veiled is ill
- Thread starter dizzy
- Start date
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
There are a variety of things that it could be. Please fill this out so we can help you https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ he should not be sleeping during the day as you are aware.
dizzy
New Member
help info
species-male veiled chameleon about a year old approx 7inch from tail to snout
handling- once a week for a minute or two
feeding- gut loaded crickets, wax worms, crickets dusted every so often
supplements- flukers high calcium cricket diet, fluckers calcium with vitamin d3 cricket dusting
watering- spray mist with squirt bottle 4 times daily
fecal- whitish and black not runny solid no bits of food no noticeable change
history- purchased from pet store around 2 mths old, diagnosed with mbd by vet approx 4 mths ago. after given calciquid supplement and light change by adding a uvb 5.0 compact reptile glow florescent in addition to a basking light he rapidly improved to normal.
cage type- glass 20gl with mesh top
lighting- repti glo 5.0 uvb compact and 50 watt infared heat bulb
temperature- daytime temp 78 to 84 degrees night time 70 to 78 degrees measured by a i cage thermometer humidity unknown frequent misting.
silk plants cage in a low traffic area constant air circulation cieling fan. 3 feet off floor. i reside in north carolina. looks healthy ie wieght and colors.
species-male veiled chameleon about a year old approx 7inch from tail to snout
handling- once a week for a minute or two
feeding- gut loaded crickets, wax worms, crickets dusted every so often
supplements- flukers high calcium cricket diet, fluckers calcium with vitamin d3 cricket dusting
watering- spray mist with squirt bottle 4 times daily
fecal- whitish and black not runny solid no bits of food no noticeable change
history- purchased from pet store around 2 mths old, diagnosed with mbd by vet approx 4 mths ago. after given calciquid supplement and light change by adding a uvb 5.0 compact reptile glow florescent in addition to a basking light he rapidly improved to normal.
cage type- glass 20gl with mesh top
lighting- repti glo 5.0 uvb compact and 50 watt infared heat bulb
temperature- daytime temp 78 to 84 degrees night time 70 to 78 degrees measured by a i cage thermometer humidity unknown frequent misting.
silk plants cage in a low traffic area constant air circulation cieling fan. 3 feet off floor. i reside in north carolina. looks healthy ie wieght and colors.
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
what are you measuring your temps with? Are you saying he is being kept in a 20 gallon aquarium? If so, you need to get him a different enclosure asap! That is WAY too small for an adult veild. Tanks like that do not provide ample ventilation. I would start with that change immediately. Chameleons like to be high up. The higher the better. Preferred cage size is 24 X 24 X48.You are not gutloading your crickets properly. They should be fed a diet of fresh fruits and vegetables. Are you still giving the liquid calcium? What about a multi vitamin?
dizzy
New Member
temperature is measured by strip in tank thermometer. i agree about the enclosure i need to get a larger one its longer than it is high. Hes been acting fine up to a week ago. i do put veggies in with the crickets. as for the calciquid he does recieve about .02ml about once a week to insure he gets the calcium in his diet. hes almost a year old and has never acted like this. hes been vet checked and very active until the last week.
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
honestly, I think you need to get yourself a good digital thermometer to measure those temps and I would seriously get him in a different enclosure sooner than later. I have a 25 gallon fish tank with fish in it and I cannot imagine have a chameleon in one of those. They like heighth and lets face it there really is no heighth in a 20 gallon fish tank. How often are you giving the calcium with d3? and you also need to check your humidity. That is an important part of habitat. I know you said that he was fine up until now but sometimes incorrect husbandry can lead to issues that may not surface right away. Obviously there is something wrong here if you chameleon is sleeping during the day. As I stated earlier, I would start with getting him into a nice big cage. Have you ever changed out your uvb bulb? If you are due I would get the tube kind also. That is what most of us use. The Reptisun 5.0 tube with no issues.
D
DavidBuchan
Guest
Hello, welcome to the forum 
there's loads of info and inspiration to find on here, but for now I'm just going to post a link to a really good caresheet that gives all the basics on how to keep Veileds - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html
there's loads of info and inspiration to find on here, but for now I'm just going to post a link to a really good caresheet that gives all the basics on how to keep Veileds - https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html
dizzy
New Member
thank you carol5208 for the advise and i will take all of it and act upon it. dizzy my chameleon is a part of our family and we do everything we can for him. however were still new to care of a chameleon. ive had a lot of reptiles but none of them as intricate to care for as dizzy. as for the enclosure change will b made he has grown a lot since getting him. he was only about an inch and a half long. we've struggled with the correct lighting and have change several times. getting the care of dizzy right is hard when nobody has the correct advise i.e the pet store.... until i found this website. all the changes will b made. as for the uvb light i have just changed it about two weeks ago. what about a mercury vapor light would that be a better choice? and thank u david i will read the care sheet. ive been wrongly advised by alot of people in the care of a veiled.
D
DavidBuchan
Guest
I've never used a mercury vapour bulb but they can work well. They are powerful though, so you'd need a big cage for it to be workable I think.
KarmaChameleon1337
Avid Member
DavidBuchan himself has a healthy, happy (and spoiled!) Veiled, IMO whatever he's doing must be right.
(I've been keeping veileds for over 20 years and they live good long healthy lives with me. Most females live to be over 6 and the males even longer.)
You didn't say how often you were using the calcium/D3.
You said there is a ceiling fan running all the time. If he's getting a draft at night it might be causing him problems.
Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.
A wide variety of insects (crickets, locusts, silkworms, superworms, tomato worms, phoenix worms, butter worms, once in a while waxworms, etc.) that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.
Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).
If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).
Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.
Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
You didn't say how often you were using the calcium/D3.
You said there is a ceiling fan running all the time. If he's getting a draft at night it might be causing him problems.
Here's some information I hope will help you with things like supplements, gutloading, etc....
Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.
Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light. The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light. Some of the compacts, spirals and tube lights have caused health issues, but so far there have been no bad reports against this one.
A wide variety of insects (crickets, locusts, silkworms, superworms, tomato worms, phoenix worms, butter worms, once in a while waxworms, etc.) that have been well fed and gutloaded should be fed to it.
Since many of the feeder insects we use in captivity have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects just before you feed them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it. (I use Rep-cal phosphorus-free calcium).
If you also dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it. (I use Rep-cal phos.-free calcium/D3).
Dusting twice a month as well with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while. (I use herptivite which has beta carotene.)
Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs. I gutload crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms, etc. with an assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.)
Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.
Please note that various supplements have various amounts of D3 and vitamin A and so some can be given more often than others. The idea still is not to overdo the fat soluble vitamins like D3 and prEformed vitamin A.
Here are some good sites for you to read too...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200406080...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/200601140...ww.adcham.com/
If you can't access the sites above that have the word "archive" in you can do it through the WayBackMachine.
dizzy
New Member
thank u kinyoga. i dust his crickets with the d3 once every two weeks also intruduced repto life multi vitamin to the crickets. plus the calciquid the vet proscribed. i think the cieling fan and the draft is hitting pretty close to home. it all started when the outside temperature dropped and it got a little colder than normal in the house. i made adjustments to nighttime temp yesterday he did alot better today. also got a better thermometer and a hygrometer. i need all the advise i can get. i know now not to listen to them people at the large pet stores. ive been wrongly advised im glad i found this website. thanks for advise everyone dizzy thanks u.
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
dizzy, we are glad you found this website too! Don't feel bad, as you are not the fist person who has been misinformed by the pet stores. We are here to help! I am happy you are going to make the changes, especially getting him a proper enclosure. I hope all the changes will make a difference and we can get him on the road to healthiness. Welcome aboard!
lindawaz
New Member
You can contact this site sponsor- they deal with lights and are always very kind and helpful.
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/
Hope you little guy keeps improving
