Yemen constantly reaching for....something!

lizzzzzard

New Member
Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon - Male Yemen chameleon, 4 months old. Named Pablo
• Handling – I handle him very briefly every day. He climbs onto me quite happily, it doesn’t seem to stress him out.
• Feeding – I am feeding him waxworms and crickets at the moment but I try to mix it up. He’s lost his appetite a bit, maybe eating 2/3 waxworms every day. He ignores the crickets at the moment.
• Supplements – Calcidust and zoo med vitamins x 2 a week on the waxworms.
• Watering – I mist 2 or 3 times a day. I used to see him drink but haven’t for weeks now.
• Fecal Description – Brown with some white and yellow.
• History – Has always been a happy chameleon until the last 3 or 4 weeks

Cage Info:
• Cage Type – wooden viv with glass doors, 575mm x 490mm x 915mm.
• Lighting – 8am-8pm 15w 5% uv bulb uva/uvb light and 60w reptisun basking light
• Temperature – basking temp 95F. bottom of cage 20degrees C (sorry to mix F and C). Thermometers in both places.
• Humidity – moderate. I’m not near the viv right now to give more details but I have a hydrometer and keep a close eye on it
• Plants – 1 x umbrella plant 5 x small weeping figs, 2 x hibiscus
• Placement – in the corner of the room, not near vents but keep the room ventilated and take him out regularly. Viv is on a chest of drawers about 50cm off the ground. I try to keep out excess light and noise.
• Location – south west London

Current Problem – Pablo has only recently started displaying some weird reaching behaviour. He is ignoring food more and more often. When i try and feed him with feeding tongs, he will take a worm or two and then just try to climb on me or the feeding tongs in an effort to climb up higher. He ignores his crickets completely. He will climb to the highest points he can in the viv and seem to be reaching out trying to climb higher. He climbed on his light cage a couple of times so i rearranged so he couldn't get to it. Now he keeps reaching out to it, or just upwards in general, and seems quite desperate about it, often nearly overbalancing. He is particularly obssessed with trying to climb up the glass doors when i have them open. Has anyone seen this reaching behaviour before? It is natural for chameleons to want to be at the highest point but he has only recently started to do this. I feel like he is frustrated. Is this because he is in a wooden viv, and can see the wires of his ceiling? I was considering getting him a mesh one but my room is VERY cold in winter so might be such a good idea… what can I do to make him happy?? This lizard means the world to me!
 
I have a yemen as well, the reaching is definately normal I would say, I have noticed that chams dont understand the concept of glass, they seem to not even realize it's there. Im not exactly sure but from what I've learned abou chams is that their perception of certain things is off, so he may be teaching for the wires up top thinking they're alot closer then what they really are. My Yemen just started to make a cough like noise a few days ago after my buddy dropped him. I've been doing research and about 90% of the post I read day that's their way of saying I don't wanna be bothered. 1 person said it's a respiratory infection. So I'm kinda lost myself!
 
One of my sternfeldi females is always trying to reach through the glass, it's like she wants to come out.
 
How often do you dust with phosphorous - free calcium? What about phosphorous - free calcium D3 powder?
 
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