Sobe Update :]

[JuAPple]

alright so i have almost 1 month since i got sobe my veiled chameleon. alrigh tso i was going to wait to post this up but since i was going to ask this question and was going to post pictures of him i just did both at once :]

my question is: does he look good to you guys? as in healthy with no problems etc.?

the reason why i ask is because it has been two days that he has been going to sleep 3 hours early. he used to move around more but now he just goes to his basking spot and stays there then he ussually goes to the plants and starts to close his eyes this happens around 4:00 pm. before he used to move around more than he has been these two days. he used to go to the basking spot stya there for a while bout 1 hour or so then came down the vine from his basking spot to the plants hid there then went back up again and the cycle goes on. at around 6:30pm he started to stay in one branch and curled his tail and closed his eyes even if the lights were on. now he does this 3 hours early. if i spray inside the cage he ignores it even if he gets water on him. before when i used to spray water he ran away from the mist even if he was asleep he woke up and ran, now he just keeps his eyes shut. his colors remain the same, nothing changed. here are the update pictures.
is all this normal?

by the way his cage is 82 degrees and his basking spot is around 90. i was told that 90 was to hot for baby veileds but the breeder told me 90 was good for him and that's how he was keeping them. the humidity is 50-60 i like keeping it around 55-60 since i was recomended to do so.

the lights go on at 6 am and off at 7pm both the basking and UVB (set on a timer)

plants: umbrella tree, pothos, spider plant, this plant that is all leaves big long ones (small plant right now but i know they get bigger) the color is green yellow and reddish on the leaves. do not know the name of the plant but i know it is safe since i have read about it here on the forums.


when i take him out of his cage he turns like this for a few minutes but turns back to his green colors. as you can see in most of the pictures taken he has his eyes closed..:/

http://api.photoshop.com/home_fe5c8...be-px-assets/035e37c7ceb84cd49c59e60dcfa5846b

http://api.photoshop.com/home_fe5c8...be-px-assets/6790f77469784288a940ae8d7d0f2231

http://api.photoshop.com/home_fe5c8...be-px-assets/65e9a442c50549cc99ee1e47a77ac684

this is how he turns right when he gets taken out of his cage

http://api.photoshop.com/home_fe5c8...be-px-assets/b0d36207097049ad9771974ff6679b7b

his origional colors (the color he is when he is inside the cage and ever since i got him)

http://api.photoshop.com/home_fe5c8...be-px-assets/022e4f64af2a41c690fdfd28e036959a

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

how old is he

 

[JuAPple]

he is about 14 weeks-13. i got him when he was about 6-7 weeks

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

oh a little baby ;P love to see pictures of his enclosure

 

[JuAPple]

based opn the pictures i posted up right now does he look fine? how about his descriptions on how he has been acting these past two days? can you tell me anything on that ...? i am getting pretty scared at this point not knowing why he is acting the way he is or if it is normal.

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

he does look dehydrated as i look at the rest of the pictures. Mist his cage more often

 

[dodolah]

He looks fine to me. i would say for the eye try to make it a little more humid in there so he cools down a bit and see if that helps. I know people put their chams on a plant and focus the shower nozzle or whatever you call it on the plant and water can wash out his eye. If you mist his cage and wet him a bit and some gets in his eyes, i was told that will help wash it out, but don't do it ever single day. What kind of UVB are you using? Repti-sun 5.0?

Sorry, Clea.
I beg to differ.
He does not look fine to me at all. Those eyes looked terribly sunken.
At the very best situation, he is severely dehydrated.

This should be in the health clinic forum.
I'll move it for you. and, can you fill in this questionnaire:
Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


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?


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.
* Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful

 

[JuAPple]

YIKES! VERY? that is odd he drinks a lot of water A LOT! how can you tell he is dehydrated...? i knew he was a bit but did not know he was a lot! his poop is white with about 1 yellow dot in the middle.

when i turn on his dripper he drinks water i turn it on at 6 am. and turn it off at 4 pm. like i mentioned before on the other thread i mist his cage every hour untill the humid levels go up to 55 or 60. takes about 2 minutes or so

 

[CleaTheChameleon]

Sorry, Clea.
I beg to differ.
He does not look fine to me at all. Those eyes looked terribly sunken.
At the very best situation, he is severely dehydrated.

This should be in the health clinic forum.
I'll move it for you. and, can you fill in this questionnaire:
Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information, you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


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?


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.
* Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful

sorry i didn't notice that he was dehydrated as i only looked at one picture. You are correct he also looks skinny

 

[dodolah]

YIKES! VERY? that is odd he drinks a lot of water A LOT! how can you tell he is dehydrated...? i knew he was a bit but did not know he was a lot! his poop is white with about 1 yellow dot in the middle.

when i turn on his dripper he drinks water i turn it on at 6 am. and turn it off at 4 pm. like i mentioned before on the other thread i mist his cage every hour untill the humid levels go up to 55 or 60. takes about 2 minutes or so

http://chamworld.blogspot.com/2008/01/health-section-dehydration.html

Chameleon's eyes should not be that sunken.

I think you should try to make an appointment with a vet soon.
www.herpvetconnection.com

In the meantime, please fill in the Qs so we can help you better.
The sleeping 3 hours before lights off and the fact that he eyes are sunken deep like that trouble me.

 

[JuAPple]

OH no! alright so what can i do to help him out? and about how long does it take for him to get back to health hydrated. i do not understand though i see him drink water from leaves where the dripper drips water is where he drinks water from. the drips drip ever 2.4 seconds (i timed it) will it take long to hydrate him? and how can i speed the process?

 

[JuAPple]

ok i saw and read that article and the picture of trhe chameleon with the eyes sucken in is really bad! my chameleon's eyes do not look a thing like those.. which is a bit of relief. his eyes are sucken but not that much compared to those in the article. his poop is not soggy or really watery eitehr it is about in between it is white though.

 

[dodolah]

OH no! alright so what can i do to help him out? and about how long does it take for him to get back to health hydrated. i do not understand though i see him drink water from leaves where the dripper drips water is where he drinks water from. the drips drip ever 2.4 seconds (i timed it) will it take long to hydrate him? and how can i speed the process?

I guess I have to apologize making you into panic mode. But, panicking is not constructive to the situation.
Best tocalm down a abit and fill in the Qs first.
Otherwise, it will be like taking a jab in a dark room.
The pic in my blog is a critical case. The chameleon died within hours when the owner asked for help.
when chams drink excessively, it should be a sign for problem also.
Have he ever got a fecal check for parasites?

 

[JuAPple]

okn here are the answers to the questions:

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - screen, aluminum, 16x25x30?
* Lighting - light brand: repti sun 5.0, schedule 6am-7pm. basking light regular hous bulb 60 watt
* Temperature - 83 during the day and at night 74-78. meassured with a zoomed digital thermometer
* Humidity - humidity low 50, keep it at 55 and highes 60, measured with a humidity meater. use spray bottle and dripper(if a dripper counts)
* Plants - live plants are used. umbrella plant, pothos, and spider plant
* Placement - from the top of the cage to the bottom of the floor it is 6 "3" tall. located away from air vents, sat on top of a 3 "5" book case.
* Location - Souther California


Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon - have had it for a month, male veiled cham. about 12-13 weeks old
* Handling - not very often, rarely to be exact
* Feeding - feed it crickets, add 10 in there. gut load them with potatos, fruit and cricket feeder
* Supplements - dust with pink repti cal D3, dust once a month
* Watering - i see my cham drink all the time for short periods of time about 4 minutes where the dripper drips he stays for 4 minutes. dripper drips on a umbrella plant leaf. mist the cage with spray bottle for about 2 mnts.
* Fecal Description - i do not know if it has been tested for parasites, i've had it for a month and the breader did not say anything about parasite if he did i do not remember . poop is brown with white and some yellow dot(s)
* History - no.
* Current Problem - seems to be dehydrated by the comments i have been getting :[. i am not sure if his eyes are closed because of him being dehydrated or because he goes to sleep early now i am confused. he closes his eyes and curls his tail at around 4:30 pm almost 3 hours before lights out

 

[dodolah]

I have to go soon; but, i'll be back in couple of hours to comment.

the dehydration comment was made based on the pic alone. Now, with the Qs answered, we can get a better picture of the situation. I am making an assumption based only on the sunken eyes.

 

[JuAPple]

i hope he isnt to dehydrated..:[ i read a dehydration thread on teh clinic on this forum as well, he described the poop like i did nad someone said it was not a severe dehydration problem unless it was orange. which his poop is not :]. the best i can do for now is mist. mist mist... :/ right now he is hanging on the corner of the cage and is green with yellow spots (his ussual resting colors)

 

[dodolah]

i hope he isnt to dehydrated..:[ i read a dehydration thread on teh clinic on this forum as well, he described the poop like i did nad someone said it was not a severe dehydration problem unless it was orange. which his poop is not :]. the best i can do for now is mist. mist mist... :/ right now he is hanging on the corner of the cage and is green with yellow spots (his ussual resting colors)

Yellow urate is still a sign of dehydration.
If he is sleeping then don't mist him.
May I suggest tomorrow upping his misting session and use the dripper as well.
Another thing you can try is feeding him high water content insects such as Hornworms and silkworms.
Is the 83 F the ambient temp? or is it the basking temp?

 

[JuAPple]

it is the temp. of the inside of the cage. the basking temp is around 90. when i spary it drops to about 70s. if he is sleeping i should'nt mist? oh no i misted his cage just a sec ago. since i am worried i have been misting every 15 minutes now. i do not know where he poops thoguh since the cage has plants it is hard to find the poop. as for the dripper i leave it on from 6 am-4pm sometimes i forget to turn it OFF and end up turning it off about 5 30 pm but really doe not matter to much since the pot of the umbrella plant gets the drops of water and the pot is on a plastic dish that collects water which does not even get close to filling up, it only gets filled about 2 inches which is about a pencil's eraser length. how often should i spray in the cage? every hour for 5 minutes? or more or less?

 

[dodolah]

it is the temp. of the inside of the cage. the basking temp is around 90. when i spary it drops to about 70s. if he is sleeping i should'nt mist? oh no i misted his cage just a sec ago. since i am worried i have been misting every 15 minutes now. i do not know where he poops thoguh since the cage has plants it is hard to find the poop. as for the dripper i leave it on from 6 am-4pm sometimes i forget to turn it OFF and end up turning it off about 5 30 pm but really doe not matter to much since the pot of the umbrella plant gets the drops of water and the pot is on a plastic dish that collects water which does not even get close to filling up, it only gets filled about 2 inches which is about a pencil's eraser length. how often should i spray in the cage? every hour for 5 minutes? or more or less?

83 ambient temp is a bit high.
especially since SoCal has been hit by heatwaves lately.
I usually give my baby veiled a hot spot around 85 F and try my best to keep the ambient temp to not exceed 80F.
how accurate is your thermometer?

the analog ones like this are terrible:

I recommend using the digital one like this (available at walmart or lowes around 12 bucks):

I recommend misting at least twice a day 5 minutes/ session.
But, lately due to the dry and hot condition of Socal, I upped the misting to 5 times a day.
You want the cage to be dry in between misting.
Giving him excessive mistings is not good either.
Do keep using the dripper so that he has access to water as much as he wants.

 

[JuAPple]

no i do not use that type of thermometer, i use digital by zoomed but it also does not look like that bulky it is just a thermometer not those thermometer and humidity meter all in one. just a thermometer DIGITAL. i keep my cham inside not out, yes it is true we have had very hot days lately up to 112 being the highest THIS WEEK, last week it got as high as 115... anyhow the breeder said it was ok for it to be 70-80 in the morning and about 70-60 at night. i bought my cham. from these forums from lance, his cham. are awesome, they look very healthy too. anyhow i have been following most of his instruction the ones i could follow, the ones i cant are the auto. mister since i haven't purchased one yet. my cham. diet is nothing but crickets but i just ordered a pod of 50 small silkworms which i been wanting to do for a while.

so should i mist 5 times a day or 2 times? like i said i keep my cham. inside my room, the AC is on and it is kept at a cool 78 degrees. his cage is 83 being the hottest it gets. he ussually is at the top of the cage right under the basking light, for a while i thought his cage was too cold since that is where he ussually is under the light.