[URGENT] Baby Male Veiled Chameleon won't eat

[VesperChunk]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, male, I have had him for 2 days now, 2 months old.
Handling - I handled him yesterday to get him from the box into the cage, then took him outside to see if he would turn from black to green.
Feeding - I have tried feeding him small mealworms and small crickets, both by leaving them in his cage and he doesn't seem to be eating.
Supplements - Reptical Calcium.
Watering - I spray his cage often and I have a dripper, I have never seen him drink.
Fecal Description - Hasn't pooped yet.
History - He was shipped to me from Mike from FLChams.
Cage Info:24x24x36
Cage Type - Screen Mesh
Lighting - UVB 10.0 dulled down by putting it at an angle and a daytime basking light, he gets about 14 hours a day of them both on.
Temperature - 92 degrees Fahrenheit in basking spot, all the other places are about 80 to 86. At night it reaches 73 to 75 degrees.
Humidity - Dripper, misting.
Plants - Live plant.
Placement - It is by the door to my room, the fan is not on often in my room but at night.
Location - Tampa, FL.

Current Problem - He hasn't eaten and I have offered him good crickets and even mealworms, all super tiny enough for him to eat. I just want him to eat. Please call me sith info by PMing me for my phone number. I am just seeking advice for my baby cham, I really really want him to have a long happy life. THanks, Oliver.

 

[Elizadolots]

First, I strongly recommend you take your phone number out of that post. Ask people to PM you and you can give them your phone number privately.

Second, two thoughts jump to mind. 1) he's adjusting to his new home. Yes, I know he's a baby and you are worried but they all do need some adjustment time. 2) Are you maybe intimidating him by monitoring him too closely? I would suggest walking away for at least an hour or two to give him some privacy.

 

[VesperChunk]

Okay, I was at school all today, so he got some good time alone, I sprayed his cage and he turned all black. How long before I should get more worried than I already am?

 

[monstertankman]

one thing i notice in the help form was his basking temp is on the high side for a youngster, i would try bring it down in the low 80's . Otherwise he wil over heat and become dehydrated.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums and congrats on your baby veiled. I keep veileds and they are so rewarding. You have a few things that you need to change in your husbandry. First he's too hot and you have to powerful of a UVB on him. Even just a new 5.0 can bother their eye. You also need 3 different supplements for when he starts eating. You need very tiny feeders. What size do you have? Try taking him outside and feeding him. Sometimes they will eat better when outsize just don't put him in the sun and over heat him keep him in the shade. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers below. This way of keeping baby veileds has worked very well for me.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[Elizadolots]

Thank you for making that change. [mom]Internet security is important![/mom]

I agree about the temps.

Now, do you know that he didn't eat while you were away? I would be checking for poop tomorrow. If you find poop, he ate.

 

[ataraxia]

Im sure he is still acclimating and will be just fine but if i could a few suggestions to help him along.

Depending on the amount of food and ways of introducing them to him. A 2x2x3 cage is huge for a 2 month old. Since you already have te cage. Id get a piece of styrofoam that could literally separate the cage vetically in half. This will help him hunt his food more efficiently and most important feel safe with the use of proper foliage and vines. After doing this. Leave him be and only visit the cage when necessary. Make sure you are also offering the correct size insects. These insect should not be any bigger than the space between his eyes.2 month old veiled is more than like still eating 1/8th inch (what many breeders will call 2 week) crickets and will relish fruit flies. If this food is too big the animal will not eat. Lastly make sure you are removing the food every night.

 

[Chris Jury]

Over and over on this forum I keep seeing recommendations to provide basking temperatures to Veiled chameleons in the 80's F and to avoid 10.0 UVB bulbs in favor of 5.0 bulbs and both are nonsensical IMHO.

For the life of me I cannot fathom where these ideas have come from. I have no doubt that these animals can survive and grow in these conditions, but at least the temperature is unambiguously low relative to their natural environment and low relative to their preferred body temperatures.

Veiled tend to live in the wettest parts of Yemen, but these are still not particularly wet areas, mostly getting on the order of 20-50 in of rain per year. These places get a heck of a lot of sun though. Daytime ambient temperatures in their natural habitat are usually in the 70's F during winter and in the 80's to low 90's F in summer. The sun heats surfaces up much hotter than ambient temperatures though. In similar habitats, the temperature of lizard models in the sun is usually 20-40 F higher than the ambient temperature. This means that during the winter, the "basking temperature" as we would measure it is on the order of 90-110 F, higher during summer. The animals maintain their preferred temperature by shuttling back and forth between sun (hotter than they want) and shade (often cooler than they want).

The preferred body temperature of Veiled chameleons which they actively maintain is in the range of about the mid 80's to the low 90's F. Therefore, if they have a basking temperature in the low 80's F, they can NEVER attain their preferred body temperatures. Only on unusally cold and overcast days in nature would they be in this position. It is wholly unnatural and clearly suboptimal.

As for the UVB bulb--even at 2" from a 10.0 bulb you have less UVB than you get during the middle hours of the day (e.g., 10 am -4 pm) in full sun where these animals live. Compared to the amount of UV they get in full sun, after more than a few inches from the bulb a 5.0 bulb provides incredibly weak UV. A 10.0 bulb is closer to natural. However, one must keep in mind that the animals are not in full sun all day and indeed they would likely get excessive UV if they were. Both 5.0 and 10.0 bulbs work just fine, *provided* that the animals can get close enough to the bulbs (at least 12", but probably not closer than 4-6" to be on the safe side) when they want to, AND that they can retreat fully from them and get shade when they want to. Without both options, problems are likely, and with both options, both bulbs should be just fine since both provide quite a bit lower UVB intensity than the sun does in their natural habitat.

If I were you, I would not change either the heat or UV lamps. FWIW, I bred Veiled chameleons for a number of years about a decade ago. I had my share of failure and success. Never did I see any indication that giving the animals the opportunity to bask in a hot spot at 90-100 F, 5.0 UVB, or 10.0 UVB bulbs was somehow detrimental to them, from hatching through adulthood. It would be incredible if I did, since all of these conditions are on the low ends for their natural habitat.

Two days without food does not concern me too much. It may take the animal a few days to settle in. A week without food would be concerning to me.

I agree that in a cage this large relative to the animal it may be challenging for it to locate its food. If it were me, I'd probably set the animal up in something like a 10-15 gal aquarium for the next 1-2 months. This will keep it in much closer proximity to the food, which will allow it to eat more easily. In a smaller enclosure you'll want to make sure the basking and UV bulbs are positioned well to one side of the enclosure, to allow the animal to retreat from both. Also, only a low wattage bulb will likely be needed to provide that appropriate thermal gradient. A 20 watt halogen bulb should get the job done.

Hope this helps,

cj

 

[Elizadolots]

Chris Jury, I think the bulk of your post would be the beginnings of a great general discussion. I sort of hope that discussion doesn't happen here and obscure the OP's issues. That would sort of suck.

 

[VesperChunk]

Thanks for the help guys! He really follows the tiny crickets around when I look at him through the crack between the door and the wall. I haven't seen him eat one yet but I am raising the lamp up 1 or 2 more inches and the UVB bulb is at an angle and he loves to get as close as he can to it..