Veiled Not Eating, Falling off Branches

[Btown]

My 12 month old Chameleon Camilla has been a picky eater since I got her last August. Now she has stopped eating and is even spitting out food I manage to get in her mouth. In the last 5 days she has fallen off her branches 4 times.

Background:
-I got her from B & L Herpetoculture at a Reptile Show in Cincinnati OH Last August. Started out very friendly and adventurous.
-She lived in a salt water aquarium that I built up with three sides sealed wood and a chicken wire front.
-Camilla gets misted twice a day with water that I boil and then filter. She has a 60 watt basking bulb and a 5.0 UVB light. This keeps her temps around 85 degrees with 60% humidity. At night the temperature does not drop below 60 so she does not have a night light.
-She usually ate 2 meal worms and 30 crickets per week which I gut loaded by feeding them carrots.
-Substrate is paper towels that get changed every three weeks or so.
-I get her out once a week to keep her tolerating being handled.

Recently:
With in the last month Camilla has completely stopped eating. I got her a new UVB bulb. Still no interest in food. I changed up the size of her crickets. Still no interest in food. I tried more meal worms which are her favorite!! Still no interest in food. I now leave some in her cage instead of hand feeding and I can only hope she is eating SOMETHING while I'm not home. Because she was falling off her branch so much and her cage was so tall I went out and bought a smaller one. Her movements are awkward and uncoordinated. She is very lethargic. Rests her head on EVERYTHING. Seems to be the most relaxed in the dark wakes up beautifully green. I leave the house and she is up high nice and green. When I come home she in on the ground dark as can be.

Please help me figure out what I did or what changed to create such a drastic downward spiral in her behavior.

 

[Btown]

Cages

These are her Old and New cages. The picture of the old cage was taken before I had the paper towels and some more leafage for her to hide in. The new cage is all glass so I keep one side of the front glass door open when I'm home to keep it well ventilated.

 

[MelissaB]

How old is your UVB bulb? Most of them need to be changed out every 6 months. What supplements are you using and how often?

 

[happy]

i would suggest filling out the https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/


Edit:
2 misting's a day is not enough.... Please fill out the how to ask for help.... it helps a lot...

 

[Btown]

UVB Bulb is about 2 months old. I wasn't using supplements because she was doing so well. I just gut loaded the crickets with other veggies mostly carrots and lettuce. Once I saw signs of her not being as healthy I went out and bought Zoo Med Repti Calcium with D3 but it is hard to say if it is working because she wont eat any of her food.

 

[MelissaB]

UVB Bulb is about 2 months old. I wasn't using supplements because she was doing so well. I just gut loaded the crickets with other veggies mostly carrots and lettuce. Once I saw signs of her not being as healthy I went out and bought Zoo Med Repti Calcium with D3 but it is hard to say if it is working because she wont eat any of her food.

Do her legs look rubbery, or have bends where there shouldn't be? It's hard to tell in the pictures.
Supplements are very important, without them, your chameleon can develop MBD (metabolic bone disease). You have to be careful with which one you give her, too. Too much D3 is bad. A lot of people use a Calcium with no D3 at every feeding, Calcium with D3 2x's a month and a multivitamin 2x's a month (alternating with the calcium w/D3). Also, since she's female, she'll need a laying bin to lay eggs.
Here's a care sheet that has lots of good information:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[Btown]

Female veiled.
handled once a week
Fed 5-7 crickets daily/ 1 -2 meal worms weekly. Now she wont eat ANYTHING!
Gutload with carrots and lettuce
No supplements until last few weeks started using repti calcium with D3
Mist entire cage with 1 cup of water in a squirt bottle morning and night. Before I never saw her drink. Now, Yes I see her drink.
Brown and white poop really normal not runny but not hard in consistency.
I got her from a reptile show. The business was B & L Herpetoculture

Cage Info:
Glass screen combo for first 9 months. 2ft wide X 4feet tall X 3ft long. Aquarium on bottom sealed wood on top with chicken wire front. Mesh lid.
New cage: 16widex16longx24tall all glass, mesh lid. I keep a door open when home for good ventilation.
Zoo Med and Exo Terra 60 watt basking bulb and 5.0 UVB light. both replaced within the last two months
85 degrees in basking spot 70-60 degrees in other areas of cage nothing below 60 degrees at night.
60-80% humidity through out the day misting with a spray bottle using a exo terra temperature/humidity gauge
No live plants right now. The one I had died about three months ago.
Cage is on top of my dresser
Located in Cincinnati Ohio

 

[Btown]

Her legs don't look rubbery I was afraid of MBD and afraid of her being dehydrated but her eyes don't look sunken and she has a REALLY strong grip with her feet. She loves to hiss at me when I go in to inspect her so I've been trying to give her space. Definitely getting a laying bin. But she doesn't look like she has any eggs. I thought she did a few months ago but she never layed anything in the plant I had for her.

 

[Btown]

Camilla Today

Does it mean anything if she hangs like this?

 

[happy]

Has she ever laid eggs?

 

[carol5208]

The first set of pictures you posted, were all they taken at the same time? She looks good in the first couple and then In the last two, she does not look good to me, and her legs don't really look right. So you were not giving any calcium for like the first 7 months???

 

[Btown]

Nope! She has never laid eggs.

 

[carol5208]

Nope! She has never laid eggs.

She could have eggs, but I think she has MBD also I am sorry to say. Not supplementing with calcium since August is probably the cause.

 

[Btown]

The set of pictures is from the day I got her to 4 months after I got her to how she looks now. No Calcium because when I gutloaded her crickets with a feeder block she would excrete white stuff through her nose! Her back Legs are great. Front legs don't work right.

 

[Btown]

How do I get her to eat again. Should I feed her any baby food like banana or blueberry? What should I dust her food with? If I dust them with D3 on the first of every month is that ok?

 

[Btown]

Camilla looked the worst on the 29th. that is what she looked like right when I put her in her new cage. but this is what she looks like today.

 

[happy]

the white stuff is likely "salts" from over supplementing.
I would try to give her a "shower", stick her in tub turn shower on luke warm, aim it at the wall, and keep an eye on her. sometimes, a shower will initiate a hunger response.

in the image you just posted, if you look closely, you can see how her mouth kinda bends, looks like she is smiling? ... to me it appears she has mbd....

 

[carol5208]

Her front legs definitely have MBD and from some of the pictures you posted, so do her back legs. The only thing you can do now is give her calcium. Calcium without d3 and make sure who uvb lighting is current and take her out in the sun as much as possible. Her MBD is not horrible. I have seen much worse.

 

[carol5208]

Please read this link and it will give you some important infor about MBD.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/wha...ase-mbd-looks-like-how-happens-how-fix-95071/

 

[MelissaB]

The set of pictures is from the day I got her to 4 months after I got her to how she looks now. No Calcium because when I gutloaded her crickets with a feeder block she would excrete white stuff through her nose! Her back Legs are great. Front legs don't work right.

The white stuff in her nose is excess salt, not calcium. So if she gets the white stuff in her nose again, do not stop giving her calcium.