New owner in trouble.

[Farrell Children]

Hello,

I hope you have time to help me. My Senegal Chameleon I brought home from the Reptile Expo is very ill. Today, after spray, I noticed she was not opening both eyes as she moved. She climbed to the top of her cage and hit her nose on the top.

After spending a few hours on this site I feel I have been greatly mis-informed/un-helped by three different local sources and I am very very new to chameleons. I told this to the seller and got a lot of information on how to construct my own cage from him. I don't think this was wise first off. He assured me chameleons were easy reptiles to own.. I have naively found that is incorrect. I've only had a python. The issues are many. Please get back to me as swiftly as you can. Have not witnessed her eat or drink though 2 of 4 reptical-d3 dusted crickets are missing. Here is her info:

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - Senegal Cham, female, unsure of age (few months). About 3 inches long. Owned since 06/02/2012
• Handling – handled at reptile expo, drove her home and she was in the box for about 3 hours & constructed a temporary cage, I have handled her twice since she has been home.
• Feeding – So far, she seems to have eaten 2 of her crickets. That are in a opaque plastic container they can’t get out of. (so possibly 2 crickets in 6 days.) I plan to have 2-4 crickets in that system continually in her set up when she is on a regular schedule. Gut-loading with flukers high calcium cricket feed with D3 in the ingredients. I plan to feed the crickets appropriate veggies as well.
• Supplements – Rep-cal phosphorous free calcium with vit D3
• Watering – Spray bottle 2-3 times a day all over plant & some directly on her as lightly as I can. (was told two different things on spraying on her directly or not.)
• Fecal Description - very small, about the size of mouse droppings and greyish blackish color looks like bird poop
• History – captive born in WA by breeder

Cage Info:
• Cage Type - 4’ by 1.5’ cylinder constructed cage with mesh wire with holes a cm wide and long. Plastic plant plate on bottom and top. This is temporary now that things don’t seem to be well at all.
• Lighting – Red light heat incandescent bulb 50 watt Zilla brand in regular light dome that is non-reflective on the inside. 13W Repti Glo 5.0 compact in a reflective aluminum light dome (went and removed this after reading the dangers. She had a full 14 hours for each of the past two days with that. And now she’s not opening her eyes, was under stress from transition as well, dehydrated possibly) I will use tube UBV ASAP.
• Temperature – 70-72 in basking spot towards the upper section of cage. Only one thermometer.
• Humidity – Hygrometer is connected to thermometer at says it is at 55%. Only doing sprays at this time.
• Plants – one large arboricola to hide in, also made back out of brown paper to add secureness around back of enclosure.
• Placement - Located in office room. Low traffic. No vents, near a large window that doesn’t get much direct sunlight. Not near the wall heater. We have a gecko in same room on opposite wall. On a stand that is a 12” tall.
• Location – Western, WA close to Puget Sound.

Current Problem - Stress from transition, proper living space, Both eyes closed. Lethargic since day three after she explored her cage.

I want to take her to the reptile hospital so I don’t kill her. I don’t feel confident about caring for her at this delicate scary position she is in with all the conflicting info. Should I force feed her with powder and plastic animal syringe? She is skinny and sickly looking now. Should I take her into the vet immediately or will that worsen things?

 

[DanSB]

Welcome, you came to the right place!

There are quite a few improvements to be made here but the two most urgent in my estimation are the temperature and the water.

75 is way too cold for Senegal to bask at. Mine sticks around the 90 - 95 areas and only really gets irritated or moves if it gets around 100. For this young one maybe get it around 85 to 90 with the rest of the cage ranging around 75 to 80.

Also keep that humidity up and get that girl hydrated. That is most likely the issue and if it isn't it is complicating the issue.

Many people here recommend putting their chameleons in the shower on a plant and bouncing the shower off the wall with luke warm water for 30 plus minutes at a time to get them drinking. I personally think this causes stress and should only be a last resort when you just can't mist your cage enough.

At first you want to mist a ton. If you get hand cramps and your hand is sore you might have misted enough.

also replace the red light with a regular incandescent and leave all lights off at night. They sleep better when it cools down about 10 degrees and in total darkness.

That should get you started until a pro chimes in here...


Welcome!

 

[carol5208]

Dan has already given you some great info. I would like to add if your chameleon is the age you say, she should be eating around 15-20 small crickets at this age per day. I would ditch the flukers for gutload and use just the fresh fruits and vegetables. Check out Sandrachameleon page for gutloading tips. I understand right now with her eyes closed she is not eating but if we get her back to square one you need to be feeding her way more than 4 crickets. Get a plain calcium with NO d3 to dust your crickets with daily. A calcium with d3 and a multivitamin to be used twice monthly on the crickets. How big are the crickets? If they are too big she may not eat them. Try 1/4 inch. Could you post a pic of her please?. Also, most likely your UVB bulb is fine with the coil. Those dangers you are speaking about happened many years back. Unless you got a bulb that was 4 years old it should be fine. Most of us use the tube 5.0's but others also use the compacts successfully. Dehydration can cause eye closing so work on that. I don't think it is your light and it is not your temps cause they are way too low. Get a pic up of her so we can check her out. BTW I forgot to say welcome and we will do all we can to get her back on track.