Weird chameleon

CHIMP

CHIMP

Established Member
Chameleon Info: Rogue
  • Your Chameleon - Rogue was purchased a little less than 6 months ago actual age/sex is unknown
  • Handling - at least once a week, I try to do once a day but life gets in the way.
  • Feeding - crickets, and meal worms, mostly crickets and as much as he is willing to eat until he starts getting lazy with it. usually 2-4 a day. I am gut-loading my feeders.
  • Supplements - I use ZOO MED repti calcium with D3 every couple days, and something similar without d3 other days?
  • Watering - I have a mister set up for every 2hrs, for 30 secs, as well as and actual spray bottle that i hit him with at 8am and 6pm every day.
  • Fecal Description - larger section of brown with a small while side, moisture is typical
  • History - Was purchased as a reptile show

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - screen cage 2'wide x 2' long x 4' tall?
  • Lighting - ZOO MED dome light
  • Temperature - temps are unknown, has basking area and in an area with other reptiles. I would guess about 80 in basking area, 70 rest
  • Humidity - I have no way to measure humidity yet, I have misters and live chameleon safe plants. I water plants every couple of days, with misters and stuff the substrate stays moist for about a week.
  • Plants -I dont remember the names of the plants but i am including a picture of his cage
  • Placement - cage is in living room near front door. elevated about 3ft off floor, room has a ceiling fan in operation
  • Location - Bunnell, FL. northeast coast.

Current Problem - One thing is when I bought it I was told it was male, However it does not look anything like other males I have seen around his estimated age (8 months). I took a close up pic to see if anyone could confirm or verify this. (More Importantly) Lately I have been concerned with his eating behavior. Normally I feel him with the use of feeding tongues. but instead of going for the gusto its like he is licking the roof of his mouth or his aim is totally off. It takes about 5 min to feed him one cricket. I was worried he is going blind but his response timing when seeing things is spot on, I also see no signs of being sick or mouth root. when i open the cage he comes running to me expecting a meal and ready to eat. So is he just being silly or do I have something to worry about
 

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What kind of chameleon is Rogue?
A few of things that could be improved. Ditch the mealworms and feed superworms instead. Mealworms are notoriously poor feeders.
He probably only needs D3 once every two weeks and add a multi vitamin supplement on alternating weeks.If that is appropriate for his species.
Can't tell for sure but he might need closer access to his basking light & UVB bulb, approx. 8 inches. I would add a variety of horizontal branches for him to choose from at all levels of his cage.
Make a least one or more of your mistings longer for good hydration and eye rinsing.
Hard to guess about his appetite, some species tend to back off their feed at the 9 mos. mark. Keepers start to feed every other day at that point. Maximize what he does eat with better feeders, add good gut load for his crickets and improved supplement schedule.
 
He/She is a veiled chameleon. Yes, a lot of what I have been reading says I am giving him to much D3. I will implement a new feeding regiment (greatly appreciate any advice on supplements). The meal worms (are actually super-worms (had to google it)) I only feed him once every week at most, for the most part it eats crickets that have been gut loaded/powdered, and I do see bites taken from plants in his cage. It does like an occasional hibiscus flower, eats the hole thing. I did have him/her set up closer to the lights before however the fake vines where not allowing the live plants proper lighting so I took them out. would just strait branches be fine? lighting is an 85watt UVB (8 inches), as well as a 100w CFL for the plants. I have a few fake branches I can add from when I had the vines set up. I am also aware I need a thermometer as well as a humidity gauge, just have not bought them yet (My own laziness), his appetite is good, It just takes him a while to figure out what he is doing or something (this is where my concern came from). He goes for food but sometimes I have to put it right in-front of his face or wait while he figures out how to get it (I try hard not to laugh but it really looks like he is trying to lick his nose), I appreciate all your help. Hopefully this gives you a better understanding to guide me with,(to anyone willing to help) also what multi v. do you recommend.
 
Video's can be linked. That might help.
I don't have a veiled so use a different supplement schedule but panther owners I know use sticky tongue farms miner-all on a similar schedule.
 
Host on one of the following approved media sites: Youtube, Dailymotion, Facebook, Liveleak, Metacafe and Vimeo & paste your video's address.
 
I agree with nursemaia it looks like she may have some MBD. Also you should really try getting more brsnches in your cage. Chameleons need places to climb, and those plants are not good ways to do it. You can keep the plants for humidity, but you should get more branches for it to climb on
 
Well I add pics of lights. Closest one to enclosure is UVB. Also I sent another pic showing vines and sticks I re-added back in. When I got it the casque was like that. I just thought it would grow out as it got bigger but it never did. The weak arms I thought the same thing, That MBD might be the case, what baffles me with that is that I have been fighting it for a while. I have been giving it calcium and I take it out for sun in the morning before work. About 15 min. Still in cage. And it has lighting. Maybee I did have a bad basking spot since I took the vines out. However I have been fighting it since before that. Keep in mind I have had it for less than 5 months and the bulbs are close to respiration but should still be ok. Do y'all see something I am doing wrong or could it be something I am missing.
 

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Where is the heat bulb? What wattage is the heat bulb? Why is the temperature unknown? The reason I am asking these questions is that the temperature is very important to reptiles and the way they digest and process food and nutriants. If they aren't able to get enough heat they won't be able to process the calcium or other nutrients.

I also unfortunately think that you may have been sold a milled or inbred animal. There are a few things that point me to this assumption. She/He has a slight over bite and a misshapen crest(it's to misshapen for MBD alone in my opinion). I'm not saying that he is milled or inbred. I also am not saying that she/he is a bad animal to have bought or to keep.

He looks like she/he has got MBD because her/his front leg is curving where the bone is. I think that the calcium schedule is fine but I would stop feeding her/him super-worms and stay away from wax-worms until she/he is past this and full grown because they are not going to help the situation with the amount of phosphorus that they contain. I also would not feed meal worms at all because unlike super-worms they have a very flexible exo skeleton and could possibly survive the bite of a chameleon and if they do they will eat the lining of the stomach. Super worms are more fragile and less likely to survive a bite from any reptile.
 
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Ok so yesterday I went out and bought gauges and multi-vitamin supplements. I am including pics. The multivitamin was the only one the pet shop had in stock. Are these ok for him. I am planning to do multi and D3 every two weeks with calcium every day. I switched out his bulb too just in case. I am giving the last of the superworms to my gecko. Anything else I can change or do that would help?
 

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Oh yeah his basking area is 80s rest of cage is 72, do you still think I need a heat lamp?
 
I forgot when we are not home are thermostat is set to 76, when we come home we drop it to 72. We live in Florida so this saves on electric, plus we figured it would be good for the reptiles. That's why I never bought a heat lamp for him. I thought it would get too hot for them. If I am wrong I will go pick one up today.
 
I want to thank you all for all the help so far. When y'all give me advice and I question it. Please don't take offence. I am simply a concerned parent that just wants to make sure.
 
CHIMP said:
I forgot when we are not home are thermostat is set to 76, when we come home we drop it to 72. We live in Florida so this saves on electric, plus we figured it would be good for the reptiles. That's why I never bought a heat lamp for him. I thought it would get too hot for them. If I am wrong I will go pick one up today.
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Veiled chameleons need pretty high temperatures at their basking spot. Basking temperature should be around 85-90 degrees. It is also important to provide him/her with places to hide from the heat. Do you have correct UVB bulb? The front leg is shaped really badly. I agree with others that it is metabolic bone disease. I hope he/she gets better soon. This is why it is better to buy animals directly from breeder. In pet stores, most animals are in really bad condition and they are not provided with the care the require.
 
CHIMP said:
I want to thank you all for all the help so far. When y'all give me advice and I question it. Please don't take offence. I am simply a concerned parent that just wants to make sure.
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yes. very plain colors and weak spurs
 
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