Out of options...need help...

[Metal725]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male, Veiled Chameleon. 7 Months Old.
Handling - I use to be able to handle him whenever i cleaned the cage. He now hisses, puffs up, and occasionally lunges when i get near him.
Feeding - Large Crickets, Silkworms, and Hornworms. He was eating 10-15 large crickets and now its less than 5 a day.
Supplements - Repashy Calcium Plus Daily
Watering - Misting 3+ times a day
Fecal Description - Small brown poop with watery white urate

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 18x18x36 screen cage.
Lighting - 5.0 reptisun tube with 50w basking light. 12 hours on 12 hours off
Temperature - 80-85 in basking spot and drops to 70 at night.
Humidity - 40-60%
Plants - Live Umbrella tree, fake leaves and vines.
Placement - About 3 feet off the floor in our spare bedroom
Location - SF Bay Area

My Veiled has basically decided he doesnt want to use the vines/branches and wants to climb the screen. He is starting to lose most of the nails on the inner part of his feet and i literally have no idea what to do. When i try to re-arrange his enclosure, he gets so worked up he hangs upside down and keeps falling because he has no nails. I cant handle him because he puffs up and hisses at me, his appetite is almost none, and his urates are like water. Ive read on here about chams going through a "teenager phase" but how long does this last? He was never like this up until about a month or 2 ago. HELP!!

 

[renderit1]

Its probably that hes outgrowing his cage. Thats usually the cause. In regards to the eating, have you tried changing feeders?

 

[SaintJimmy]

I agree, sounds like it's time to get a 2x2x4 cage

 

[misshissingroaches]

are his colors stressed colors?

 

[laurie]

My responses are in red

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male, Veiled Chameleon. 7 Months Old.
He is a teenager
Handling - I use to be able to handle him whenever i cleaned the cage. He now hisses, puffs up, and occasionally lunges when i get near him.
He is in the stage where he test everything and everyone
Feeding - Large Crickets, Silkworms, and Hornworms. He was eating 10-15 large crickets and now its less than 5 a day.
It is time to start feeding him less and only feed him every other day if the crickets are the correct size for him, he should only get 6 to 8 feeders every other day.
Supplements - Repashy Calcium Plus DailyPlus what?
Watering - Misting 3+ times a day
does he also have a dripper to drink from? He needs that in addition to the misting
Fecal Description - Small brown poop with watery white urate
If he is eating the amount you stated, he should have some fairly large poops

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 18x18x36 screen cage.
He is ready for a larger cage, at least 24 x 24 x 48, larger is always better
Lighting - 5.0 reptisun tube with 50w basking light. 12 hours on 12 hours off how old is the 5.0 reptisun bulb?
Temperature - 80-85 in basking spot and drops to 70 at night.
Up his day time basking to just over 90, see if that makes him happier. Make sure he can get away from the heat if he wants to
Humidity - 40-60%
Plants - Live Umbrella tree, fake leaves and vines.
Placement - About 3 feet off the floor in our spare bedroom
I there much activity in the room? Any other animal? He could be upset by another animal. Cats, dogs, snakes are all seen as predators. Other chameleons he can see may stress him.
Location - SF Bay Area

My Veiled has basically decided he doesnt want to use the vines/branches and wants to climb the screen. He is starting to lose most of the nails on the inner part of his feet and i literally have no idea what to do. When i try to re-arrange his enclosure, he gets so worked up he hangs upside down and keeps falling because he has no nails. I cant handle him because he puffs up and hisses at me, his appetite is almost none, and his urates are like water. Ive read on here about chams going through a "teenager phase" but how long does this last? He was never like this up until about a month or 2 ago. HELP!!

He is asking none to politely for a larger cage, try to up grade his cage as soon as possible

 

[Metal725]

Thanks for the help!

*His cage was upgraded about a month ago to the 18x18x36 cage, along with the lighting system so the bulbs are about a month old. I figured he would be comfortable in this cage since he just came from a 18x12x20 but now that i look at it, its not that much bigger than before.

*He seems to prefer eating the Silks/Hornworms but eats maybe 1 or 2 and maybe 1 or 2 large crickets every day. I will start feeding him every other day from now on.

*For the most part his colors are pretty close to resting. He isnt completely fired up, just puffed/big when he gets irritated.

*The Calcium i'm using is the Repashy Calcium+...its the all-in-one supplement from Repashy. Its a daily, multi-vitamin, Calcium +D3 supplement. Its has small enough doses of everything so that it doesnt provide them too much of one thing but still provides the needed doses for every feeding.

 

[Psychobunny]

Veiled chams need lots of space to move around, esp at the age yours is in.
He is becoming territorial, wanting to roam for a mate.
You do need a bigger cage, with lots of branches and foliage in it.

But in the mean time, you can let him out and free range him (see the free range thread) so he doesn't feel so confined.

Most of us do not leave our chams confined to a cage 24/7

Now, a few words about the Repashy calcium plus.
I used to use it with every feeding. It does have everything in it, and is great
as a daily use for most reptiles, but it has a little TOO much of everything for
chams (esp montanes). Repashy came out with a Low D formula just for chams, and particularly, montanes, but it's still too concentrated.
So, I switched to the Low D formula, but I only use it a few times a week, and
use plain old calcium with no D3 daily.
I don't mean to say you will harm your cham with daily use of it, and I have
no real scientific proof either way, it's just my opinion