Baby Chameleon Care Help!

[ndemasis]

I just joined this site because I have some questions!!!

I have a 3 month old female chameleon. (Gypsy) She has not grown since I have gotten her. She is small!
When she is in her cage I find her dark and recently at the bottom. (Regular sized screen octagonal cage not to big/small) When I handle her, she sometimes turns green and spotted again. She moves fine and seems healthy.
She eats up to 4 crickets a day
I mist her once to twice a day and have a drip system
Temp is at 85%
I have both the correct lighting and turn them off at night

I am wondering if I am doing everything correctly. Only because she is always dark all the time and is very small. And because I previously had a baby chameleon that died at just a few months old.... I thought I had been doing everything right, except that I found out that I was supposed to be misting it.. no one at the pet store told me that when instructing me on chameleon care..

If anyone has a moment please help. Thanks!

 

[Ninkylou]

Welcome to the forums

You have come to the right place of help, but people are going to need more information about your chameleon and setup up.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

Please complete the form to ask for help and you will get all kinds of information.

 

[PoshPenny]

Does she have plants? You can buy a pathos super cheap, cover the soil with large rocks so she doesn't try to eat it. If she is baby she should be eating more. Her basking temp (assuming this a veiled) should be 80-85ish and a cooler ambient temp. Are you dusting feeders with calcium? Giving d3 2x a month? Herpative too? You should mist at least 6 times a day with warm water. 2 is not enough for a little one.They get dehydrated quicker.

Dark color usually suggest stress. Move her cage higher if you can, and give her more hiding places and try to not handle her for awhile. Check her poop/urates too.

Filling out the help form will help forum members give you more insight into why she is not doing well. Best wishes.

 

[Psychobunny]

Can you please post a pic of your cham and cage set-up?

Turning dark color can mean a few things, either trying to warm themselves in the light, or stressed (upset, scared).

Generally, I would not handle them when they are that young unless they are
comfortable with you, and willingly will climb on your hand.
But the little ones stress VERY easy.

Also, check her poop! look for white urates, that will tell you if she is hydrating herself properly.
Getting a stressed little cham to drink can be a problem.
So you want to avoid anything that could cause it.

 

[ndemasis]

Additional information and images - help

Wow this is great!!

Okay,


My enclosure has fake foliage and vines suspended from the top, a shallow water pool at the bottom to collect drips from the chameleon drip system and one real piece of tree at the bottom, all from the pet store. If it worked there should be a small photo attached. (sorry my camera is an old phone)

I was told that 85 is a fine temperature, but I do believe she is either to hot or cold. I don't however own any kind of device to track the humidity and know nothing about how humid it should be and how I make that happen.

I will try and place the cage in a higher location. I know that that does relieve chameleon stress since they are tree-top animals.

I have been handling her daily because it is how I feed her and also because I thought that way she would get used to me. I feed her out of a feeding tub with small crickets and worms. I have a branch in there that she can hold onto and snatch up the bugs from below. She doesn't seem to hate it. I haven't been able to put the crickets in the enclosure because the way it wa built there are small gaps in between every screen and the crickets all escape. But if you all believe that it would be most beneficial for the food to be placed in the cage I will tape up the corners so they will stay. I am just worried that they will bite her and freak her out if she is living with them.
(PS I dust her food with "Rep-Cal" Phosphourus-free Calcium w/vitamin D powder. I also put some on top of the cage so that the drippin water will have some in it too, which is what the pet store had told me to do previously)

She is drinking fine, I've seen her drink drops several times.

If I attached correctly then there should be pictures! If not then I don't know what I'm doing.

~Nikky

 

[PoshPenny]

Tape them up. Dust with plain calcium daily and with d3 2x a month. Get a digital thermometer and get her basking spot to 82-85 on the dot. Give her lots of real plants. You can get a weeping fig for ten bucks most places. Prune it to fit the enclosure, cover soil with big rocks so she won't eat it. And sadly you have to remove the crickets she won't eat. But if this is a female veiled I promise once you stop holding her so much and let her decompress and adjust she will eat them quick. Please go search JannB and read her directions. Forget what the pet store said, most don't know their a@s from their elbow.

Just sit with her. There is no need to hold her. Just being there with her will get her use to you. It will all happen in time. Best wishes.

 

[ndemasis]

Soil

What kind of soil is supposed to be at the bottom?

 

[fluxlizard]

I have been handling her daily because it is how I feed her and also because I thought that way she would get used to me. I feed her out of a feeding tub with small crickets and worms.

You know, this is a nice idea, but it could be having a very negative effect on your chameleon's appetite.

Your chameleon is very tiny for her age- she looks like mine when they are still a few weeks old.

My advice is to try keeping her in her cage and not handling her at all for 3 weeks time, meanwhile feed her in her cage also. And not only hand feeding. Hand feed a few and keep a dozen or so small insects in there with her as well every day in a bowl that she can easily reach. If she finishes off all dozen, give her a few more the next time.

Just to maybe shock you into changing your method of feeding- here are mine at 6 and 9 weeks-

https://www.chameleonforums.com/veiled-chameleon-growth-chart-23892/index2.html#post1094360

Mine grow a bit faster than most, but there is still a huge difference. I honestly feel that your feeding method and handling her daily is what is stunting her...

I'm not saying that to be mean, just to honestly try and help you and your lizard. Give the 3 week experiment a try and see if her growth picks up over that time period. You can always go back to hand feeding later...

As far as temperature goes- you can get a cheap thermometer at walmart that has a probe on it (indoor/outdoor thermometer) for less than $10. Place the probe in the cage where you want to check the temp.

 

[PoshPenny]

Organic or fertilizer free, or mix coconut husk and sand equal parts. Sometimes store bought soils are infested with knats, or bug critters. I try to get the ones kept indoors. And avoid the ones that sit outside like at Home Depot. Then I buy the large garden rocks and cover it. Fluxlizard is a great resource too, he raised these and can really help you get that girl set straight he is a wealth of knowledge, and if it wasn't for him and the other dedicated senior members on this forum my female veiled would of croaked by now. best wishes!

 

[ndemasis]

Thank you all so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

I now have her cage head level, far more height than before! And I taped up the edges in order to put some of her bugs in it (dusted of course). I'm misting more often too. She really seems to be happier already

I do have a thermometer in the enclosure which declares it is at a steady 85% up near the basking area.

I'm on a mission to get soil and rocks tomorrow to finish getting this whole thing straightened out!

P.S. "Fluxlizard" great website! And thank you for the images, they definitely helped. I didn't know a general size for a 3-4 month old, that's crazy!

I'm going to help her grow big and strong with all of your advice.

 

[ndemasis]

It has been 3 weeks now. She seems much happier and healthier. She is always bright green now and eats anywhere between 6 and 10 crickets a day!

However I am still concerned because she still hasen't show much signs of growth.. I will try and post pictures later.

 

[ndemasis]

It has been 3 weeks now. She seems much happier and healthier. She is always bright green now and eats anywhere between 6 and 10 crickets a day!

However I am still concerned because she still hasen't show much signs of growth.. I will try and post pictures later.

 

[PoshPenny]

How old is she?