Worried about new chameleon............

[klawrence]

I have a baby veiled chameleon that doesnt seem to want to eat. Her eyes are slightly sunken in and she sleeps alot. I know that the sunken eyes are a sign of dehydration so I have been feeding her some Repti-Care formula and she seems to eat that most of the time but wont touch crickets. The first night I had her she ate crickets and seemed fine then after a few days she started looking ill. Her cage is a open air and stays around 75-80 during the the day and high 60's to low 70's at night. Her regular diet is baby(really small) crickets dusted with feeder dust powder. Her humidity is around 50-60% at all times. She has the correct UVB/UVA llighting (on 12hrs a day)and a basking lamp for her on one side. She has a drip water system and she has the leaves misted 1-2 times a day. Her color when she came home was a light green and now she changes from dark and sometimes stripped colors. She seems to be shedding very slowly right now and didnt know if that was part of why she is acting weird. Her fecal matter is mostly white. She is in a room with a 75g tank with 4 Red Bellied Pirahna in it, didnt know if that scared her to have them swimming around all the time If anyone can help out please let me know. thanks!!!!

 

[Brad]

Hello klawrence, welcome to the Chameleon Forums

What is the basking temperature in your cage? How old is your cham? Do you see your cham drinking? How long do you mist for? Do you have a qualified vet in your area?

Piranha
Aren't those illegal? I used to have a big tank with Pacu in highschool.

 

[klawrence]

The basking temp is about 82, and she is about 5 months old, she drinks the Repti-Aid but havent seen her drinking water..should I put her in the shower on a fake tree and see if she drinks some water? And yes there is a vet pretty close to me..just wanted to see if it was a known issue or something that I was doing wrong first. The Pirahna are legal in my state, for now...they were illegal then it changed again....so for now Im good

 

[Brad]

Your basking temperature is too low. Veiled chameleons need a basking temperature from the mid to high 90's. If your chameleon is otherwise healthy, expect to see a pickup in his activity once he receives the proper temps.

Your chameleon may be big enough for a shower, it is hard to say without seeing its size. If you decide to offer one, make sure the water is not hitting the chameleon directly. Try to reflect the water off a wall or some similar strategy. The water should be lukewarm. Monitor your chameleon very carefully; if it is weak and susceptible to falling, a shower may not be a good idea.

 

[FaunaBgirl]

Ok....he ate breakfast... 4 cricket and there is fecal matter. But it's only white.