gracie88
Member
Hey guys! Tonight I had Cosmo out for a little bit (I had friends over but he was on a plant and was visibly very happy) and I noticed that around 10:15-10:20pm he began to close his eyes like he was sleeping. I have seen Gingero's Sleep 101 video a bunch of times and in this she included that a chameleon closing its eyes is like the highest level of stress and it means that he is basically excepting that he is about to be eaten, so this obviously concerned me a lot. (He was completely green with no signs of stress and was on one of his favorite plants.) Through watching Gingero's videos I also learned that you are supposed to leave your chameleon alone for 2-3 hours before their bedtime. I should have put Cosmo away earlier and I take full responsibility for that but he just looked so happy on his plant that I gave in and let him stay a little longer (I shouldn't have and I take full responsibility). I would also like to point out that this started around 10:15 and his usual bedtime is 10:30 (once again, shouldn't have had him out), but today I accidentally slept in so his lights went on at 12:15 instead of 10:30. I was going to turn off his lights at 11:15 so I would be able to slowly transition back to his normal sleep time, but considering he is used to his 10:30pm bedtime, I hope he was just tired and wanted to go to bed. As soon as I realized he was falling asleep, I took him upstairs, but I did get a couple photos of him when he was closing his eyes to show what I mean. I am super worried that I stressed him out and once again I take full responsibility for having him out to late, if anyone can help me at all this would be greatly appreciated! I also attached all of my chameleon info below (and photos like I mentioned before).
Chameleon Info:
Current Problem - Closing his eyes/falling asleep when he was out ?
Chameleon Info:
- Your Chameleon - Male veiled chameleon around three months old, have had him for almost a month, got him 5/1/20.
- Handling - I try not to handle him too often, probably a couple times a week. This seems like a lot but he has a 5 foot tall money tree and until I can get him more live plants this is his only live plant time, so it gives him a chance to enjoy that. I will admit, when he does come out he is out for a long period of time, but 75% of this time he is enjoying his live plants or outside time. I closely look for any kind of stress and when he is out he is always green and active.
- Feeding - I feed Cosmo a balanced diet of dubias, BSFL, and superworms. If I had to make an estimate of how many of each, I would say 6-8 dubias, 4-5 BSFL, 2-3 superworms, but around 13 feeders total. I feed him once a day in the morning/early afternoon. I gutload my feeders with turnip greens, collard greens, and carrots.
- Supplements - I use ZooMed's ReptiCalcium without D3 everyday, ZooMed's with D3 once every other week, and ExoTerra's Multivitamin once every other week.
- Watering - I use a misting system that goes off once every 4 hours for 2 minutes. Twice a week a mist for 7 minutes straight to give him a chance to really drink/wash his eyes out. If I don't do this, I have shower time with Cosmo. Although this isn't neccessary, I'm from an EXTREMELY dry climate so this gives him a chance to really get some water and like I mentioned before, wash his eyes out if needed. I also have a homemade dripper system but until I can set up drainage I won't use it. I do occasionally see him drink but he is shy about it.
- Fecal Description - Cosmo has consistent, dark brown poops with almost completely white urates. The other day I did see a urate with a little piece orange but I quickly looked it up and Gingero says this can happen through a crystal structure type thing, I haven't seen any orange urate since. Cosmo has never been tested for parasites but I hope to get him tested once we are out of this Coronavirus craziness.
- History - Nothing special in particular, got him from LLLReptile on 5/1/20.
- Cage Type - Cosmo has a 24x24x48 screened enclosure with clear saran wrap on the outsides. This may sound a little weird but it is completely safe and is only to make sure his humidity stays up (considering my dry climate.)
- Lighting - I am using the ReptiSun T5HO 5.0 UVB light and a 100 watt light bulb for heating. Cosmos lights are on from 1030 AM to 1030pm but once I get back to school I will slowly work on getting this time closer to sundown.
- Temperature - Basking spot temps are around 80-84 but I do not know the exact floor temperature. His overnight temps are about 70 degrees. I measure this with a duel thermometer.
- Humidity - Humidity levels are 40%, but at night they reach 60-70%.
- Plants - I only have one bamboo plant in Cosmos enclosure but I am hoping to add Pothos soon/transition to all live plants. When I give Cosmo free range time he has a 5 foot tall money tree so he has a lot of oppurtunities to enjoy live plants until I can get him real ones (I can't get them yet because his drainage isn't set up yet because his stand for his enclosure is still being shipped).
- Placement - My cage is located in the corner of my room away from an fans, airvents, or traffic areas. I ordered a ReptiBreeze stand for his enclosure that should be coming soon but until then it just goes on my floor. Besides me, I only have a cat that has access to my room and she is barely in here so his cage being on the floor doesn't seem to stress Cosmo out at all.
- Location - I am from Nevada.
Current Problem - Closing his eyes/falling asleep when he was out ?
