Not Eating/Drinking

BHillendahl

BHillendahl

New Member
I just bought my first chameleon yesterday from the Reptile Show at the Sacramento Convention Center. I got a beautiful 3.5 inch veiled chameleon from the FL Chameleons booth. His ribs were showing when I bought him (as were all the others), and I believe that it's normal for his age and size, but I haven't been able to get him to eat or drink since I bought him. Is this normal for an acclimating chameleon? I've put several baby crickets in his cage and i've been misting his leaves at least twice a day and placing ice cubes on the top to drip down. Any advice?
 
Congrats on your new cham. Is it a baby or juvenile? Either way you will see ribs and that is normal. Do not use ice cubes, cold water is bad and may cause them to not drink that water at least. Mist the plants down good with warm water, add crickets and make sure he has some privacy to settle in. What are your temps by the way?
 
That's a relief. I believe he's somewhere inbetween. I don't have any experience with them, so it's hard to say. It's in the low 90's at the top of the cage where he basks, and it's in the low 70's at night. I'm thinking about modifying a humidifier and making it a fogger. I found some plans on this forum for it. It's not really dry where I live, but it's not humid either, and I figure it'll help facilitate him drinking more and generally staying hydrated. How many crickets a day do you think this guy will go through? I have mealworms too, but he isn't used to me enough to take food out of my hands.
 
Let's do this to get you started out on the right foot...

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.
 
I forgot to ask, if I make the humidifier a fogger, will the water vapor be too hot for him? Also, will the escaping vaper from a fogger in a screen cage do anything to my walls (I keep the cage in a corner)?
 
BHillendahl said:
I forgot to ask, if I make the humidifier a fogger, will the water vapor be too hot for him? Also, will the escaping vaper from a fogger in a screen cage do anything to my walls (I keep the cage in a corner)?
Click to expand...

I really don't think you will need a humidifier.
 
It's a screen cage. 15"Wx15"Dx29"H

I have a powersun 100w mercury vapor bulb that provides heat+UV

The Cage is in the low to mid 90's at the top, not sure about the base. I have a thermometer inside to measure this. I have a 50w red bulb on at night. The temp at the top is about 75 at night, and I keep the house temp at 74 anyways (like to be cool when i sleep).

I still need to get a humidity cage. I couldn't say what it's at, but I mist the cage thoroughly at least twice a day. I live in northern california in the sacramento area. It's not arid or humid. Like I said, I think i'm going to get or make a fogger system.

Right now I have fake plants. Two large hanging plants and artificial vine. I don't know the advantages of fake vs. real, but i'll be going for whatever's best for my lizard

The cage is located in the corner of my living room. No vents or fans facing it. Low traffic area.

Located in Vacaville, CA (Northern California). It's inbetween Sacramento and San Francisco

It's a male veiled chameleon, about 3 months old, bought him yesterday (Sept. 26th), so far i've taken him out for 15 minutes today. I don't want to stress him so i'm keeping it short. I've put 6 baby crickets in the cage with him, and I dust them with a herpitivite and repcal mix. I've been misting his cage twice a day minimum so far with room temp water, I was placing ice cubes on top until you told me why not to. I still don't know whether i'm going to put a fogger on the cage or not. His feces are a mixture of really dark brown and white. Not a lot of history on the animal. Bought him yesterday from FL Chameleons at the Reptile Show in Sacramento. Currently i'm worried because he isn't eating or drinking. He may just need time to acclimate.
 
Not a big fan of Powersuns on small cages or babies. I would make sure your temps are maybe mid 80's for now since he is young and hopefully you have a digital thermometer. NO RED BULBS AT NIGHT. You need no light or heat unless your temps are dropping below 60. Live plants are best-they help humidity, and as long as you are misting well 2-3X daily-I still do not think you need a humidifier. Hopefully some keepers in your area will chime in.
 
I'll raise the light some to lower the temp and stop using the red bulb. I've heard weeping figs are the most popular live plants, what do you think? I'm going to try to upload some pictures of the animal and its cage.
 
 
Kush2.jpg


Kush1.jpg


KChameleon.jpg


Kush3.jpg
 
There must be much more branches and shrubbery in there for the chameleon to feel safe. Open space is strongly connected to a higher predation risk in nature. You shouldnt be able to see the bach wall when youre done.

I also only see one lamp. You should get some daylight tubes, or cheaper compact "low energy" lamps as close to 6500K as possible.

Remember, the smaller the chameleon, the denser the interior have to be built. It should be in proportion to the animal.
 
The bowl is for water that drips all the way down. I'm thinkin i'm going to add a fig tree in the middle and it'll fill everything out nicely. It only has one bulb, but it's a mercury vapor bulb. It provides heat and UV.
 
In case you were wondering, your baby is about 2-3 months old, I believe. (the $35 ones, the $75 ones were a lot older) At least thats how big they were when I looked at them. I also went to the show. I'm basing some of the info that I'm giving on where you live, as I also live in the Sacramento area and bought a baby veiled at the show.

Anywho, since he's young, you may want to use a normal house bulb until he's older (for temp reasons.) His basking spot should be around 80-83. And in that case, you'll need a new UVB bulb until he's old enough for your mercury vapor bulb. If you get a new UVB bulb now (probably reptisun 5.0 tube, preferably not compact coil), you can stop using it and use your mercury vapor bulb in 6 months, tho most members here dont recomend new keepers using them at all. Also, you dont really need the night light. And, in the winter, should you need extra heat (if it drops below the 65 range) you can use a ceramic heater (I believe that's what its called.)

Also, live plants are your best friend :) I like Ficus' and Hibiscus'. They raise the humidity, and Veileds often take to plant munching (so make sure it is safe!) And speaking of, you can add another misting in there and your humidity should be fine.

You can make a dripper out of a cup and poke a hole in it. Easy as pie :) Also, if you use that bowl, you should probably add mesh on top of it so he cant drink the water or fall in it and drown.

How do you know he isnt eating? He may very well be, and you just dont notice it... If you cup feed, you can monitor it, and you dont have to re-catch all the crickets at night.
 
He's eating well today. Still haven't seen him drink, but he probably just does it when i'm not looking. I bought a digital thermometer with a probe, his basking site is exactly 81.4 F, I was told to lower it from the mid 90's because hes a young one, but I don't know exactly what to keep it at. I still need an umbrella plant, but after that I think i'm set. Any advice or comments or anything?
 
Do you mist him directly? Or see him open his mouth a little when there's water on his face? Even if you dont see him drink, his poop is a pretty good indication :) If the white part is white, you're good. If it's yellow he needs more water.

81 is perfect til he's big enough for his big boy cage.

Also, how many crickets a day? I'd say, no more than ten small ones. And do you gut load them?
 
Just add a live plant and more silk vines. If your using the bowl for drips then that works fine, just be careful your cham wont drown in it. Most peoples chams only drink dripping water dripplets, thats why the forum member asked you about it. However, there are always exceptions. I saw a video here where someones cham was drinking right out of the cup. Also, they mentioned a linear uvb light. I would recommend a reptisun uvb 5.0 and a 60 watt basking bulb. Good luck and take care.
 
I called Michael from FL Chameleons today, he said the little guy is 4 months old. There were a couple booths with chameleons, I got mine in the back left corner. They were noticably the most active and healthy veiled chameleons at the show. I'm going for the umbrella plant over the ficus, i've heard that sometimes the ficus can emitt sap and it's a pain in the neck to clean up. Yesterday I knew he wasn't eating because I put 6 crickets in the cage and hours later I still counted all six. Today he's eaten 10 and he's still goin. An administrator told me I may want to add a misting also, but he said I probably don't need a dripper. I empty the bowl several times daily to be sure that he won't drop into it and his crickets dont drown himself in it.
 
I mist both him directly and all of the plants in his cage. I've been using warm water today, someone recommended it yesterday. He isn't running away AS quickly when I spray him with it. He'll open his mouth once or twice during each misting, but only for a second. I was told that he may eat between 15-20 baby crickets a day. I don't gut load them, but I do dust them. My fiance works at a local Petco, so I can get 20 crickets for about 50 cents, and I've just been getting fresh ones daily instead of taking them home and gutloading them. I still need to pick up a UV strip light and a different bulb, but it's in the works. The cage is only 15" wide, and I don't know if they make a reptisun strip light that short.
 
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