I have a male veiled chameleon. Roughly 4months old. Very active roams around alot. Last week i noticed a small wound on his tail about halfway down. I cleaned it with warm water and a qtip and looked good. The next day it was heeling back up. Two days later the wound got alot bigger over night. I thought it was the rough material vine he climbs on rubbing on the wound and opening it back up. I cleaned the wound again. The next day right before i switched his lights for night time i saw a large cricket chewing at the wound while he was sleeping. I took him out of cage cleaned it out and got rid of all the crickets. So is it possible that the wound started from the crickets? I wounder if they were chewing on it all night long while he was asleep. I read a few forums on it and didnt really believe it till i saw it with my own eyes. I felt real bad for him, wish i saw this earlier. I would put roughly 15 crickets in his bowl and he would eat about 6 right off the back. Some crickets would stay in the bowl others would jump out and roam the cage for another day or so till he eats them. Guess i gotta change that way of eating. Any advice thanks.
Cricket bite?
- Thread starter Hydro88
- Start date
GreenChameleons
Established Member
How old is your chameleon first off? 15 crickets seems like a lot go with 5-7 depends on the age though. I would high suggest taking it to a vet ASAP before it gets wound potentially gets infected. Higher humidity causes more bacteria to form what is your humidity?
Between 4-5months old maybe alittle older. Going to vet on tuesday when they open. Humidity is in the mid 50s.
Fiona's Mom
Chameleon Enthusiast
Glad you are taking him to the vet...a wound can get infected very easy and if it spreads it can be bad for your little creature. Sending good vibes your way. Welcome to the forum.
Mai
Established Member
TBH that’s the reason why I have stayed away from crickets, my panther would eat one or two and I free range feed him and there would always be crickets at night walking around everywhere. They also eat pieces of the fake wood that I have. One day I saw a little mark on him and since I wasn’t sure I got rid of all them. Now I feed him a variety of different feeders.
Syreptyon
Chameleon Enthusiast
Why do you think 15 is too many? At that age (4 months, stated in the original post) they should be eating a minimum of 10-12 crickets a day. 5-7 would result in weight loss and insufficient overall nutrition. 15 is definitely not a problem, as they should eat as many as they can within a given amount of time while they are still growing.
You will likely need to see a vet if the problem persists, but for starters one thing you can do is just make sure to remove leftover crickets at the end of the day! No crickets hanging out in the cage, no biting of the chameleon
Curlytails
Established Member
You may want to take your chameleon to the vet. You will probably be given antibiotics. An open wound is a place were bacteria thrive. The nutrients and moisture on your animal will let the bacteria grow and infection will kill your animal. Hope it gets better.
GreenChameleons
Established Member
I was referring to the wounded chameleon having crickets not feeding 15 is bad to have in there otherwise and I was giving the person more precaution about the crickets was never saying that was the wrong amount. I don’t know why I’m even on here anymore due being very cautious with these animals. Maybe I should just kick myself out and never sign on again.Why do you think 15 is too many? At that age (4 months, stated in the original post) they should be eating a minimum of 10-12 crickets a day. 5-7 would result in weight loss and insufficient overall nutrition. 15 is definitely not a problem, as they should eat as many as they can within a given amount of time while they are still growing.
You will likely need to see a vet if the problem persists, but for starters one thing you can do is just make sure to remove leftover crickets at the end of the day! No crickets hanging out in the cage, no biting of the chameleon
carol5208
Chameleon Enthusiast
I think it was the way you worded it that it could be misunderstood. Don't take it personally!
