chelizard
New Member
Chameleon Info:
Cage Info:
Current Problem - I know that my chameleon has just arrived and is highly stressed from being wild caught, shipped across the country and placed in a new home. He may likely have parasites, which will be checked out by a reptile vet after he has some time to hopefully settle into this new environment. He is eating a lot without issue and basking for several hours a day. He is sleeping only in the evening, and when he does he turns bright green and teal. But, during the day he is black with lighter stripes.
My concern is that it seems like his eyes may be a bit sunken, as if he is dehydrated. I haven't seen him drink that much water, although he does lick some leaves. I attached some photos of him during the day and his enclosure. I'd love any opinions on his health, care and feedback on his enclosure! Have read a lot on the forum and look forward to incorporating any advice.
- Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, guessing ~1-1.5 years old? Wild caught in Florida about two weeks ago, mailed to my home on the west coast 4 days ago.
- Handling - Not at all. He went straight from the box he was mailed in to his enclosure. I handled him for a few minutes when I caught him two weeks ago, and he was placed into a box by a company that ships live animals 5 days ago.
- Feeding - Fed 6 adult crickets dusted with calcium w/o vit D on Wednesday (day of arrival). Fed 6 adult crickets + 2 superworms on Friday, dusted with Miner-All. Crickets are gut-loaded with carrots and Josh's Frogs Premium Cricket Cuisine. My plan is to feed him 6 adult crickets dusted with calcium (no vit D) every other day, and once per week to also include a few superworms. I'll also dust crickets with Miner-All 2x/month.
- Supplements - ReptiCalcium w/o D3 on every feeding. Sticky Tongue Farms Indoor Miner-All 2x/mo. Also bought ReptiVite but haven't used it yet.
- Watering - Manually misting warm water for 2-3 minutes each day, once when I wake up at 7:30am and once around when his lights go off at 7:30pm. I have seen him drinking some droplet off leaves but not that often. I also have a clear water glass near a vine that looks emptier, but haven't seen him drink from it.
- Fecal Description - Not tested for parasites yet but plan to do that in about 2 weeks when he's acclimated to his new home. Feces are brown, normal looking. Can't obviously see parasites or worms. Urates are creamy whitish colored.
- History - Wild caught in southern Florida. Mellow affect compared to other WC chameleons.
Cage Info:
- Cage Type - 24x24x48 Reptibreeze XL screen cage.
- Lighting - Reptisun 5.0 T8 bulb (18”) with typical reptile bulb hooded housing resting on top of the cage. 100W frosted incandescent bulb in an 8.5" ceramic dome with dimmer, turned down to ~80% brightness or so for ideal basking temperature. Daily lighting: 7am – 7:30pm for both bulbs.
- Temperature - measure with a temp/hygrometer at the top and middle of cage. Infrared thermometer used to measure other areas.
Daytime Temps
Basking spot: 80-84 degrees F. Center of cage: 76 degrees F. Bottom of cage: 73-75 deg F.
Evening Temps: ~67-72 deg F. - Humidity - Daytime: 42-55%. Evening: 65-80%. Misting 2x/day in morning and evening. Running warm mist humidifier for 8 hours in the evening right next to the cage. Using temp/hygrometer to measure humidity.
- Plants - Tons of live plants, including: pothos, prayer plant (maranta), bromeliads, two schefflera, snake plant, one philodendron. I built a frame inside the cage so there is nothing touching the floor. There's a tray on the bottom that I can pull out to rinse and drain. There's also manzanita branches in there that I collected, sanded, washed, sanitized and dried.
- Placement - Cage is next to my desk and in the side of a large living room, ~10 feet from large glass french doors and a heating vent. Bottom of cage is about 2 feet off the floor, top of cage is about 6 feet high. It sits on top of a tall wooden TV stand and is surrounded by tall plants.
- Location - Northern California.
Current Problem - I know that my chameleon has just arrived and is highly stressed from being wild caught, shipped across the country and placed in a new home. He may likely have parasites, which will be checked out by a reptile vet after he has some time to hopefully settle into this new environment. He is eating a lot without issue and basking for several hours a day. He is sleeping only in the evening, and when he does he turns bright green and teal. But, during the day he is black with lighter stripes.
My concern is that it seems like his eyes may be a bit sunken, as if he is dehydrated. I haven't seen him drink that much water, although he does lick some leaves. I attached some photos of him during the day and his enclosure. I'd love any opinions on his health, care and feedback on his enclosure! Have read a lot on the forum and look forward to incorporating any advice.
