Veiled Chameleon- New owner worries

[ajacobson]

Hello! I'm new to the forum and Chameleons. I just purchased a hatchling Veiled Chameleon 2 days ago, and I'm kind of worried about him. Not sure if I'm a worried new "mom" or if something is up. I live in Las Vegas, so it's very dry and warm here. I've posted all of the information below that I think you need. Any help/advice would be great! Thanks!

Cage Info:
Cage Type - reptibreeze all screen enclosure its the smaller 16x16x20, but only while he is tiny then I'll get a bigger one
Lighting - Reptiglow 26W 5.0 UVB and T-Rex Reptile 60W basking light
Temperature - 80-90 degrees? never below 70 degrees at night
Humidity - Little Dripper system, and misting a few times a day
Plants - Live Umbrella Plant, fake vine, large piece of tree bark for climbing.
Placement - Cage is near a hallway, not a lot of traffic, 1 3/4 of the walls in the cage are to a wall, it's up about 4 feet high. But his "newness has my roomies staring at him.
Location - Las Vegas, NV

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male hatchling Veiled Chameleon, about 3 inch long body, he's very little though. He changes colors. He is normally a brighter green, sometimes develops black stripes and turns dark brown/black when disturbed.
Handling - rarely
Feeding - pinhead crickets, I was told to feed him 10 every couple days until he gets bigger. I've only had him 2 days, I've feed him once and he didn't eat all of the crickets.
Supplements - Flukers High-Calcium Cricket Diet, Fluker's Calcium with Vitamin D3
Watering - Dripper and misting a few times a day... I have seen him drink off leaves
Fecal Description - small off white (I think that is the feces?)
Current Problem - Sleeps a lot, only saw him eat one cricket (he may have had more, but there are a few still in the cage), not as active as a hatchling should be.


EDIT: I just measured him, he's only about 1 1/2 inches long. Very small.

Researching on the site I'll try cup feeding next feeding time. Any other suggestions still welcomed.

 

[glaceauz]

it could just be the stress of the move, they lose their appetites when they get a new home. also i feed my veiled (only 3 months old) about 10 crickets a day, they grow fast when they're young so you feed them almost all they can eat

 

[Elizadolots]

I think you should be reading the "breeding" forum and maybe asking questions there. Hatchlings really should not be sold and so information on them here will be in the Breeding forum because the breeder should be caring for the hatchling.

 

[ajacobson]

I think you should be reading the "breeding" forum and maybe asking questions there. Hatchlings really should not be sold and so information on them here will be in the Breeding forum because the breeder should be caring for the hatchling.

Thanks Elizadolots, I'll check that out. I didn't realize how small/young he was until checking out these forums!

 

[serenitystarlite]

Is your uvb bulb a coil or tube? Is he sleeping during the day?

 

[ajacobson]

Is your uvb bulb a coil or tube? Is he sleeping during the day?

its the swirled kind that looks like an energy saver bulb. He is sleeping during the day.

 

[kicsylany]

Hi, you have to change your uvb for a linear/tube one ASAP! the swirled ones can make your baby blind...or have eye infection or any eye problems.

 

[Julirs]

I would go ahead and switch to a linear UVB tube. Although I am not sure that the UVB you have is one of the dangerous ones, they are still pretty concentrated and may be causing your baby to keep his eyes closed. How are you measuring your temps? For a baby that young you really do not want to go much higher than 80 in one corner of the cage for basking purposes. A digital thermometer or temp gum will make sure it is not too hot. Lights should be on for 10-12 hours and then off at night-no light or heat needed unless your temps are dropping below 60.

You also need to get hold of calcium with no D3-you will be using this most of all. LIGHTLY dust your crickets 4-5X weekly with the calcium with NO d3, use the one with D3 on a 6th day 2-3 x monthly, and get a multivite like Reptivite to use 2X monthly at his age-which I am not entirely sure about but he is very young.

If you can take pictures of the cage as well as the baby that would be very helpful.

 

[ajacobson]

Update

UPDATE!
Thomas is doing well now. I got him cup-feeding, and now he is eating really well. His poops and urine look healthy and I see him drinking. I took all the advice you all gave me, so THANKS! He's about 4-5 weeks now and looking good.

Thanks again!

 

[gary1621]

Thanks for the update Glad to hear you little one is doing well

get some pics up as soon as you can we cant resist them at this age... well any age really

 

[bimac6]

UPDATE!
Thomas is doing well now. I got him cup-feeding, and now he is eating really well. His poops and urine look healthy and I see him drinking. I took all the advice you all gave me, so THANKS! He's about 4-5 weeks now and looking good.

Thanks again!

Spectacular! So he stopped sleeping during the day? Good job catching a problem before it caused anything bad to happen !

 

[ajacobson]

Definitely! I'll have to pull out my "big girl" camera to get some shots.. lol I haven't used my macro lens in a while.

 

[SpinyFranky]

Reading your first post,

a baby should be eating every day, not every couple.

the number it eats will depend on the feeder size and the temperatures in the cage. The larger the feeders the less he needs to get full, the higher the temp the better his metabolism. Make sure to read up on gutloading the feeders.

As Julirs said 80-85 F. is best suited for a baby chameleon up until 5-6 months of age at which time I find it suitable for basking to hit 90. Never more than that though.

S.F