Chameleon at bottom of cage

[ariez189]

I just checked on Leon before going to bed for the night and he was at the bottom of the cage. I have never seen him do this before. He seemed ok when I had him climb on a stick to put him back on a branch. His legs and ninja mittens seemed ok and he was gripping the branch and walking well. I am just not sure why he was at the bottom. I recently introduced him to discoid roaches last week since I am unable to find crickets. I have not actually witnessed him eat one, but I did feed him some wax worms yesterday so he could get his with d3 vitamin.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - male veiled, I believe he is about 12 months old
Handling - Twice. Just to move him initially into his cage and just now to move him from bottom of cage to branch, but I used a stick.
Feeding - about 10 crickets a day previously but he has been fed discoids since last Tuesday, but I have not seen him eat any. They are gut loaded with sweet potato, carrots, apple, and powdered cricket diet with calcium.
Supplements - Without D3 everyday and reptivite with d3 on the 1st and 15th so I've only given it to him once so far.
Watering - I have a monsoon solo mister that goes off for every 2 hours for 60 seconds since I am not home during the day.
Fecal Description - Normal dropping with white urates, but I do not see as many droppings.
History - Got him about 2 months ago from a lady who estimated that he was about 10 months old at the time. No previous health issues and appears to be healthy.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Homemade 24" x 24" x 48"
Lighting - Basking bulb: 75W. This was the only bulb that could get his basking temperature at 85 degrees. UVB: T5 HO 5.0. They come on at 7:30 AM and off at 7:30 PM.
Temperature - Between 80 and 85 for basking. Lower part is between 70 and 75. Temperatures dropped to low or mid 70s at night.
Humidity - Between 40-65%. Goes up to about 70 at night. I have a humidifier that runs at night from 8:00 pm to 7:00 am.
Plants - 1 hibiscus, 1 bromeliad, 1 corn plant and 1 pothos. I washed each plant with soap and water and used organic soil before introducing them.
Placement - In my home office partially in front of window but does not get direct sunlight. He is not underneath any vents.
Location - Central Florida

Current Problem: Chameleon was at bottom of cage when I checked on him for the night. He is usually asleep by now as he puts himself to bed around 7:30 when his lights go out. He does not appear to be injured or have fallen. I have noticed that the discoids seem to hide out in the plants at the bottom. Maybe he went down there to try and catch one?

 

[MissSkittles]

I just checked on Leon before going to bed for the night and he was at the bottom of the cage. I have never seen him do this before. He seemed ok when I had him climb on a stick to put him back on a branch. His legs and ninja mittens seemed ok and he was gripping the branch and walking well. I am just not sure why he was at the bottom. I recently introduced him to discoid roaches last week since I am unable to find crickets. I have not actually witnessed him eat one, but I did feed him some wax worms yesterday so he could get his with d3 vitamin.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - male veiled, I believe he is about 12 months old
Handling - Twice. Just to move him initially into his cage and just now to move him from bottom of cage to branch, but I used a stick.
Feeding - about 10 crickets a day previously but he has been fed discoids since last Tuesday, but I have not seen him eat any. They are gut loaded with sweet potato, carrots, apple, and powdered cricket diet with calcium.
Supplements - Without D3 everyday and reptivite with d3 on the 1st and 15th so I've only given it to him once so far.
Watering - I have a monsoon solo mister that goes off for every 2 hours for 60 seconds since I am not home during the day.
Fecal Description - Normal dropping with white urates, but I do not see as many droppings.
History - Got him about 2 months ago from a lady who estimated that he was about 10 months old at the time. No previous health issues and appears to be healthy.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Homemade 24" x 24" x 48"
Lighting - Basking bulb: 75W. This was the only bulb that could get his basking temperature at 85 degrees. UVB: T5 HO 5.0. They come on at 7:30 AM and off at 7:30 PM.
Temperature - Between 80 and 85 for basking. Lower part is between 70 and 75. Temperatures dropped to low or mid 70s at night.
Humidity - Between 40-65%. Goes up to about 70 at night. I have a humidifier that runs at night from 8:00 pm to 7:00 am.
Plants - 1 hibiscus, 1 bromeliad, 1 corn plant and 1 pothos. I washed each plant with soap and water and used organic soil before introducing them.
Placement - In my home office partially in front of window but does not get direct sunlight. He is not underneath any vents.
Location - Central Florida

Current Problem: Chameleon was at bottom of cage when I checked on him for the night. He is usually asleep by now as he puts himself to bed around 7:30 when his lights go out. He does not appear to be injured or have fallen. I have noticed that the discoids seem to hide out in the plants at the bottom. Maybe he went down there to try and catch one?

So your husbandry looks pretty good. The only thing you could change is less frequent misting for longer period of time. If not using a dripper, usually misting for 2 minutes 3 times a day is preferred.
Are you positive you have a male! Can you post a pic of him?
I would suggest using a feeder of some sort so you can keep the bugs contained and make sure he’s eating. I use a little cup that I hold for my girls and my male has a shooting gallery feeder fromhttps://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories/products/shooting-gallery The only feeders I’ve had escape from it are bsfl.

 

[ariez189]

So your husbandry looks pretty good. The only thing you could change is less frequent misting for longer period of time. If not using a dripper, usually misting for 2 minutes 3 times a day is preferred.
Are you positive you have a male! Can you post a pic of him?
I would suggest using a feeder of some sort so you can keep the bugs contained and make sure he’s eating. I use a little cup that I hold for my girls and my male has a shooting gallery feeder fromhttps://tkchameleons.com/collections/accessories/products/shooting-gallery The only feeders I’ve had escape from it are bsfl.

I will make the cup today! He’s just so dan stubborn about eating these roaches

 

[MissSkittles]

I will make the cup today! He’s just so dan stubborn about eating these roaches

.Many chams are. I guess I’ve lucked out with chams that will eat anything that moves.

 

[Beman]

The only thing I would add is putting in some branches lower down. Into the foliage. This creates areas he can hide and sleep in.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

My cham panther chameleon will not readily accept roaches, or most worms. He devours crickets and hornworms, but avoids most other bugs. Also, he regularly sleeps on lower branches, usually hidden behind a leaf or two.

 

[ariez189]

I have not seen him eat any roaches, but it seems like he's resorting to eating leaves. I have started breeding the discoids, so any ideas on how to get him to eat them? I have made a feeder cup too.

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

This happened to me the other day, my first thought was he was too hot, trying to get away from heat which is at the top. I checked my temp and it was about 68 degrees directly under the basking spot! So now I think he was actually too cold! I put a space heater near him and rushed to get a new bulb, when i returned home he was up and moving around. I'm not entirely sure if that's the same case for you but maybe check your temps?

 

[ariez189]

This happened to me the other day, my first thought was he was too hot, trying to get away from heat which is at the top. I checked my temp and it was about 68 degrees directly under the basking spot! So now I think he was actually too cold! I put a space heater near him and rushed to get a new bulb, when i returned home he was up and moving around. I'm not entirely sure if that's the same case for you but maybe check your temps?

He seems alright now, I’m just concerned that he hasn’t touched the discoids and seems to be only eating leaves

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

Oh no!Not the leaves!!!! Whens the last time he ate? Best to offer a variety, if i were you i would get silkworms, black soldier fly larva and hornworms

 

[Beman]

So if you are free feeding I highly recommend getting a feeder run. Not only does this keep your feeders from escaping the enclosure and digging into your plants. He could have gone to the bottom for a lot of reasons.

Now as for him not eating.... When they have only ever had one thing it is much harder to get them to switch. Typically they will hold out a week or more before trying the new feeder. But the other issue with free feeding is that roaches will go into hiding while crickets tend to keep moving around.