Sick Chameleon???

[chamymama]

I have a small juvenile veiled chameleon that I purchased last summer from a reptile show. He was very healthy. I have him in about a 20-30 gallon tank with a screen lid. I am using a hood that houses both his heat light (60 watt bulb) and the 5.0 UVB bulb. I have several vines and artificial plants for him to climb on. I feed him crickets daily and dust them with calcium. He gets misted 2-3 times daily and fecal seems fine.
He has a beautiful left side, completely green and healthy looking but his right side has bits of shed around a large brown area covering almost his whole right side. I bought some Jungle mist and have been misting him with that once a day in hopes it would raise humidity and the vitamins would help his condition. I am so worried about him, Please let me know why he has this big brown patch and what I can do to help,.

Also, I do not have a background for his cage yet, so it is possible that he is seeing his reflection (which I know can stress him out) and I also have a pug puppy who runs around our living room. My chameleon is about 4 foot off the ground on a "coffee table" So it is possible that seeing the dog is also stressing him out. I plan to buy a higher table soon and a jungle background for his cage to see if that helps, but I think his brown patch is due either to mal-nutrition or temperature/humidity. Any suggestions are appreciated! Thabnks

 

[serenitystarlite]

Can you post a picture of your chameleon and setup? It could be a burn, but it's hard to say without a picture.

 

[bridgofaith]

It is recommended they be housed in a screen enclosure, not a tank. A 60w bulb in a glass enclosure could be to hot and the spot could be a burn. Please post pictures of your chameleon. You already gave some of the info, but please fill out the form in this link with as much detail as possible. Such as the brand of lighting and supplements that you are using.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Julirs]

I would assume that you now have a 6-7 month old chameleon that does not belong in a tank of any size. As stated above, please get a screen cage. First, tanks do not provide the vertical space needed for an arboreal species. As stated above, the bulbs can heat up a glass space too quicky AND cause burns. Also-with no airflow, water buildup combined with heat can cause fungal or respiratory infections.

 

[Warrix642]

Sounds like you have the uvb bulb that is harmful. You need a screen enclosure and the long uvb tube quick! You are cooking your cham with a 60w in an enclosure tht small, use a 40w or even a 25w.

 

[chamymama]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled, about 8 months old maybe?,,,have had him since mid summer of last year.
Handling - I do not handle my male often, he seems not to like it and I do not want to stress him out.
Feeding - I feed him crickets that are fed with cheerios and flukers cricket diet. he is fed in the evening. about 3-4 crickets a feeding
Supplements - I use Tetra calcium with D3 to dust the crickets.
Watering - I use a mist bottle to spray him when I get up in the late afternoon and then in the early morning when I get home. I recently read that you can use ice cubes on the mesh top as dripper so I am starting to do that as well.
Fecal Description - thick and brown, some white. consistently. there has been no real change in fecal since he has been in my care. . Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? no I am not aware of a vet nearby that will see reptiles.


Cage Info:
Cage Type - 29 gallon glass tank with mesh lid.
Lighting - I have two chameleons so I alternate the light in between them every 12 hours. I use a reptisun brand 5.o UVB bulb (the long one) with a 60 watt bulb for heat. I was told 40-60 watts and the 40 was not getting the tank warm enough so I switched to 60.
Temperature - Floor is around 70-80 degrees and top (when lighted) is around 90. without light it is around 75-85.
Humidity - I have not gotten a humidity gauge yet. He is misted every day 2-3 times a day and Recently started using ice cube drip system.
Plants - I use artificial plants from petco and the black vine.
Placement - It is in my living room on the back wall not near any vents or doors. It is somewhat of a high traffic area. The top of the cage is about 3-4 ft from the ground. The tank sits on a 2-3 ft table. I will be purchasing a higher table soon however.
Location - southern indiana.

Thanks for all of the tips, I will be purchasing a screen cage within the next two wks and see how it goes.

 

[kinyonga]

I have to agree that the brown mark might be a burn..but we need pictures to confirm it.

Regarding your husbandry/set-up...
You said..."I feed him crickets that are fed with cheerios and flukers cricket diet"...I gutload/feed crickets a wide assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, celery leaves, etc.)

I'm not familiar with the Tetra calcium/D3....but I would be careful with the D3 since D3 from supplements can build up in the system. I dust the insects with a phosphorus-free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phos. in most feeder insects. I dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder and twice a month with a vitamin powder with a beta carotene source of vitamin A which won't build up in the system. If the chameleon needs a preformed vitamin A, it can be given separately and controlled so that there is no build up of it.

Ice cubes are cold so it would be better if you used a deli cup with a tiny hole in the bottom of it for a dripper. It should drip at the rate of about 2 drops per second.

The minimum size cage I would recommend for this chameleon would be 18" x 24" x 24". There is no problem IMHO with glass cages with a vent in the front and a screen lid if you live in a cool climate as long as you set the basking light up in one corner or to one side of the cage and make sure that there is no water left laying stagnant on the floor of the cage.

You said..."I have two chameleons so I alternate the light in between them every 12 hours"...what do you mean by this??

 

[Carlton]

Just to start off, that's not a great gutload recipe missing a lot of nutrients. Each cham needs exposure to the ReptiSun light every day for 12 hours.

 

[chamymama]

I will try and post a pic this weekend. By "alternating the light between my two chameleons" I mean... I have a naturalistic hood that houses a heat bulb and a UVB buld both. I leave it on one chameleon for 12 hours and then move it to the other for 12 hours. I just ordered a new hood so I can move the chameleons closer together and hook both hoods up to a timer. I know they do not like to see each other So what should I use in between the "new screen cages" to keep that from happening??? Also, I ordered some jars of calcium fortified cricket food and will start gut loading them with fruits and veggies. You all are life savers!!! Thank you so much for all of your comments!!!

 

[kinyonga]

So you leave the lights on one all day and the other all night?? What is the temperature in the cage when it has no light on it? I'm glad to hear you are correcting this problem.

You can use any number of things between the two cages as long as they can't see each other. There is a plastic that looks like corigated (sp?) cardboard that works well...you can also buy a reed beach mat at the dollar stores that looks quite nice between the cages...plastic shower curtain cut to fit works well too.

 

[Carlton]

By "alternating the light between my two chameleons" I mean... I have a naturalistic hood that houses a heat bulb and a UVB buld both. I leave it on one chameleon for 12 hours and then move it to the other for 12 hours. I just ordered a new hood so I can move the chameleons closer together and hook both hoods up to a timer. So what should I use in between the "new screen cages" to keep that from happening??? Also, I ordered some jars of calcium fortified cricket food and will start gut loading them with fruits and veggies.

Another question about your particular lights. The heat bulbs can be regular incandescent light bulbs (one per cage?). But, if your "UVB" bulb is also an incandescent type it probably doesn't produce the right amount of type of UV light they need. Many so called "full spectrum" bulbs don't. The safest and reliable type of UV bulb is a ReptiSun 5.0 linear fluorescent tube light. BOTH chams will need 12 hours of exposure to the UV every day. Will your new hood take this type?

To keep them from seeing each other you can hang a piece of opaque sheeting, cheesecloth, cardboard, or plastic between the cages to block their view. Doesn't have to be fancy.

 

[jojackson]

Switching the lighting in that way could work, but I forsee some problems to overcome.
Folk have and do give animals a photoperiod opposit the natural sometimes, for example, a nightshift worker decides he/she wants to see their lizard active.
However, switching a diurnal lizards photoperiod can present its own set of issues, and some species may simply not adjust well.
Your main issues however will be twofold.
Since your In the US and its currently winter, ambient temps I assume will be cool even in the day. You may combat this by keeping a room darkened and providing ambient heat from a radiator, BUT, chameleons appreciate a drop in temperatures during their 'night'.
Since its a captive, and you will want to be warm, If your home has central heating it may be difficult to keep one room cool.
Secondly If you house them in the same room, Light from the 'Day' chams enclosure, will upset the 'night' chams photoperiod.
Photoperiod is very important and unatural condition (light hrs at night) may prevent your diurnal lizard sleeping, cause it stress, it may refuse to eat and become ill after a time.
For these reasons I would strongly suggest you purchase apt lighting for the other lizard as soon as you can and synchronise the lighting of both with a timer.