cold male chameleon at bottom of tank??

[regina]

I have 2 chameleons, 1 male and 1 female that live quite happily together. for the last few days my male chameleon has been mostly lying on the bottom of their tank, i picked him up yesterday and he was rather cold, hes doing the same thing today and i picked him up and he wasn't as cold but still not very warm. the humidity is fine, temperature is fine, uv is 6 months old and may need changing now but the female is absolutely fine so i don't think it could be that, and hes eating fine as well. i looked it up online and the most likely thing is metabolic bone disease, but he has a very good grip, has a normal jaw and i dust everything they eat, and like i say the female is completely fine. i have no idea what it could be, any suggestions will be appreciated, thank you.

 

[carol5208]

You are gonna catch a lot of flack for housing them together. you need to fill out this form so we can try and see what is going on.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Yeah, chameleons are solitary animals and not meant to be housed together. Even if they appear content, they are competing for resources which in turn causes stress. Why not seperate them? It may have an effect upon the health of your animals. Like previously stated, fill out the ask for help form. You have come to the right place for help

 

[Olimpia]

How long have they been living together? How large is the cage? How old are they?

In all likelihood, he's being intimidated by her for the best basing spots in the cage. You'd be surprised by how dominating the little girls can be. They may not be at each other's throats but they are like dogs, one exudes a more dominant energy than the other and the other is intimidated. We see this all the time, and typically one will slowly waste away.

 

[carol5208]

How long have they been living together? How large is the cage? How old are they?

In all likelihood, he's being intimidated by her for the best basing spots in the cage. You'd be surprised by how dominating the little girls can be. They may not be at each other's throats but they are like dogs, one exudes a more dominant energy than the other and the other is intimidated. We see this all the time, and typically one will slowly waste away.

the op said the uvb was 6 months old so I am assuming atleast that old which is probably not a good idea. Gonna have to wait and see what species they are and all that stuff

 

[Video Master]

I'm guess that he is not getting the heat from the basking area as the female is hogging it. They should be housed in separate cages so they each have their own basking spot and do not have to compete for anything. As some of the others have said, the female is most likely the dominant one and he is intimidated of her.

 

[regina]

chameleon info

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - 2 yemen chameleons, (the female is absoloutely fine,
its the male thats ill) 1 male and 1 female, they are both around 8 months and have been in my care for 5 months.
Handling - i handle both chameleons every day for about 10 minutes
Feeding - i feed them crickets, around 20 (ish) a day they eat between them, i feed in the afternoon because thats when they eat (they wont eat if i put the crickets in, in the morning) i gut load with carrot.
Supplements - i dust the crickets with nutrobal, it has vitamin d3 and calcium in, and i dust the crickets before every feed.
Watering - i mist the tank at least 3 times a day, using a water sprayer and make sure all leaves are wet, i usually see the chameleons drink it.
Fecal Description - the droppings have obviously got larger as chameleons have grown, both completely normal, brown etc. theyve never been tested for parasites
History - they have both been completely healthy until now

Cage Info:
Cage Type - usual vivarium with glass doors at the front, plans to extend it soon. dimensions are 610 x 915 x 610mm
Lighting - Zoo Meds ReptiSun 10.00 uv light, goes on around 9 in morning and stays on till 9 at night usually.
Temperature - the basking temperature is 32 oc, cage floor is 24oc, lowest overnight temp is 20 oc. measured with thermometer.
Humidity - Try to keep the humidity at about 60 when i can but is hard in cold weather, its around 55 at the minute. i maintain the levels by misting daily and measure the humidity with a hydrometer
Plants - only fake plants, but lots of them!
Placement - cage is places near a large window, no traffic, no fans. the height of the cage is located quite high above the floor, around 2 metres id say.
Location - uk

Current Problem - The reason they are kept together is because I got them as a birthday present from my family, and they have always got on together. The problem is with my male, the female is completely fine. The male sits at the bottom of the tank, and has done for the past couple of days. When i pick him up he is luke warm or ocassionally cold. today he has actually been slightly better, better colour and climbing more, but still something is not right.

 

[regina]

thank you so much everyone for all your help, they are going to be seperated soon, my brother is building a much larger vivarium for them and is going to seperate it in the middle. i understand it a lot more now, i guess the female is just bullying him. poor little guy, hopefully it will get sorted when they both get their own space! thank you again

 

[Video Master]

You suppliments should be changed. You should dust with calcium with every feeding and only do D3 twice a month and also a multivitamin twice a month. You can overdose on D3.

Here is the veiled care sheet for your reference. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[regina]

You suppliments should be changed. You should dust with calcium with every feeding and only do D3 twice a month and also a multivitamin twice a month. You can overdose on D3.

Here is the veiled care sheet for your reference. https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

thank you, i have seen people say this on the forum several times. a guy from a reptile shop came into my house once and said i should be giving them the d3 every day, obviously he has absolutely no idea! thank you for your advice

 

[carol5208]

Your female could very well be developing eggs now. They did not have to mate. She can lay infertile eggs. They may have mated also. You have to get a laying bin in the cage for her A container that is atleast 12 inches deep with moist washed playsand. You can also mix it with organic soil.

 

[sharlaxle]

Hello,
Glad to hear you are seperating them, I know my little girl is only half the size of a male and will run him off if she manages to sneak out.
I did want to mention you might want to take a look at your gut loading. Loading with carrots while providing plenty of water, doesn't really address the need for other vitamens and minerals. There are some good commercial gutloads available such as Bug Burger or reptashy super gut load that have been used along with various fruits and vegigies. Sandra has a good gutloading blog that may help.
Hope your baby gets better soon.
Sharl