Urgent help required

Carloschameleon

New Member
Hi

Please can anyone help me? I've purchased a baby chameleon today who's just over one month old.
I've been having a look at forums and it seems that it's a big risk to buy one this young?

Since I've brought him home today he's got his eyes closed and isn't feeding. I'm now worrying myself that he's not ok.

:confused:
 
Hello, and Welcome to the forums! Although it is not generally recommended to adopt them so young, it can be done. First off, a couple of questions...

Where did you get him, what is he kept in (enclosure description, lighting that is used, plants and vines, etc), where is the enclosure, and do you have any pictures of the enclosure and chameleon that we can see to let you know if we see any issues?
 
Sometimes they will not feed right away because of the stress of the new surroundings, but having the eyes closed could be from any number of things.
 
A cham that young would be sensitive to the UVB lights, so if you have your setup for an older cham the light would be too strong for a baby. I think the breeders on here use their "old" (over 6 months old) lights, but I'm not sure how old the chams are when they switch them to full strength lights. My guess would be about 3 months.

As for the baby not eating, remember you've just stressed it out majorly by bringing it into a new environment. Try cupfeeding, and counting the feeders. Place them in a cup where the baby can get to them, but they can't get out. Then walk away (I know it's hard when they are so new and cute!), returning in a couple of hours to count the feeders and then leaving again. Best of luck!
 
Getting something that age is very difficult make sure it's in a smaller enclosure so it's not getting stressed

I agree that a smaller cage for a young chameleon makes it more convenient on both keeper and kept by having needs closer at hand and feeder density higher, but if this statement is completely true about them being stressed, I wonder how they ever exist in the wild? I know it's information that's commonly passed around, just food for thought.
 
I agree I think it's more for food and also in the wild they have free range but in captivity they don't but to be honest I've wondered that too
 
Getting something that age is very difficult make sure it's in a smaller enclosure so it's not getting stressed

Why would a larger cage stress out a hatchling? Most of us realize a tiny cham can have trouble finding its food (also tiny) in a large setup, but stressing it? I don't think so.

Most likely that tiny cham is suffering from too many changes, possibly poor care before it was purchased, dehydration or overheating. It doesn't take much time in an incorrect setup to injure one that young. Also, there is a percentage of every brood of hatchlings that are not destined to survive. They may have congenital problems or simply be weaker individuals. One of several reasons NOT to buy one this young. A decent breeder would not sell them at this age.
 
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