My chameleon is about 7-8 months old now, I have had him since he was 5 months old. He's healthy and likes to be taking out to be held and really active. But lately something changed. He moves in in a jerking back and forth motion. I have seen him to this before but not as much. Now almost every movement he makes is even slower and when he wanted to come out it was all jerking movements instead of just a normal walk. I have looked everywhere online and lots of people said this is normal, but it is normal when your chameleon has never down it so much before. He looks fine and he's eating all of his food and drinking water but this is new to me. I did catch him eating dirt and the leaves in the cage and didn't know if that has anything to do with it or if he's not getting enough calcium. I put it on his food every other day. I thought he was just stressed and needed some space but this morning he was still moving in that jerking motion. I may be making a big deal out of nothing but even though I have had him more a bit, there are still things Im not sure about the complete care of my chameleon. Any suggestions would help a lot, Im very concerned for him and want to make sure he's alright. Below is a picture of him, if you spot anything that might be wrong that would also help too. Thanks.
Chameleon moves in a Jerking movement. Hasn't done it so much before...
- Thread starter Mahal347
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xraygirl
Established Member
There's nothing wrong with him. 
That's the "shaky leaf walk" they do to mimic leaves rustling in the trees to help camouflage themselves in.
If there's anything new in the cage, or somewhere in his view from his cage, it could be making him nervous. If he's eating dirt, then that is a cause for concern. Where is the dirt in the cage?
What is your supplementing schedule?
That's the "shaky leaf walk" they do to mimic leaves rustling in the trees to help camouflage themselves in.If there's anything new in the cage, or somewhere in his view from his cage, it could be making him nervous. If he's eating dirt, then that is a cause for concern. Where is the dirt in the cage?
What is your supplementing schedule?
SocialNumb
Established Member
I love when they do that. Mine hasn't done it in while. Cover all the dirt if possible. River rocks, larger ones will do.
There's nothing wrong with him.
If there's anything new in the cage, or somewhere in his view from his cage, it could be making him nervous. If he's eating dirt, then that is a cause for concern. Where is the dirt in the cage?
What is your supplementing schedule?
Well he has been eating the leaves in his cage and its less leaves so I guess he might be doing that walk because theres not many places to hide. Im just not sure. I feed him at least 10-12 crickets a day and put calcium on them every other day (like if I give him crickets on monday then tuesday i put the calcium on them) i don't know what the dirt is in the cage. my mother set oup the cage when she got him a while back. but he never bothered that dirt until a few weeks ago when I saw him eat more leaves and then the dirt. I gave him more crickets because i thought he was hungry. My mother said not to worry about it, but knows nothing about chameleons. I did yesterday cover the dirt with river rocks, hoping that will help. he also seems a little stress because he lays very close to the branch. i can't tell if its just the lack of leaves and camouflage in the cage or something else.
it is kinda cool to see him to that but it brought concern because he's never done it so much before, so I just want to make sure its a normal things to something I should be concerned about. I did go buy river rocks and hopefully that will stop him from eating it.
xraygirl
Established Member
Sometimes they'll eat the leaves of your plant, make sure it's a non toxic plant. I have a live plant in one of my enclosures, but I have some fake plants all around the cage to help create some plant density, and I've also created a complete "hide" where if he wanted to, he can get under and completely hide from me.
Here's a few questions:
Can you post a picture of your whole set up?
Are you dusting your feeders with calcium with D3, a plain calcium, and a multivitamin powder?
The first picture is his enclosure, there used to be more leaves in there. Should I get more fake plants to cover it more? I feel like he has less places to hide now. The second picture it the close up of the plant, i don't know what kind of plant it is, I did put river rocks to block the dirt he kept eating. The last picture is what i dust in his food it was given to us when we first got him.
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xraygirl
Established Member
I would definitely add more plants and vines for him to crawl around on. I've attached a picture of my set up as an example.... There's really no such thing as too many vines or plants for them to crawl around and hide in. I have a live pothos vine plant hanging in the middle of the cage, then I have fake plants to fill in all the "bare" areas around.
That calcium is fine, but you absolutely have to have a calcium with D3, and a multivitamin. For a veiled, you'll need to use the plain calcium you have on a daily basis. The calcium with D3 should be used two days a month, and the multivitamin 2 days a month. I use Saturdays as my days to alternate between the calcium with D3, and the multivitamins, so essentially, I alternate Saturdays with the D3, then the vitamin, then the D3, etc.
What do you have for lighting? I can't really tell from the picture.
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jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
I wonder if any time you took him out before he was running in a panic? That jerky movement is normal, and often paired with hunting/stalking their prey.
he did want to come out after he got stressed by something that was in the cage which might have made him to do the movement, he's fine now and does the movement sometimes.
yes i went and got a new plants and some fake ones to put around him, and he seems to be more comfortable now that there are more places to hide. He is a littles less stressed now that there are more leaves inside now. sometimes i feed him mealworms but he prefers the crickets; I thought he needed to be a little bigger to feed him anything other that those, than again I'm still a new owner. The lighting we have is a normal light and a UV light( I don't know the name to type if thats what your asking)
I did go and get some calcium with d3, do you know what the brand of multivitamin I should get? I'm not quite sure which would be best. (I'm still new to this i was only told to give him the calcium with no d3 when we got him) From what i see one light it just for a light and one is a UV bulb. but I did fix the cage problem we got more plants in there and he seems to be more comfortable, I plan to put more leaves in there not sure if I have enough, but he seems a lot calmer now. Thank you for the info and suggestions it really did help, turns out the dirt he ate is not passing through and the lack of leaves was making him uncomfortable.
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I decided on Jurassipet's Jurassivite. It's a formula that has vitamins and D3 in same product. From what I've read the reason most aren't is that it was found that some of the compounds reacted together making one basically inert.
"If we premixed the products, the "beadlets" of beta carotene in Herptivite may possibly be damaged during manufacturing by the calcium in Rep-Cal"
Supposedly the Jurassicvite product doesn't have this issue.
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MissLissa
Avid Member
I would not use vitamin/calcium/D3 mixtures. You will likely over supplement or under supplement your cham. I use Reptivite as a multivitamin twice monthly, which I believe many here do, as well as a separate Calcium/D3 twice monthly and a plain calcium supplement for daily use.
Your cham looks like he is big enough to eat silkworms, medium superworms, medium hornworms, dubia roaches, butterworms, waxworms etc. Butterworms and waxworms make a much better "treat" food than mealworms, which are basically garbage for chameleons. A varied diet is very important for long-term health.
Your cham looks like he is big enough to eat silkworms, medium superworms, medium hornworms, dubia roaches, butterworms, waxworms etc. Butterworms and waxworms make a much better "treat" food than mealworms, which are basically garbage for chameleons. A varied diet is very important for long-term health.
