Veiled keeping one eye closed

[Lizardlover1519]

Hey all! I have a new baby veiled chameleon hes about 5 months now. I am a first time owner and ive done my research but id love any wisdom you have to give. Recently hes been keeping one eye completely closed the past few days. I havent noticed any issues , hes been eating fine , basking, being active nothing else worth noting other than maybe the humidity levels have been a bit low but im working on that. I read that it could be a vitamin A deficiancy but im not really sure not to fix that. let me know if you need to see any sort of pictures or if you need any more information!! Please let me know if you have any tips on what i should look into. Thanks!!

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome.
Can you please post pics of your chameleon as well as the entire enclosure, including lights? It’s not good at all to have one or both eyes closed, especially for a baby. Rather than a vitamin A issue, it’s more a sign that something serious is lacking in his care and he isn’t feeling good at all. There is a massive amount of misinformation out there that too many people fall victim to. We can definitely help you and your little one. Let’s start with some pics and go from there.

 

[Lizardlover1519]

I have a UV bulb and a small heat bulb attached because the temp in my reptile room is pretty high already. I'm working on fashioning a humidifier that runs frequently but for now I've been spraying the cage thoroughly very often. I turn the light off at night to give a daylight cycle. Much prefers to eat mealworms over crickets though he does eat crickets from time to time but mainly mealworms because he's very picky I dust them with calcium that has D3 though I'm changing that because I read that they could overdose easily. Let me know if there's any more info you need.

 

[MissSkittles]

Ok. I most definitely see some improvements are needed. The red bulb has to go. Those can hurt sensitive little chameleon eyes. The screw in uvb bulb needs to go as well. Those don’t provide adequate uvb levels any farther than 1-2”. The standard is a linear T5 ho with either ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia 6%. Lately it’s been difficult to find these - everywhere is always sold out. This is the one you need and the price is just a little higher than the ReptiSun. The Arcadia bulbs last a year, while ReptiSun are only good for 6 months. https://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-pro-t5-fixture-6-bulb-22-5-sale-now-only-69-99/
Once you get this light, it will need to be 8-9” above basking area. Even though your reptile room is warm, I’d still add a basking light, even if just a very low wattage. If your temps are around 80 at basking area consistently without additional lighting, maybe even use an LED. The thing is that chams are attracted to the brightest light to bask. Yes, you want no lights at night and usually a 12 hour on/off schedule is best.
Mealworms are okay if nothing else is available, but they are not good staple feeders. I’m attaching some graphics to help guide you. I offer a changing variety of crickets, roaches, bsfl, silkworms with occasional treats of superworms or hornworms. It’s just as important to keep your feeder insects well fed and healthy so that they will be nutritious. I feed my bugs a variety of fresh produce and just a little Repashy bug burger to help round things out. I keep them with food at all times so I don’t need to gutload. Your little one needs lots of good nutrition and should be getting at least 15 feeders daily if not more. Make sure that they aren’t any bigger than the space between his eyes, or he won’t be able to eat them.
Using the correct supplements with the correct schedule is super important. You want to use a phosphorus free calcium without D3 at every feeding. He also needs D3 and a multivitamin and there’s different ways to give those. The easiest (and in my opinion the best/better) way to do that is by using either Repashy calcium Plus LoD or ReptiVite with D3 for one feeding, every other week. These are fantastic supplements that contain a good form of vitamin A. In dusting the feeders with your supplement, you want to do so lightly. You don’t want them to look like powdered donuts.
These are perhaps the most important changes that absolutely need to be made asap to keep your little one healthy. Babies have no resources to fall back on, so they can decline very quickly. The sooner you can make these changes, the better. I do have more to say, but am splitting this up.

 

[MissSkittles]

I did forget one important piece - temps during daytime should be about 80 for now and until he’s grown. Once he’s a big adult he should be at 85. Daytime humidity needs to be between 30-50%. High humidity plus high heat increases risk for respiratory infection. Having temps drop at night are desired.
Once you get those items above taken care of, then you need to start working on these changes.
The enclosure looks to be a bit small. It’s fine for a baby, but not for a big adult, especially a male. The minimum for an adult is 2x2x4’ or equivalent. Of course, providing larger than that if you can will be greatly appreciated by your cham.
You want to swap out all of the artificial plants for safe live ones. Veileds tend to nibble their plants and it only takes one bite to cause a serious, possibly fatal bowel obstruction. Pothos are probably one of the best plants for chams. You’ll need to wash any chemicals off the plants and rinse very well. I hated to toss my fake plants, so I just attachEd them to the outside of the enclosure door to give my chams extra privacy.
You’ll want lots of branches and vines to give him lots of roads to travel. It’s a challenge to attach to screen. Many use a garden trellis, create a little support scaffold or invest in dragon ledges https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ The important thing is for whatever you use to be attached to the frame and not the screen.
It’s best to keep the floor bare. Substrate has its own risks and problems unless you are going all out and going bioactive, and it’s better to let that wait until you have all of your husbandry perfected first.
I think I covered at least the most important points.
The very best place for up to date and correct info is https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/ The more we learn about chameleons, the standards change so that we care for them better and Cham Academy stays current with it all. Do ask as many questions as you have. I’m so glad that you’re here and wanting to give your little cutie his best life.

 

[Lizardlover1519]

Thank you so much for all your help!! I'm going to respond more in depth in the morning but do you think you could recommend a basking bulb to me? I have snakes and bearded dragons and I've used the same basking bulbs for them since i was six so I'm a bit confused about all the lighting. I can get the uv light very soon... i think i actually have a fixture so i can just get the bulb separately but if you could lay out exactly what I was should get lighting wise (or what i should search online for uvb and basking) i would so appreciate it. Everything else i think i can fix rather easily. I have a ton of reptile supplies at my disposal.
One more question about the cage sizing comment, i was planning on moving him to a much bigger tall glass tank when he is bigger would that be okay or does it have to be mesh?
Thank you so much for your help I've wanted a cham forever and really want to do this right!

 

[kinyonga]

Did you check for tarsal spurs to make sure it’s a male?

Does your chameleon lift its body off your hand or branches or rest it’s belly on whatever it’s sitting on?

Glass tanks are not recommended…but glass cages with the ventilation in the front and screened lids are okay as are the hybrid type cages. It’s hard to provide proper airflow in a glass tank unless you know what you’re doing. Even in the glass cages you need a chimney effect set up for good airflow.

 

[Lizardlover1519]

Thank you so much for all your help!! I'm going to respond more in depth in the morning but do you think you could recommend a basking bulb to me? I have snakes and bearded dragons and I've used the same basking bulbs for them since i was six so I'm a bit confused about all the lighting. I can get the uv light very soon... i think i actually have a fixture so i can just get the bulb separately but if you could lay out exactly what I was should get lighting wise (or what i should search online for uvb and basking) i would so appreciate it. Everything else i think i can fix rather easily. I have a ton of reptile supplies at my disposal.
One more question about the cage sizing comment, i was planning on moving him to a much bigger tall glass tank when he is bigger would that be okay or does it have to be mesh?
Thank you so much for your help I've wanted a cham forever and really want to do this right!

One more thing I'm not sure if "he"is a male or female can you tell by the pictures?

 

[Lizardlover1519]

Did you check for tarsal spurs to make sure it’s a male?

Does your chameleon lift its body off your hand or branches or rest it’s belly on whatever it’s sitting on?

I was just thinking that i haven't even had him for a month but i really have no idea if he is a male or female i thought make due to his crest but also he doesn't seem to have spurs.

He most of the time lifts his body off of branches and my hand but also sometimes rests his belly when sleeping but not as often.

 

[kinyonga]

I need to see the heel with the foot in the right position so I can see if it has tarsal spurs. Males have spurs…females don’t.

Tarsal spurs…
http://www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/glossary/tarsalspur.html

 

[kinyonga]

If it’s not lifting it’s body off the branch it can be a sign of MBD developing.

what supplements do you use and how often for each? I’m particularly looking for calcium, phos, D3 and prEformed vit A.

 

[Lizardlover1519]

If it’s not lifting it’s body off the branch it can be a sign of MBD developing.

I don't think it's that he seems pretty strong

 

[kinyonga]

I added to my previous post.

 

[Lizardlover1519]

I need to see the heel with the foot in the right position so I can see if it has tarsal spurs. Males have spurs…females don’t.

Tarsal spurs…
http://www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/glossary/tarsalspur.html

 

[Lizardlover1519]

If it’s not lifting it’s body off the branch it can be a sign of MBD developing.

what supplements do younuse and how often for each? I’m particularly looking for calcium, phos, D3 and prEformed vit A.

I use calcium with D3 but i ordered some new stuff cause i found that it's not good. What do you recommend?

 

[kinyonga]

I’m old school…so I always have used Rep-Cal phos free calcium powder for the calcium…but many others on here use other products…I’m sure they will tell you. I use it at every feeding but 2 a month. Most people use Reptivite with D3 for those two feedings.

 

[Lizardlover1519]

I just ordered flukers calcium without vitamin D3 for daily feedings and then i got repashy calcium plus LoD 3 for twice a month. Do i need anything else?

 

[MissSkittles]

Thank you so much for all your help!! I'm going to respond more in depth in the morning but do you think you could recommend a basking bulb to me? I have snakes and bearded dragons and I've used the same basking bulbs for them since i was six so I'm a bit confused about all the lighting. I can get the uv light very soon... i think i actually have a fixture so i can just get the bulb separately but if you could lay out exactly what I was should get lighting wise (or what i should search online for uvb and basking) i would so appreciate it. Everything else i think i can fix rather easily. I have a ton of reptile supplies at my disposal.
One more question about the cage sizing comment, i was planning on moving him to a much bigger tall glass tank when he is bigger would that be okay or does it have to be mesh?
Thank you so much for your help I've wanted a cham forever and really want to do this right!

You can use an incandescent bulb for basking or one of the many reptile basking bulbs. I try to keep several back ups, so have a supply of both. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PPJBQHM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 or https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006L2UBK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I prefer Arcadia uvb bulbs. I use them in my ReptiSun fixtures and also have the Arcadia Pro T5 fixtures. The advantage to the Arcadia fixtures is they can daisy chain together. The T5 in 24” length has been a challenge to find, but here’s one. https://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-pro-t5-fixture-6-bulb-22-5-sale-now-only-69-99/ The bulbs alone are a little easier to find. https://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-d3-t-5-22-inch-24-watt-6-forest-uvb/
For a new keeper and especially in a warm room, I prefer all screen enclosures. It’s much easier to maintain temps and humidity.

 

[Lizardlover1519]

You can use an incandescent bulb for basking or one of the many reptile basking bulbs. I try to keep several back ups, so have a supply of both. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PPJBQHM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 or https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006L2UBK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I prefer Arcadia uvb bulbs. I use them in my ReptiSun fixtures and also have the Arcadia Pro T5 fixtures. The advantage to the Arcadia fixtures is they can daisy chain together. The T5 in 24” length has been a challenge to find, but here’s one. https://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-pro-t5-fixture-6-bulb-22-5-sale-now-only-69-99/ The bulbs alone are a little easier to find. https://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-d3-t-5-22-inch-24-watt-6-forest-uvb/
For a new keeper and especially in a warm room, I prefer all screen enclosures. It’s much easier to maintain temps and humidity.

Ok first update i got the arcadia fixture and bulb. I am going to install a basking light tonight. I am also going too hang the light from the ceiling as opposed to sitting it on top of the cage. I also ordered some Dubias and BSFL along with the repashy supplement for twice a month feeding and calcium with no D3 for everyday feeding I'm working on the other improvements as well

 

[Beman]

Hey there you have gotten wonderful feedback. Regarding gender of this little one. Looks to be female based on that pic of the back foot. I do not see any tarsal spur.

Follow husbandry corrections quickly. Really have to get everything on point with little girls to avoid issues with MBD as they mature. Females will lay infertile eggs as well. And so you will need to follow different feeding and basking temp as she matures.