problem with veiled chameleon!!!

katsymoon

New Member
I got a female baby veiled chameleon like a week ago.
she eats well sleeps well so I have no prob with her at all.

The prob is that I got a male baby veiled cham like yesterday.

He looked healthy and okay at the shop.
but since he came to my home, he hasn't eat anything.
I dont think he has drunken water either.
he seems like has no energy!
I let him be til now and saw him on the floor (guess he fell down from the tree)

so I tried cup feeding him, he doesn't care about the food at all!

should I just let him be for more days or should I go see a doc?


Please help!!!!
 
Please fill this out using Brand names -pictures are also helpful of both cages and animals:

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.
 
Sometimes they will not eat right away. They need adjusting to their new environment. However, they do need to drink to keep hydrated. You said you saw him on the cage floor. Does he have a strong grip and grab onto branches and vines ok?
 
he doesn't seem like has a strong grip but when i picked him up from the floor to let him be in the tree, he had a strong grip on my finger.
so i guess he does have some energy.

he now doesn't seem like moving at all.

I'm super worried =[
 
I hope you quarantined him away from your female?

What are the temperatures in your cage?
What brand and type (compact, spiral, long tube) UVB light are you using?
How are you watering him?
 
It is night time now so why don't you just let him be and sleep and see how he is doing tomorrow. Maybe he will eat tomorrow. I know you just got him but it might help to fill out the ask for help form so we can make sure you have the right set ups for both of your chameleons. You have them in seperate cages, right?
 
Oh my god. do I have to let them to be separate? I saw some articles that saying they can't be in the same cage when only both are males, so i thought it would be okay since they are not same gender.

they are in the same cage - 2foot * 2foot* and 4foot high glass cage (it's huge).

Female seems okay so I thought it doesn't matter. maybe I read wrong article.

should I separate them now and let them spend the night separate?
 
Please fill out the how to ask for help form.

Anytime you get a new chameleon you need to quarantine the new animal until you know it has no issues.

Chameleons are solitary, territorial animals. You should not keep a male and female together for many reasons, one being that they will breed to young creating health issues for the female.
 
Julirs said it perfectly so i had to edit my post. another reason you shouldnt keep them together is one usually displays dominance over the other, gets all the food, the basking spot etc, while the other gets little to nothing.. This usually happens to the female but for some reason it's happening to the male in this case.
 
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You have a healthy female that has been with you for a while. When you bring in a new reptile you need to quarantine it so that the health of the reptiles you already had is not compromised if the new one happens to be sick. Hopefully the new one isn't sick.

Veiled chameleons that are under 4 months of age can often be kept together...but even at that young age its possible for them to not get along.
How old are they?
 
Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Veiled cham, male, I'm not sure about the age, but it's a baby.
* Handling - I try not to handle him since he's new.
* Feeding - I've provided him 2 small size mealworms twice a day and also have provided small size crickets but he hans't eaten anything.
* Supplements - I have Flucker's calcium with vid D3, and dusted it with mealworms, but he hans't got it since he doesn't eat.
* Watering - I mist like 4 times a day all over the cage, and also drop water from the top of the cage.
* Fecal Description - when he's close to the uvb light, light green color with dots or some stripes. when he's under or hiding within the tree, dark green. I got him from petsmart, and not sure if he's tested parasites.
* History - I just got him yesterday so no history I know.


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Glass cage, 2foot *2foot*4foot.
* Lighting - I have a uvb light (5.0 for tropical), and red light night lamp, and also a spot lamp.
* Temperature - it's about 81 or 82
* Humidity - it's between 40 to 60 depends on I mist.
* Plants - I'm not using live plants.
* Placement - I live in an studio, so it's located at just one side, not busy area. and the cage is already 4 foot high and have little stand. so... I think the top of the cage is 5 foot from the floor?
* Location - I'm in california.


Current Problem - my veiled cham hasn't eaten any food, and also doesn't seem like drinking water.
 
I'm not sure about the age but they are really small. the sizes of them are like about my palm size? or less. I've got them a week ago for female and a day ago for the male and the stores said that they have had the male one for about 3 weeks. the male is little bigger than the female.
 
Did he eat those mealworms? Mealworms generally aren't the best thing to feed because they cause impaction, perhaps he is impacted. I know that you aren't supposed to feed baby bearded dragons mealworms because it can lead to complications, maybe it is the same with baby chams?
 
Mealworms are not the best choice for feeders. Small crickets, locusts, silkworms, etc. are better choices.

These things won't have anything to do with him not eating or drinking but need to be changed IMHO....
you said that you only use Fluker's calcium with D3 to dust with...since most insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. its recommended that you dust at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder. Most people only use a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month.

You said..."I have a uvb light (5.0 for tropical), and red light night lamp, and also a spot lamp"...is the UVB light a compact, spiral or long tube light? What brand is it? You don't need heat at night unless the temperature in the room drops below the mid to high 60's for a veiled. They definitely don't need light at night. If you do have to use a heat source it would be better to use a ceramic heat emitter that screws in like a light bulb.

You said..."Temperature - it's about 81 or 82"...in the hottest area or throughout the cage?
 
What were they feeding the male at the place where you bought him? It may help to feed him that for a while, and slowly wean him off of it and on to a diet of crickets by putting one or two crickets in there every day with whatever he was originally fed. That is not a normal fecal color, should be brown with a white urate tip. Not sure what green means, though. What temperature does it get down to at night? Unless it gets below 60, you shouldn't need that night lamp. Any light (even red light) will disturb their sleep, and a slight drop in temperature is good for them because it slows down their metabolism. A 2x2x4 seems awfully big for a baby, but I understand if you do not want to purchase a smaller cage. Get advice from others on the forum for that. Do not dust with calcium with D3 every day. You should be giving her calcium without D3 regularly, and vitamins and D3 twice a month. Humidity should range from 50 to 80. Using live plants will help keep your enclosure humid and aerated, and are always preferable if possible. Also this is unrelated but if you have time at some point in the future it helps to have their basking spot at above eye level.
 
Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - Veiled cham, male, I'm not sure about the age, but it's a baby. A picture would help here
* Handling - I try not to handle him since he's new. This is good.
* Feeding - I've provided him 2 small size mealworms twice a day and also have provided small size crickets but he hans't eaten anything. A young cham can easily eat 15+ appropriately sized crickets daily. You should be gutloading the feeders with fresh veggies and fruits.
* Supplements - I have Flucker's calcium with vid D3, and dusted it with mealworms, but he hans't got it since he doesn't eat. You need to research supplementing.
* Watering - I mist like 4 times a day all over the cage, and also drop water from the top of the cage. This is good.
* Fecal Description - when he's close to the uvb light, light green color with dots or some stripes. when he's under or hiding within the tree, dark green. I got him from petsmart, and not sure if he's tested parasites. Fecal means poop-what does it look like.
* History - I just got him yesterday so no history I know.


Cage Info:

* Cage Type - Glass cage, 2foot *2foot*4foot. Where did you get a glass cage this big?
* Lighting - I have a uvb light (5.0 for tropical), and red light night lamp, and also a spot lamp. What brand UVB? You do not need night heat unless your cage is getting below 60 at night. You should never have night light.
* Temperature - it's about 81 or 82 How are you measuring and with what? These are the temps the basking spot should be-rest of cage should be low-mid 70's.
* Humidity - it's between 40 to 60 depends on I mist.
* Plants - I'm not using live plants. Live plants are best. Are you using fake ones?
* Placement - I live in an studio, so it's located at just one side, not busy area. and the cage is already 4 foot high and have little stand. so... I think the top of the cage is 5 foot from the floor?
* Location - I'm in california.


Current Problem - my veiled cham hasn't eaten any food, and also doesn't seem like drinking water.

I answered above...
 
I don't know how to insert a image here. but he's size is about the average man's middle finger without a tale. and I don't think he has pooped yet. so I don't know what it looks like.

I bought the cage from craigslist. I thought taller is better but guess it's too big. huh?
UVB brand is Exo Terra Repti Glo 5.0 UVB. and I'll take away the red light! the petsmart guy told me to use red light =[
I measured the temp with regular thermometer with hygrometer. the guy who sold the cage gave me this too. I put it in the middle of the cage, and it's close to the spot lamp.

I use fake plants. I will go get some live ones.


I just put the male cham in the small cage and put the cage in the large cage. so.. basically they are separated now? and he's now drinking water! is it a good sign?
can I keep the small cage inside large cage? or should I completely separate them like opposite side of the room?
 
You can upload photos to Photobucket and copy and past the IMG line here.

I am at least hoping that this giant glass cage has a screen top? UVB will not pass through glass or plastic. Do you have a digital thermometer? The analog type really do not work well at all to measure a basking spot. It is great that he is drinking-I hope he settles in and starts eating.
 
This is not a proper quarantine. Quarantining a new one from one that you had already means keeping it in a separate cage in a separate room...viruses and other bacteria can be airborne.

Also...visual separation is a good thing too so that one won't stress the other out. The stress can sometimes be "silent" and go unnoticed. Ones under 3 or 4 months can be kept together if they get along after the quarantine period (of at least 4 or 5 weeks).
 
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