new baby veiled on the ground

[jordaaan905]

hi so i just bought 2 baby veiled chams they are about 2 weeks ( i know i shouldnt have bought that young but i have experience with reptiles of all kinds) anyway one of the chams i found him on the ground twice in the past 2 days but i just put him in his new enclosure 2 days ago is he just exploring ive seen him climb all over the walls (cant get on the roof because its wood ((was scared of them getting to close to the basking bulb))) do you guys think he is exploring or sick his colors are fine and he eats and drinks great

 

[chameleonfan101]

hey congrats on getting your 2 chams!! where did you get them from and if you can fill out the "how to ask for help" form that would be great! just copy and paste and answer the questions. welcome to the chameleons forums!

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
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?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

 

[jordaaan905]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 2 week old veiled been in my care 9 days
Handling - every chance i get atleast 2-4 times a day just hand fed for the first time!!
Feeding - i put 5-7 calcium dusted crickets each day done 1 d3 feeding pin heads and slightly larger crickets dusted loaded with mixed fruits ( raspberries bannana lettuc
Supplements - every day dust with exo terra calcium and so far have done 1 calcium/d3 dust
Watering - i heavily mist once in the morning before work leave an ice cube or 2 ontop of there cage and mist 2-3 light mists when i get home
How long to you mist? i mist until leaves have little pools of water and have started dripping onto floor
Fecal Description - brown white urates had a little yellow one day but is gone now
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? no
History - hatched aprox 16 days ago

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 2 feet tall 2.5 feet long and 1 foot deep 1 major brance from one corner to the other with vines and leaves
Lighting - 150 watt "all living things " neodymium basking bulb and 1 26 watt 2.0 uvb reptiglow compact bulb both are usually on 12-14 hours a day
Temperature - basking is about 85 goes all the way down to room temperature ( heat lamp in top left corner of cage the branch goes to bottom right side so they have the entire cage and entire spectrum of heat night time maby slightly below room temperature was thinking about getting a low watt night heat (not a light just a heat emitter) good idea or no ?
Humidity - no idea quite humid as i have 300gallons plus of aquariums in the room so lots of moisture in the air
Plants - fake
Placement - in the basement im the only person who comes down its in the middle of the room facing away from the door and stairs
Location - brampton ontario (near toronto)

problem is he was on the floor of the cage i dont know how long but i found him twice he seems fine and i just put him in that cage the day i first found him down there is he just exploring or should i be worried

 

[reptilover]

As long as it doesnt get below 50 at night no extra heat is required. If its a possibility then a heat emiter would be a good call!

As far as him on the ground. Are the two housed together?

And welcome to the forum its a great place

 

[jordaaan905]

yes as of right now they are housed together they dont seem to mind but they will have there own cages asap the only aggression i have seen is when 1 tries to climb over the other then he will hiss like once and thats the end of it the cage they are in was built in a day merely to accomodate a bit of growth and until i build them each one

 

[chameleonfan101]

hey thanks for replying a few things that might help you: so a 150 watt bulb is way to hot for baby veiled that age of 2 weeks with my newborns i keep a 55 watt regular house bulb with basking temperatures 83 max (when they are about a month and a half old i take a 60 watt and get the basking to 85 and keep that same temperature for basking until they are at least 8 months) babies can easily over heat also you should get a 5.0 instead of 2.0 reptiglow. the 2.0 don't give sufficient uvb rays. your 2 feet tall and with a 2.0 they are probably getting no uvb rays at all. try to find a smaller cage until they are a little older or make sure they can easily find their food. change the uvb bulb as soon as possible. i think he might be on the ground because it is too hot for him .feel free to message me anytime if you have any questions!

 

[reptilover]

yes as of right now they are housed together they dont seem to mind but they will have there own cages asap the only aggression i have seen is when 1 tries to climb over the other then he will hiss like once and thats the end of it the cage they are in was built in a day merely to accomodate a bit of growth and until i build them each one

As long as his eyes stay open round and "full" looking, his limbs stay straight and strong and is holding himself up eating and drinking I wouldn't worry. He might jut be low man on the totem and getting scared downward. So get another cage and see If anything improves.

If he gets worse before better a vet Is always good choice

 

[UrbanChameleon]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 2 week old veiled been in my care 9 days
Handling - every chance i get atleast 2-4 times a day just hand fed for the first time!!
Feeding - i put 5-7 calcium dusted crickets each day done 1 d3 feeding pin heads and slightly larger crickets dusted loaded with mixed fruits ( raspberries bannana lettuc
Supplements - every day dust with exo terra calcium and so far have done 1 calcium/d3 dust
Watering - i heavily mist once in the morning before work leave an ice cube or 2 ontop of there cage and mist 2-3 light mists when i get home
How long to you mist? i mist until leaves have little pools of water and have started dripping onto floor
Fecal Description - brown white urates had a little yellow one day but is gone now
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? no
History - hatched aprox 16 days ago

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 2 feet tall 2.5 feet long and 1 foot deep 1 major brance from one corner to the other with vines and leaves
Lighting - 150 watt "all living things " neodymium basking bulb and 1 26 watt 2.0 uvb reptiglow compact bulb
Temperature - basking is about 85 goes all the way down to room temperature ( heat lamp in top left corner of cage the branch goes to bottom right side so they have the entire cage and entire spectrum of heat night time maby slightly below room temperature was thinking about getting a low watt night heat (not a light just a heat emitter) good idea or no ?
Humidity - no idea quite humid as i have 300gallons plus of aquariums in the room so lots of moisture in the air
Plants - fake
Placement - in the basement im the only person who comes down its in the middle of the room facing away from the door and stairs
Location - brampton ontario (near toronto)

First of all, welcome to the forum.

I'm glad you came here, it's a wonderful place for advice and sharing your experiences. We are happy to help with any questions you might have. I do see a few things that might need to be changed. So I'll go ahead and start.

I have to say, the 150 watt bulb seems really high. I don't know what the temperature is in your home, but I have my 7 month old Veiled in a 4 ft tall screen cage and he only has a 75 watt bulb. The temp for a baby should be in the low 80's. You might want to get a digital thermometer. I had one of the cheap ones that stick to the wall when I first purchased my Cham. It read 85 degrees at the highest. When I bought a digital thermometer a week later, it read over 100 degrees. So you might want to get a better thermometer. Make sure to be very careful with such such a powerful bulb, especially for 2 two week old Chameleons. You will also need to get a hydrometer, so you know exactly what the humidity is in the cage. It should be around 60%. You can go a little higher or lower, but not by too much. Also, a 5.0 UVB bulb is more ideal for a Veiled Chameleon. For the smaller cages a compact fluorescent bulb (coiled, kind of looks like a corkscrew) is okay. But the linear bulbs (long) have more range.

Most of the care sheets out there for Veiled's are usually for adults. You have to factor in the fact that you not only have babies, but two week old babies. Which usually means they need lower temps and are more sensitive to mistakes.

Are they housed in the same enclosure? That's okay when they are very young, but they will need to be housed separately fairly soon.

I'm sure some others can chime in about the gut loading. There are many options for a balanced gut load. You would be better off feeding collard greens or kale instead of iceberg lettuce. You will also need advice for the supplementation. When Bodhi was young, he had calcium without D3 every day, calcium with D3 only twice a month, and multivitamin twice a month. I'm not sure if you can order this in Ontario, but there is a wonderful supplement called Repashy Calcium Plus. I ordered mine online. You can dust your feeders with it everyday and it has low amounts of D3 and multivitamin supplements. Chameleons can overdose on D3 and there is some controversy over Vitamin A. I'm not as experienced in the Vitamin A field, but plenty of other members are. So I will let them take the reins on this too. However, with the Repashy Calcium Plus, you don't really have to worry about that. It will make things easier for you and more balanced for your Chameleons. I've said plenty, so I'll leave anything else to the other members.

Once again, we are glad to have you here. Good luck with your Chameleons and keep us posted. We will be happy to help.

 

[reptilover]

hey thanks for replying a few things that might help you: so a 150 watt bulb is way to hot for baby veiled that age of 2 weeks with my newborns i keep a 55 watt regular house bulb with basking temperatures 83 max (when they are about a month and a half old i take a 60 watt and get the basking to 85 and keep that same temperature for basking until they are at least 8 months) babies can easily over heat also you should get a 5.0 instead of 2.0 reptiglow. the 2.0 don't give sufficient uvb rays. your 2 feet tall and with a 2.0 they are probably getting no uvb rays at all. try to find a smaller cage until they are a little older or make sure they can easily find their food. change the uvb bulb as soon as possible. i think he might be on the ground because it is too hot for him .feel free to message me anytime if you have any questions!

Heating and lighting was my next thing and thing I spotted and this member is absolutely spot on!