need help

[jigglymig]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - panther, M, approx 3 months. Had him for almost a month.
Handling - used to be once every 2 or 3 days when cleaning cage, now everyday to help wake him up.
Feeding - fruit flies, about 8-12, usually all at once a day, they are fed good food
Supplements - reptocal w d3 and reptovite, i usually dust once or twice a week.
Watering - spray bottle 4-7 times and dripper when at work. i have seen my chameleon drinking.
Fecal Description - usually dark black and red, have not tested. doesn't poop alot
History - nope

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 10 gal glass
Lighting - tropical 25 uvb tube light, that and room light are for lighting.
Temperature - last i checked it was around 80-83 basking and 74-76 away; night time is aroudn 72-76. right now it's cool bc heavy misting. I measure with digital thermometer. also use a 24/7 ceramic 100w heat source
Humidity - 60-75 day, 35-50 night.What are your humidity levels? spray bottle to maintain daytime and plate of water on bottom of cage to maintain night time.
Plants - angel ivy
Placement - in my room, basicly no traffic, no fan, vent is about 5 ft above it. cage is about 3ft above the floor.
Location - south east missouri.

Current Problem - two days ago he seemed dehydrated, walking around sticking his tongue out. I watered him more and that seemed to help. now he rarily opens his eyes, he is feeling around for stuff to climb on. doesn't stick out his tongue as much to drink, though still does randomly. very lathergic and puts his head up with his eyes closed. when he is awake he is very slugish and stays in one spot for a while. I don't think his eyes are sunken, though they are dark and almost look bruised. he also doesn't eat a ton, but still does eat

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. From what I can tell from the picture your little guy does not look good. You need to make some changes fast. I'm attaching my blog below and with chameleons it's VERY IMPORTANT to do everything the exact correct way or they go down hill very fast. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[jigglymig]

i do let him sleep for about 12-14 hours because he goes to bed around 7-9 and I'm not up until 9-11 to wake him up. could this lead to dehydration?

 

[ChamChick]

Please get rid of the 10 gal. glass tank.

 

[ChamChick]

Also on his bedtime, you definitely want to do 12 on and 12 off when it comes to his lights. So, if you are not getting up until 11 or so, start shutting the light off at 11pm, then on at 11am. From what I can tell by the info provided, it looks like there are several vital changes to be made to the care of this little guy. Definitely read the blog provided, it has a lot of good info

I wish you the best to you and your little man, and really hope he starts to get better soon.

Also, if you feel he isnt drinking like he should, try a shower. Just put a plant in the shower with him on it, the water should be ROOM TEMP, and the water from the shower head should be spraying the wall, so your little guy is not getting sprayed directly, but only misted by the back splash of the water. Duration should be around 15 minutes. Hope that helps.

 

[laurie]

Could you please read the attached blog? it could very well save your guys life. If you continue your husbandry as you are, in my opinion you will have a dead chameleon soon.

Welcome to the forums. From what I can tell from the picture your little guy does not look good. You need to make some changes fast. I'm attaching my blog below and with chameleons it's VERY IMPORTANT to do everything the exact correct way or they go down hill very fast. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[ataraxia]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - panther, M, approx 3 months. Had him for almost a month.
Handling - used to be once every 2 or 3 days when cleaning cage, now everyday to help wake him up.
Feeding - fruit flies, about 8-12, usually all at once a day, they are fed good food
Supplements - reptocal w d3 and reptovite, i usually dust once or twice a week.too much d3 for a baby.
Watering - spray bottle 4-7 times and dripper when at work. i have seen my chameleon drinking. is the aquarium drying out?
Fecal Description - usually dark black and red, have not tested. doesn't poop alot
History - nope

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 10 gal glass10 gallon is a bad size for providing proper temps. screen is better
Lighting - tropical 25 uvb tube light, that and room light are for lighting.is this the t5 or the coil? either way please change asap to a 5.0 linear tube reptisun or reptiglo.
Temperature - last i checked it was around 80-83 basking and 74-76 away; night time is aroudn 72-76. right now it's cool bc heavy misting. I measure with digital thermometer. also use a 24/7 ceramic 100w heat sourcehow far away is this ceramic bulb. 100 watt ceramic would produce life threatening degrees in a 10 gallon.
Humidity - 60-75 day, 35-50 night.What are your humidity levels? spray bottle to maintain daytime and plate of water on bottom of cage to maintain night time. unless you are in the desert or have a dehumidifier in your room. your normal mistings 3-5 minute 2-3 times a day will be sufficient.
Plants - angel ivy
Placement - in my room, basicly no traffic, no fan, vent is about 5 ft above it. cage is about 3ft above the floor.
Location - south east missouri.

Current Problem - two days ago he seemed dehydrated, walking around sticking his tongue out. I watered him more and that seemed to help. now he rarily opens his eyes, he is feeling around for stuff to climb on. doesn't stick out his tongue as much to drink, though still does randomly. very lathergic and puts his head up with his eyes closed. when he is awake he is very slugish and stays in one spot for a while. I don't think his eyes are sunken, though they are dark and almost look bruised. he also doesn't eat a ton, but still does eat

we have a combination of things that need to change as jann and other have said. this chams life depends on your action.

im going to guess a possible uri. provided the amount of water given in a aquarium.

where did you buy him?

 

[jigglymig]

it is the t8 tube fixture, not a coil. the ceramic is a good distance measured top of screen closest to the ceramic is 81-82. I put a fan on my entertainment system that is lightly blowing into the cage. It dries out nicely, but when dripper is used then it builds and i have to use a dry rag to get the moisture out. I'll stop using the d3 and vitamines as much. I have been leaving the ceramic bulb on at night, i'll start turning it off at night to let him cool down better. I think the night time temps w/ ceramic are too high, could that also dehydrate him? night time temps in house are around 69-71. the screen cage I have built is about 4 foot tall I think it is too tall because he is only 3-4 inches total length.

I think over use of vitamin suppliments and dehydration from over heat at night may be doing damage on his liver
any other advice??? If he survives I'm going to take him to vet on monday; they are closed already and tomorrow.

 

[ataraxia]

69-71 night is fine. personally i would pick up a small screen cage something along the lines of 16x16x30. josh's frogs and lllreptile are some good people to deal with and are cheap. you can probably pick one up for around 30-60 shipped. keep him hydrated and get your temps right and hopefully he will make it to the vet monday.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. From what I can tell from the picture your little guy does not look good. You need to make some changes fast. I'm attaching my blog below and with chameleons it's VERY IMPORTANT to do everything the exact correct way or they go down hill very fast. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

I have been very successful at keeping veiled and panther chameleons and if you follow the advice in my blog (all of it) hopefully you will have success too. What I mean by doing it "exactly" is you have to have all the supplements, all the correct lights and so forth.....you can't just do a few of the things and expect your cham to be ok. It's ALL very important.

 

[ChamChick]

Im not from your area, but where Im from there are emergency vet clinics.... Maybe you can find one that deals with reptiles and can get your little guy in right away? I would hate for him not to make it

 

[laurie]

I have been very successful at keeping veiled and panther chameleons and if you follow the advice in my blog (all of it) hopefully you will have success too. What I mean by doing it "exactly" is you have to have all the supplements, all the correct lights and so forth.....you can just do a few of the things and expect your cham to be ok. It's ALL very important.

Jann meant you Can't just do a few things and expect it to be ok.

 

[KTown333]

Please do a lot of reading about the care of a chameleon like suggested and learn that what you need to do. What are doing for the chameleon is hurting it right now, not a good set up.

 

[Echoezra]

Maybe you could section off part of your screen cage to make it smaller until he's bigger, just top half or something. That might be quicker than or while you wait for shipping something else.
Also, maybe I missed it, but have you been giving it plain calcium at all? I think you just said with d3 & multivitamins? Should be mostly plain calcium or things will be out of balance quickly I'm sure.

 

[jigglymig]

already gonna section it in the morning, had to work today. the prev owner said it would be ok until he reaches about 3.5months old then move him up, but i'll do it in the morning. on a website they said to give calc atleast once a week, but i guess they were wrong. I'm already on working on moving him to a screen, atm the only main probs were the vitamins and night temps. he only started going down hill when i started supplimenting him more.

 

[Echoezra]

Yeah I'd just be more comfortable going bigger rather than smaller, tanks especially little 10 gallons are just so much harder to get right as far as temperature gradients for them to be able to regulate themselves, there's such little floorspace it's hard to get away from the heat or UVB or whatever if they needed to, especially probably with a ceramic heat source only cause it's confusing when they would normally be inclined to relate the heat to coming from the light source (sun).
Plus in the tank with less ventilation and the amount of watering necessary it can tend to build up more and while we're always aiming for humidity sometimes if it's too damp that can cause respiratory issues too... It's just air to battle with in a small space. Usually the main issue with using the large screen cage with a little guy is the matter if them finding their food, or rather losing their food. But that could be overcome if it was a choice between that or tank issues - cup feeding, put one by one on screen near them, etc. Sectioning the big cage would probably be your easiest way to deal with everything easily.
As far as the supplementing goes, different people do have different approaches. The most common recommendation you'll see on here a lot though is plain calcium most often, some say every feeding, some say every other day. But overdoing this one isnt too big a deal as far as I know, the concern is usually with overdoing D3 or Vit A, so those are given less frequently, the most common recommendation for those is about twice a month. different d3 supplements have different levels too, so users of minerall might give more often than rep cal, for example. But excess D3 can cause issues so you do want to watch that. Vitamin A is a whole other issue, there are no set in stone answers yet it seems, and apparently some chams need preformed supplementation more than others. A lot of people choose to use herptivite as their multivitamin as it uses beta carotene as opposed to already formed vit.A, and gutloading well, and figure that's enough, but then you find some chams that it isnt enough for so some people will also do an occasional drop of vit A also just to make sure they're getting a little. Like I said, the whole subject seems to still be in debate, so there's a range of opinions there, as there is on lots of things. There are a lot of really knowledgeable and experienced keepers on here, I'm not one of them, lol, im very new just have done extensive reading,but I'd be more confident to strictly follow one of their supplementing regimens (specific brands noted, as per differences in IU levels, etc) until you see a problem or important reason not to continue with that method. Of course ideal situation is lots of natural sunlight too but a lot of us don't have that option in march.
I wish you the best of luck and hope your little guy improves fast with your changes.
not to.