Question about my Veiled..

mattj

New Member
Hi all.

I noticed about a night or two ago my appx 1yr old male veiled has been slipping a little while moving about. He is also on the floor a lot. I know you normally ask for that care sheet. I don't know where it is so ill just give the info. He looks fine to me as far as his bones and color and everything.

He's in a med reptibreeze cage 16x16x24 60w bulb for heat and a reptisun 5.0. The bulb was bought in jan. I know I need to replace soon. He has a mistking set for every few hours. Always dries out inbetween sprays. And lights are set for 7-7 right now.

He's been eating great, just devoured 5 crckets. I normally feed him every day or every other. I usually dust with a no d3 calcium and do the d3 about once a month.

This whole slipping thing has me a little concerned. Any ideas?
 
That enclosure is way to small for the Guy. He should be in a 24x24x48 or bigger enclosure. He's cramped and needs more room to roam.
 
I actually just started his new one today. He won't be in it for at least a week though.

Building a custom cage. Dimensions are going to be 4.5ft highx2ftx16 inches. Just stained the wood today. Hoping to frame it saturday. Then screen it.

But that doesn't really explain his falling though does it?
 
No multivitamin. I do rep-cal 0% d3 calcium every time I get crickets. And zoo-med repti calcium once a month. I also mix in silk worms.


He's a little over one year.

Are you able to post pics by phone. It doeant seem to be letting me.
 
Male veiled, a little over a year old. How long has it been in your care? Since about 3 months old.

Handling*- How often do you handle your chameleon? Very rarely. Take him out when I do a thorough cleaning.

Feeding*- What are you feeding your cham? Mostly crickets and silkworms. What amount? Appx 5 crickets a day. What is the schedule? Every day or every other How are you gut-loading your feeders? Honstly i dont. But they are bought locally from a reptile store that gut loads them. Supplements*- What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? No d3 every time i get crickets except once a month is with d3

Watering*- What kind of watering technique do you use? Mist king with occasional dripper. How often and how long to you mist? A few times a day. Ranging from 45 seconds to 2 mins. Do you see your chameleon drinking? Rarely. Fecal Description*- Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Fairly firm and dark brown. Urate mostly white. Sometimes a little orange.

Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No.

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? Cage is med reptibreeze. A few dowels and fake plants. Light 60w basking bulb and reptisun 5.0 7-7pm on timer.

Temperature*- What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)?appx 82f basking. 78 floor Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Digital therm.

Humidity*- What are your humidity levels? Around 70% How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Crappy guage.

Plants*- Are you using live plants? Not anymore. Took them out about a month ago after noticing a weird smell. Going to be going back in my new cage though. If so, what kind?

Placement*- Where is your cage located? In my den in front of a rarely opened window.

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? Appx 4-5 ft high.

Location*- Where are you geographically located? New york. Long island. Current Problem*-

The current problem you are concerned about. He seems to be slipping while climbing around.

Please excuse any errors. I'm on my phone. Its a pain on this thing.
 
Thanks for filling out the form. It is very helpful. Firstly you have a problem with your supplements. You need to dust lightly daily with plain calcium, calcium with d3 twice a month and a multivitamin twice a month. Crickets don't come gutloaded. You need to feed them with dry and veg for moisture daily. Check out sandrachameleons blogs, you will learn a lot. What you put into your feeders go into your Cham. Orange urates usually means dehydration , you need to up the mistings. When you put live plants in it will help with hydration and hold the spray better than plastic. Your temps could go up to around 90c but be careful he doesn't get burned. Humidity seems fine. It should spike to 70 several times a day.
 
Kate. Thanks for the advice. But how do you know crickets don't come gutloaded. I live up the block from a reptile store so I just buy crickets every few days. But they say they load their crickets. Yeah they could be lying or they could be a reputable shop that knows what they're doing.

I'm not disagreeing that I should be doing it myself. I was. Just kind of fell out of the routine.

Like I said. I do plan on putting the pothos and umbrella tree back in. Once the new cage is built. I guess I can just do it now.

Just put on the second coat of stain. Gonna let that sit for a few days then build the frame.
 
Kate. Thanks for the advice. But how do you know crickets don't come gutloaded. I live up the block from a reptile store so I just buy crickets every few days. But they say they load their crickets. Yeah they could be lying or they could be a reputable shop that knows what they're doing.

I'm not disagreeing that I should be doing it myself. I was. Just kind of fell out of the routine.

Like I said. I do plan on putting the pothos and umbrella tree back in. Once the new cage is built. I guess I can just do it now.

Just put on the second coat of stain. Gonna let that sit for a few days then build the frame.

Gutloaded just means a belly full of healthy food. Crickets will digest what they have eaten in a matter of hours, so it is important that they have access to high quality food right up to the moment you put them in your cham's cage for feeding. The gutload should be healthy fruits and veggies, along with a dry gutload like DinoFuel or cricket crack (or homemade based on Sandra's recipe). Pet stores usually just feed cornmeal or an inferior cricket food just to keep the crix alive. Even if they were still full when you fed them off, they would be full of empty calories.
 
Got it. I honestly thought he was doing great until I saw this falling thing. I really wish I could post pics. I haven't posted pics since I got him trying to find out how old you all thought he was. I don't know why the attachment button won't open anything.
 
Got it. I honestly thought he was doing great until I saw this falling thing. I really wish I could post pics. I haven't posted pics since I got him trying to find out how old you all thought he was. I don't know why the attachment button won't open anything.

I use photo bucket to download pics. It's good you ask questions mattj. Before I found this forum I was quite happy buying good quality crickets in bran with a little piece of carrot for moisture.:confused: Now my crickets are better fed than my family.:) also my locusts, silkworms,roaches.LOL
 
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