Chameleon laying on his side

[Lincolns lizards]

Hello! I just noticed my son’s chameleon is laying on his side on branches. He wasn’t like this just a few hours ago when we first woke up. We just bought this chameleon about 4 days ago. I will tell you what I know, but my son is the one who knows more and he is currently at school. The Cham is around 4 months old. He has been eating crickets since we got home. Since we have brought him home he has worked through about 15-20 of them. We have a mister set up that goes off 3x a day for 2 minutes each time. I think he has the correct bulbs and size terrarium (4ft). As I type this the chameleon has made is way to sitting up (second photo) but looks a little weak. Any thoughts?

 

[Lincolns lizards]

Also, I just noticed he is trying to naw on a branch.

 

[jannb]

Is he under the heat light? They often lean over like that to absorb the heat.

 

[Steve A]

Maybe someone with more experience can help better, but to me it just looks like he's basking and taking in UVB on his side. If that is the case this is perfectly normal. My chameleon does this all the time. Pay attention if he switches sides eventually. That would be a good indicator. If he doesn't, it doesn't necessarily mean that's not what he's doing. It really looks like that to me though.

 

[Beman]

Where did your son get the chameleon from? The leaning can be normal when basking. I would love to see some more pics of him though so I can take a better look at his legs.

 

[Lincolns lizards]

Is he under the heat light? They often lean over like that to absorb the heat.

Yes he is under the heat lamp, but even when he sat up, he looked weak and his color has changed. Yesterday I noticed he was a darker green color. Today he has lightened up and is more brown.

 

[Lincolns lizards]

Where did your son get the chameleon from? The leaning can be normal when basking. I would love to see some more pics of him though so I can take a better look at his legs.

The Chameleon 101 booth at the Sacramento reptile show.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Do you know the temperature at the basking branch? Could he be too hot? In the second pic his back leg is just hanging. Try raising the heat lamp higher to see if he responds. You can use coffee cups to raise the heat lamp higher.

 

[elizaann2]

He looks like he is basking to me, however the position he is in when basking looks a little odd. He could just be a goof like my boy when he basks or something might be going on. More pictures of your panther would be helpful.

You mentioned he has eaten 15-20 crickets since you brought him home, do you mean 15-20 daily or in total?

They can change colors when basking too, my panther adjusts his colors when basking and when he is just chillin.

 

[kinyonga]

Please post several more photos of him so I can see all of him from the side. Something looks off about him…hope I’m wrong.

 

[Lincolns lizards]

The Chameleon 101 booth at the Sacramento reptile show.

 

[Lincolns lizards]

Please post several more photos of him so I can see all of him from the side. Something looks off about him…hope I’m wrong.

I just posted another photo. His color is graying. His color seems to be changing by the half hour.

 

[Lincolns lizards]

He looks like he is basking to me, however the position he is in when basking looks a little odd. He could just be a goof like my boy when he basks or something might be going on. More pictures of your panther would be helpful.

You mentioned he has eaten 15-20 crickets since you brought him home, do you mean 15-20 daily or in total?

They can change colors when basking too, my panther adjusts his colors when basking and when he is just chillin.

Yes, I am going to buy more crickets now. Not sure if he has strength to eat them. But since Monday he has had about 15-20 crickets total.

 

[Steve A]

I just posted another photo. His color is graying. His color seems to be changing by the half hour

Well it looks like he is shedding based on some of the earlier pictures. So this should all be normal so far that I can personally tell.

 

[Andrew1283]

My chameleon looks like this because there’s a gnat in his enclosure. It can be tough to diagnose issues with colors and posture.

 

[Andrew1283]

That guy is going to explode out of that shed any moment. Make sure he stays hydrated. If you can get a hornworm that would be great. Don’t spray him directly. They are dry shedders and wetting their skin mid shed can cause issues.

 

[Beman]

Looks like he is about to shed. When he completes the shed I would love to see some more pics of his limbs. One looks like early MBD by the bend in his front right arm. But hard to tell with the angle and the color change from the incoming shed.

 

[ChamelaChameleon]

Please post several more photos of him so I can see all of him from the side. Something looks off about him…hope I’m wrong.

The front leg looks like there's too much of a curve at the joint.

 

[Beman]

The front leg looks like there's too much of a curve at the joint.

Yep that is what I was looking at. Too hard to see with the angle of the pic and the shed for me to tell for sure.

 

[Lincolns lizards]

I just added 5 crickets to his terrarium and he propped himself up with interest. He does look unstable to me though. He is a bit wobbly. Here are some pictures.