Yemen chameleon not growing, tongue damaged

Jackelope117

New Member
Hi, basically I purchased a 4-5 month old male yemen chameleon from the reptile shop I work at back in june, he used to happily take locusts when he was there but only when the shop was closed and he was alone, and not long before I brought him his tongue stopped having the ability to shoot ( I've heard this can be due to lack of calcium) however we were giving it supplements twice a week. I have had him ever since so under 6 months and he has barely grown, maybe by an inch or 2 in length, but barely, and he only feeds on varieties of worms (morios, wax, fruit beetle grubs) but he eats in VERY small amounts, like I'm talking he eats 2 morios from tongs and walks away and is not interested at all for the rest of the day, I tried not feeding him for a day or two then i put a couple locusts in but still no reaction (it's the same with crickets!) So I'm basically asking for advice and more importantly whether he has stumped his growth or if he is a really slow grower because of his appetite. Also my setup is a 3.5ft high viv by 2ft in width and depth, he has plenty of vines, a couple real plants etc baking spot of 29°c, a t5 UV 12%, humidity 70-80%, is sprayed heavily twice a day with a large hand sprayer, his poo comes out rather solid with colour being half white/half brown and food is dusted with calcium twice a week and vitamins once a week (nutrobal or Arcadia vitamin mix). He has never been interested in veg/greens, I have tried countless times with different varieties.He has always been a very scared chameleon and if fed slowly and careful by tongues he is perfectly happy but still cautious, but any sudden movement or slight noise he sprints behind any plant or hide he can get behind and is also very defensive and attempts to bite if I get too close. Its constantly on my mind and am dying for answers and suggestions- the first pic is the day I brought him home ( the only time he has ever let me pick him up) the second pic is yesterday (closed eye is because of misting)
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Hi. If you could fill out the following in as much detail as possible, someone can review your husbandry and get a much better idea of what’s going on with your chameleon.

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


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.

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Please Note:
  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
 
Please be specific about supplements and in particular list whether they contain vitamin D3, calcium, phos, or vitamin A...and is the vitamin A preformed (palmitate, retinol, retinyl, etc) or proformed (beta carotene).
 
Thankyou for getting back to me, I'll include everything when I get back from work today, and he never has his eyes closed it was just because his viv was being misted and he walked into the water
 
Please be specific about supplements and in particular list whether they contain vitamin D3, calcium, phos, or vitamin A...and is the vitamin A preformed (palmitate, retinol, retinyl, etc) or proformed (beta carotene).
The vitamin supplement contains vitamins A E K, vitamin B1 2 6 and 12, the name of it is NUTROBAL
 
Please fill out the form posted above. Once a chameleon starts showing signs of illness, such as lack of appetite, closing eyes, stunted growth, tongue issues, ect ect, something has been going wrong with him for a while.
 
I really need more info. Depending on what calcium supplement and UVB lights and temperatures you're using it may or may not be a calcium issue. I assume he's not getting D3 from supplements and you don't know if the vitamin A is from a prOformed or prEformed source.
 
I give him Reptivite but rarely ( every two weeks) it contains vitamin D3, vitamin B12, calcium carbonate etc and it does not say on the container whether it is pre or proformed so sorry I cannot answer that question, I have a UVB arcadia D3 5% fluorescent bulb, and up until recently I have had a 100w prep basking bulb controlled bt a thermostat set at 90°F as his closest perch to bask on is about 8 inches away from the heat, I have always believed that yemen chameleons do not need heating at night time as I read into them a fair bit and it seems to be well known, unless the enclosure drops to below 65°F. My manager recently suggested to use a moonlight heat bulb to keep on throughout the night time as he thinks it's the cold nights that have been the problem all along, so I have started using one, could he be right?
 
No. Never use lights at night. Ever. They need a natural temperature drop at night.

We cannot help you fully if you don't fill out the form. You are giving us broken up information, it helps when it's organized into the form @MissSkittles provided. :)
 
Chameleons shouldn't have any light at night and don't need heat unless the temperatures are dropping quite a bit below 60F.

The veiled should be getting phos free calcium powder dusted lightly on the insects just before feeding them to him at almost every feeding. This helps to balance the usually poor ratio of calcium found in most feeder insects.

He should be getting a phos free calcium powder/D3 dusted lightly on the insects twice monthly. This gives him some D3 without overdosing him and leaves him to produce the rest of the D3 from his exposure to the UVB lights.

The insects should be dusted with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A . This leave it up to you to decide whether/when the chameleon needs some preformed (palmitate, retinol, retinyl) vitamin A. Vitamin D3 and A need to be in balance with each other.

Feeding/ gutloading the insects is important too. I use dandelion greens, collards, kale, endive, escarole, squash, zucchini, sweet potato, sweet red peppers, and a bit of Apple, pear, melon, berries.

It may be that your chameleon is developing MBD indicated by the tongue issues and if things are corrected you will save it from becoming worse. A vet can do X-rays/tests to check to see if this is true.
 
Thankyou guys I will fill out the form fully tonight, and I have never used heating at night I have just recently been using a black bulb with slight heating and no light emitted
 
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