3 day old baby sleeping too much???

Bentley

Bentley

New Member
I have a new three day old baby. I adopted him from the pet store; their adult had babies. I have all the stuff recommended on line in forums and from the rep at the store. Bentley seems to be sleeping a lot on the bedding not on a branch or leaf. I think he has eaten but not sure I put four baby crickets in yesterday and pulled two out today. Not sure if the other two are still there just hiding or if he ate them. I have been misting him as I should and am watching the humidity level and temp. Just not sure if he should be sleeping so much.

Suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

This is his first picture. Pretty good for my phone!
 
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Wait.... you adopted a 3 day old cham from a pet store...? In all due respect, I don't think you should have adopted a 3 day old chameleon, and the pet store CERTAINLY shouldn't have sold you a 3 day old chameleon. The care for a 3 day old chameleon would be completely different then a 2-3 month old chameleon. You should be feeding the guy fruit flies since he will be so tiny. You also never mentioned if your chameleon is a panther, veiled, jackson, etc.
You should do as DrRhymes said, fill out the "How to ask for help" forum to give us a better understanding of what needs to change.
 
Thank you! Here is some more info

First I will say I did think it was too early to take him home, however, they were giving them away and I had most of the items needed and so they said he was good to go but that he was very delicate and there is no return or warranty attached. They advised me that for the first few weeks I would need to very closely monitor the humidity and temp.

Your Chameleon - He is a Jackson Chameleon, male, DOB 12-12-12, I brought him home yesterday.
Handling - I have only handled him once to get him in the habitat and once today when I was checking if he was ok.
Feeding - He has eaten three to four baby itty bitty crickets today and yesterday both about 1pm. I only just read about the gut-loading and will be getting some today. Otherwise I have calcium supplement Miner-All I have sprinkled on the crickets.
Supplements - dusted prior to feeding
Watering - There is a very shallow dish with water Ive kept fresh. I have a monsoon mister but have been misting by hand three to four times daily to maintain a 60-80% humidity. I have not seen him lick water off of anything.
Fecal Description - I have not seen any waste as of yet.
History - Petsmart had an adult Jackson Chameleon that had ten babies all are still alive and mine is the first to be adopted and brought home. I visited the pet store again today and the babies look very similar in every way...size, activeness, color etc.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - exo-terra 12x12x18 Tall glass front access with screen lid
Bedding- there is a mixture of All Living Things Fir Bark and Eco Earth compressed coconut fiber expandable substrate. (I use this for my gargoyle gecko).
Lighting - 7am to 7pm both exo-terra reptile glo 5.0 uvb tropical lamp 26w and exo-terra infrared basking spot 50w are on and on with the advice from the pet store the uvb is turned off after 12 hours and only the infrared bulb stays on. I monitored the temp throughout the night and it stayed with in range of what I have read here.
Temperature - yesterday I had the temp at 78 consistently however as he was not active this morning I went to the pet store and after discussion I have decreased the temp to 72-75. (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? 78 last night tonight I will try to keep at 70. I see that I need to get a second thermometer for the floor of the cage to be able to accurately say what the basking is as opposed to the floor. The thermometer is an exo-terra two in one humidity and temp gage attached to the back side upper glass.
Humidity -I have a monsoon mister but have been misting by hand three to four times daily to maintain a 60-80% humidity. I have not seen him lick water off of anything.
Plants - No live plants but plenty of foliage
Placement - His cage is not near any fans or vents and it is in a quiet low traffic area. The top of tank is about 4 1/2 feet off the floor.
Location - Hemet, ça

Current Problem - He seemed very lethargic earlier in the day and at one point he was on the bedding just kind of laying there when I scooped him up in my hand he just laid there I was sure he was dead then he just stretched a big stretch and very casually and not at all lethargically crawled all the way up my arm. After putting him back immediately I went to the pet store after returning home I adjusted conditions to what is listed above and he looks much better has eaten and is just chilling on a branch. He just doesn't move around a lot. I am being told it is because he so young. I just am not sure how much sleep is to much for a three day old Jackson.
 
First thing is....

definitely no cricket's at the age and I have never even had babies. But get fruit flies and other buggies that are that small. Pinhead Cricket's maybe but let someone with more baby experience chime in here to help you with everything else.


also no substrate bare bottom is the best



Please take care and best of luck to you and your baby.
 
Hi, I don't have experience with babies nor jackosons. but:
Do you have a night bulb or do you keep a basking light on during night? (I'm not sure from your description).
A baby needs ton of food, I mean literally. Get lots of fruit flies and make sure he/she eats plenty. Two or three is not enough.
And as said above, take out the substrate.
Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Thank you, thank you. I will be getting fruit flies tomorrow and the substrate specifically says ok for tropicals and lists chameleons; are you sure I need to take it out? It is mixed 50/50 with fir bark total about 3 inches on bottom at most. He looks much better with the higher humidity and lower temperature.
 
Bentley said:
Thank you, thank you. I will be getting fruit flies tomorrow and the substrate specifically says ok for tropicals and lists chameleons; are you sure I need to take it out? It is mixed 50/50 with fir bark total about 3 inches on bottom at most. He looks much better with the higher humidity and lower temperature.
Click to expand...
I know people who are using it with no issues, but I also heard stories of people whose chameleons died after digesting it along with a cricket. So it's your choice, but I wouldn't recommend it.
 
Chameleons do not sleep during the day(or close their eyes)....PERIOD..no matter what age. If he is sleeping that is not a good sign. They only sleep at night. No Substrate in the cage as advised! A healthy baby cham can easily eat 25 plus feeders a day. Remove the water dish, he will not drink from it. He will dehydrate quickly if he does not get any water. Also, that is crazy they are selling those chameleons three days old. The minerall you have...is that with or without d3? you do not want to supplement with d3 all the time. Jackson's are more sensitive to supplementing so you do not want to use too much. You should get a plain calcium with no d3 and then a multivitamin too. I am not sure of the regime for Jackson's suppements but I know from members on here who own then that they do not supplement a often as other chameleon species such as the common panthers and veilds. Hopefully someone can chime in here on that who are successfully keeping Jacksons. Normally no lights at night as to not disrupt their sleep patterns. If your house is too cold you can get a ceramic heat bulb.
 
carol5208-I will remove the substrate as recommended. My miner-all is with D3 I will get new stuff tomorrow. They were not selling them. They were adopting them to people who had experience with reptiles and had the set up whom they also were familiar with. I had most of the stuff and have wanted one for quite some time. They know me at the pet store as I have two good size fish tanks and a gargoyle gecko along with a dog.
Are you saying they never close their eyes even when they are sleeping at night? He is so small it is hard to tell without my reading glasses lol if they are always open. I will follow through with what has been recommended. The light is an infrared one so it is minimal light but it bothers me so it probably bothers him. I tried the ceramic heat emitter but it got the plastic frame of the screen lid too hot and I was afraid it would melt. I will look into a smaller size single globe. My house is kept not lower than 65 but sometimes just at 65. I have tried turning off the infrared just tonight but the temp dropped to quickly and I think it would have dropped to low. I have turned up the heat in the meantime. I am going to get a fogger tomorrow as people have generally said it is better than the monsoon mister at least for this little guy. I am a first time chameleon owner but not a first time reptile owner. I have experience with a few different types and I am completely committed to making sure bentley is healthy and growing as he should be. I have resources I just need a little help tweaking the conditions to his young age. The pet store does not breed. They only have the written advise of the pamphlets to go off of and the experience or the lack there of of the associate. They have never had babies. So my house or their store. He is probably getting more closely watched here than he would be there. Thank you all for the advise. I will keep posting. Under Bentley!
 
I added his picture as my avatar. He is no bigger than two inches.
Wish me luck and bentley good health!
 
I didn't read this thread too closely but just a few quick points:

-they do close their eyes at night when they are sleeping.
-you should not have a water dish (they will drown easier than you think)
-mist regularly

-they REALLY should not be giving away 3 day old chams. they need special ("baby") care until they are a good 2-3 months old. It seems you are on top of things though, which is good....but the scenario you described still sounds like a horror story waiting to happen from that pet store...

-Chams can see all visible spectrum. If your infrared bulb also puts out any visible red light (as they basically all do) it should not be used with him at night. Use a low wattage ceramic emitter; if the one you have is too high get a lower wattage one or an adjustable setting so you can turn it down. Alternatively, you can elevate it higher off the top of the cage.

-pretty sure he should be eating fruit flies at that age....pinhead crickets might work, but given how fast they grow up and how much of a pain in the ass they are to find (at least around here) fruit flies are the way to go imo
 
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