I have a 6 month old veiled chameleon. She is usually up and about all day.... moving around, climbing, eating, drinking, ect. Lately she has been much more lazy and has even been taking naps during the day (I have been catching her with her eyes closed frequently even when shes not sleeping). She hasnt been eating much at all either. She really doesnt appear to be too weak because when she does climb she doesnt really have a problem but I know something is wrong with her because this is definitely not how she acts. I have been thinking that I should maybe switch up her food from mealworms back to crickets because I havent dont that in quite some time and maybe she is going on a hunger strike? The problem is that I have a few holes in my cage from my cat, which allows the crickets to get out so I would rather not go back to crickets until I make a new cage which will be asap. BUT even if she is going on a hunger strike..... this still doesnt explain her sleeping during the day?? I dont really have the money to take her to the vet so im stressing out. I dont understand whats going on. I have been misting her many times a day to make sure she isnt dehydrated. She also has a dripper for water. Once I mist her she moves around but then goes right back to sleep a few minutes later. Could it have something to do with the temperature rising recently where I live because of summer? Right now her cage is at 90 degrees F and 50 % humidity and she is sleeping on the side screen of her cage. Please help.
sleeping during the day. not eating. HELP!
- Thread starter codyp
- Start date
pantherlover
New Member
all your feeding is mealworms? thats not good. they arent a good choice of feeder. what is your dusting schedule? what kind of lights are you using? what is your lighting schedule?crickets are a great feeder because they are easily gutloaded with all the stuff a cham needs. better choices of feeder other than crickets would be roaches, silk worms, horn worms, butter worms & super worms. im afraid to ask about the holes the cat made in the cage
your chams eyes closing could be due to a number of things like lights or how you are dusting your feeders. meal worms every day definately not a good thing tho. only speculating since i dont have very much info to go off. fill out the how to ask for help form & maybe more people will chime in and give you some pointers...
your chams eyes closing could be due to a number of things like lights or how you are dusting your feeders. meal worms every day definately not a good thing tho. only speculating since i dont have very much info to go off. fill out the how to ask for help form & maybe more people will chime in and give you some pointers...
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy Cody,
(I see you found your way here from the other site!)
The list is pretty long and the downward slope can be pretty slippery for what could be going wrong but it is usually a husbandry related issue in the end that needs to be corrected. It could be as simple as calcium/vitamin D3 and proper UVB (Reptisun 5.0 linear tube) lighting are not being provided at optimum levels, if at all :-(. Mistakes here can lead to MBD (metabolic bone disease) but can first manifest itself with symptoms similar to what you have described. Other than a visit to a qualified exotic vet, your best bet is to post the answers to: https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ along with plenty of photos of her and her enclosure setup. It is critical to post the brand and model UVB light that you are using as well as how far away it is located from her basking spot. Just to be sure; there must not be any glass or plastic between the UVB tube's surface (only the encosure's screen is ok) and your chameleon or else the UVB will be completely filtered out and thus have ZERO effect.
(I see you found your way here from the other site!)
The list is pretty long and the downward slope can be pretty slippery for what could be going wrong but it is usually a husbandry related issue in the end that needs to be corrected. It could be as simple as calcium/vitamin D3 and proper UVB (Reptisun 5.0 linear tube) lighting are not being provided at optimum levels, if at all :-(. Mistakes here can lead to MBD (metabolic bone disease) but can first manifest itself with symptoms similar to what you have described. Other than a visit to a qualified exotic vet, your best bet is to post the answers to: https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ along with plenty of photos of her and her enclosure setup. It is critical to post the brand and model UVB light that you are using as well as how far away it is located from her basking spot. Just to be sure; there must not be any glass or plastic between the UVB tube's surface (only the encosure's screen is ok) and your chameleon or else the UVB will be completely filtered out and thus have ZERO effect.
I dust every other day with reptocal and I use a 10.0 24 in. Zoo Med UVB bulb, 75 wt basking lamp, 75 wt heat lamp, all from Zoo Med. My lighting schedule is 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.. Her cage is all screen and is about 30 in tall and 15 in wide. I know that feeding her mealworms all the time isnt a good thing to do but like I said my cage has a few holes in it so I do not want crickets to get out. But I think I am going to try some of the cup tricks I have been looking up and hopefully that will keep the crickets from getting out. I still dont understand why she is sleeping during the day tho?
Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon. female. 6 months old. in my care for about 3 1/2 maybe 4. never had a problem untill recently.
Handling - not often, maybe once a week at most.
Feeding - meal worms at the moment because of cage issues (which may be my problem). usually switch off between meal worms and crickets. crickets mostly.
Supplements - reptocal and i use it every other day.
Watering - I have a dripper for her to drink from throughout the day and I mist her about 5 times a day for a good 15 seconds or so.
Fecal Description - mostly dark. some white. variety of shapes and sizes.
History - she has always been active and has always eaten a lot. she has been sleeping during the day and not eating as much within the past week.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen. 30 in high 15 in wide.
Lighting - Zoo Med for all my lights. 10.0 UVB 24 in. bulb. 75 wt. basking lamp. 75 wt. heat lamp. 12 hours of light, 12 hours of night. 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Temperature - bottom to middle of the cage is around 90 degrees F and the top is high 90s to 100.
Humidity - currently 50 % humidity. I have a thermometer in the cage.
Plants - none but i have been thinking about getting one to see if she will eat it.
Placement - top of my dressar. the top of the cage is about 70 in off the ground.
Location - midwest. chicago suburbs.
Current Problem - sleeping during the day and not eating nearly as much.
Handling - not often, maybe once a week at most.
Feeding - meal worms at the moment because of cage issues (which may be my problem). usually switch off between meal worms and crickets. crickets mostly.
Supplements - reptocal and i use it every other day.
Watering - I have a dripper for her to drink from throughout the day and I mist her about 5 times a day for a good 15 seconds or so.
Fecal Description - mostly dark. some white. variety of shapes and sizes.
History - she has always been active and has always eaten a lot. she has been sleeping during the day and not eating as much within the past week.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - screen. 30 in high 15 in wide.
Lighting - Zoo Med for all my lights. 10.0 UVB 24 in. bulb. 75 wt. basking lamp. 75 wt. heat lamp. 12 hours of light, 12 hours of night. 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Temperature - bottom to middle of the cage is around 90 degrees F and the top is high 90s to 100.
Humidity - currently 50 % humidity. I have a thermometer in the cage.
Plants - none but i have been thinking about getting one to see if she will eat it.
Placement - top of my dressar. the top of the cage is about 70 in off the ground.
Location - midwest. chicago suburbs.
Current Problem - sleeping during the day and not eating nearly as much.
reptoman
Avid Member
HI Cody and welcome to the forums! Your temps are way too high. The basking spot should be 85 and the bottom should be in the low 70s. If it is 90 all the way to the bottom you are overheating your cage. I would go to a smaller wattage bulb for the basking spot and ditch the heatlamp. The basking spot with a regular household bulb (60 watt) is plenty of heat.
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy Cody,
Although none of this may solve your current problem, here's some thoughts... Oh, post photos if at all possible
!Reptocal delivers a "middle-of the-road" dose of D3. It also contains vitamin A which is ok if not overdosed (how much is too much
?). I'm tempted to recommend using the Reptocal once or twice a month and using something like RepCal/D3 and RepCal w/oD3 in its place on other dusting days. You could also use Miner-All, with and without D3, alternating it with the RepCal. These products have levels of D3 that vary greatly, even by as much as several hundred times eek so you wouldn't necessarily get the same dosage effect from them. It's hard to decide which ones are "THE" ones to use so rotating various brands is what some keepers do to spreadout the potential effects .How far away from her basking spot is the Reptisun 10.0 linear tube located? How old is the tube?
I think you probably don't need the extra 75W heat lamp and that the 75W basking lamp is enough to keep a baskng temp at 85-90F. I like flood-style basking lights instead of spot-types. No added heat is required at night either.
What part of the world are you located?
I think you are right about reptocal because i often have to take a few days break from using it because she sometimes gets crystals around her nostrils so i know she is getting too much. I will definitely look into the miner-all and the repcal/d3`s. her basking spot is about 6 inches away from the 10.0 tube and the tube itself is about 3 months old. I got everything at the same time that I got her which was about 3 months ago. I live in the midwest. Chicago suburbs. I do not have a camera at hand otherwise I would definitely take some pictures to show u exactly what is going on with her. Right now she is at the top of her cage just sitting on the side screen sleeping. She opens her eyes every once in a while but for the most part she just sits around now
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy Cody,
The tricky part here is determining just what the temps really are at the basking spot
. I'd aim at setting the basking area temp to produce a skin temp of around 85-90F and let the enclosure's temp gradient fall from there through the lower portions of the enclosure. You can use a low-cost infrared temp gun so that you can measure her actual skin temp while she's basking. That goes a lot farther towards properly setting basking temps than just testing with a probe, or worse yet, an analog gauge . These infrared temp guns can be found for as low as $10 (but only 1:1 D:S ratio) with $20-$50 (6:1) being typical.Example of a reasonably priced unit with 6:1 D:S ratio for $20
http://www.harborfreight.com/infrared-thermometer-93984.html
One of our site sponsors - LLLReptile with another 6:1 unit that includes a few more features like "max hold".
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...timers/-/infrared-temperature-gun-with-laser/
reptoman
Avid Member
You're very welcome. Post pics of your setup when you get a chance. Another note on the basking lamp, I found it useful to have a place to clip the light onto so you have the option of raising or lowering it when the temps fluctuate. I screwed a small wooded shelf to the wall with one screw so I could tilt the shelf to raise the light so the basking spot did not get too hot. When it gets colder, I lower it...i think you get the idea keep us posted on the progress. Good luck!
keep us posted on the progress. Good luck!
Dave Weldon
Avid Member
Howdy Brian,
No problem
. It takes me quite a while to formulate a response and on top of that, I'm a slow typist . I'm an ARPA: Anal Retentive Painfully Analytic .I turned her lights on this morning as usual and I just now got home from work. She is currently sleeping and hasnt moved much at all since I turned them on. It seems like she is getting worse day by day, sleeping more and more. I got her cage temps down from 90-100 (yesterday) to 80-90 (today). I am going to go out and buy some crickets and throw them in a tall/narrow cup so that they can not jump out. I am pretty much out of ideas if the crickets dont get her attention. This could very well be her last week or so with me if I dont figure something out quick. Any last ideas??
panthercham
New Member
Post some photos of her and her enclosure.....pictures can tell so much more on whats going on.
Does she have a laying bucket to lay eggs? She is at the age where she could be producing eggs and will need somewhere to lay.
Does she have a laying bucket to lay eggs? She is at the age where she could be producing eggs and will need somewhere to lay.
I do not have a camera otherwise I would. I am going to try barrow one so I can post some pictures. I just ran up to petco to get her crickets thinking maybe they would get her attention and make her eat since she hasnt had them in a few weeks and by the time I got back she is now awake, eating mealworms, and appears to be alright. I am going to throw some crickets in a cup with a light dusting of reptocal. I have called just about every vet in my area and basically none of them deal with chameleons that much. I was told I could bring her in for an exam but why would I do that if they dont even seem like they will be able to help any more than you guys on this website? I am going to keep trying my own ways with the advice from you guys and hopefully she will stay awake and keep eating!! Any other ideas?
jessica
Avid Member
Hi Cody,
Couple questions
When was the last time she had a bowel movement?
You said you mist her 5 times for 15 sec? I know you said her urates are white but may be give her a nice long warm mist. This could help her pass a BM(if she hasn't in a while).
I'm not sure if the weather is decent in Chicago but some good ole sunshine does wonders.
Oh and if you have a few bucks I have seen screen repair kits at hardware stores. They are not pretty but they will hold in crickets.
Couple questions
When was the last time she had a bowel movement?
You said you mist her 5 times for 15 sec? I know you said her urates are white but may be give her a nice long warm mist. This could help her pass a BM(if she hasn't in a while).
I'm not sure if the weather is decent in Chicago but some good ole sunshine does wonders.
Oh and if you have a few bucks I have seen screen repair kits at hardware stores. They are not pretty but they will hold in crickets
.Jessica,
Thank you very much for your input. She is currently moving around like normal and is eating the crickets I put in the cup!!! This is the first time I have put the cup in her cage with crickets in it so I am very surprised at how she immediately went for it!! Looks like we are slowly making progress!! I will keep you guys posted!!
Any more ideas are greatly appreciated.
Thank you very much for your input. She is currently moving around like normal and is eating the crickets I put in the cup!!! This is the first time I have put the cup in her cage with crickets in it so I am very surprised at how she immediately went for it!! Looks like we are slowly making progress!!
I will keep you guys posted!! Any more ideas are greatly appreciated.
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