Hello all,
My veiled chameleon, which I believe to be a male by the back spurs, has stopped eating for about 2 and a half days now. I've had him for about 4 weeks and his age was unknown when I got him. He is a juvenile chameleon though, I know that much.
Anyways, I have seen him moving around, but I don't believe he's been eating. I tried putting a cricket on a leaf and putting it right in his face, but still he did not take the cricket. He usually goes for that very quickly. I made the mistake and gave him meal worms fed on a leaf for about 4 straight days when I first got him, so I'm hoping he did not just get accustomed to them. It just seemed he was ignoring the crickets at first, but now he won't even take mealworms.
I also am seeing problems with shedding. It seems his tail, back left foot and right front claw have some skin left on them. I bought him with what looked like an injury or excess skin on his tail, but the claw and foot are things he's developed under my care. The back leg actually looks a bit swollen at the bottom and I noticed an orange patch on his knee that was not seen on any other joint. I don't know, he's just not looking good and I'm trying.
Some background information:
Humidity: Normally 45 to 60 now, but it was dropping below 40 for a little while.
Temperature: Upper 70's during the day and mid 60s at night
Lighting: UVB light and heat lamp, but the UVB light is relatively new (about a week). Complete darkness at night and he's usually asleep by 8 p.m. or a little later.
Cage: Zoo Med Reptibreeze Screen Cage 18 x 36 " with cardboard instilation on the sides. Inside, but near window.
Foliage: Live Umbrella Plant that is the height of cage and a smaller Dracaena plant. Also a vine thing purchased at PetsMart.
Humidifier: Zoo Med Reptifogger that I run twice a day for like more than an hour each cycle
Substrate: Moss for right now, going to put dirt back in
Food: 4-5 crickets or 2-3 mealworms dusted in Zoo Med's reptivite or Fluker's repute calcium with Vitamin D3 and Phosphorous free. Mainly mealworms for the first little bit, but I know they're not good b/c of fat and the exoskeleton.
**The crickets are now in a plastic container with leaves on the bottom, could this be why he's not eating? I've tried to feed him several different ways.
Water: Dripper styrofoam cup and I've seen him lick off of the leaves. The water is not tap, but filtered water from the fridge. I was using water treatment for reptiles, but I heard this was not necessary.
I don't handle him much and let him come to me. Some days he wants to and others not. But not lately, he's just been a bit stagnant and standoffish. He was in a Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium 12" x 12" x 18" Glass habitat until about a week ago. So he may be just getting used to his surroundings because it is much more space. I really don't know what's going on, but I'm concerned. Please, if anybody has any response it would be helpful. I'm thinking of taking him to the vet this weekend.
My veiled chameleon, which I believe to be a male by the back spurs, has stopped eating for about 2 and a half days now. I've had him for about 4 weeks and his age was unknown when I got him. He is a juvenile chameleon though, I know that much.
Anyways, I have seen him moving around, but I don't believe he's been eating. I tried putting a cricket on a leaf and putting it right in his face, but still he did not take the cricket. He usually goes for that very quickly. I made the mistake and gave him meal worms fed on a leaf for about 4 straight days when I first got him, so I'm hoping he did not just get accustomed to them. It just seemed he was ignoring the crickets at first, but now he won't even take mealworms.
I also am seeing problems with shedding. It seems his tail, back left foot and right front claw have some skin left on them. I bought him with what looked like an injury or excess skin on his tail, but the claw and foot are things he's developed under my care. The back leg actually looks a bit swollen at the bottom and I noticed an orange patch on his knee that was not seen on any other joint. I don't know, he's just not looking good and I'm trying.
Some background information:
Humidity: Normally 45 to 60 now, but it was dropping below 40 for a little while.
Temperature: Upper 70's during the day and mid 60s at night
Lighting: UVB light and heat lamp, but the UVB light is relatively new (about a week). Complete darkness at night and he's usually asleep by 8 p.m. or a little later.
Cage: Zoo Med Reptibreeze Screen Cage 18 x 36 " with cardboard instilation on the sides. Inside, but near window.
Foliage: Live Umbrella Plant that is the height of cage and a smaller Dracaena plant. Also a vine thing purchased at PetsMart.
Humidifier: Zoo Med Reptifogger that I run twice a day for like more than an hour each cycle
Substrate: Moss for right now, going to put dirt back in
Food: 4-5 crickets or 2-3 mealworms dusted in Zoo Med's reptivite or Fluker's repute calcium with Vitamin D3 and Phosphorous free. Mainly mealworms for the first little bit, but I know they're not good b/c of fat and the exoskeleton.
**The crickets are now in a plastic container with leaves on the bottom, could this be why he's not eating? I've tried to feed him several different ways.
Water: Dripper styrofoam cup and I've seen him lick off of the leaves. The water is not tap, but filtered water from the fridge. I was using water treatment for reptiles, but I heard this was not necessary.
I don't handle him much and let him come to me. Some days he wants to and others not. But not lately, he's just been a bit stagnant and standoffish. He was in a Zoo Med Naturalistic Terrarium 12" x 12" x 18" Glass habitat until about a week ago. So he may be just getting used to his surroundings because it is much more space. I really don't know what's going on, but I'm concerned. Please, if anybody has any response it would be helpful. I'm thinking of taking him to the vet this weekend.
