently since sat, he has grown weaker and was closing his eyes all the time and at the bottom of the pot which is not his usual behaviour. i have brought him to the vet, and he has given me calcium supplements, protein powder and vitamins, he is responding well to the whole plant he is on being watered but he has yet to eat. i am looking for alternatives to get food into his system, either liquid or otherwise
 
You can use a blender to make a cricket soup. Just buy liquid calcium and spray a little puddle of calcium into the blender, then throw maybe 10-20 crickets in there and turn it on.

use a syringe to gently prod the opening of the chams mouth and he should open up, then slowly squirt the food into his mouth.

Liquid calcium is easier absorbed than powder, but if you don't have liquid calcium, just put calcium powder in some water. Something like 1/3 calcium 2/3 water solution.

That is the easiest way to feed a sick chameleon without it getting bitten and infected.

Either that or try dubia roaches! They don't smell, can't jump or climb glass, breed by themselves (if you have males in the colony) and are meatier than crickets and they cannot bite.
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Veiled chameleon, M, 5 cm long (not sure of the age), been with me 1 month
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? never, as he does not liked being handled
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? 8 crickets every morning Free roam) gut loaded with carrots
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? calcium D3
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? misting with a plant spray, 2-3 mins, did not see him drinking before the attack
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? yellowish green droppings,not tested for parasites.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. does not likes being handled but now allows me to hold him to feed water as he is very weak

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? Screen, 20 inch height, (am at office now will need to go back to measure)
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 6pm-10 pm. have to check on bulb model
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? ambient low is 30 degree celcius, not measured
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? daily misting, not measured
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? dwarf umbrella ficus
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
on a table, in the living room, we walk pass this to get to the kitchen, there is a ceiling fan, bottom of cage is 1.2 m off the ground.
Location - Where are you geographically located? Singapore

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
on sat morning, i found my chameleon being attacked by one of the crickets, i had to flick off the cricket but it has left a wound, subsequently since sat, he has grown weaker and was closing his eyes all the time and at the bottom of the pot which is not his usual behaviour. i have brought him to the vet, and he has given me calcium supplements, protein powder and vitamins, he is responding well to the whole plant he is on being watered but he has yet to eat. i am looking for alternatives to get food into his system, either liquid or otherwise

You mention yellow in the droppings, the tip is their urine, which is solid and you want that to be white. Yellow is an indication of dehydration.

You should be using a calcium WITHOUT D3 or phosphorus at most feedings and using the D3 and multivitamin about twice a month, depending on sunshine and gut loading.

Gut loading w just carrots is not very good. Look up sandrachameleon and her blogs on gut loading as well as the care sheets here.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

If he is really young, you may be under feeding him.

The lights should be a UVb and a basking light and on for 10-12 hrs a day. No lights at night. Also I suggest you get thermometers to be sure your basking and ambient temps are correct.

Make sure to read through the care section I linked above to learn more.
 
thank you for your replies.

Jimmy i am going to try your cricket soup tonight, i do have liquid calcium and vitamins which i am going to add to the cocktail as well as protein powder for Terrappins (is this ok?) this is recommended by the vet i saw yesterday,

Pigglett, yes you are correct on the dehydration, he seems to respond positively to warm showers on his plant. i am going to get the calcium supplement again as the one they sold me has D3, this is the one used by the pet shop. will go get a thermometer as well.

Although he does seems to get stronger after the watering, he will revert back to the state of inactivity in an hour or 2, how frequent would you recommend i shower the plant with the Chameleon in the pot?

thank you all for your replies in advance, will update as soon as there are improvements hopefully! will also change my gut loading regime, and do away with free roaming if the chameleon accepts hand feeding,
 
thank you for your replies.

Jimmy i am going to try your cricket soup tonight, i do have liquid calcium and vitamins which i am going to add to the cocktail as well as protein powder for Terrappins (is this ok?) this is recommended by the vet i saw yesterday,

Pigglett, yes you are correct on the dehydration, he seems to respond positively to warm showers on his plant. i am going to get the calcium supplement again as the one they sold me has D3, this is the one used by the pet shop. will go get a thermometer as well.

Although he does seems to get stronger after the watering, he will revert back to the state of inactivity in an hour or 2, how frequent would you recommend i shower the plant with the Chameleon in the pot?

thank you all for your replies in advance, will update as soon as there are improvements hopefully! will also change my gut loading regime, and do away with free roaming if the chameleon accepts hand feeding,

Sometimes you have to mist them for a long time to get them to drink. maybe try different techniques until you find one that he likes. One of my guys will only drink if it is coming down in big drops like rain, the other ones seems to react mroo to hand mising on a plant near him. It can take time to figure out what they react to best. I have also seen it take mine several minutes before finally starting to drink so you may need to keep the water comng for a while.

If he responds well to the shower and not other misting methods I would continue that daily until his urate is white.

You can also inject water in to his feeders. If you are able to get some hornworms those are awesome for hydration as well. Even silk worms can help hydrate them.

He is in good hands as you seem to be ready and willing to do what it takes to get him healthy and make him happy. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site if you search around.

Let us know how he does and post some pictures of him and his set up so we can check it out.
 
Sometimes you have to mist them for a long time to get them to drink. maybe try different techniques until you find one that he likes. One of my guys will only drink if it is coming down in big drops like rain, the other ones seems to react mroo to hand mising on a plant near him. It can take time to figure out what they react to best. I have also seen it take mine several minutes before finally starting to drink so you may need to keep the water comng for a while.

If he responds well to the shower and not other misting methods I would continue that daily until his urate is white.

You can also inject water in to his feeders. If you are able to get some hornworms those are awesome for hydration as well. Even silk worms can help hydrate them.

He is in good hands as you seem to be ready and willing to do what it takes to get him healthy and make him happy. There is a wealth of knowledge on this site if you search around.

Let us know how he does and post some pictures of him and his set up so we can check it out.

This is my setup
image.jpg
 
My light source is
Exo terra, sun glo 220-240v 50'hz 50 w,

I am new and have lots to learn, hope I can fix this for my poor chameleon, it's hard to find reptile feeders here as the exotic pet market is not encouraged, ie there are no exotic pet shops here
 
Last edited:
Looks like my light source is uv a instead of b, going to . The shops first thing tomorrow to replace the bulbs and get thermometers and hygrometers
 
You should also get several vines and put them all over the cage as horizontal walking paths. You can zip tie them to the sides of the screen to secure them. He is also going to need a much larger cage soon. He will out grow that one pretty fast. You will want to start looking for one that is about 2'x2'x4', its important that it be about 4 feet high. They really like a lot of vines and also lots of plants for coverage to make them feel safe.
 
Hi pigglett thank you for the photos, your chameleons are gorgeous, and I love your cage setup, definitely going to emulate that. As an update, my chameleon has eaten today and seems a lot more energetic although still too weak to climb, the good thing is he remains alert when I go near him which is so much more Normal than before, thank you. And will continue to update
 
Hi pigglett thank you for the photos, your chameleons are gorgeous, and I love your cage setup, definitely going to emulate that. As an update, my chameleon has eaten today and seems a lot more energetic although still too weak to climb, the good thing is he remains alert when I go near him which is so much more Normal than before, thank you. And will continue to update

Please do give updates. Please post photos of your chameleon and his updated cage as well. I would love to see him and am very happy you are doing your best for him.
 
Update, my chameleon is doing well now, he is able to climb and does not sleep throughout the day, he is also drinking and responsive to food now, thanks everyone for your post,

Pigglett thanks for all the advise
 
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