Young chameleon sleeping during the day

[HerbieHancock]

Veiled Chameleon, female, about 3 months old, and in my care for about 2 weeks

Me and my girl friend have been trying to held her shortly every day as the pet smart employee advised (today I found out this may not have been wise)

she eats around six our seven crickets a day and once we tried to feed her a dead meal worm with no luck. The cricket get some calcium powder and orange cubes for hydration

We have an artificial water fall for her and i spray her when ever the humidity begins to get near 40 but i only spray the leaves and glass as spraying her irritates her. I haven't really seen her drink often.

the cage was just clean and her droppings look yellow she has never been tested to my knowledge

last night our apartment was colder than usual. when i woke up to change the bulbs i had a very hard time waking her. the same thing happened around two in the evening except she was near the bottom of the cage. another separate occasion today i found her sleeping near the bottom too. to make up for the cold i used a her night time bulb during the day instead of the vitamin d bulb. she seems very docile and keeps nodding off keeping usualy either only one eye open or none. she has never been like this. I hadn't seen her eat until about 20 minutes ago but she ate 2 crickets




medium glass cage

2 lights a heat light and uv bulb and then a red bulb at night. we alternate bulbs at about 10 or 11 morning and night

temp is around 80 but was around 70 last night. have never checked night time temp

humidity is never below 40 try to keep it at 60 by spraying when ever i notice its low

cage on my bed room dresser

alaska


any information would be a lot of help, thank you

 

[AngieL]

Hi! Welcome to the forums! I'm sorry you're having troubles with your girl. Sleeping through the day is not a good sign as I'm sure you know. It is definately a sign of illness but it can be a few different things. Pictures might be helful

I can see a few things you could improve on but since you have only had her a short time I don't think you have made her sick, she was probably ill when you bought her from petsmart and it looks like they've given you some poor advice too!

Veiled Chameleon, female, about 3 months old, and in my care for about 2 weeks

Me and my girl friend have been trying to held her shortly every day as the pet smart employee advised (today I found out this may not have been wise)

When you first get a chameleon it's a good idea to leave them alone for a couple of weeks to adjust. You should only bother them for feeding, watering and cleaning the enclosure. Once the cham has settled in then it's ok to try handling but if it seems stressful for them then you should take it very slowly.

she eats around six our seven crickets a day and once we tried to feed her a dead meal worm with no luck. The cricket get some calcium powder and orange cubes for hydration

At 3 months old she should be eating a lot more than that. You can offer her as many food items as she'll eat in 5 minutes, twice a day. The feeders must be apropriately sized (no bigger than the gap between the eyes) and well gutloaded. Orange cubes are not a very nutritious gutload, fresh fruit and veg is what's recommended. Here's a link to an awesome blog where you can find all the info you need about gutloading. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/ Also what kind of calcium powder are you using? She needs a plain phosphorus free calcium at every feeding, calcium with d3 and a multivit twice a month. Calcium is very important to them as they're growing and females need a lot during egg laying times

We have an artificial water fall for her and i spray her when ever the humidity begins to get near 40 but i only spray the leaves and glass as spraying her irritates her. I haven't really seen her drink often.Waterfalls are not a good water source for a chameleon. They are hard to clean thorughly and so can get quite dirty causing bacteria in the tank. A drip system is what most use, you can buy a zoo med dripper or you can make one yourself from a plastic container with a hole poked in it. 40-60 is a good humidity range for a veiled cham and spikes during mistings are fine. You need to spray 3-5 times a day but leave things to dry out before the next misting.

the cage was just clean and her droppings look yellow she has never been tested to my knowledge Testing for parasites would be a good idea. The yellow urates could be a sign of dehydration. It could be that she's a shy drinker so the dripper could really help you here.

last night our apartment was colder than usual. when i woke up to change the bulbs i had a very hard time waking her. the same thing happened around two in the evening except she was near the bottom of the cage. another separate occasion today i found her sleeping near the bottom too. to make up for the cold i used a her night time bulb during the day instead of the vitamin d bulb. she seems very docile and keeps nodding off keeping usualy either only one eye open or none. she has never been like this. I hadn't seen her eat until about 20 minutes ago but she ate 2 crickets




medium glass cage Most will warn you against glass tanks but I know of members here that use them very succesfully. You do need to make sure that the enclosure is very well ventilated to stop the air from stagnating. Stagnant air can cause respiritory problems so this is very important

2 lights a heat light and uv bulb and then a red bulb at night. we alternate bulbs at about 10 or 11 morning and night What type of uvb bulb do you use and what's the percentage? The wrong kind of bulb can cause problems with their eyes. A baby this size should have a fairly low percentage uvb bulb. Lights should be on for 12 hoours and off for 12 at around the same time every day to give them a good day / night cycle.

temp is around 80 but was around 70 last night. have never checked night time temp 80 is fine for her age at the basking spot and being a female she won't really want it any hotter. Lower temps for older females help combat the production of infertile eggs. She will make eggs on her own and when the time comes you want it to be a small clutch. She's to young at the moment but here's a great blog about egg laying for when she gets older https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

humidity is never below 40 try to keep it at 60 by spraying when ever i notice its low

cage on my bed room dresser

alaska


any information would be a lot of help, thank you

I think this care sheet could help you a lot. There is a lot of conflicting advice out there so it's important that folks get the right info! People here will certainly do their best to help and point you in the right direction. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html

 

[slinko9]

Take the night light out,,, get a couple of real plants in the cage to help with the humidity,,,,and set a better lighting schedule,,,say a more consistant 12 hours off and 12 hours on!!!
You say you have a heat bulb and a UV bulb,,,,your heat bulb is a UV bulb,,,as in A(UVA),,,,your other bulb MUST be a UVB bulb!!!! Most chams are good with a 5.0 bulb!!!!!
You should feed in the morning hours so she has time to digest her food by the her basking spot!!! Take the waterfall out,,,,Ive heard they wont drink from them,,,,and the one I seen at petsamart is full of poops so in essence full of bacteria!!!! But they seem to know whats best!!!!! Damn Uneducated Money Grubbing Pet Retailers!!!!!
Oh and dont handle her for a few weeks but make yourself known,,,,let her get used to you and feel safe in her new home,,,,speaking of which,,,,be prepared to be buying a much bigger cage for her,,,,Ive read that she will neel a 12 inch deep bucket to lay eggs in,,,and she will definitely need more height to climb in as months go by!!!!
As for spraying,,,wet down every stick and leaf there is,,,hopefully theres a lot!!!! At least twice a day for about 2 - 3 minutes,,,,making sure the cage dries out in between spraying,,,,and make yourself a dripper,,,,a plastic cup with a pin hole on the bottom to make sure there is a constant drip of water falling on those luscious leaves,,,,,,and streaming in water droplets down branches,,,this is how they drink,,,,,yellow urates mean the onset of dehydration,,,,but it sounds like youre gunna fix everything up right away and get her on the path to a long healthy life,,,,right???
Im sure there will be more ideas and things to do coming soon,,,,till then investigate blogs and threads to learn as much as you can!!!!
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/chameleonsinmyhouse/395-veiled-chameleon-care-sheet.html this is a good place to start!!!!!!
OH ant BTW,,,,,,,Welcome to the place to be if Cameleons are what you want to read abourt!!!!! CHEERZ!!!!

 

[Turningdoc]

I think your ! button is stuck slinko!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HerbieHancock]

More info

Thanks for the advice everyone.

So I have started leaving her alone.

We filled her cage with about 24 crickets, as a pet zoo employee advised ( I'm wondering if i should still be listening to pet shop employees now but he seem pretty smart and was a reptile owner) we are also feeding our crickets some broken up wheat cereal. I will start feeding them veggies too. Her supplement is "flickers clacium with vitamin d3 posphate free.

I've followed your spraying instructions and made her a dripper. The bulb is a 5.0 uvb.

She has become noticeably more active today. I witnessed her eat three crickets in a row and she is climbing on the top screen like before. My worry is with her eyes still, she is squinting most of the time and in the morning they were slightly puffy looking. Hopefully the hydration problem will be corrected and help her eye problem at the same time.

i will try and send pictures tonight but the attachments wasn't working for me