Zoomie, 4.5 month old male veiled eating poorly

@Zoomiediaz Hey there so I am going to put all my feedback in Red bold. I would not be concerned so much about him eating less because he is much older then you were led to believe. 6 week old babies are tiny and your boy looks at least 4 months in the first pic. Anyways let me know what questions you have. This is going to be a ton of info so don't freak out :)

Chameleon Info:

  • Your Chameleon - Male, veiled chameleon. Age- got him on April 15,2019 as a 6 week old. Been in my care for 3 months. I am going to say 7-8 months old based on the additional pics you provided.
  • Handling - we handle him everyday
  • Feeding - Crickets (10 a day when he used to eat them) mealworms(8 a day), superworms(2-3 a day), hornworms(1 every other day or every 2 days), discoids(2-3 every 2-3 days). Schedule is I turn on his lights at 8 am. Try and feed usually 11-12 midday. If he doesnt, I try again at 5 pm. I gutload the superworms and crickets with kale, zucchini, carrots,apple, romaine lettuce,cricket food for the crickets and the orange liquid to give the crickets water. The mealworms go in the fridge and are dormant so they're not fed. Ok no mealworms... Time to cut back the feeding anyway and he is naturally curbing back which is normal. You want to be doing about 9 feeders a day. Preferably in the morning so he has all day to bask and digest. So I would say at 9 am go ahead and give him food. You have a good variety going and I will add an image at the bottom for feeder variety and gutloading. Your gutloading will need to be improved. Think of this less as your feeding your crickets and more as your passing these nutrients on to your cham.
  • Supplements - calcium without d3 daily, try to. Without d3 twice a month and multi vitamin twice a month. The brand is zoomed repticalcium and the multivitamin is exoterra multivitamin. I am guess you mean calcium With D3 2 times a month? Multivitamin should be 2 times a month as well. You have to make sure that you are giving the calcium without D3 at every other feeding. This is very important and helps keep him strong and healthy.
  • Watering - I use a mister. The kind you pump and mist. I do that around 3 times a day and for around 1 minute each time. Gets pretty wet in there. Walls, his body, the dirt,plants. When I mist, yes I see him licking and drinking. Do I see him licking the walls like I used to when he was in the little tank,no.
  • Fecal Description - color of poop, brownish,somedays darker than others. Daily poop and pee. Solid, not runny unless he had a hornworm. He's never been tested for parasites. Please get him tested for parasites. THis is very easy just call around to your reptile Vets and see who will let you bring in a fecal to be tested without bringing in the cham. Get a fresh fecal in a plastic baggy and take it in the same day. While most parasites are easy to get rid of there are those that are horrible and well just trust me not something you want to be taken by surprise with.
  • History - We got him at a reptile shop that breeds them there. He was together in an enclosure with his sisters and he was scrawny and scared looking and looked as if he hadn't eaten in a while.

Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Cage is glass, screen roof, exoterra natural terrarium, medium x-tall, 24 x 18 x 36. So I would upgrade the cage.. He is going to need the room. He needs a Minimum of 2x2x4 feet tall. I would also switch to screen or a dragon strand clearside enclosure with drainage tray. I am concerned about the humidity level being constant at 70 during the day. This is really high for a Veiled.
  • Lighting - Brand exoterra, model I'm not sure, types of lighting uvb 10.0 and 5.0 natural Lighting. Mini bulbs because that's what the hood stands. Heatbulb is a 60 watt. Even though the hood says only a 25 watt I think that's too little heat. Lighting schedule is 8 am to 8-9 pm. Lighting schedule is good. But bad news the lighting is not ok for him. You will need to get 2 new fixtures. 1 is a standard dome fixture to house the heat bulb and the 2nd is a T5HO linear fixture with a T5 5.0 zoo med or 6% Arcadia Uvb bulb. This should be placed directly on the screen and his basking has to be 7-8 inches below it to get the proper UVB level. This is super important because right now with what he has he is not getting the correct UVB levels and is at risk for developing MBD.
  • Temperature - The heat at the moment is 80 on top and 70 on the bottom. Temperature at night with no lights is 70 on top which is where he sleeps anyways. I measure them with 2 thermometers, one on top and one on the bottom. Exoterra brand So I am thinking these temps may be off as well since you are using anolog readers. He should be getting about 85 at basking at his age. Get a temp gun off amazon for exact temps they are only 15 bucks.
  • Humidity - Humidity usually maintains itself at around 70. When I mist it's usually 75-80 but drops pretty quickly. It's strange because the humidity is lower now with more dirt and plants than without. I use an exoterra hygrometer. So this is my other area of concern and I touched a bit on it but Veileds should be between 30-50% max humidity during the day. When you have heat from lights and high humidity he becomes high risk for developing an Upper respiratory infection otherwise known as an RI. These require antibiotics and vet care. Another reason why I recommended the screen cage above. With the glass cages everything has to be very carefully balanced typically experienced keepers are the only ones that use these and they use them for chams that require higher humidity levels.
  • Plants - Yes I use 2 small umbrella plants and a small pothos vine that's growing. I also use small fake vines with suction cups. And a fake vine that wraps around. Live is always better so great job here.
  • Placement - The cage is located in the living room on a TV table next to a wall several inches away from an always closed window but he gets some light from it just no air or wind. There is a ceiling fan but it's almost never on. No air vents. Wall unit ac is several feet away but no direct air is near him. The house is usually 72. High traffic,no. It's just me, my daughter and my mom 99% of the time. From the floor to the bottom of the cage is 20 inches. To the top of the tank is 55 inches. Sounds perfect!
  • Location - I live in Miami, Florida You live in the best place ever to have chameleons! Great outdoor environment to give him the best of both an indoor cage and an outdoor one.

Current Problem - The current problem is he's not eating the way he should be. Everywhere I read it says juveniles should be eating like crazy and all the

So your good here with the lack of eating. Unless he is gapping and you are seeing other concerning things I am gonna say he has hit his natural curb back on eating due to him being older then you originally thought.

I am going to give you some additional info here as well. Let me know if you have any questions. :)

awesome cages... www.dragonstrand.com
great lighting options www.lightyourreptiles.com
Fantastic podcast to learn a ton. www.chameleonbreeder.com

Care sheet for your Veiled. Read through because his temps and food requirements will change as he matures. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

chameleon-food(1).jpg
chameleon-gutload.jpg
 
Last edited:
Beman said:
@Zoomiediaz I wanted to make sure you saw the feedback I gave on your form. I had not tagged you in it at first so you may have not gotten the alert.
Click to expand...
Yes, thank you. I read the whole thing and understand but have a few questions and concerns. I am not feeling too well at the moment but I will respond back asap. Most likely tomorrow. Thank you for your feedback and comments. I appreciate you all. Please don't stop commenting. All feedback is appreciated and taken in with open eyes and ears.
 
Zoomiediaz said:
Yes, thank you. I read the whole thing and understand but have a few questions and concerns. I am not feeling too well at the moment but I will respond back asap. Most likely tomorrow. Thank you for your feedback and comments. I appreciate you all. Please don't stop commenting. All feedback is appreciated and taken in with open eyes and ears.
Click to expand...
Not a problem. When your ready we will be here to help. :) I hope you feel better.
 
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