Worried cham grandma

Quasi

New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Quasi is a Veiled, male, 4-5 mo,in our care 5 weeks
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? rarely
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? 1/2 in crickets 5-6 am and pm, 1-2mealworms or waxworms every other day, feed flukers cricket food and gutload-collard greens, mustard greens, banana, carrot
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule? Herpitavite on 1st and 15th, cal with D on 1st and 15th, withoout D daily. Try to dust lightly but he occasionally gets light crust on 1 nostril. Them Iback off a day or two
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? mist up to 60-70% on hygrometer 2-3 x day, never see him drink
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? firm, almost dry looking dark brown/black with white urate. Never tested to my knowledge. Purchased from FLChams
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? Terrarium type with screen top, 18 tall, 12x12
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? 5.0 Reptisun, 100 watt bulb on dimmer -control basking temp to 85 degrees. Lights on 9A to 9P
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? 80-85 degrees, am temp ranges 75-80
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? 10-80% really dry here especially heating in winter
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? scheflera and orchid. He eats the heck out of the scheff
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? on bathroom counter, natural light from skylight, top of cage about 48 inches
Location - Where are you geographically located? South Dakota

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about Since last shed 4 days ago he stays on flower pots near bottom of cage, color dark green. When he climbs up to his basking vine he lifts one foot at a time and places them carefully down like they hurt. Stands on 3 feet or places 2 feet on nearby leaf. No swollen joints, he does not look like he has MBD but like he prefers to step on smooth surfaces. I do know he needs bigger screen cage but he's my sons and son is on vacation. I am getting him a smooth branch to see if that helps. I do not see any sores, redness or problems on his feet. When he does climb up in basking area his color returns to normal light green.
 
As far as the way he is walking up and down the vines, that does not seem abnormal to me. My chameleon is very cautious sometimes in his cage for whatever reason. Almost like in slow motion. Your temps dont seem bad at all. He might be going to the bottom to get to the coolest spot. i would try and get your cage temps from the low to mid 70's and your basking at about 80. Why dont you get rid of the 100 watt or raise it to lower the temp or just get an ordinary housebulb like a 60 watt to achieve the 80 degreee bask. And yes, you are right that you need a larger cage.
 
since the basking bulb is on a dimmer, set the basking temp to 80F. he's having a hard time thermal regulating in that small cage.

as for the feet issue, I'm not sure until we can se a video of this, as it might be just the way he walks and could be normal.

Harry
 
What a good Grandma!

Did you pay much attention to the way he walked before your son went on vacation? Because, as has been noted, your description sounds like classic chameleon walking. Their vision is designed to let them hit an insect 18 inches away with their tongue, not see the branch under their feet, so they do tend to feel their way along.

I'm a bit more concerned about him hanging out at the bottom of the cage. Has the heat bulb been bumped or something to make the basking spot too hot?
 
Has the heat bulb been bumped or something to make the basking spot too hot?

My thoughts too, or perhaps the skylight makes the ambient temp to warm, hence also the basking spot? do you get direct sunlight falling on the cage through the skylight?
If so, I recommend another room.
A bigger cage soon, otherwise everything sounds great!
It's so nice to have the whole questionaire filled out so carefully, it helps so much, even nicer to read such spot on care!
Well done Grandma! :)
 
He is walking differently than before, more holding one foot up at rest. My hubby got him a small bird ladder and he seems to like that better cuz it's smoother. Temperature regulation is maybe a problem as its like 8 below zero, last night 20 below so we are trying to make sure he stays warm enough.
 
It's possible he has an injury on his foot. Sometimes the feeders will take a nip.

Have you checked the temperature in the basking spot recently? Even if you are trying to heat the cage overall, the hottest spot shouldn't be over 90 and would probably be better at 85. It's okay for the bottom of the cage to be 70 (or even 65). The cage can get down to 60 during the night (or even lower, I've read that they can tolerate 50 degrees). Don't use bulbs that emit light at night. Instead look for ceramic heat bulbs that just emit heat.
 
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