4 week old veiled chameleon acting weird.

R

R4ptur3d

New Member
I have just got my baby veiled and I'm noticing she is doing something weird. Whenever I turn on her light in the morning she paces back and forth at the bottom of the cage and tries to scratch up at the glass, then she will continue to pace back and forth. She is not eating as well and I just suspected that she wasn't because she was just getting used to the new enclosure. She has plenty of stuff in the enclourse to climb on and I'm spraying the cage twice to three times a day.

Can anyone tell what I might be doing wrong?
 
A local pet store was selling them, they had a bunch at the time and I had been interested so they sold me one.
 
I've heard of chameleons see their reflection in the glass and stressing out at it, but with a 4 week old...that shouldn't be an issue. She's scraping at the glass...you sure she isn't trying to climb it?
 
I would try putting her in a small screen enclosure with a plant instead of the glass enclosure . I have different size screen cages for different size chameleons and I use the appropriate sized cage for the animal.
 
I'll see what I can do about that. On that note she has actually just climbed up under the basking spot and is sleeping. Is it normally bad for her to be sleeping this this during the day?
 
that is one of the reasons I use screen cages . it allows heat to escape better and yet they can still access the higher temps near the lamp . they can also get away from the heat . in glass enclosures it is hard to escape the heat and properly thermo regulate their body temp. if you have a infrared thermometer you can see if the enclosure is retaining too much heat .
 
R4ptur3d said:
I'll see what I can do about that. On that note she has actually just climbed up under the basking spot and is sleeping. Is it normally bad for her to be sleeping this this during the day?
Click to expand...

First off get a screen cage,

Second, remove the substrate from the bottom.

Third, are you misting or what is your water source? It looks like a water bowl in the bottom which can cause bacteria build especially in a glass enclosure.

Fourth, sleeping during the day means that at night its not getting any sleep due to lights waking her up. Chameleons need pitch black to sleep, If its in a room where light can light up the cage, put a dark sheet or towel over the cage to block the light from entering.

Fifth, what kind of set up are you using (UVB,Heatlamp, etc.)
 
Sleeping during the day is never a good sign. It is usually a sign of illness. It can also be caused by improper lighting or not providing total darkness at night.

I am sorry to say but your cham does not look good. Will you please fill out the ask for help form? It is at the top of the health forum, it is a series of questions about your husbandry.

There are a lot of changes that need to be made to your setup, most of them easy and any of which could increase the health of your baby. Although it is much tougher when babies are sick because they are so fragile.

First off, as previously stated, you will need a screen cage. You were probably encouraged by the petstore staff that the exo terra was the way to go but for that species you will need screen asap.

No substrate on the ground. It may already be getting in your chams eyes.

No water dish, just have a dripper and mist 3-6 times daily.

We can help you more once you fill out the form.
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Sex is unknown, 4-6 weeks old.

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? as of right now very minimal as Ive only had the cham for a couple days now. I had taken him out various times to do some cleaning up of the cage and etc.

Feeding - I was trying to feed him the small small mealworms but he has no interest in them, so today im heading out to get crickets. (most of the stores in town sell out insanely fast and ive had difficulty getting them.) Ill be using bell peppers and lettuce as the gut feeders most likely.

Supplements - Exoterra D3 + calcium and a Exoterra Multivitamin

Watering - I had a bowl of water in there I was changing and washing the last couple days Ive had it. I have taken the dish out now. On top of that I have been misting somewhere between 3 to 6 times a day.

Fecal Description - white tip, and was about half his body length. He has not been tested.

History - Hes young and I've honestly just had him for the last couple days, I am absolutely new to this and I did read up a lot before hand. I may have just taken a chameleon that was to young to take care off right off the bad.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - it is a exoterra Glass with a mesh top and has a ''ventilation system''

Lighting - Heatlamp is a exoterra sunglo 120v 60hz 75W and the UVB is the exoterra reptile uvb100

Temperature - I have one of those exoterra thermometers but I swear it doesnt work. if it does the cooler side of the tank is apparently at 90F all though ive seen it drop at night to about 80-75F. I dont have anything for the humidity but I do spray the cage quiet often about once every 3 hours or so during the day. Ill be sure to pick up something that can detect the humidity today.

Plants - just medium sized fake plastic stuff

Placement - The cage is at about chest height at the top. No traffic aside from in entering and leaving the room. There is a fan above my bed that is circulating air and the house is hot so we need it circulating that air

Location - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
 
R4ptur3d said:
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Sex is unknown, 4-6 weeks old.

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? as of right now very minimal as Ive only had the cham for a couple days now. I had taken him out various times to do some cleaning up of the cage and etc.

Feeding - I was trying to feed him the small small mealworms but he has no interest in them, so today im heading out to get crickets. (most of the stores in town sell out insanely fast and ive had difficulty getting them.) Ill be using bell peppers and lettuce as the gut feeders most likely.

Supplements - Exoterra D3 + calcium and a Exoterra Multivitamin

Watering - I had a bowl of water in there I was changing and washing the last couple days Ive had it. I have taken the dish out now. On top of that I have been misting somewhere between 3 to 6 times a day.

Fecal Description - white tip, and was about half his body length. He has not been tested.

History - Hes young and I've honestly just had him for the last couple days, I am absolutely new to this and I did read up a lot before hand. I may have just taken a chameleon that was to young to take care off right off the bad.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - it is a exoterra Glass with a mesh top and has a ''ventilation system''

Lighting - Heatlamp is a exoterra sunglo 120v 60hz 75W and the UVB is the exoterra reptile uvb100

Temperature - I have one of those exoterra thermometers but I swear it doesnt work. if it does the cooler side of the tank is apparently at 90F all though ive seen it drop at night to about 80-75F. I dont have anything for the humidity but I do spray the cage quiet often about once every 3 hours or so during the day. Ill be sure to pick up something that can detect the humidity today.

Plants - just medium sized fake plastic stuff

Placement - The cage is at about chest height at the top. No traffic aside from in entering and leaving the room. There is a fan above my bed that is circulating air and the house is hot so we need it circulating that air

Location - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
Click to expand...

Well a good start would be a digital thermometer gun , you can pick them up online for 20$ or so or go to lowes and get one for 30. Those temps seem a bit high, most baby-juvie , bask 80-83 Calcium without D3 is also another thing you want to get, make sure the crixs you are getting are small enough for him to eat them.
 
Your temps are too high, especially in a glass tank. When they pace at the bottom, they are trying to find somewhere cooler.
 
ponders said:
Your temps are too high, especially in a glass tank. When they pace at the bottom, they are trying to find somewhere cooler.
Click to expand...

Yes, your temps are way off and could be one of the main reasons your cham is not well.

For a cham that age, I would say 83-85 degrees at the hottest point under the basking light. No higher than 85. The bottom of the tank should be around 70. It is going to be very hard for you to get good temps with the glass tank. Upgrade to screen and it will help immensely
 
Try just the UV light and see what temps you get. You could get a lower watt bulb for the basking bulb and have it come on early for a little while when it's cool in the morning.
 
ponders said:
Your temps are too high, especially in a glass tank. When they pace at the bottom, they are trying to find somewhere cooler.
Click to expand...

Alright, im gonna turn off his heatlamp since it seems like it really isn't helping right now. i checked it after leaving it off for about 10mins and the temperature dropped already a couple degrees. Right now hes at the very bottom of the enclosure asleep it seems. Maybe it has just been to warm for him these past couples days and im hurting the little guy. It has been very warm here for the last couple days.
 
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