Not Growing. HELP ASAP

[Chameleonmommy]

So I have recently bought my first Veild Chameleon from a nearby Petsmart about 2-3 months ago. I was very excited and wanted to give him a good home to come back to. So I bought everything necessary to make him comfortable. A Mister, Dripper, 100w Powersun basking lamp. After a few weeks at his new home, he had his first shed. And oddly, hasn't grown. So I asked my local petsmart, and they said to change the UVB to a 50 and the heat lamp to a 75W. And I did. And he still isn't growing. He's staying at 3". Please. Someone help! Any suggestions? Answers are appreciated.

 

[SilverWolf]

Firstly please fill out the How to ask for help thing that Brad provided.

 

[Chameleonmommy]

I'm very new to this. If you could help me that'd be great

 

[SilverWolf]

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.

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?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Fill all of that out as detailed as you can.

 

[Chameleonmommy]

Thank you!

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veild, Male, 2-3 month old. In my care for 2 months.
Handling - Not very often hes cranky. Dont want to stress him out.
Feeding - 5-10 Crickets/day every day. Wax worms occasionally
Supplements - Dust with Calcium every day and use D3 a few times a month
Watering - Repti Rain Mister System. Every 3 hours for 15 seconds. Along with a dripper that is on constantly.( Yes i see him drink)
Fecal Description - Normal poop. Small. Never runny. No parasite testing
History - Bought from Petsmart

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage. Medium Repti-breeze. 18-18-36
Lighting - 50UVB 75W Heatbulb. (No heating at night)
Temperature - Never goes above 95. Rangeing in 84-95. Overnight temp- 76ish. (Measured by thermo/hydro)
Humidity -50-70 Mister
Plants - Fake leafsLocation - eastern edge of the North American continent.

Current Problem-So I have recently bought my first Veild Chameleon from a nearby Petsmart about 2-3 months ago. I was very excited and wanted to give him a good home to come back to. So I bought everything necessary to make him comfortable. A Mister, Dripper, 100w Powersun basking lamp. After a few weeks at his new home, he had his first shed. And oddly, hasn't grown. So I asked my local petsmart, and they said to change the UVB to a 50 and the heat lamp to a 75W. And I did. And he still isn't growing. He's staying at 3". Please. Someone help! Any suggestions? Answers are appreciated

 

[SilverWolf]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veild, Male, 2-3 month old. In my care for 2 months.
Handling - Not very often hes cranky. Dont want to stress him out.
Feeding - 5-10 Crickets/day every day. Wax worms occasionally
Supplements - Dust with Calcium every day and use D3 a few times a month
Watering - Repti Rain Mister System. Every 3 hours for 15 seconds. Along with a dripper that is on constantly.( Yes i see him drink)
Fecal Description - Normal poop. Small. Never runny. No parasite testing
History - Bought from Petsmart

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen cage. Medium Repti-breeze. 18-18-36
Lighting - 50UVB 75W Heatbulb. (No heating at night)
Temperature - Never goes above 95. Rangeing in 84-95. Overnight temp- 76ish. (Measured by thermo/hydro)
Humidity -50-70 Mister
Plants - Fake leafsLocation - eastern edge of the North American continent.

Current Problem-So I have recently bought my first Veild Chameleon from a nearby Petsmart about 2-3 months ago. I was very excited and wanted to give him a good home to come back to. So I bought everything necessary to make him comfortable. A Mister, Dripper, 100w Powersun basking lamp. After a few weeks at his new home, he had his first shed. And oddly, hasn't grown. So I asked my local petsmart, and they said to change the UVB to a 50 and the heat lamp to a 75W. And I did. And he still isn't growing. He's staying at 3". Please. Someone help! Any suggestions? Answers are appreciated

Dusting with calcium (no d3 or phosphorus) everyday is fine, but most people would, and according to the care sheet here, use multivitamin every 2 weeks and calcium WITH D3 once every 2 weeks.

Fecal Matter: So his feces are fine, but what about his urates? I'm not too concerned with that, but what colour are they?

Temperature: WOAH! Found a problem. Much too hot especially for his age. A 85 - 90 degree fahrenheit temperature basking spot is good for an adult but not for such a little chameleon! His temperatures until about 9 months or so should be 85 degree fahrenheit basking. The ambient temperatures (temperatures around the rest of the enclosure other than basking spot) should be 72 - 80 degrees, preferably 75 or so. Right in the mid 70s.
For night time temperatures, 76 is too hot I would say, that should only be during the day. At night time it should be mid 60s (someone please correct me on this if that is not right).

As for your plants, usually real plants are best but you can use fake ones. Can you post a picture of your enclosure and its set up?

EDIT: This is VERY important, what do you feed the crickets?

 

[crazychamzoo]

I agree with Silverwolf on the temps. Also, you might want to get the little guy into a vet, early signs of MBD can be stunted growth.

 

[kinyonga]

If you are feeding appropriately sized insects that's not enough every day. I let them eat as many insects as they can eat in five minutes at each feeding at that age.

 

[sharp229]

Can you post pictures of his enclosure? How far is the basking branch from the UVB and heat, and what wattage and brand of UVB bulb do you use?

Does he always eat all his food? I would feed him as much as he wants at that age.

 

[RonWhitmill]

I am not an expert by any means, but by looking at his picture, he doesn't seem like he is under fed. And while I agree that maybe his temps might be a little high in his basking area, I don't see why that would stunt his growth. And they aren't that far off from ideal assuming those are basking area temps. In a 36" cage he would probably have a bit of a temp drop towards the bottom. Maybe the MBD thing is a possibility. But do you think that maybe they were just way off with his age when you bought him? He doesn't look like he is 3 months old to me. I've had 2 month old panthers that looked almost that big. I wouldn't be surprised if they had no idea how old he really was at Petsmart. I go there all the time for my dog and I can't count how many times I've heard them give people really bad advice for reptiles and fish. When you're looking at them every day, sometimes you don't notice how much they are growing. Now that you have that picture, maybe you should just take the advice of people on here. Feed him a little more if he wants to eat. My young ones tend to like to eat 2 or 3 times a day. Bring his temps down a few degrees. Maybe try to get him outside in some natural sunlight once or twice a week. But if he seems healthy, maybe you just snap another pic in a few weeks and he'll seem like he's grown more than you thought.

 

[heather89]

Dusting with calcium (no d3 or phosphorus) everyday is fine, but most people would, and according to the care sheet here, use multivitamin every 2 weeks and calcium WITH D3 once every 2 weeks.

Fecal Matter: So his feces are fine, but what about his urates? I'm not too concerned with that, but what colour are they?

Temperature: WOAH! Found a problem. Much too hot especially for his age. A 85 - 90 degree fahrenheit temperature basking spot is good for an adult but not for such a little chameleon! His temperatures until about 9 months or so should be 85 degree fahrenheit basking. The ambient temperatures (temperatures around the rest of the enclosure other than basking spot) should be 72 - 80 degrees, preferably 75 or so. Right in the mid 70s.
For night time temperatures, 76 is too hot I would say, that should only be during the day. At night time it should be mid 60s (someone please correct me on this if that is not right).

As for your plants, usually real plants are best but you can use fake ones. Can you post a picture of your enclosure and its set up?

EDIT: This is VERY important, what do you feed the crickets?

I would agree. The temps are all high for such a young cham. Also, look into getting and feeding silkworms. For some reason my chams really started to grow when I switched to a mainly 2/3 silkworm 1/3 cricket diet. I use Coastal Silkworms and they always arrive quick, alive, and ready to go (I'd start with a pod to see if you like them before getting a kit).

 

[Chameleonmommy]

His enclosure.

I will definitely start to try to feed him more. But I did not mention that he always stays at the bottom of the cage in the day time. So my 75W must still be to strong. Anny suggestions?

 

[heather89]

His enclosure.

I will definitely start to try to feed him more. But I did not mention that he always stays at the bottom of the cage in the day time. So my 75W must still be to strong. Anny suggestions?

I use 75 watt bulbs for my adults, but their enclosures are 48 inches tall, so they have a lot of range and the closest they ever get is about 12 inches from the bulb. Maybe try a 60 watt regular bulb (just a standard 98 cent bulb) and see if that makes a difference. You could also try the 60 watt daytime blue bulbs.

 

[shmeenakoz]

Just looking at your setup pic…is that a huge water bowl at the bottom? Please don't take this the wrong way, but why is it there? Chams rarely drink from standing water and it can lead to bacterial/parasitic infections. I also agree with above posters that bulb wattage could be dropped to 60 (regular house bulb) I usually use a 25W to 40W in the summer. Hope your guy gets better. Oh and yes a herp vet visit should happen especially since he came from a pet store plus then you can have piece of mind and a good base line on his health. Make sure to get fecal and X-ray's then you can possibly rule out infection and MBD. Good luck

 

[Chameleonmommy]

The water bowl is for the dripper to drip in

 

[shmeenakoz]

The water bowl is for the dripper to drip in

I figured as much Id try to develop a drainage system of some kind instead. Otherwise your gonna be spending quite some time removing standing water and disturbing your lil' one maybe more than he'd like. Just my opinion tho.

 

[kinyonga]

Hope it works.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

The hanging out near the bottom is probably because your temps are too high.

 

[SilverWolf]

After replacing to a 60w bulb or at least ensuring that the basking spot is around 85 degrees fahrenheit maximum, I would add some horizontal sticks under right under the ceiling so he can walk over there and bask without having to climb the ceiling and hang upside down.

The only other two things for advice I would give are to visit a vet, and feed with the amount of crickets and worms that you were recommended. Lastly, do you gut load?

 

[Chameleonmommy]

No I do not gut load. What kind of vitimin should I feed my crickets? Any specific that I should try?