Having a little problem

[Milgro12]

Help, so I try to give Charles water out of a dropper a few times a week. I just gave him a few drops and he drank it and threw it back up all over is neck. I am just a little nervous. Any ideas on what's wrong would be greatly appreciated thanks

I don't know if you can tell but there is clear mucus looking stuff on his neck

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Please fill out the ask for help form. You can find it in the health forum as a sticky. Your cham looks malnourished and dripper a few times a week is not enough water. It is recommended that you have a dripper running for at least a couple hours a day and that you mist 3-5x daily for several minutes to keep the humidity up.

Do you have UVB or basking light?

 

[Milgro12]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon about 6 months old cared for him for about 1.5 months
Handling - I try to once a day he is very friendly
Feeding - 10-12 small crickets a day in the morning around 6:30 I dust all my crickets and feed them different veggies
Watering - I mist him three times a day for about 2 min and give him water out of dropper 4-5 times a week
Fecal Description - dark brown with a little white he has never been tested

Cage Info:
Cage Type - I am moving him into a custom made 3 by 3 by 5.5 screened cage but he is in a 4 by 2 by 2.5 glass cage
Lighting - I turn his day light and basking on around 630am and turn them off around 930pm and turn on his night lights I am not sure what brand
I have a thermometer at the top and bottom of the cage. The cage stays at 80 and his basking is around 90 at night 75
Humidity - I mist 3times a day and and use a flogger a few times a day
Plants - In his new cage I have a ficus tree
I live in Pennsylvania and his cage is located in my room with one ceiling fan. There is not heavy traffic outside.

 

[Milgro12]

Just yesterday he was fine

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Chameleons do not need night lights, they disrupt their sleeping schedule. Getting rid of those is a good start.

Can you elaborate on your lighting? What do you mean by day light? What brand is it? Type of light ie tube, compact bulb?

What supplements do you dust with? Brands?

The more specific you are, the easier it is for us to help you

 

[pssh]

Can you post pictures of his legs? He looks like he has metabolic bone disease.

Edit: You have to be really careful about hand watering them. Dont squirt water into his mouth, just drip it on his nose and let him lick up the water. The opening to their lungs is at the front of the mouth so it is pretty easy to accidentally shoot water down into the lungs if you dont know exactly what you are doing. Mucus could also suggest a respiratory infection, but I think it sounds like he might have just been trying to cough out the water. Perhaps someone else can give you their opinion.

 

[TerryLund]

Looks too skinny

Can you please post additional pictures of your chameleon? Can you show me his tail? For the picture I see he looks very skinny. Since he stores fat in his tail it would help to see his tail in a picture. How long have you had the lights for?

How long have you been worried about him?


Terry

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

Chameleons actually do not store fat in their tails. It is primarily in the head pads. In the first picture he does look very skinny because you can see the bones in the arms and legs. It is easy for chameleons to aspirate (choke) on water when given directly into the mouth with a squirt bottle or syringe. He may have choked on the water you gave him and thus spit it back out. Sometimes when a chameleon is very thirsty they will drool thick saliva while drinking. It usually is in a long saliva string from the corner of the mouth when that happens. Allowing him to drink naturally from a dripper or mister would be safer for him.

 

[TerryLund]

Chameleons actually do not store fat in their tails. It is primarily in the head pads. In the first picture he does look very skinny because you can see the bones in the arms and legs. It is easy for chameleons to aspirate (choke) on water when given directly into the mouth with a squirt bottle or syringe. He may have choked on the water you gave him and thus spit it back out. Sometimes when a chameleon is very thirsty they will drool thick saliva while drinking. It usually is in a long saliva string from the corner of the mouth when that happens. Allowing him to drink naturally from a dripper or mister would be safer for him.

I knew about the fat in the head pads. However, I have always thought that the tails of all lizards to be much thicker when they are healthy. I guess I assumed it was extra fat. If it is not fat is it just bigger bones and muscle?

Thank You,
Terry

 

[Milgro12]

Thank you all for your help and advise.

I am actually on the bus right now so I will have to check on what brand of lights and supplements but I just started to worry a few days ago because when he lays on the vines in his cage his back legs just hang off the vine but when I got home something didn't look right. He was a very dark color and his eyes were closed.

These pictures are from the past 3 days

 

[Milgro12]

Here is another picture
Sorry it's a little blurry

 

[camimom]

He should be eating large crickets by this point.

He also is underweight, and dehydrated.

I suggest a shower treatment, at least once a day, and let him eat as many bugs as he can in about 10 minutes, to get some weight on him.

I agree that the vomiting was him trying to get the water out.

I suggest getting an auto mister if you wont be home.

Veileds are notorious for being shy drinkers, so mistings several times a day is better, as well as using a dripper system. Foggers do nothing but up humidity, you need to mist more and try offering a drip system.


As someone said, no lights at night, if he shuts his eyes at all during the day its probably from lack of sleep.

For supplements, you need a calcium with no d3 for every feeding, a calcium with d3 for twice a month, and a multivitamin for twice a month.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

He should be eating large crickets by this point.

He also is underweight, and dehydrated.

I suggest a shower treatment, at least once a day, and let him eat as many bugs as he can in about 10 minutes, to get some weight on him.

I agree that the vomiting was him trying to get the water out.

I suggest getting an auto mister if you wont be home.

Veileds are notorious for being shy drinkers, so mistings several times a day is better, as well as using a dripper system. Foggers do nothing but up humidity, you need to mist more and try offering a drip system.


As someone said, no lights at night, if he shuts his eyes at all during the day its probably from lack of sleep.

For supplements, you need a calcium with no d3 for every feeding, a calcium with d3 for twice a month, and a multivitamin for twice a month.

Great advice! You should have a UVB light (reptisun 5.0 is what most use) and a regular house bulbs, I like the white ones better than the clear. It will prob be 75 watt. You want the basking spot to be around 90 degrees.

 

[pssh]

I take it back. It was an odd angle and my eyes playing tricks on me. But either way, the advice given so far is all really good.

 

[Milgro12]

Thank-you everyone for your great advise. He is looking great and back to his good old self!!!