Newly Hatchling sleeping during the day

[moviemanmania]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - newly hatched sambava panther. just hatched yesterday
Handling - n/a
Feeding - gutloaded pinheads, baby super worms, fruit flies, (not eating yet)
Supplements - no suppl. yet as not eating
Watering - misting at least 3x's a day. allow cage to dry out before next hand misting. have not seen him drink yet
Fecal Description - n/a
History - n/a
Cage Info:
Cage Type - tupperwear container with a vine and branch.
Lighting - brand new 5.0 repti-glo, and incadesent basking bulb
Temperature - 83 basking to 80 gradient
Humidity - 40 day-60 at night
Plants - fake
Placement - cage on table.
Location - la
Current Problem - Have not seen the hatchling drink yet. he is sleeping during the day but there is tons of light provided.


In short: My newly hatchling is sleeping during the day. I haven't seen him eat or drink yet although I am misting frequently. I am more concerned about his sleeping during the day. Basking temp is 83. Photos are included. Should I back down the basking temp to 77?

 

[jannb]

Jon I had this problem along with other problems with Elly. I found with my first clutch that the UVB light bothered the baby’s eyes especially a new bulb. I moved the bulbs up high off the baby bins and used older UVB bulbs only putting out 10 to 12. With Elly she couldn’t handle the UVB bulb at all and I had to keep her outside in a small screen cage as much as possible for UVB. To this day if it weren’t for her going outside so much I don’t believe she would have made it. Also your basking temp should be at 80 to 81 and you need more plastic plants to hold water for him to drink. I like the plastic boxwood plants because the water puddles in the leaves.

Keep him outside in the shade of course as much as you can.

Pictures of my bins.

 

[moviemanmania]

Thank you for the help Jann! I will defiantly back off the uv distance and give him some outside time.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Lighting - brand new 5.0 repti-glo

I second what Jann said. A new light bulb usually has a high burn in period, for first week or two of use. UV meter would be handy for getting actual output of blub.

 

[moviemanmania]

Just wanted to say thanks to you personally Jann. I put 'sam,' (temporary name) outside in the shade as suggested and when I checked up on her she was climbing underneath the top of her cage so it looks as though she was enjoying it. I lucked out today as it was overcast and not too hot, about 82-83 today, normally 93 over here. I am hopping she will eat tomorrow. And I have a temporary fix to hold the light above the cage at a higher level. I plan on building a small table top rig, similar to the ones in your photos. Thanks again for being the Chameleon 'guru.'

I have a few questions:

Are you cup feeding them at this young? i am going to attempt to cup feed the pinheads but it seems near impossible... :-(

Whats the best method to capture and transport the pinheads to the cage without loosing half a dozen of them. They are so small I can not feel them climbing on my hands.

She hates being misted, infact when I mist the Tupperware she violently swings her head back and forth. Have you seen this behavior too? I am going to try just misting one side of the cage instead of the entire thing.

 

[jannb]

I never try to cup feed until around a month old and then some still want to free range their food.

I put a empty paper towel roll in the bin with the pinheads and then when I'm ready to feed I pick up the roll and shake the crickets into a large deli cup where I dust and then feed. The first week I mainly use fruit flies.

Right now I have an adult female panther that does the same thing when you mist her. With tiny babies (the first few weeks) I did not mist directly on the baby. I just misted around the babies the best I could and got the boxwood plant wet for drinking and the walls of the baby bin and paper towels in the bottom wet to keep up the humidity.

Also I would trade off that new bulb for a used one.

 

[moviemanmania]

I'm feeling frustrated with the pin head crickets.

Are you cleaning them out of her bin at bedtime so they don't bother her?

I haven't seen her eat anything yet: Day 2. She shows interest and tracks their movement sometimes but she flings them off of her if one jumps on her. I'm having a tough time handling the pinheads because they jump high up almost like fleas!

 

[jannb]

Try fruit flies. That's all I use for the first week or two. Normally they start to eat arounf the 2nd day. I would not leave crickets in with the baby over night. Even pinheads might could chew on a tiny baby.

 

[VeiledChams]

did you help him hatch, or did he hatch out by himself? I myself had a problem like this one with some of my hatchling. Idk if it had anything to do with that, but some of my babies never opened their eyes. I tried taking them out in the sun, different bulbs, temperatures, water quantity.. nothing worked. I tried to force feed one of the babies but it was so tiny I couldnt do anything.

Was the the females first clutch and was she healthy when she was bred? Sometimes you'll have weaker ones in the first clutches, and an unhealthy female will not give enough nutrients to the developing eggs. Sad to say, but maybe you little guy just isnt strong enough to survive

 

[moviemanmania]

Update: I move her in the shade during the day when the temperatures are below 84. I have also moved her uvb light up some and together these two things have fixed her sleeping during the day problem. I also bought some fake boxwood type plants for her enclosure. Today I saw her eat a pinhead and witnessed her defecating. I was very excited and relieved. Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[VeiledChams]

Really good news.. keep doing what you are doing and get the little one nice and healthy

 

[jannb]

Update: I move her in the shade during the day when the temperatures are below 84. I have also moved her uvb light up some and together these two things have fixed her sleeping during the day problem. I also bought some fake boxwood type plants for her enclosure. Today I saw her eat a pinhead and witnessed her defecating. I was very excited and relieved. Thank you everyone for your help!

I'm glad to hear that she's doing better. Any more to hatch?