Trying to fix Bfs mistakes early

[DummiesGF]

Ok so 6 days ago I brought home this 30gallon tank for my fish and my BF decided he wanted a chameleon instead.. And did zero research (hence my SN dummiesGF. Lol).. Soo now I've taken over and have been doing tons of research and I'm trying to fix all the issues as soon as possible before anything causes real damage. I know now he's should NOT be in glass and that there should NOT be a substrate on the bottom.. The substrate will come out tomorrow when the house is quiet and he won't stress out too much hanging out in another room. The tank I'm still not sure how I'll keep the humidity up though in a screen cage, I live in NY, 9 months of the year my house is barely 70 degrees.. So I'm still researching a better option there. My main concern now is that I don't know how old he is, why he's always dark and after two days he seems to have his eyes closed a lot is he just stressed and adjusting to the new surroundings or am I missing something else?

http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/ab139/Spanky001/Mobile Uploads/image_zpssgtgsjwz.jpg
http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/ab139/Spanky001/Mobile Uploads/image_zpsjg9ys9l5.jpg



Your Chameleon - Graceful, male?, unknown age (about 5in long minus tail), in my care for about 6 days
Handling - Little as possible, too much the first day cause we didn't know.. Maybe total 2 mins the rest of the week
Feeding - 5-6 crickets every other day when I get home from work around 4, fed on naturezone total bites
Supplements - Flukers calcium powder without D3 every feeding
Watering - Dripper from top of tank to a plant, drips all day, Mist the whole tank in the morning and a few times in the evening for about 5mins.. Rarely see him drinking.
Fecal Description - feces is brownish black and soft, urate is mostly white with a tint of yellow.. As far as I know he has not been tested for parasites
History -

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass with screen top, 30Lx12Wx18H
Lighting - RetiSun 5.0 UVB compact in deep dome and 60w blue day for heat,
Temperature - cage floor- 76.. basking spot- 85.. Lowest overnight temp- 65 on a cool night... Measured with a ZooMed duel temp/humidity gauge at top and stick on thermometer at the bottom in the shade
Humidity - kept around 80.. With misting and live plants.. Measured with the duel temp/humidity gauge
Plants - Live pothos
Placement - Kept in back bedroom that is quiet 90% of the day, no fans or vents.. Top of cage is about 4ft from the floor
Location - Niagara Falls area, NY

Current Problem - his eyes :-/ they don't look sickly but he seems to keep the closed so much, especially the own side, but there doesn't look to be anything wrong with it when it is open

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. I have a Graceful and he is the sweetest boy. I sure hate to hear that yours is not doing well. I would try turning off the UVB light for a couple days and see if that helps. Sometimes their eyes can be sensitive to the light. Also closing the eyes during the day can be a sign of illness so if you don't already have one I would be finding a reptile vet with chameleon experience. I'm attaching a care sheet for you below and I hope your cham will be ok. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/senegal/

 

[repdog]

Also look into dragon strand.com and check out there cages. They have ones with 3 sides that are not screen. It will help hold the humidity and temp better. Plus you can add vines and plants easy.

 

[DragoLikesReptiles]

Your Chameleon - Graceful, male?, unknown age (about 5in long minus tail), in my care for about 6 days
Handling - Little as possible, too much the first day cause we didn't know.. Maybe total 2 mins the rest of the week
Feeding - 5-6 crickets every other day when I get home from work around 4, fed on naturezone total bites
Supplements - Flukers calcium powder without D3 every feeding You are doing good with supplementation, but Flukers isn't the greatest brand of gutloads or calcium. I use REPTIVITE w/ D3 2 a month and Rep-cal w/out D3.
Watering - Dripper from top of tank to a plant, drips all day, Mist the whole tank in the morning and a few times in the evening for about 5mins.. Rarely see him drinking. 5 minutes is a little long for a misting. I do 40 seconds 3 times a day.
Fecal Description - feces is brownish black and soft, urate is mostly white with a tint of yellow.. As far as I know he has not been tested for parasites
History -

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass with screen top, 30Lx12Wx18H Glass cages aren't good for chams. Chams need ventilation and airflow, and glass doesn't help that. Screened cages like Reptibreeze or Dragonstrand are usually chameleon cages.
Lighting - RetiSun 5.0 UVB compact in deep dome and 60w blue day for heat,
Temperature - cage floor- 76.. basking spot- 85.. Lowest overnight temp- 65 on a cool night... Measured with a ZooMed duel temp/humidity gauge at top and stick on thermometer at the bottom in the shade Compact bulbs aren't great. I have a fluorescent 5.0 linear bulb, and I small CFL hanging above it.
Humidity - kept around 80.. With misting and live plants.. Measured with the duel temp/humidity gauge Those duel humidity/ temp gauges are inaccurate (I had one in the beginning of cham keeping, and it said my temp was 120 F when it was 86 F)
Plants - Live pothos
Placement - Kept in back bedroom that is quiet 90% of the day, no fans or vents.. Top of cage is about 4ft from the floor
Location - Niagara Falls area, NY

Current Problem - his eyes :-/ they don't look sickly but he seems to keep the closed so much, especially the own side, but there doesn't look to be anything wrong with it when it is open[/QUOTE] You should bring your cham to a vet that was reptile experience with chams as Jann said. Hope he gets better and you follow the caresheet and the advice given to you. Good luck with your cham!

 

[DummiesGF]

Thanks for the input! I'm looking in to finding a local Vet.. Seeing as the pet store didn't know much about him I'm sure he could you a routine type of visit anyways