Chameleon is closing eyes

[drewwhite26]

My veiled chameleon is closing his eyes when he is basking under his lights. He is eating normal and will run around his cage every so often during the day. Especially when he's hunting crickets. Its not a deep sleep like at night when you could shake the cage and he won't wake. He is not dehydrated and has been getting a lot of calcium from gut loading flukers cricket quencher calcium fortified and zoo med repticalcium for dusting. Have an automatic mister that goes off every three hours for 45 seconds. Has good substrate thats constantly damp for good humidity. Screened cage thats plenty big. Has a 5.0 UVB and 60w Daylight blue reptile bulb. I got him from petco and have had him for two weeks now. Haven't handled him yet. Still trying to get him to hand feed. No physical signs of being sick just the light sleep i guess under the light and he isn't being super active. Just wanted to know if this is normal or not?

 

[cyberlocc]

No its not normal and its bad.

I recently had a similar situation and mine was dehydration. However it could also be MBD or a few other things maybe?

Hopefully more experienced people will chime in until then what color is his urates? Just because you have a mister doesn't mean he isnt dehydrated. First of all 45 secs 3 times day is not nearly enough IMO, secondly those fake leaves he wont drink from those. It can take some chams a few mins to initiate a drinking response 5 mins every 3 hours is what you should be misting.

A few other things, get that soil out of there. Its very hard to keep it bacteria free and not worth the effort. He could also eat the soil and cause impaction. There is zero reason to have that soil and a 1000 reasons not too. Also get a live plant in there, they can tell the difference it will raise the humidity as well. Put rocks over the live plants soil.

Can you fill out the how to ask for help from the health clinic please.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

 

[oneillchameleons]

Closing their eyes during the day can be a sign of a few different problems. First off I'd get rid of the substrate. Unless it's bio active (isopods,springtails) it will only harbour bacteria and make cleaning difficult. You'll have to start gutloading your crickets with a variety of fruits and vegetables as the cricket quencher is pretty much useless. I use a mix of winter squash, kale, sweet potatoe, carrots, oranges, apples, romaine, bell peppers, etc for wet gutload and a blend of sunflower seeds, alfalfa, bee pollen, Brewers yeast, etc for a dry gutload. I can't remember all my ingredients off hand but you can find various gut loads on this forum. You'll also want to adopt the dusting schedule that is most agreed with on this forum, that is:

Pure calcium WITHOUT d3 every feeding
Calcium WITH d3 every two weeks
Multivitamin every two weeks (not at the same time as cal w/ d3)

Having said all that, you'll want to add a bit more horizontal branches at different levels of your cage. In my opinion closed eyes during the day is most often attributed to a vitamin a deficiency which can be rectified by proper gutloading.

 

[drewwhite26]

No its not normal and its bad.

I recently had a similar situation and mine was dehydration. However it could also be MBD or a few other things maybe?

Hopefully more experienced people will chime in until then what color is his urates? Just because you have a mister doesn't mean he isnt dehydrated. First of all 45 secs 3 times day is not nearly enough IMO, secondly those fake leaves he wont drink from those. It can take some chams a few mins to initiate a drinking response 5 mins every 3 hours is what you should be misting.

A few other things, get that soil out of there. Its very hard to keep it bacteria free and not worth the effort. He could also eat the soil and cause impaction. There is zero reason to have that soil and a 1000 reasons not too. Also get a live plant in there, they can tell the difference it will raise the humidity as well. Put rocks over the live plants soil.

Can you fill out the how to ask for help from the health clinic please.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-help.66/

Closing their eyes during the day can be a sign of a few different problems. First off I'd get rid of the substrate. Unless it's bio active (isopods,springtails) it will only harbour bacteria and make cleaning difficult. You'll have to start gutloading your crickets with a variety of fruits and vegetables as the cricket quencher is pretty much useless. I use a mix of winter squash, kale, sweet potatoe, carrots, oranges, apples, romaine, bell peppers, etc for wet gutload and a blend of sunflower seeds, alfalfa, bee pollen, Brewers yeast, etc for a dry gutload. I can't remember all my ingredients off hand but you can find various gut loads on this forum. You'll also want to adopt the dusting schedule that is most agreed with on this forum, that is:

Pure calcium WITHOUT d3 every feeding
Calcium WITH d3 every two weeks
Multivitamin every two weeks (not at the same time as cal w/ d3)

Having said all that, you'll want to add a bit more horizontal branches at different levels of your cage. In my opinion closed eyes during the day is most often attributed to a vitamin a deficiency which can be rectified by proper gutloading.

Okay So I've got rid of the substrate which i was informed by a petco employee to get which ticks me off. I'm going to get a Safe live plant for him and fix his cage. Also gonna research how to gut load my crickets properly thank y'all for the help its much appreciated

 

[cyberlocc]

Okay So I've got rid of the substrate which i was informed by a petco employee to get which ticks me off. I'm going to get a Safe live plant for him and fix his cage. Also gonna research how to gut load my crickets properly thank y'all for the help its much appreciated

Well those are good things to do, but we still have to figure out why he is closing his eyes. That is very bad, all the things that could cause that could end him quickly.

Has he urated recently? What color was it?

Also to the plant make sure you clean every leaf, and re pot it in organic potting soil. Never listen to Petco employees they have no clue how to handle chameleons 90% of the time.

 

[drewwhite26]

Well those are good things to do, but we still have to figure out why he is closing his eyes. That is very bad, all the things that could cause that could end him quickly.

Has he urated recently? What color was it?

Also to the plant make sure you clean every leaf, and re pot it in organic potting soil. Never listen to Petco employees they have no clue how to handle chameleons 90% of the time.

I haven't seen him in the past day and a half

 

[drewwhite26]

I haven't seen him in the past day and a half

urate*

 

[cyberlocc]

urate*

What color was it last time he did? White, yellow, orange or a mix?

 

[drewwhite26]

What color was it last time he did? White, yellow, orange or a mix?

a mix

 

[cyberlocc]

a mix

Okay well a mix of which is now the question.

AFAIK it goes like this.

White - Normal, Perfect it should be 100% white.
Yellow - Dehydrated, needs more water.
Orange - Extremely dehydrated, give showers and bathes in Pedialyte.

From a mix and your misting schedule plus fake plants. I would say your cham is likely dehydrated. Increase the misting schedule to at least 3 mins every 3 hours (be sure to give a few hours between the last mist and lights off so the water can dry).

Mine was doing the same thing as your when I first got him, he wasn't sleeping just squinting and usually 1 eye at a time sometimes both. I increased the hydration and he stopped after a few days. When they are dehydrated there eyes will dry out they shut them to try and rehydrate them, at least that is what I gather.

 

[drewwhite26]

Okay well a mix of which is now the question.

AFAIK it goes like this.

White - Normal, Perfect it should be 100% white.
Yellow - Dehydrated, needs more water.
Orange - Extremely dehydrated, give showers and bathes in Pedialyte.

From a mix and your misting schedule plus fake plants. I would say your cham is likely dehydrated. Increase the misting schedule to at least 3 mins every 3 hours (be sure to give a few hours between the last mist and lights off so the water can dry).

Mine was doing the same thing as your when I first got him, he wasn't sleeping just squinting and usually 1 eye at a time sometimes both. I increased the hydration and he stopped after a few days. When they are dehydrated there eyes will dry out they shut them to try and rehydrate them, at least that is what I gather.

Okay I will get on it. Also There is nothing at the bottom of the cage so with the ton of misting is it alright for the bottom to be soaked?

 

[cyberlocc]

Okay I will get on it. Also There is nothing at the bottom of the cage so with the ton of misting is it alright for the bottom to be soaked?

Ya the bottom will dry up. If you are worried about furniture below, you could get a drip pan like these.
http://dragonstrand.com/product/large-heavy-duty-drainage-tray/

Or make one yourself, then drill holes in the bottom of the cage for excess water to drain into.

You could make one fairly easy. You could build some kind of riser for the cage and put a bucket below or whatever.

I have a drain pan on my custom cage, and even though my mister goes through a gallon a day of water, the pan collects maybe 1/2 gallon a week.

Though I doubt 3 mins, with your mister will use that much water. Mine is a promist with 2 nozzles going for 5 mins 3 times a day.

And for a quick hydration boost. You could get a shallow pan of water, with some pedialyte mixed it (or not) and fill it up low enough so that his head isnt submerged but his vent is. They can absorb water through the vent, let him soak in that for a bit (like 20 mins, wacthing him). That is only for a small baby or alot of orange, for 5months + you could do the chameleon shower. Just search the forums for shower.

 

[drewwhite26]

Ya the bottom will dry up. If you are worried about furniture below, you could get a drip pan like these.
http://dragonstrand.com/product/large-heavy-duty-drainage-tray/

Or make one yourself, then drill holes in the bottom of the cage for excess water to drain into.

You could make one fairly easy. You could build some kind of riser for the cage and put a bucket below or whatever.

I have a drain pan on my custom cage, and even though my mister goes through a gallon a day of water, the pan collects maybe 1/2 gallon a week.

Awesome, I will make one. Also how do you gut load your crickets? Ive looked it up and theres so many different ways I see. After this I want to make sure I'm on top of everything Sorry for the tons of questions

 

[cyberlocc]

Awesome, I will make one. Also how do you gut load your crickets? Ive looked it up and theres so many different ways I see. After this I want to make sure I'm on top of everything Sorry for the tons of questions

NP , I use the Ice Cube method, which is take a large variety of fruits and veggies, mix them in a blender to liquid then freeze them to cubes thaw out and feed it.

Here is a video for that,

Or you could just feed fresh veggies and fruits. Here is a great resource for that, and what fruits veggies to use.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/feeder-nutrition-amp-gutloading.75/

Also Chameleons can not just be fed crickets. You need to vary his diet as best as you can. try to not let any 1 feeder make up more than 20%. Here is a good resource for feeders you could use.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/feeders.74/

 

[Daniel Martin]

NP , I use the Ice Cube method, which is take a large variety of fruits and veggies, mix them in a blender to liquid then freeze them to cubes thaw out and feed it.

Here is a video for that,

Or you could just feed fresh veggies and fruits. Here is a great resource for that, and what fruits veggies to use.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/feeder-nutrition-amp-gutloading.75/

Also Chameleons can not just be fed crickets. You need to vary his diet as best as you can. try to not let any 1 feeder make up more than 20%. Here is a good resource for feeders you could use.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/feeders.74/

Thank you so much, very informational