MDetroit571
New Member
Good Morning, Everybody!
Last night at 10 oclock at night I had a friend that texted me and told me I needed to take her male veiled, Tiago, because he was acting really sluggish and she was worried about him. I had never seen this chameleon before and didnt know he even existed. She gave me a little skeleton of a lizard in a 5 gallon glass enclosure with a fake cactus plant in the middle of it and begged me to help her learn how to care for it.
I took him home and I am going out this morning to buy a proper enclosure, lighting, a hibiscus centerpiece, a water dripper, etc. I placed him in my shower last night with the nozzle facing the wall and he just buried his face in the running water and drank all of it up. She had a water bowl in his cage before so who knows how long it has been since he had water. I then sprayed the glass of his enclosure and he spent all night drinking that too..
I put him immediately on a grasshopper diet because that's the highest protein enriched food I have at the moment. I will be getting him silk and horn worms today, but what I noticed is he has really bad teeth and a really weak jaw. He couldnt chew hibiscus when I offered it to him, and he couldnt chew my wet grasshoppers, only the freeze dried because they crumble so easily. I dont know if that is a problem with his jaw strength and will get better over time, or his teeth. Does anybody recommend any super fatty foods that could be easy to chew up if its potentially a tooth problem?
His eyes were extremely sunken in last night, but he is already looking a bit better this morning. I got him to drink some more and he ate another freeze dried grasshopper on his own.
He is extremely skinny. I can see every bone in the poor things body, and he has layers of old shed built up on his crown. I used an aloe spray to help his skin heal a bit. He isnt showing any signs of MBD or Respiratory issues. I dont hear any crackling when he breathes. He isn't aggressive at all, which I know is a bad sign as well.
If anybody has any additional tips on how to help this poor guy out, I'd be happy to hear them! He is going into a screened 3.5 ft tall vivarium today with a hibiscus and orchids and everything my other veiled currently has.
The pictures below are HOW HE CAME TO ME. Not how he will be staying. Pet store opens in 2 hours so I'll be getting him new stuff then.
Last night at 10 oclock at night I had a friend that texted me and told me I needed to take her male veiled, Tiago, because he was acting really sluggish and she was worried about him. I had never seen this chameleon before and didnt know he even existed. She gave me a little skeleton of a lizard in a 5 gallon glass enclosure with a fake cactus plant in the middle of it and begged me to help her learn how to care for it.
I took him home and I am going out this morning to buy a proper enclosure, lighting, a hibiscus centerpiece, a water dripper, etc. I placed him in my shower last night with the nozzle facing the wall and he just buried his face in the running water and drank all of it up. She had a water bowl in his cage before so who knows how long it has been since he had water. I then sprayed the glass of his enclosure and he spent all night drinking that too..
I put him immediately on a grasshopper diet because that's the highest protein enriched food I have at the moment. I will be getting him silk and horn worms today, but what I noticed is he has really bad teeth and a really weak jaw. He couldnt chew hibiscus when I offered it to him, and he couldnt chew my wet grasshoppers, only the freeze dried because they crumble so easily. I dont know if that is a problem with his jaw strength and will get better over time, or his teeth. Does anybody recommend any super fatty foods that could be easy to chew up if its potentially a tooth problem?
His eyes were extremely sunken in last night, but he is already looking a bit better this morning. I got him to drink some more and he ate another freeze dried grasshopper on his own.
He is extremely skinny. I can see every bone in the poor things body, and he has layers of old shed built up on his crown. I used an aloe spray to help his skin heal a bit. He isnt showing any signs of MBD or Respiratory issues. I dont hear any crackling when he breathes. He isn't aggressive at all, which I know is a bad sign as well.
If anybody has any additional tips on how to help this poor guy out, I'd be happy to hear them! He is going into a screened 3.5 ft tall vivarium today with a hibiscus and orchids and everything my other veiled currently has.
The pictures below are HOW HE CAME TO ME. Not how he will be staying. Pet store opens in 2 hours so I'll be getting him new stuff then.
