thin dull and shriveled..

K

kodycorduan

New Member
Ok so I've had Shakespeare about a week or so and he doesn't seem to be making any headway. He road home with us and was very bright. I built a cage for him 3 x 2 x 2, and since he went in he hides himself anytime we walk by. He is up high in the loft, so I don't believe there is any enclosure problem. I have not seen him eat or drink, which makes sense cause I haven't really seen him!! There has been some poop, but not much. I mist thouroughly, allow it to dry before misting again and have a dripper (1x per second).
He doesn't look very good, though I know they will thin out to hide, he still hasn't gotten his beautiful color back, except at night. I gave him several days of towels over the cage, and after that have put my hand in the cage to offer crix or add a vine or mist etc.. to assure him I'm no threat. My worry is that he is looking a bit scraggly. Any thoughts are welcomed.
Oh and he has a uvb strip light and basking light, a very large live plant and a smaller one at the bottom.
(my profile pic is another cham)

gratsi!
 
How old is he? Filling out the form "how to ask for help" stickied in the health section might help others be able to respond. If he's too young/small he might be having a hard time finding food unless you are cup feeding him.
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Veiled Chameleon. He is about 6 inches nose to vent. I have had him for about a week.

Handling - None, except the ride home. He was bright and active.

Feeding - Gutloaded (greens, carrots, dog food and some fruit) crickets. I haven't seen him eat, but do believe he has eaten a few.. or at least I'm hopeful (Sometimes they get out of the wire enclosure, which my wife does not appreciate, ha.)

Supplements - Zoo med without d3

Watering - Have not seen him drink. I mist thoughroughly at least twice a day. I have 2 pothos (one very large) which keep a lot of humidity, and a dripper bottle on top.

Fecal Description - I thought there was some.. turns out it was just a clump of soil from the plant.
History - Past owner said he ate fine and was no problem to handle.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 3x2x2 custom built wire screen cage

Lighting - 12 hours of light 10 - 10. big halogen heat lamp and exo terra repti-glo10.0

Temperature - Infrared temp gun. roughly 95 at bask spot to 70 on the bottom and inside large pothos. I'm in southern california so my upstairs house temps don't drop below 60s

Humidity - I believe my digital hygrometer is off, so I'm not sure exactly. My worry is that the wire cage doesn't hold any humidity, which is why I supplemented by adding two live plants. I also mist everything at least twice a day very thoughroughly. 2 pothos, one very large. one med size on the floor.




Placement - Cage is upstairs in the loft area above the main room. No fans or vents. Not much traffic. about 10 feet off the floor

Location - Los Angeles, CA


Current Problem - He is thin and dark. I haven't seen him eat or drink. When I got him he looked nice and healthy (which maybe he was putting on as a defense) He is still active, moving around his cage.. more and more in the last few days. But let him see you come near his cage and he'll turn to hide.

I've attached pictures of him, his cage and the location.
IMAG0200.jpg

IMAG0201.jpg

IMAG0203.jpg

IMAG0204.jpg
 
he'll be the death of me

Oh and if my hand gets to close for comfort he stops hiding and threatens me with a very wide mouth. I'm just very confused because he is so bright at night, and active all day, but doesn't seem to want food, and is terrified of me. He is definitely looking thinner, he just had his shed.. and there is a bit left on his nose. But he is extremely anti human, which he WAS NOT with the previous owner.
So please HELP!? :eek:

thanks
 
The fact that he is active and colourful at night is a good sign. I would drop your temps to high 80s. To keep the humidity you could cover the sides of the viv with shower curtain. You don't need to have the humidity stable but allow it to peak and fall several times a day. You need to give his feeders a dust with calcium with d3 and a multivitamin twice a month. I would advise you to check out Sandrachameleons gut loading blog. You need dry and moist to provide fluid to feeder. Stop using dog food as it is too high in protein and not good for your Cham. You could vary his insects. Are you cup feeding? That way they may not escape the same. A week is not long for him to settle in a new environment. Give him time. Mine sulks for weeks if I change a plant in his viv.:)
 
OK thanks for the info, I'll see if any of that helps. I know a week isn't really too long, but physically he is looking worse. I've got his cage outside today for some natural sunlight, I know that can do wonders for most reptiles. I got a glass bowl put in there just now, suspended by his favorite spot and easy to get to. I have one cricket in there, so we'll see, he appears to not be able to get out.. which is hilarious actually, so if he's missing then Shakespeare must have had lunch.
 
I'm not sure if one cricket will tempt him. I usually have a squirming mass and that often tempts him. Hate to say it but see through glass couldn't cause problems as he may try to strike from the outside. :D
 
Well he's going to stay outside for the next week to see if the sun is his best medicine! Got a red lamp on him at night just to keep the temp in the upper 50's at night and plenty of foliage to regulate his heat during the day. Great wire cage to keep any hungry critters out!
 
Can the red light. If you need to keep the temps up, get a ceramic heat emitter...screws into a lightbulb outlet, gives heat but no light. Studies done by people here have proven that the red lights are disruptive.

Sun is the best thing for him.

I'm concerned about his water. Is he getting a dripper through the rest of the day? I think you want water available for hours at a time. A dripper can just be a plastic bottle or cup full of water with a hole poked in it.

I wouldn't use a clear bowl as a feeding bowl. You can use a milk bottle cut down or any number of other things that are not transparent.

Concentrate on getting water to him. That's often a big sticking point with chameleons. Please let us know how he is doing.
 
Thank you very much for the great information. You guys are definitely making me feel more confident in dealing with him. Can you post some links to the research the shows non white lights (red specifically) to be disruptive to their sleep. Not that I don't believe it.. I've already got a ceramic for him.. I just like to know the info myself.
I will be changing the cricket bowl today as well!
He does have a drip bottle on the cage and I mist him very thoughroughly several times a day. I did find poop on a leaf. Who knows how many mistings it has gone through, so not too much left. But, I posted a picture.
Thanks again!

IMAG0212.jpg
 
Haha. Welcome to the steep learning curve. Urates are a bit yellow but I wouldn't worry too much. As you say you don't know how long it's been there. They tend to yellow if old inside or out:D The only info I have about red lights at night is that a chameleon has a parietal eye on the top of its head that can detect light and disturb sleep.
 
wow. Weird. I guess they are part of the illuminati then... shhhhh
Thanks for the info though!! I'll start my googling! He still hasn't eaten btw.
Ugh, I just got through this with my frilled dragon, and now it starts all over with the veiled huh. Well anything anyone can think of I am very grateful for the info.
 
kodycorduan said:
Well he's going to stay outside for the next week to see if the sun is his best medicine! Got a red lamp on him at night just to keep the temp in the upper 50's at night and plenty of foliage to regulate his heat during the day. Great wire cage to keep any hungry critters out!
Click to expand...

I'm pretty new to chameleons so don't get mad if I'm wrong. But I've read a lot that lights on at night are a bad idea, even red ones, because it will keep them up (I had a night UV light on for mine, and people said it was a horrible idea). I also just read that if it is getting to cold (below 50) at night then use a ceramic heat emitter.
 
kodycorduan said:
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Veiled Chameleon. He is about 6 inches nose to vent. I have had him for about a week.

Handling - None, except the ride home. He was bright and active.

Feeding - Gutloaded (greens, carrots, dog food and some fruit) crickets. I haven't seen him eat, but do believe he has eaten a few.. or at least I'm hopeful (Sometimes they get out of the wire enclosure, which my wife does not appreciate, ha.)
You don't want to gutload w/ dog food because it can cause gout in chameleons. just stick with veggies and fruit. That can get kind of consuming so you might want to check into getting some premade gutload such as Kricket Feast, Cricket Crack, or Dino Fuel.

Supplements - Zoo med without d3
There are 3 supplements you need to use:
1. Calcium w/o d3~ use every day
2. Calcium w/ d3~ use twice a month
3. Multivitamin~ such as herptivite, also twice a month

Watering - Have not seen him drink. I mist thoughroughly at least twice a day. I have 2 pothos (one very large) which keep a lot of humidity, and a dripper bottle on top.
Do you have a hygrometer in your cage? You may need to up your mistings or just buy an automatic mister such as the mistking or aqua zamp..

Fecal Description - I thought there was some.. turns out it was just a clump of soil from the plant.
History - Past owner said he ate fine and was no problem to handle.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - 3x2x2 custom built wire screen cage

Lighting - 12 hours of light 10 - 10. big halogen heat lamp and exo terra repti-glo10.0
Lights are very important: You should be using a repti-sun 5.0. The 10.0 give off too much UVB/UVA and can cause damage to the eyes.
Temperature - Infrared temp gun. roughly 95 at bask spot to 70 on the bottom and inside large pothos. I'm in southern california so my upstairs house temps don't drop below 60s

Humidity - I believe my digital hygrometer is off, so I'm not sure exactly. My worry is that the wire cage doesn't hold any humidity, which is why I supplemented by adding two live plants. I also mist everything at least twice a day very thoughroughly. 2 pothos, one very large. one med size on the floor.




Placement - Cage is upstairs in the loft area above the main room. No fans or vents. Not much traffic. about 10 feet off the floor

Location - Los Angeles, CA


Current Problem - He is thin and dark. I haven't seen him eat or drink. When I got him he looked nice and healthy (which maybe he was putting on as a defense) He is still active, moving around his cage.. more and more in the last few days. But let him see you come near his cage and he'll turn to hide.

I've attached pictures of him, his cage and the location.
View attachment 77172

View attachment 77173

View attachment 77174

View attachment 77175
Click to expand...

I hope this helps.!!
 
I agree with the post above apart from the uv part as it is not correct. No uv tube gives off too much uv and no tube available comes even close to the sun. In reality a 10.0 bulb does not give off double the amount of a 5.0 bulb and really the 10.0 would be closer to what chameleons would eat in the wild.

People go out and buy a T5 6% bulb without a second thought but these give off more uv than a 10.0 T8 so if the 10.0 T8 is too much a 6% T5 would be miles too high.

I personally use 12% T5 HO Arcadia bulbs on my panthers and veiled a with no problems and I would use a 10.0 over a 5.0 bulb anyway so the bulb you have now is absolutely fine.
 
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