closed eyes

I tend to talk a lot and I may have to break halfway thru too, to get ready for work, so splitting this in two. :) Also - I’m sure some of what I say has already been said by others, but I just woke up and my brain is too lazy to keep looking back. So pardon any duplication.
  • Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon , Male and about 3 months old. I’ve only had him about a month now Age looks about right…he doesn’t yet have his big boy stripes. Just to confirm gender though, does he have very prominent nubs in the backs of his back feet?
  • Handling - I try not to handle him as he is new, but i reached my hand below him once just to see his reaction and he puffed up and didn’t like it so i won’t be trying that again soon. Veileds aren’t known for being friendly. 😁 You will want to start building some trust with him though. This will help. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
  • Feeding - Mainly crickets, but he’s eaten 2-3 very small hornworms as a treat. Typically 5-6 large crickets, but if he’s hungry i’ll feed him more. I used to feed him every other day, but i seen online i should let him eat as much as he wants since he’s still growing. Yes! At just 3 months old he’s growing fast and needs lots of nutrition. For about another month, feed him as much as he’ll eat in about 10 minutes daily. Then he should be getting around 15-20 feeders daily for another month and gradually reduce amount and then frequency, so that by the time he’s 10-12 months old he’s getting fed 3-4 feeders, every other day or even three days a week. Adding more variety is best. Many on line vendors sell variety packs, which are great if you have just one or two animals. I gut load my crickets with hearty greens, such as kale carrots etc.. Ok. Not bad, but you could add a bit more. Someone already gave you the graphics.
  • Supplements - i dust his crickets with zoo med repti calcium without d3 every feed. and i use reptivite zoo med calcium with d3 2 times a month Perfect!
  • Watering - I have a dripper running throughout the day, and a fogger throughout the entire night, still need a misting system but i still mist when the lights turn off, and when they turn on. I mist for 2-3 mins. Yes i’ve seen my little guy drink quite a lot! I advise misting for two minutes right before lights go on and off. You can use a dripper during the day, but only for less than 30 minutes. Let the enclosure have a chance to dry out fully. Many chameleons are secretive about drinking and it actually is a bit unusual (imo) to see them drink a lot. You want to make sure your night time temps are below at least 68-70 before using the fogger.
  • Fecal Description - poops are looking good, the white part is mostly white and only about %25-50 orange (this varies) . No, he is still newish and i unfortunately don’t have the income to visit a vet right now, but i eventually will. Fecal check is always good to get.
  • History -
 
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Reptibreeze screen cage 24x24x48 Perfect! I’m all for giving more than the minimum required though, if you can. I am currently working on giving all of my chams double wides. https://chameleonacademy.com/double-wide-chameleon-cage-project/
  • Lighting - zoo med 150W basking light (basking spot wasn’t close enough to heat so i had to buy a higher wattage). No no no no! Too hot! Little guys like to screen walk upside down on the top and can so easily get burned. You want a much lower wattage bulb, like a 60w and to raise it off the screen by a few inches. I use dollar tree wire baskets for that. and a repti zoo t.5 5.0 UVB with reflector strip. Perfect lights turn on at 6:45am and turn off at 6:45pm also perfectsince it’s winter time You want to make sure that the basking area is about 8-9” below the lights for optimal uvb exposure.
  • Temperature - basking spot is 89 degrees- Too hot! For little ones and girls we keep them no hotter than 80. As he grows bigger, then he can get as hot as 85. mid range is 72- and bottom of the cage is 65. lowest temperature at night would be 60ish. i measure it with a highly accurate thermometer gun ok, but the guns can’t measure air temp. Get a digital thermometer with a probe end to measure basking temps.
  • Humidity - 40-50 during the day and 70-80 during nighttime, it used to be higher when i had a glass cage but it’s been harder to keep in humidity with a screen cage, but i plan on wrapping parts of the cage so the humidity is able to stay in so he can have higher humidity levels at night. Perfect (as long as you have that temp drop at night below 68) Adding more live plants will help increase and maintain humidity. Since you are in a dry area, you may be best to either add some pvc or plastic panels to your back and sides (making a hybrid) or just attaching some insulating shrink to fit window film. https://www.amazon.com/3M-Indoor-Wi...KMLP0b469mthFlSisGY25ZxPL-WQ6OMIaAq1nEALw_wcB with a dripper running all day and night, and a fogger throughout the night and i mist on a constant schedule ? zoo med temp and humidity combo(i plan to upgrade to something more accurate when i can)
  • Plants - I only have 2 fake plants in his cage, You need to remove those and replace with safe live ones. Veileds eat their plants and it only takes one nibble of a fake leaf to cause a potentially fatal bowel obstruction. I attach the fake plants to the outside of my enclosures to provide them more privacy. but the live plants i have are a gardenia, Don’t think gardenia is on the safe list ficus tree, and 3 other assorted plants that are animal safe but i’m not entirely sure what kind they are you need to know what your plants are in order to be certain they are safe. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
  • Placement - My cage is on my dresser which is probably 3 feet above the ground and isnt near anything that could be effect temperature or humidity. The cage probably reaches 6-7 feet on top of my dresser ok. Height is safety for chameleons. I am curious about what is in the tank next to him. It’s a small tank, so I’m guess tarantula or other spider or invert? You should block the view as any other critter so close could cause him stress.
  • Location - I live in dry arizona so i try my best to keep his humidity up but during summer i’m sure ittl be harder
So, all in all you’re doing great and just need to improve a bit. Do make sure to ask whatever questions you may have and continue sharing about your cutie. I need to scramble to get ready for work now, but again, welcome. I’m glad that you’re here. 💗
 
MissSkittles said:
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Reptibreeze screen cage 24x24x48 Perfect! I’m all for giving more than the minimum required though, if you can. I am currently working on giving all of my chams double wides. https://chameleonacademy.com/double-wide-chameleon-cage-project/
  • Lighting - zoo med 150W basking light (basking spot wasn’t close enough to heat so i had to buy a higher wattage). No no no no! Too hot! Little guys like to screen walk upside down on the top and can so easily get burned. You want a much lower wattage bulb, like a 60w and to raise it off the screen by a few inches. I use dollar tree wire baskets for that. and a repti zoo t.5 5.0 UVB with reflector strip. Perfect lights turn on at 6:45am and turn off at 6:45pm also perfectsince it’s winter time You want to make sure that the basking area is about 8-9” below the lights for optimal uvb exposure.
  • Temperature - basking spot is 89 degrees- Too hot! For little ones and girls we keep them no hotter than 80. As he grows bigger, then he can get as hot as 85. mid range is 72- and bottom of the cage is 65. lowest temperature at night would be 60ish. i measure it with a highly accurate thermometer gun ok, but the guns can’t measure air temp. Get a digital thermometer with a probe end to measure basking temps.
  • Humidity - 40-50 during the day and 70-80 during nighttime, it used to be higher when i had a glass cage but it’s been harder to keep in humidity with a screen cage, but i plan on wrapping parts of the cage so the humidity is able to stay in so he can have higher humidity levels at night. Perfect (as long as you have that temp drop at night below 68) Adding more live plants will help increase and maintain humidity. Since you are in a dry area, you may be best to either add some pvc or plastic panels to your back and sides (making a hybrid) or just attaching some insulating shrink to fit window film. https://www.amazon.com/3M-Indoor-Wi...KMLP0b469mthFlSisGY25ZxPL-WQ6OMIaAq1nEALw_wcB with a dripper running all day and night, and a fogger throughout the night and i mist on a constant schedule ? zoo med temp and humidity combo(i plan to upgrade to something more accurate when i can)
  • Plants - I only have 2 fake plants in his cage, You need to remove those and replace with safe live ones. Veileds eat their plants and it only takes one nibble of a fake leaf to cause a potentially fatal bowel obstruction. I attach the fake plants to the outside of my enclosures to provide them more privacy. but the live plants i have are a gardenia, Don’t think gardenia is on the safe list ficus tree, and 3 other assorted plants that are animal safe but i’m not entirely sure what kind they are you need to know what your plants are in order to be certain they are safe. https://chameleonacademy.com/plants/
  • Placement - My cage is on my dresser which is probably 3 feet above the ground and isnt near anything that could be effect temperature or humidity. The cage probably reaches 6-7 feet on top of my dresser ok. Height is safety for chameleons. I am curious about what is in the tank next to him. It’s a small tank, so I’m guess tarantula or other spider or invert? You should block the view as any other critter so close could cause him stress.
  • Location - I live in dry arizona so i try my best to keep his humidity up but during summer i’m sure ittl be harder
So, all in all you’re doing great and just need to improve a bit. Do make sure to ask whatever questions you may have and continue sharing about your cutie. I need to scramble to get ready for work now, but again, welcome. I’m glad that you’re here. 💗
Click to expand...
okay all of this information is great and will go a long ways and thank you so much for taking the time to write me before work! i currently switched out his 150W and now it’s a 60W with a basking temp of 80, and he is definitely a male, he has very big spurs on the back of his feet and although he’s not very big i can tell his cask will be huge lol! I’ll be sure to make these changes as you have suggested asap and i’ll be sure to update you
 
Ok, now I’ve gone back and read everything and looked closer at possible reasons why little one’s eyes might be closed. You’ve got the correct supplements and your multivitamin contains great vitamin A (preformed) for healthy eyes. Your lights have been a bit too far and too hot. He may not have been getting enough uvb at the distance you’ve had your uvb light. Additionally, the overheating can easily dehydrate little chameleons which is not good for kidneys (or anything else). He does need to eat much much more than he’s been getting. Making sure the food is the correct size can be a big part of why little ones may be reluctant to eat. Just guessing at his size, I would think he’d be needing 1/4” or even smaller feeders. Anything larger than the space between the eyes is too big. I prefer to give smaller feeders and just give more of them. I don’t want to struggle when I eat and don’t think my chameleons should either. Do check out some of the forum sponsor vendors like https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/ https://dubiaroaches.com/ and https://www.thecritterdepot.com/ for variety packs and getting the smaller feeders. Local pet stores (big box ones) rarely have small enough feeders and lack variety.
Another thing that is not exactly related to husbandry, but may be causing stress is your colorful wall hanging. I like it…it’s cute. But, chameleons are known to not like the color red and just the colorfulness and busy-ness of it might be stressing your little guy out. We have to think from their perspective of always being alert because everything wants to eat them. Instead of using the clear window film, you could use a shower curtain with maybe a forest print or a blue sky with clouds. That would keep the humidity in while blocking his view of your wall art and the little critter next to him. When overly stressed, chameleons will close their eyes and shut down, waiting to be eaten.
Not related to this topic, but I noticed you have some branches zip tied to the screen. Eventually, your screen could be damaged badly and need replacing. Instead, you want to use the frame to bear any weight. There are Dragon Ledges, which I adore! https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ I wasn’t able to get some recently and used scraps of garden trellis I had. It worked so well, that I went and bought a panel of more trellis and will be using that as I set up the rest of my double wides. I drilled some tiny holes in the trellis ends where I needed to attach it and used thin wire to secure it to the enclosure frame. To prevent it from sliding down, I secured the wire to just a couple of small screws that I put on each side of the frame. It’s strong enough to hold lots of branches and even plants. Pics below. Also adding pics of a feeding station copy of the shooting gallery that I made from a take out container. Is super easy to make - cut the hole, sand the sharp edges (I ran a thin thread of hot glue too) and attach with push pins and I used cut up pencil eraser to cover the sharp pins. The last pic is of how I used Dragon Ledges. IMG_5615.jpeg IMG_5616.jpeg IMG_5617.jpeg IMG_5620.jpeg IMG_5621.jpeg IMG_1444.jpeg
 
MissSkittles said:
Ok, now I’ve gone back and read everything and looked closer at possible reasons why little one’s eyes might be closed. You’ve got the correct supplements and your multivitamin contains great vitamin A (preformed) for healthy eyes. Your lights have been a bit too far and too hot. He may not have been getting enough uvb at the distance you’ve had your uvb light. Additionally, the overheating can easily dehydrate little chameleons which is not good for kidneys (or anything else). He does need to eat much much more than he’s been getting. Making sure the food is the correct size can be a big part of why little ones may be reluctant to eat. Just guessing at his size, I would think he’d be needing 1/4” or even smaller feeders. Anything larger than the space between the eyes is too big. I prefer to give smaller feeders and just give more of them. I don’t want to struggle when I eat and don’t think my chameleons should either. Do check out some of the forum sponsor vendors like https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/ https://dubiaroaches.com/ and https://www.thecritterdepot.com/ for variety packs and getting the smaller feeders. Local pet stores (big box ones) rarely have small enough feeders and lack variety.
Another thing that is not exactly related to husbandry, but may be causing stress is your colorful wall hanging. I like it…it’s cute. But, chameleons are known to not like the color red and just the colorfulness and busy-ness of it might be stressing your little guy out. We have to think from their perspective of always being alert because everything wants to eat them. Instead of using the clear window film, you could use a shower curtain with maybe a forest print or a blue sky with clouds. That would keep the humidity in while blocking his view of your wall art and the little critter next to him. When overly stressed, chameleons will close their eyes and shut down, waiting to be eaten.
Not related to this topic, but I noticed you have some branches zip tied to the screen. Eventually, your screen could be damaged badly and need replacing. Instead, you want to use the frame to bear any weight. There are Dragon Ledges, which I adore! https://dragonstrand.com/dragon-ledges/ I wasn’t able to get some recently and used scraps of garden trellis I had. It worked so well, that I went and bought a panel of more trellis and will be using that as I set up the rest of my double wides. I drilled some tiny holes in the trellis ends where I needed to attach it and used thin wire to secure it to the enclosure frame. To prevent it from sliding down, I secured the wire to just a couple of small screws that I put on each side of the frame. It’s strong enough to hold lots of branches and even plants. Pics below. Also adding pics of a feeding station copy of the shooting gallery that I made from a take out container. Is super easy to make - cut the hole, sand the sharp edges (I ran a thin thread of hot glue too) and attach with push pins and I used cut up pencil eraser to cover the sharp pins. The last pic is of how I used Dragon Ledges. View attachment 350148View attachment 350149View attachment 350150View attachment 350151View attachment 350152View attachment 350153
Click to expand...
your chameleon and cage are both so beautiful!! but yes i’ll be sure to make sure his UV and basking spot are correct now. i also didn’t even think about the colorful background so my plan is to remove that and get some shower curtains to put around his cage so i can keep in more humidity and not worry about having my dripper on all day, it will also help block out the other cage! All of the information you’ve given has been so helpful so thank you so much!
 
yungzerk said:
your chameleon and cage are both so beautiful!! but yes i’ll be sure to make sure his UV and basking spot are correct now. i also didn’t even think about the colorful background so my plan is to remove that and get some shower curtains to put around his cage so i can keep in more humidity and not worry about having my dripper on all day, it will also help block out the other cage! All of the information you’ve given has been so helpful so thank you so much!
Click to expand...
Do keep us posted on how your sweet little cutie is doing. I’m really hoping that making the changes will help. Definitely a fecal parasite check is needed to rule that out. If you need help finding a good vet near you, just ask. One of the forum members has a fantastic list.
 
MissSkittles said:
Do keep us posted on how your sweet little cutie is doing. I’m really hoping that making the changes will help. Definitely a fecal parasite check is needed to rule that out. If you need help finding a good vet near you, just ask. One of the forum members has a fantastic list.
Click to expand...
i will make sure to update! and if you wouldn’t mind sending that list to me please and thanks?!
 
MissSkittles said:
Do keep us posted on how your sweet little cutie is doing. I’m really hoping that making the changes will help. Definitely a fecal parasite check is needed to rule that out. If you need help finding a good vet near you, just ask. One of the forum members has a fantastic list.
Click to expand...
he’s up bright and early today! just a few things i forgot to add, not sure if they’re important. But i’ve tried cup feeding him with mealworms and waxworms a few times and he doesn’t seem interested in them only crickets! and instead of insulation, do you think plastic wrap would work or should i stick with buying that insulation you linked?
 

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yungzerk said:
he’s up bright and early today! just a few things i forgot to add, not sure if they’re important. But i’ve tried cup feeding him with mealworms and waxworms a few times and he doesn’t seem interested in them only crickets! and instead of insulation, do you think plastic wrap would work or should i stick with buying that insulation you linked?
Click to expand...
Do you mean like food type plastic wrap? I don’t think that would work very well. The dollar stores have clear cheap plastic shower curtains.
Some chameleons need to get used to new feeders.
 
Note you want to be feeding small feeders for this baby. Large crickets are going to be too much for one this small to be actively eating.

May I please see a few pics of the babies face from the front?
 
Beman said:
Note you want to be feeding small feeders for this baby. Large crickets are going to be too much for one this small to be actively eating.

May I please see a few pics of the babies face from the front?
Click to expand...
yes, everything i’ve been feeding him has been very small! and yes i’ll gladly send a picture from the front when i get a chance, he’s a grumpy little guy so it’s hard to get him to look at the camera😁😆
 
yungzerk said:
yes, everything i’ve been feeding him has been very small! and yes i’ll gladly send a picture from the front when i get a chance, he’s a grumpy little guy so it’s hard to get him to look at the camera😁😆
Click to expand...
Perfect, yes when you can. I think I am seeing something with the front of his face on the lip line and I just want to be sure there is not something going on there. :)
 
Beman said:
Perfect, yes when you can. I think I am seeing something with the front of his face on the lip line and I just want to be sure there is not something going on there. :)
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these are the best pictures i was able to get, that patch of brown is just dirt and i’d love to take it off but he won’t let me next to him but i noticed that he tends to close his eyes like an hour before his lights go out so im not sure if he’s just eager to sleep but its just making me worried!
 

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yungzerk said:
these are the best pictures i was able to get, that patch of brown is just dirt and i’d love to take it off but he won’t let me next to him but i noticed that he tends to close his eyes like an hour before his lights go out so im not sure if he’s just eager to sleep but its just making me worried!
Click to expand...
Ok as long as it is just dirt that is good. So start making all of the changes that were suggested in your husbandry review. I would additionally switched your UVB bulb out. Reptizoo is not a brand we all use and I do not know what their quality control or output levels truly are. You want to get a reptisun bulb that is a 5.0 or arcadia 6% bulb. Typically fixture size is 2 inches larger than bulb size. So if you have a 24 inch fixture you will get a 22 inch bulb.

Per bedding down before lights are off. Most will do this. So this is not something I would stress about.
 
Beman said:
Ok as long as it is just dirt that is good. So start making all of the changes that were suggested in your husbandry review. I would additionally switched your UVB bulb out. Reptizoo is not a brand we all use and I do not know what their quality control or output levels truly are. You want to get a reptisun bulb that is a 5.0 or arcadia 6% bulb. Typically fixture size is 2 inches larger than bulb size. So if you have a 24 inch fixture you will get a 22 inch bulb.

Per bedding down before lights are off. Most will do this. So this is not something I would stress about.
Click to expand...
i have a 22 inch fixture and i wasn’t able to find a 20 inch t.5 bulb, do you have a link to any? i could only find the 22 inch one, and regarding the sleeping thank you very much that was something i’ve been stressed about lol!
 
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