What to do now?

[TrevorHobbs52]

Hey, i've only ever owned one chameleon (his name was tim) and he died this morning. Last night, before i went to bed, i checked on him, his lights were off but i could see him in there, he had his eyes closed shut and his mouth wide open, he was also shaking his head back and forth. i didnt know what was going on so i waited till he stopped, eventually he opened his eyes and walked back a few inches where he stayed, i thought he was ok so i went to bed. Well when i woke up, he was on the bottom of the cage, his eyes were open, and his tongue was sticking out, he was dead.
This was my first time ever having a chameleon and i believed i was doing everything right, i gut loaded the crickets, and fed him about 7 or 8 a day (large size) and i misted his cage 3 times a day. He seemed fine until last night, can someone please explain to me what you think might have happened and what i might've done wrong?
Please and thank you - Trevor

 

[Julirs]

Fill this out and we will see if we can point anything out...

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?

 

[TrevorHobbs52]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, about 18-19 months old. He's been in my care since last february
Handling - Usually about 4 to 5 times a week, it depends on when he feels like letting me take him out.
Feeding - I feed him large crickets, 7 to 8 a day. i gut load them with carrots, spinach, collard greens, and small chunks of potatoes. i usually fed him every day around 6 pm.
Supplements - Reptocal - powdered nutritional suplement (with calcium and Vitamin D3)
Watering - I mist his cage using a normal water bottle(its never had anything in it except water) i mist his cage 3 to four times a day, when i wake up (around 8) at 12(my parents mist him while im at school) around 4 when i get home from school and before i turn his lights off around 8 to 8 30. Yes, i see him drink everytime i mist him.
Fecal Description - All fecal mater that ive seen from him was normal, however there was one that i can only describe as diarrhea for chameleons, after i saw this i cleaned his cage and upped the amount of water that he drank. that never happened again. No, he has never been to a vet, ( the store i bought him from allows me to bring him in whenever and they check on him, the store is run by pet collectors, not a chain store such as PetCo or PetSmart)
History - He was about seven months old when i bought him, he seemed fine up until last night and when he died this morning.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - The cage he was in was an all screen 48" tall by 24"wide screen.
Lighting - I use two Zoomed lamps, their both located on the top of the cage. the basking light is 100 watts ( this was recomended to me by the store manager that works at the store i bought him from) and the other is 75
Temperature - the normal temperate is usually around 70-80 degrees the basking temperature was around 90 degrees.
Humidity - i could never find a humidity guage for my cham, i misted him 3 to 4 times a day i would estimate that the humidity was usually above 60%.
Plants - Yes, though im not sure what kind they are, there is one that occupies the entire back left corner and is really tall and there are two others next to it that are very short, one of the plants leaves stick straight up and the other is more of a viney short plant.
Placement - The cage is kept in my room, i never have a fan on, the cage is right under an air vent but the vent actually took air in, not put air out.
Location - Southwest Florida.

 

[Julirs]

A couple of things:
Do not use spinach as a gutload. It affects the way calcium is absorbed.

How often were you supplementing?

What kind of UVB lighting were you using? UVB lighting must be changed out every 6-9 months.

Some plants are dangerous-so you should know what kind of live plants you have.

Were his legs straight? Do you have any recent pictures of him?

Sorry for your loss. Hopefully we can make sure that you get another it will live a long and happy life.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..." i gut load them with carrots, spinach, collard greens, and small chunks of potatoes"..I gutload with a wide assortment of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red peppers, celery leaves, etc.) ( Spinach binds calcium...so I don't use it.)

You said..." Reptocal - powdered nutritional suplement (with calcium and Vitamin D3)"...I dust with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings to make up for the usually poor ratio of calcium to phos. found in many of the feeder insects.

I dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure that they get some D3 without overdoing it and I leave them to produce the rest of it from their exposure to the UVB light.

I dust with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene (prOformed) sources of vitamin A will not build up in the system like prEformed sources can. There is controversy though as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene so some people give them a little prEformed once in a while. Excess prEformed may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD though...so be very careful with it.

Appropriate temperatures aid in digestion so that indirectly plays a part in nutrient absorption.

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are all important players in bone health and need to be in balance. Look at the supplements you use and what you feed to the insects and the chameleon when trying to balance them.

The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear fluorescent tube Repti-sun 5.0 light. All you need for a basking light is a regular incandescent household light in a dome.

You said that you weren't sure what the plants were...they need to be non-toxic and well-washed...both sides of the leaves.

Hope this helps!

 

[TrevorHobbs52]

You said that you weren't sure what the plants were...they need to be non-toxic and well-washed...both sides of the leaves.

Hope this helps![/QUOTE]

although im not sure exactly what the plants where called, the big one looks similar to this http://www.chameleoncrazy.com/graphics/cage1.png
It has about 4 to 5 leaves per little branch thing and the leaves are in an oval shape.