Newid 7 month Female Stopped Eating

[Leah B]

Chameleon Info:
7 month old veiled cham, been in my care since late May.
Handling - once every couple of days
Feeding - about 12 small crickets every evening gut loaded with Fluker's cricket quencher.
Supplements - Zoo Med Repti Calcium. about 4 times a week.
Watering - She gets a bath once every two weeks. Cage misted twice a day for 30-45 seconds. She was drinking yesterday, but not at all today.
Fecal Description - No Recent droppings. Not tested.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage. about 16" x 18" x 32"
Lighting - Heat lamp on around 10-12 hours a day at top of the cage. Daylight lamp is on around the same amount of time.
Temperature - Temp near lamp is around 85-90. Lowest night temp is probably around 72-75
Plants - No live plants
Placement - Cage is on top of a dresser away from the window. Top of cage is a good six or seven feet from the floor. There is a small fan across the room, but not near the cage. Low traffic area in my bedroom.
Location - Minnesota, Mankato.

Current Problem - She has stopped eating and drinking and just sits on the side of her cage. She moves to her usual sleeping spot, but won't move to get crickets. There seem to be a few dry patches on her skin so I have given her extra misting and I'm watching her carefully. I'm very concerned about her so any information you have would be very helpful.

 

[CLP]

Do you have a laying bin in her enclosure? She may be gravid. See this link: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

Also, it is recommended to keep basking temperatures in the low 80's for female veilds and to be careful how much you feed them to slow down their egg laying. It sounds like you might be feeding her too much. Egg laying is very taxing on them, so the more they lay, the shorter their life expectancy.

As for what you're feeding her, are you offering anything besides crickets? Chameleons can get bored with only one food, and need variety in their diet to be as healthy as possible. And make sure your feeders are well gutloaded. Flukers is not good for more than keeping your insects hydrated. You need to provide your feeders with a nutritious gut load so your cham can benefit from what the feeders are eating - you are what you eat works for them too! And you should be supplementing her with calcium without D3 with each feeding, multivitamins 2x monthly and calcium with D3 2x monthly. Finally, it would be better for you to feed her in the morning instead of the evening to give her time to properly digest her food.

 

[KatiLemons]

Chameleon Info:
7 month old veiled cham, been in my care since late May.
Handling - once every couple of days
Feeding - about 12 small crickets every evening gut loaded with Fluker's cricket quencher.Using just flukers cricket quencher is not proper gutloading, that is only for hydrating the crickets. You might want to pick up some dry gutload and give that with the quencher. you crickets need lots of vitamins, nutrients for your chameleon. You can also give fresh veggies and fruit to crickets. Along with what everyone else is saying about varying her diet. You might want to pick up some silkworms,hornworms, or super worms. These should be fed every once in awhile. They are not staple food.
Supplements - Zoo Med Repti Calcium. about 4 times a week.
There are three supplements you need
1. Calcium w/o d3- every other day use
2. Calcium w/ D3- twice a month
3. Herptivite- twice a month
I usually alternate the last two every Saturday.
Watering - She gets a bath once every two weeks. Cage misted twice a day for 30-45 seconds. She was drinking yesterday, but not at all today.
You might want to get a dripper or make one. I know that gives them extra hydration.
Fecal Description - No Recent droppings. Not tested.
When was the last time she had a bm?
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage. about 16" x 18" x 32"
Lighting - Heat lamp on around 10-12 hours a day at top of the cage. Daylight lamp is on around the same amount of time.
You should have two lights. 1. basking bulb 2. UVB bulb/fluorescent tube
Temperature - Temp near lamp is around 85-90. Lowest night temp is probably around 72-75
Plants - No live plants
Placement - Cage is on top of a dresser away from the window. Top of cage is a good six or seven feet from the floor. There is a small fan across the room, but not near the cage. Low traffic area in my bedroom.
Location - Minnesota, Mankato.

Current Problem - She has stopped eating and drinking and just sits on the side of her cage. She moves to her usual sleeping spot, but won't move to get crickets. There seem to be a few dry patches on her skin so I have given her extra misting and I'm watching her carefully. I'm very concerned about her so any information you have would be very helpful.

Can you possibly give us pictures of her and her setup?

 

[Leah B]

She is alone in her enclosure. They lay infertile eggs?
I will post a picture asap.

 

[KatiLemons]

Yes, even if there is no male around, they can still produce infertile eggs.
I'm attaching a really great video about making a laying bin.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/
If you can get a picture of her, we can see if she looks like she has eggs. Sometimes it's hard to tell but sometimes its pretty obvious.

 

[Leah B]

There also seems to be a lump on her lower abdomen that was not there recently

 

[KatiLemons]

She needs way more vines and plants or dowels in there. They don't have to be live plants but enough stuff for her to crawl around on. That cage is pretty bare. She could be stressed out from not really having a place to hide. Chameleons like to hide in shady areas if they get to hot or don't want to be bothered. What is the bowl in the bottom of the cage for?
She doesn't look like she has eggs because a lot of times the females will be really dark when they are gravid. Maybe try looking at other pictures of members setups and get an idea for what you want to add in your cage.

 

[CLP]

Yes, she needs WAY more branches/vines and plants in there to be happy. Also, she looks to be a bit dehydrated. If you are only misting for 30-45 seconds each time, it may not be enough to get a drinking response from her. And as mentioned, you should consider putting a dripper in there too.

 

[Leah B]

She just hung upside down from a branch opened her mouth wide and drooled a bit like she was trying to vomit and turned pale. She hasn't shown and drinking response today.

 

[KatiLemons]

Try making a dripper out of a cottage cheese container and poke a hole in the bottom with a tack. Put warm water (not hot) in it. You really don't have enough vegetation for the drops to fall on and her to see it. She probably needs to see a vet...

 

[CLP]

She just hung upside down from a branch opened her mouth wide and drooled a bit like she was trying to vomit and turned pale. She hasn't shown and drinking response today.

You mentioned something about her getting a bath. What exactly do you mean by that? I am concerned that perhaps she has aspirated some water...

 

[Leah B]

I put her in a container with a small amount of warm water in the bottom and drip warm water over her for a couple minutes.

 

[CLP]

That's not something you should have to do. If you're concerned about her getting enough water, you're better give her a shower. You can search on here about it for instructions.

I am still concerned about her perhaps having aspirated some water while you were dripping it onto her nose. Between misting and once you add a dripper, there should be enough opportunites to drink. If there is stuff coming out of her mouth that looks like excess saliva, I would get her to a vet. Sounds like she could have an infection in her lungs.