Chameleon doesn’t seem to be growing

[Vincenzo_veiledcham]

I got a baby veiled chameleon I’ve had him for about 3 months he is 5 months old now. He just doesn’t seem to be growing much and he seems skinny… I provide fresh bugs (dubias they are fed carrots and lettuce) for him every day in the morning with calcium and vitamins twice a month. Sometimes he eats sometimes he doesn’t. Not sure how to fatten up the little guy
He has a 2ftx3-1/2 tank with a basking area 75w which stays around 85-90 degrees and cool side 75-70 uvb is a 24w 5.0 and that reaches both basking and cool side of the tank. Humidity levels stay 55 or above during the day and at night in the high 70s - low 90s. I have the misting system set to mist once during the day and twice at night for 10 minutes each. I do have some live plants in the cage ponthos. He’s not handled often as I don’t want to stress him out maybe once a week or less he doesn’t like to be handled.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!

Please post some photos of your chameleon and the cage set up.

Please answer these questions so we can review your husbandry to see if we can find any reasons for it…
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

 

[Beman]

Hi there welcome. Yes, please copy and paste this form into your reply and then fill out with as much detail as possible. Include more pics of the chameleon and cage set up. Right off the temps are far too high. For a youngen like you have your looking at basking of 80-85 max... And your humidity is on the higher end which I would imagine in the small glass enclosure. The glass enclosure does not have any venting along the bottom as well so you will not get air circulation. THis can lead to many health issues for a chameleon. Pull that blue tape off the venting at the top to try to help with this. But you will need a bigger cage set up as they need a 2x2x4foot enclosure.
I would get a fecal test run to rule out a parasite issue. This can be a very common reason for growth issues and appetite issues. If the insects your feeding are too large this too could be a reason for lack of eating.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful.

 

[kinyonga]

Any update?

 

[Vincenzo_veiledcham]

Hi there welcome. Yes, please copy and paste this form into your reply and then fill out with as much detail as possible. Include more pics of the chameleon and cage set up. Right off the temps are far too high. For a youngen like you have your looking at basking of 80-85 max... And your humidity is on the higher end which I would imagine in the small glass enclosure. The glass enclosure does not have any venting along the bottom as well so you will not get air circulation. THis can lead to many health issues for a chameleon. Pull that blue tape off the venting at the top to try to help with this. But you will need a bigger cage set up as they need a 2x2x4foot enclosure.
I would get a fecal test run to rule out a parasite issue. This can be a very common reason for growth issues and appetite issues. If the insects your feeding are too large this too could be a reason for lack of eating.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
2. Photos can be very helpful

• Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon , male, about 5 months old, almost 3 months.
• Handling - about once a week at most usually less.
• Feeding - dubia roaches, 10-15 bugs a day, Every morning, They are fed carrots and lettuce.
• Supplements - I use the reptivite vitamins twice a month, he gets phosphorus free herp calcium with d3 on every bug every day except for the vitamin days.
• Watering - I have a hand held mister and I have an automatic fog/mist system, I have the it set to mist twice a day once in the afternoon and late at night around 3am for 10 minutes. I hand mist when I get home from work at 8pm for about a minute or two, yes I see him drink when I mist the cage. I do provide a water bowl but I haven’t seen him use it yet.
• Fecal Description - poops look normal brown and white sometimes a little yellow in the white part, always looks well hydrated but solid. Has not been tested.
• History - he is from a breeder online flchams I’m not sure of anything before he was in my care.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - my cage is mostly glass with a mesh top and small strip of ventilation in the front, it’s a 24x24x36
• Lighting - I have a uvb and heat light for him. UVB is a t5 5.0 24w in a giangarden reptile fixture from Amazon, and the heat light is a 75w in a zoomed fixture, I turn his light on in the morning around 8:30-9am and it gets turned off around 9pm?
• Temperature - his basking area stays in the mid to high 80s and his cool side is in the mid 70s, Lowest overnight would be low 60s, I have a temperature gauge inside of the tank.
• Humidity - the humidity level stays in the 50s during the day and higher at night in the 70s to low 90s. I have a humidity gauge in the tank.
• Plants - I have a mix of live and fake plants at the moment, the live ones are some ponthos and a bromeliad at the bottom
• Placement - on my dresser in my bedroom, not near any fans but somewhat close to a window, not near any air vents, not near high traffic. About 3ft off the floor.
• Location - I’m located in Massachusetts near the ocean.

Problem: I’m concerned about him not eating every day even with food provided he sometimes won’t eat and he seems to be getting skinnier then what I’m comfortable with I’m not sure how to get him to bulk up I’m looking for tips. A bigger mesh tank is in the near feature I ordered a 2x2x4 but he won’t be transferring into it until I move in 2 months I do not have the space for the bigger tank at the moment.

 

[kinyonga]

Can you post some more
photos of your chameleon please?

 

[Vincenzo_veiledcham]

Can you post some more
photos of your chameleon please?

 

[Beman]

See my feedback in bold. let me know what questions you have.

• Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon , male, about 5 months old, almost 3 months.
• Handling - about once a week at most usually less.
• Feeding - dubia roaches, 10-15 bugs a day, Every morning, They are fed carrots and lettuce. You will want to expand your gutload and add variety for insects he is given. See images below.
• Supplements - I use the reptivite vitamins twice a month, he gets phosphorus free herp calcium with d3 on every bug every day except for the vitamin days. Can you please show me the labels of the supplements you are using. THey should get a calcium WITHOUT D3 at all feedings and then a multivitamin with D3 and A two times a month say the 1st and the 15th. If your plain calcium has D3 this is the wrong one and can cause D3 toxicity. Reptive with D3 can be used as the multivitamin that would be used two times a month.
• Watering - I have a hand held mister and I have an automatic fog/mist system, I have the it set to mist twice a day once in the afternoon and late at night around 3am for 10 minutes. I hand mist when I get home from work at 8pm for about a minute or two, yes I see him drink when I mist the cage. I do provide a water bowl but I haven’t seen him use it yet. Chameleons do not naturally drink from a water bowl. They have to have moving water to trigger a drinking response. Water bowls can grow bacteria and should not be in a cham cage. What do you mean by an automatic fog/mist system? Is it a fogger or is it a misting system?
• Fecal Description - poops look normal brown and white sometimes a little yellow in the white part, always looks well hydrated but solid. Has not been tested.
• History - he is from a breeder online flchams I’m not sure of anything before he was in my care. Ok so due to where you got him from I am about 99% sure your baby is carrying a high parasite load. You need to get a fresh fecal and take it in to be tested. Depending on the parasite type cleaning and treatment varies.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - my cage is mostly glass with a mesh top and small strip of ventilation in the front, it’s a 24x24x36 based on the feeder cups next to your cage this one looks much shorter than a 36 inch cage. This cage as is will not work for any longer time period due to the lack of correct ventilation strips. The strips on yours are at the top which does not allow for the chimney effect to pull the stagnant air out of the bottom of the cage.
• Lighting - I have a uvb and heat light for him. UVB is a t5 5.0 24w in a giangarden reptile fixture from Amazon, and the heat light is a 75w in a zoomed fixture, I turn his light on in the morning around 8:30-9am and it gets turned off around 9pm? My concern is the brand of UVB bulb you bought. Just going through the reviews to see if another person had tested the UVI output they said that without the screen it only produced a 2 UVI. What this means is when on a cage top their 5.0 bulb is not going to produce anything higher than a 1 UVI in the cage. Depending on the penetration distance this bulb can achieve this may mean the chameleon is not even getting a 1 UVI at the branch. They need a 3 UVI. So you want to replace the bulb in this fixture with either an Arcadia 6% or reptisun 5.0 bulb. Then with fixture sitting on the cage top you want 8-9 inches to the branches below to put the chameleon in a 3 UVI>
• Temperature - his basking area stays in the mid to high 80s and his cool side is in the mid 70s, Lowest overnight would be low 60s, I have a temperature gauge inside of the tank. Need to reduce basking temp. 80 would be a much more suitable temp for a cham this young in a glass enclosure.
• Humidity - the humidity level stays in the 50s during the day and higher at night in the 70s to low 90s. I have a humidity gauge in the tank. Watch that humidity level for daytime. It is a bit on the high end and with your lack of proper airflow and the small space that the cage is you are going to get very hot moist stagnant air. This can easily lead to them developing a respiratory infection.
• Plants - I have a mix of live and fake plants at the moment, the live ones are some ponthos and a bromeliad at the bottom
• Placement - on my dresser in my bedroom, not near any fans but somewhat close to a window, not near any air vents, not near high traffic. About 3ft off the floor.
• Location - I’m located in Massachusetts near the ocean.

Problem: I’m concerned about him not eating every day even with food provided he sometimes won’t eat and he seems to be getting skinnier then what I’m comfortable with I’m not sure how to get him to bulk up I’m looking for tips. A bigger mesh tank is in the near feature I ordered a 2x2x4 but he won’t be transferring into it until I move in 2 months I do not have the space for the bigger tank at the moment.

So fecal needs to be done to rule out parasite issues. This is what I think is causing the lack of growth. This would be a first step to do. Then you need to change the other items mentioned. Specifically UVB bulb, Supplements, And cage size. However cage should NOT be switched until you get the fecal done and know if there is a parasite issue and what type it is. You do not want to move the cham into a new cage first because if he is carrying a parasite load you will just cross contaminate the new cage. NOTE depending on if this does come back with a parasite issue. The current set up will be very hard to clean properly to prevent reinfection. If you free feed just letting the bugs in the cage to crawl around this is also going to make it harder to prevent reinfection.

 

[Beman]

Forgot the images... sorry.

 

[Vincenzo_veiledcham]

See my feedback in bold. let me know what questions you have.

• Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon , male, about 5 months old, almost 3 months.
• Handling - about once a week at most usually less.
• Feeding - dubia roaches, 10-15 bugs a day, Every morning, They are fed carrots and lettuce. You will want to expand your gutload and add variety for insects he is given. See images below.
• Supplements - I use the reptivite vitamins twice a month, he gets phosphorus free herp calcium with d3 on every bug every day except for the vitamin days. Can you please show me the labels of the supplements you are using. THey should get a calcium WITHOUT D3 at all feedings and then a multivitamin with D3 and A two times a month say the 1st and the 15th. If your plain calcium has D3 this is the wrong one and can cause D3 toxicity. Reptive with D3 can be used as the multivitamin that would be used two times a month.
• Watering - I have a hand held mister and I have an automatic fog/mist system, I have the it set to mist twice a day once in the afternoon and late at night around 3am for 10 minutes. I hand mist when I get home from work at 8pm for about a minute or two, yes I see him drink when I mist the cage. I do provide a water bowl but I haven’t seen him use it yet. Chameleons do not naturally drink from a water bowl. They have to have moving water to trigger a drinking response. Water bowls can grow bacteria and should not be in a cham cage. What do you mean by an automatic fog/mist system? Is it a fogger or is it a misting system?
• Fecal Description - poops look normal brown and white sometimes a little yellow in the white part, always looks well hydrated but solid. Has not been tested.
• History - he is from a breeder online flchams I’m not sure of anything before he was in my care. Ok so due to where you got him from I am about 99% sure your baby is carrying a high parasite load. You need to get a fresh fecal and take it in to be tested. Depending on the parasite type cleaning and treatment varies.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - my cage is mostly glass with a mesh top and small strip of ventilation in the front, it’s a 24x24x36 based on the feeder cups next to your cage this one looks much shorter than a 36 inch cage. This cage as is will not work for any longer time period due to the lack of correct ventilation strips. The strips on yours are at the top which does not allow for the chimney effect to pull the stagnant air out of the bottom of the cage.
• Lighting - I have a uvb and heat light for him. UVB is a t5 5.0 24w in a giangarden reptile fixture from Amazon, and the heat light is a 75w in a zoomed fixture, I turn his light on in the morning around 8:30-9am and it gets turned off around 9pm? My concern is the brand of UVB bulb you bought. Just going through the reviews to see if another person had tested the UVI output they said that without the screen it only produced a 2 UVI. What this means is when on a cage top their 5.0 bulb is not going to produce anything higher than a 1 UVI in the cage. Depending on the penetration distance this bulb can achieve this may mean the chameleon is not even getting a 1 UVI at the branch. They need a 3 UVI. So you want to replace the bulb in this fixture with either an Arcadia 6% or reptisun 5.0 bulb. Then with fixture sitting on the cage top you want 8-9 inches to the branches below to put the chameleon in a 3 UVI>
• Temperature - his basking area stays in the mid to high 80s and his cool side is in the mid 70s, Lowest overnight would be low 60s, I have a temperature gauge inside of the tank. Need to reduce basking temp. 80 would be a much more suitable temp for a cham this young in a glass enclosure.
• Humidity - the humidity level stays in the 50s during the day and higher at night in the 70s to low 90s. I have a humidity gauge in the tank. Watch that humidity level for daytime. It is a bit on the high end and with your lack of proper airflow and the small space that the cage is you are going to get very hot moist stagnant air. This can easily lead to them developing a respiratory infection.
• Plants - I have a mix of live and fake plants at the moment, the live ones are some ponthos and a bromeliad at the bottom
• Placement - on my dresser in my bedroom, not near any fans but somewhat close to a window, not near any air vents, not near high traffic. About 3ft off the floor.
• Location - I’m located in Massachusetts near the ocean.

Problem: I’m concerned about him not eating every day even with food provided he sometimes won’t eat and he seems to be getting skinnier then what I’m comfortable with I’m not sure how to get him to bulk up I’m looking for tips. A bigger mesh tank is in the near feature I ordered a 2x2x4 but he won’t be transferring into it until I move in 2 months I do not have the space for the bigger tank at the moment.

So fecal needs to be done to rule out parasite issues. This is what I think is causing the lack of growth. This would be a first step to do. Then you need to change the other items mentioned. Specifically UVB bulb, Supplements, And cage size. However cage should NOT be switched until you get the fecal done and know if there is a parasite issue and what type it is. You do not want to move the cham into a new cage first because if he is carrying a parasite load you will just cross contaminate the new cage. NOTE depending on if this does come back with a parasite issue. The current set up will be very hard to clean properly to prevent reinfection. If you free feed just letting the bugs in the cage to crawl around this is also going to make it harder to prevent reinfection.

Thank you for the feedback very helpful I’m going to buy a different bulb after work today one of the ones you suggested, I’ll also be setting up an appointment with my vet to go in asap.
Like I said I did order a new tank like you suggested but I won’t be able to set it up for 2 months as I will be moving.
What else should I be feeding my feeder bugs? What other insects do I feed? Crickets? I also don’t free feed I put all bugs in his food cup.
The calcium is with d3 I will switch immediately to the one without d3 I’m including pictures of the vitamins and calcium I use.
Do you have any suggestions on keeping heat and humidity down? I’m hesitant to stop Misting at night because that’s when I notice him drinking off the leaves I don’t want him to get dehydrated.
It’s a fogging system.

 

[Vincenzo_veiledcham]

Forgot the images... sorry.

No problem thank you this is very helpful

 

[Beman]

Thank you for the feedback very helpful I’m going to buy a different bulb after work today one of the ones you suggested, I’ll also be setting up an appointment with my vet to go in asap.
Like I said I did order a new tank like you suggested but I won’t be able to set it up for 2 months as I will be moving.
What else should I be feeding my feeder bugs? What other insects do I feed? Crickets? I also don’t free feed I put all bugs in his food cup.
The calcium is with d3 I will switch immediately to the one without d3 I’m including pictures of the vitamins and calcium I use.
Do you have any suggestions on keeping heat and humidity down? I’m hesitant to stop Misting at night because that’s when I notice him drinking off the leaves I don’t want him to get dehydrated.
It’s a fogging system.

Can you show me what you purchased that is misting/fogging system? Or are you using two separate devices?

Reducing heat can be as easy as lowering your wattage of bulb. That set up should not need anything stronger than a regular incandescent white light bulb 40-60watt. I would not use any form of basking focused heat bulb or you are going to get temps that are just too hot.

The reptivite with D3 you bought is correct. So yeah just switch the plain phosphorus free calcium over to the without D3 version.

 

[Vincenzo_veiledcham]

This is the system I use it’s fogging.

 

[Beman]

This is the system I use it’s fogging

Ok so yeah that is what I figured. Misting and fogging are two different things. If you fog it has to be at night only when temps are below 67. Otherwise there is a high risk of the chameleon developing a respiratory infection. I would look into the mistking starter misting system. This has an extremely fine spray and you can set your times and lengths as you need for your set up and ambient levels.

 

[Vincenzo_veiledcham]

Ok so yeah that is what I figured. Misting and fogging are two different things. If you fog it has to be at night only when temps are below 67. Otherwise there is a high risk of the chameleon developing a respiratory infection. I would look into the mistking starter misting system. This has an extremely fine spray and you can set your times and lengths as you need for your set up and ambient levels.

Okay I’m looking into the misting system now. Ill be ordering one of those and I got a vet appointment set up for 3 days from now I’ll update on the results of the appointment!

 

[Beman]

Okay I’m looking into the misting system now. Ill be ordering one of those and I got a vet appointment set up for 3 days from now I’ll update on the results of the appointment!

So you want to take in a fresh fecal with you, just the fecal portion not the urate... If they send out the fecal test for testing you do not want to let them put baby on any dewormer meds yet. You need to get the results first because not all parasites respond to the same meds. Also medicating when you do not know what it is treating is just going to compromise the chams organ function. So it is much better to wait for results and know exactly what kind of parasite to ensure you are given the correct type of medicine to treat that one specifically. Also you will want to know exactly what parasite it is because cage cleaning differs from more extreme to not as bad to prevent possible reinfection.

I would avoid letting them give vitamin shots as well. He has already been getting a multivitamin regularly. AND depending on the type they give sometimes they give a high dose of vitamin A which your reptivite already has in it. This one is fat soluble so an overdose can happen easily with a shot. Note... if they do an xray they may very well see signs of low calcium levels in the bones. This is due to being on calcium with D3 for all feedings. What happens is that the chameleons body will pull the calcium from their bones to try to compensate. So if they see this they may very well give a liquid calcium without D3. This works faster then the regular supplements we use and helps repair and strengthen the bones.

If any oral meds are given let us know. Their airway is in the front of the mouth so you have to be extremely careful not to aspirate them.