Our new chameleon, Rango Star, whom we purchased just before Christmas, has drastically changed in the past week. Initially, she had an insatiable appetite for crickets and meal worms. She was very small when we purchased her from PetSmart. We fed her as many crickets as she would consume - upwards of 20+ crickets in a day, and she grew rapidly. She would even wake from sleeping to eat more crickets. She has shed her skin twice already since we got her. We estimate she is 7 1/2 months old now. She grew rapidly. However, in the past week, she began decreasing her consumption drastically. This past weekend, she ate no crickets. She has become agitated and is constantly at the bottom of her enclosure waving her hands to try to get out. Once we let her out, she wants to climb on our heads. Then she tries to climb down our backs. She seems so compulsive and agitated. We provided her with a bucket of top soil/sandy loam to see if she needed to lay eggs, but she wanted nothing to do with this. This is our first chameleon, and we just don't know what to do. We love her and we want to provide her with the best of care, but we don't know what to do. Can someone please tell us why she could be so agitated and why she went from a ravenous carnivore to a starving creature? Is there a vet in the Dallas area who specializes in chameleons? Could someone Please help us? I am a Registered Nurse and I feel so helpless when it comes to this tiny little girl. Any advice or any vets in the DFW area that you can recommend? Thank you for anything you may have to offer.
New Chameleon owners - please help
- Thread starter iluvrango
- Start date
AngieL
Avid Member
Hello and welcome 
She sounds like the classic female and is getting you all worried! I'm a first time owner too. I've had my female veiled for almost a year and she is around 1.5 years now.
I'm glad you have a bin for her, you've obviously done done research which is great! For a time before laying eggs, females can be receptive and looking for a mate! A good 3-4 weeks before my girl laid she was acting all crazy and I even fou d her in the floor (right next to the laying bin) which terrified me! Her eating had been good and bad on and off and her orange colours were really bright but it was still ages before she finally was ready.
If you like you can read my thread I made when it was all over, there are some great links in there with info that was crucial to us and helped a lot! https://www.chameleonforums.com/first-infertile-clutch-success-98465/
It might be a good idea to fill out this form too just to see if there's anything else you're unsure of and we can maybe help out
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
She sounds like the classic female and is getting you all worried! I'm a first time owner too. I've had my female veiled for almost a year and she is around 1.5 years now.
I'm glad you have a bin for her, you've obviously done done research which is great! For a time before laying eggs, females can be receptive and looking for a mate! A good 3-4 weeks before my girl laid she was acting all crazy and I even fou d her in the floor (right next to the laying bin) which terrified me! Her eating had been good and bad on and off and her orange colours were really bright but it was still ages before she finally was ready.
If you like you can read my thread I made when it was all over, there are some great links in there with info that was crucial to us and helped a lot! https://www.chameleonforums.com/first-infertile-clutch-success-98465/
It might be a good idea to fill out this form too just to see if there's anything else you're unsure of and we can maybe help out
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/
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So sad
I don't check in with this forum often due to my lack of technical abilities (I keep losing my password). So sad that we just lost Rango three days ago due to her second infertile clutch in three months. She just had surgery three months for an attempted hyseterctomy and C-section. She did well for almost three months and then it started all over again with her pacing/scaling her enclosure. We even heard her fall once when she must have been climbing the screen walls. We panicked and ran to help her, but she seemed to be fine. The second time she became egg bound (despite the large bucket with potting soil that we put in her enclosure a couple of week ago). We took her back to the vet, who X-rayed her and recommended surgery. The vet later told me she had never seen a female become egg bound a second time - much less three months later. Perhaps the stress or a second clutch or the "stress molecules" (as the vet refers to it) caused her to decline so rapidly. We brought her home from surgery and placed her on a heating pad, but it was clearly too late. She fought a valient fight and I saw her breathe three times over the course of several minutes, but when she took that final breath and release it, I knew she couldn't come back. My husband and I are devastated and we are arguing more than ever. I would do anyting to have Rango Star Baby back. I love her so much!!!!
I don't check in with this forum often due to my lack of technical abilities (I keep losing my password). So sad that we just lost Rango three days ago due to her second infertile clutch in three months. She just had surgery three months for an attempted hyseterctomy and C-section. She did well for almost three months and then it started all over again with her pacing/scaling her enclosure. We even heard her fall once when she must have been climbing the screen walls. We panicked and ran to help her, but she seemed to be fine. The second time she became egg bound (despite the large bucket with potting soil that we put in her enclosure a couple of week ago). We took her back to the vet, who X-rayed her and recommended surgery. The vet later told me she had never seen a female become egg bound a second time - much less three months later. Perhaps the stress or a second clutch or the "stress molecules" (as the vet refers to it) caused her to decline so rapidly. We brought her home from surgery and placed her on a heating pad, but it was clearly too late. She fought a valient fight and I saw her breathe three times over the course of several minutes, but when she took that final breath and release it, I knew she couldn't come back. My husband and I are devastated and we are arguing more than ever. I would do anyting to have Rango Star Baby back. I love her so much!!!!
davthevieled
Avid Member
I'm sorry for your loss, it can be really difficult at times to try to cope with a loss of a chameleon, specially with egg binding. If you need to talk, there are plenty of us on the forum that would be more than happy, including myself, as we all know how devastating it can be when these guys leave us a bit earlier than expected.
If you want, you can also fill out that help form still and maybe we can try and help you figure out what might have caused all these problems for your little one?
I wish you guys the best in all of this.
If you want, you can also fill out that help form still and maybe we can try and help you figure out what might have caused all these problems for your little one?
I wish you guys the best in all of this.
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
I am sorry you lost your girl. If you plan on getting another there are a few things that you can do for the future if you get a female. It is thought that over feeding can lead to egg production. I would not feed as much as you were. Also keeping your chameleon at cooler temperatures is thought to aid in the prevention of egg laying also. Do you know what your temps were??? Lastly, how deep and wide was the bin you were using? Was the soil moist enough to hold a tunnel for her to dig without collapsing? All the conditions need to be just right, or sometimes they will not lay at all. Again sorry for your loss and if you decide to get another, we are here to help.
phylicia
New Member
New Chameleon owners help
I have a Rango Jr Nosey be Cham ..love him so..I went through same thing with him as your symtoms except ruling out eggs..Just have his stool tested..I did he was totally fine..they go through these stages..I was told then..They get bored..give her different kind of
worms or different size crickets..hopefully she will be fine..please keep me posted..Welcome to our world of spoiled Chams..just love them!
I have a Rango Jr Nosey be Cham ..love him so..I went through same thing with him as your symtoms except ruling out eggs..Just have his stool tested..I did he was totally fine..they go through these stages..I was told then..They get bored..give her different kind of
worms or different size crickets..hopefully she will be fine..please keep me posted..Welcome to our world of spoiled Chams..just love them!
