Well that was scary..near death experience.

[Pandavega]

A week ago my roommate bought a veiled chameleon and we've been happily taking care of it through out the week.

We cover his cage when there's people over, we feed him mostly crickets and worms. just about 10 a day. sometimes less when we feel he's had too much at once.

it usually levels out to about 5 crickets in the morning and 5 at night.

He lives in a pretty spacious cage and has a wooden play area i constructed for him.

It seems that me and my roommate overlooked the importance of the mister. we've only had our small 5 month of veiled chameleon for a week and we still have not gotten a proper mister, Instead we used a dripper, and we thought that was all he needed...

wrong..


fast forward 6 days. I get home from work to find the Chameleon laying on one of the wooden parts of his play area, completely motionless and with it's eyes closed. he was still grabbing on to the wooden

i freaked out, opened the cage and aired it out to give him some oxygen. I poked it a few times (i had yet to touch him with my hands at this point...sort of terrifying for me...) and then i began to pet it slowly.

no reaction.

i noticed that when i touched him his eyes would move...real gently. they were ofcocarse sunken but still moved when i touched him. He also was not breathing.

I pulled him out, and in a bit of panic and just sort of going with my gut i dipped the little guy in a small tub of water. Once his head submerged his eyes opened wide, he drank and started to move around for the first time in close to 20 minutes.

he JOLTED back to life. he even began to climb over my arms and hands and he looked more alive than ever.

it was a scary experience. but i'm just wondering if that's happened to anyone before?

 

[justjumpit621]

Here fill this out, so we can make sure this doesn't happen to your and him again Definitely mist a few times a day, buy a spray bottle if need be

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.


Pictures are helpful

 

[Elizadolots]

Hi!

A dripper can be sufficient for some chameleons, but some chameleons really need a good rainstorm to get the drinking instinct going. It sounds like your chameleon wants that rainstorm.

 

[laurie]

You most likely saved his life, now you need to be sure you spray him daily, at least twice, until you see him drink.

 

[Trillian]

Chameleons and water are a huge source of stress! Sometimes even a dripper and misting isn't enough and they will only lick water that they see drip on a leaf. Fill out the form and for FREE you will get the best advice available to make your chameleon the happiest little beast who ever did a leaf-dance.

 

[Solid Snake]

Welcome to the forums!

Yes, please do fill out that form.

Also, never submerge his head again! He could easily drown!

Not saying what you did was completely wrong, but Id definitely never risk submerging him again!

 

[Pandavega]

Welcome to the forums!

Yes, please do fill out that form.

Also, never submerge his head again! He could easily drown!

Not saying what you did was completely wrong, but Id definitely never risk submerging him again!

Yeah i was worried about him drowning too, so it was just a small little splash that jolted him back to life.



Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 5 month old Male Veiled Chameleon
Handling - i almost never touch him. But feed him regularly and check up on him several times a day.
Feeding - about 5 crickets in the morning around 9 am and 5 at night around 7 pm. sometimes i'll throw some worms in there just cause he seems to really like those.
Supplements - none
Watering - i never saw him drink no....as of today i am misting him twice a day along with leaving some ice cubes on top of the screen cage for drip purposes
Fecal Description -he hasn't been tested as i've only had him for a week. But his fecal matter was brown, a bit dry and thick.
History - previous owner had him for 5 months before me.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - it's an all glass cage with a screen at the top. it's about 2 feet wide and 3 feet tall.
Lighting - i'm not sure....i have a regular white light and a UV light that i turn on on the daytime. turn on at 9 am, turn off at 9 pm. I was told they were good lights by the previous owner though.
Temperature - There is a thermometer in his cage. I try to keep it at 80 in the daytime but at the most it gets up to 90. at night the temperature gets to be about 70.
Humidity - I'm not sure. i mist the cage twice a day, hopefully that creates enough humidity...
Plants - He has synthetic plants. They are chameleon friendly, that much i'm sure.
Placement - It's about eye level to me, so it would be a 5 foot drop if the cage ever fell. I keep it in the corner of the living room. there is a fan in the room that is usually on to get a good airflow.
Location - Los Angeles

Current Problem - I'm not sure how to keep him hydrated, i don't want to relive his death.


Sidenote: Yesterday after reviving him, i set a dish of water in his cage because i wanted to see how he would respond to it. He immediately swung down with his tail and drank the water while hanging from just it's tail completely upside down.

coolest thing i've seen him do besides turning almost completely white this one time.

Also, yesterday he was extremely content walking all over my hands and arms and even made it up to my shoulder and just chilled there. It was the most awesome thing because he actually reached for my hand instead of me trying to grab him.

Now he doesn't want to do it anymore :/

Pictures will come soon!

 

[Benton1576]

Why were you worried about him drowning? He wasnt breathing so he wouldnt breath the water in.

 

[SUSE]

Supplements - none

You will want to get a bottle of D3/Calcium powder otherwise you will have a more permanent problem on your hands. Your Chameleon cannot recover from metabolic bone disease (rickets). Unless he is getting a Daily dose of basking in the sun you will need too use D3 & Cal.

 

[justjumpit621]

You will actually need an all screen cage for him, veileds are arid arboreal and need good ventilation. A glass enclosure can get too hot and too moist. You should have a temperature gradient of about 90f at the basking spot and mid 70'sf at the bottom of the cage. Is the UV light a UVB? also is it compact or long tube? UVB lights need to be changed every 6 months, and take him outside whenever possible and warm enough because natural UVB is best and they love it.

You will also need to get a plain calcium supplement to dust feeders every feeding which should be every other day, a calcium with vitamin D3 2 times a month, and a multivitamin supplement once a month. These are vital, also feeders should be gutloaded well with fresh fruits and veggies. Sandrachameleon has great info in her blogs on feeder nutrition.

Could you post a picture of him for us? If the previous owner had the wrong lighting or didn't supplement him there could be major issues we can see with him that you may not be able to.

 

[AllFallDown]

Hi Pandavega,
Just wanted to say welcome to the forums. I have been here a couple of months now myself. I am glad things did not result in tragedy for you- stories like yours (with happy endings) are much of the reason CF has become a major part of my nightly routine (CF has actually cut into my time on my other forums...). Sounds like a rather intense experience. Its great you joined the forum, lots of great people here with an enthusiasm to see things go well for chameleons and their caretakers.

Others have advised about getting a calcium supplement, I would like to encourage you to jump on that advice asap(Like, today...). I am fairly new to chameleons but not new to reptiles, I have had had to deal with MBD before- not fun and potentially very serious. Get yourself a good vitamin supplement as well (I avoid combined products for all of my reptiles).

"i'm not sure....i have a regular white light and a UV light that i turn on on the daytime. turn on at 9 am, turn off at 9 pm. I was told they were good lights by the previous owner though."

Any way you can find out what you have? I do not mean to call into question the previous owner, it is just good to have multiple eyes take a good look at your setup. (I attribute my success with my cham to date to the great advice I have received here combined with the books I have read. I think both together gave me a damn good running start!) How old is the UVB light? They usually need changing every 6 months. Is it a linear tube florescent, a compact florescent (coil type), or a mercury bulb (looks like a spot light)?

I try to keep my veiled around 90 at his basking spot, sometimes I think even this is a tad too cold for him. 80 sounds a little low- just going off my experience with L.B.

Best of luck again,
I look forward to seeing some pictures of your cham.