Baby veiled wont open eyes

[El classypenguin]

My baby veiled that was shipped to us under a week ago won't keep his eyes open during the day, he will drink water and move around his enclosure with his eyes closed. Various breeders have just told us to give him his space to get acclimated so we let about 10 small crickets loose in there with him. We mist him and the leaves in there 3 to 4 times a day. We have him in a 32 gallon 16x16x32 mesh screen cage with a golden pothos plant and many fake vines. The ambient room temp stays at about 77 degrees with about 75 percent humidity. The bask area stays at a constant 97 degrees. We use a 5.0 UVA bulb from zoomed. And the basking light is 50 watts. He just looks like he is almost drunk. We have not seen him eat but notice less crickets in the enclosure. He looks a little skinny too. He will open his eyes rarely. We turn the light on at about 9:30 am and turn them off around 10:00 pm. We don't want to have to pay for a vet visit but if its needed we will. We live in Utah, it's dry and cold. He has had plenty of time to warm up. But he just doesn't look like a healthy Cham. He doesn't move around a lot and and his eyes are kind of sunken in.

Thanks

 

[carol5208]

sunken eyes are a sign of dehydration. Your basking temp is WAY too hot for a baby. That needs to come down about 15 degrees or so. You said 5.0 UVA...I believe you mean UVB bulb and that is fine and what you should be using. I find it hard to believe that a 50 watt bulb could produce a basking temp so high. He does not look good from the pic you provided. How much water do you see him drinking? What are your overall cage temps?. You want a basking temp around 82 or so and the cage to be about 10 degrees cooler over all. A baby veild should be eating about 20 small feeders a day. Nothing bigger than 1/4 inch crickets for that little guy.

 

[Olimpia]

Hi and welcome to the forum! I'm sorry you made it here under such circumstances.

You're right that he doesn't look like a healthy guy. Have you contacted the original breeder? You should be at the very least entitled to a refund if they shipped you an animal in that condition.

Unfortunately it's really hard to get baby chameleons like this to come back from keeping their eyes closed all day. The trick is to get them to eat and drink and get their strength up, but if he's keeping them closed because he doesn't feel well then this makes it really difficult. Definitely try changing what Carol suggested but also let the original breeder that they need to rectify the situation because healthy baby chameleons don't arrive looking like that.

 

[DavidBuchan]

Hello, welcome to the forum From what you say I can't see anything that would explain those symptoms. I would get him to a good exotics vet asap if he were mine. Have you seen the excellent caresheets and other resources we have on here? - https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[El classypenguin]

When he arrived he looked like had been dead for a few hours, then he started to move so I just put him in the enclosure without any heat on to let him adjust to the room temp. I have called LLLreptile everyday since we have had the little guy. They told me that the basking temp was ok and to just leave him alone and see what happens. We can drip I'd say maybe 7 to 9 drops of water in his mouth and he for sure drinks it. He will kind of lift his head up signifying that he wants some water. But as far as food goes, I'm afraid I haven't seen him eat anything. I am scared its too late to take him to a vet because I don't want to pay for some testing and have him die. I will admit it was a little cold when he arrived. Is that the best thing for me to do is take him to a vet?

I am disappointed I didn't know of this site earlier. You guys are so nice and I really appreciate the help.

He drinks water everyday at least twice if that's helpful to you guys.

The temps in his cage range from 75 to 77 and I'm sure that the thermometer we have probably isn't the best one. This is my first Cham you guys are so helpful

 

[kinyonga]

Are you saying he raises his head to ask for water when he is already drinking or before you offer him water? Is his mouth open or shut when he does this?

 

[DavidBuchan]

Presumably you have no poop to take to the vet? I would only be guessing without actually seeing test results. I am quite sure the vet is your best bet.....I am guessing that the most likely thing is some some sort of parasite. I must add that I am not half qualified to be guessing. That is the reasoning behind me recommending a vet.

 

[kowston]

mine the same need help