Help!! Chameleon seems somewhat weak

[adholguin]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Has been 5 days since i've been with him/her. Chameleon was purchased on PetSmart, associates said he/she was young

Handling - Haven't handle him/her since i put it on his/her cage.

Feeding - Crickets (twice a day), been loading crickets with product bought at PetSmart.


Watering - Been misting chameleon with a small spray (cold water) at least 3 times per day.Other than the mist i haven't been able to buy something else. Planning to do a DIY Watering Drip System by the end of the day.

Fecal Description - Dark Brown


Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass (22X12X14). Planning to buy a screen cage in the next weeks.
Lighting - Lighting i have the Zoo Med Tropical UVB & Heat Dome from PetSmart (see picture attached). Light it's turned on as soon as he wakes up (aprox. 7 am) and turned off around 7-8 p.m. or before if he's already sleeping.

Temperature - Temp with light 81, Lowest Temp at night 61. Temps are measured with a thermometer that came with the glass cage.

Humidity - Humidity 50% - 60% measured with a hygrometer. Humidity is maintained by spraying water on leaves and the decoration.

Plants - Artificial only

Placement - Cage is placed on the media room where sometimes we watch TV. Cage is about 3 feet from the floor in a table. Somewhat traffic in the weekends.
Location - El Paso, TX, U.S.A.

Current Problem - Chameleon seems somewhat disoriented and weak. He has been eating at least one cricket per day. Chameleon looks scare every time i provide the cricket with so i don't know if its affecting him. Before today he/she used to climb a lot and actually the day before he slept hanging. Cage came with Zoo Med REPTI BARK™ Natural Reptile Bedding (but i'm thinking in replacing it to a green mat because i think crickets hide from him because of this). Chameleon tries to climb through the glass and kinda fells on his back. Any suggestions or feedback? I'm really concerned about it because today i saw him/her somewhat disoriented.

 

[zlew]

It sounds like you made a spur of the moment buy. He needs a screen cage asap, closed eyes can be a sign of issues from bad ventilation. There should be no bedding either. He should be eating more than crickets and the stuff they provide at pet stores is next to useless. Read this thoroughly and correct your setup. You may also want to take your chameleon to the vet if problems continue after fixing your husbandry.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[Decadancin]

Hello and welcome to the forums! Sorry to hear that your new friend isn't doing well. I would suggest putting a bowl in for the feeders so you don't have the problem with hiding crickets. Also, I would get rid of the substrate. As stated, a screen cage will be a better option for a veiled, but I'm not totally convinced that is the problem. Does your cham have a spot for basking under the lights? If so, is that where the temp reading is from? I would love to see a frontal shot of the enclosure to see more. He may need some extra foliage to have a more secure feeling. I hope he shows signs of improving soon, but if not, do you know a good reptile vet near you? It is always a good idea to be prepared.

Good luck with your new cham, and I hope he's feeling better soon.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

OK, welcome to the forums. First and foremost your husbandry is way off. These animals are very sensitive to changes in environment and require optimum environmental conditions to keep healthy. I know petco and petsmart push these animals on people but they are more for experienced herp keepers.

That being said, lets address the problems. Petco and petsmart know very little about the care of chameleons. In my area, I have not been in a store with staff that knew how to care for these lizards. The equipment they recommend is not the proper equipment.

You need a 2x2x4 screen cage. Veileds get very large and require a lot of space. They can become very cage aggressive so many people recommend that they are freeranged most of their life.

One of the most important parts of keeping a cham is gutloading. The gutload from petco is garbage, that orange square stuff. The only readiuly available mass produced gutloads that I recommned are bug burger and cricket crack, most others are really bad. You will need to supplement this gutload with fruits like apples and oranges and leafy greens like dandelion and kale.

Even if you build a drip system, you will need to mist 4-6 times a day. misting is for humidity, dripping is for drinking. Chams need both everyday. I provide at least two hours of dripping water a day in conjunction with the 6x mistings.

Your temps need to be dialed in. You said highest 81, that is a good temp for the basking spot. 70-75 is a good temp for the rest of the cage. 60 at night is great. I know you just bought those lights but they are not the best. For heat just provide a regular house bulb. The wattage and distance above the cage will depend on your house temps. If the bulb is too hot, raise it up. Too cool, go with a higher wattage. I recommend reptisun 5.0 UVB linear bulb for UVB. If you get all this in order asap, he should be ok. He should be eating 20-25 crickets a day at that age easy. Your little guy needs some help before he gets too bad.

 

[adholguin]

removed the bedding, fixed the dropping and misting, and working on the screen cage.

regarding his/her feeding do i have to wait in between meals? or how do you recommend me feeding him/her. besides crickets, what else do they need to be feed with?

i really appreciate the feedback! thanks for the comments !

 

[little leaf]

here is the care sheet for them you can get some ideas of what to feed them and care for them if you did not already read it https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

they also like veg/ and fruit - I do not keep them, so I can not say what veg/ fr - but many on here do, and I am sure someone can help you on that

 

[kinyonga]

That chameleon does not look well to me and IMHO needs to see a good reptile vet ASAP. Just my opinion. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[reptileguy112]

You can not have bedding.I learned it the hard way and my chameleon was sick for awhile when he had some wood chip. The.The cage for a juvenile should at least be 2' tall and 1.5' wide and an adult male 4' tall and 2' wide.It needs to have good ventilation, that means it needs screen and not to be in a little rooms like the laundry room.It needs to have a basking light for a basking spot and a tube uvb, the coils don't do the job.If you want a cheap light but does the job I recommend the exo terra 5.0 uvb tube.There SHOULD be some real plants and it wouldn't hurt if you got a small ultrasonic fogger to lift the humidity.This can be purchased on ebay for $5.You should only have it on for about an hour a day though.They are arboreal so it needs to have nothing on the floor but pots for plants.Make sure the plants don't reach the top of the cage or else it can access the very top and get burned.I think it was a buy that you were very uneducated about and can cost up to 15 times the cost of the chameleon to even get its enclosure set up.They also need at least 5 crickets a day, 7 is best.They should have a variety of food such as horn worms, silkworms, meal worms, super worms, butter worms, wax worms, etc.If this is to much of a task for you since you are probably pretty surprised someone near were you live might be able to take it off of your hands.Where are you?

 

[little leaf]

how is your little guy today?
it really angers me how these pet shops sell chams, and TOTALLY give you the wrong info on them - you have a lot to learn in a short time- but there are many here to help you the fact you are here ( WELCOME ) shows you care, and want to take good care of your little guy - I would call the pet shop and let them know he is not doing well- I would also ask them to take back all the WRONG stuff they sold you, and let them know how bad the advice of supplies they sold you is - if they wont, save the tank anyway- it will be great to breed your roaches in I am sure you are overwhelmed with all the info you need to learn quickly, but once set up, and your little guy back to health , you will so enjoy your cham you need to find a vet too- even if he gets better by changing the husbandry, you should still locate a CHAM vet- ask them outright if treat chams- not just reptiles or lizards - there is nothing worse than an emergency vet visit , and not having a vet already, and if he does not show major improvement in the next day, I would take him in, they can go down hill very fast - hopefully, fixing the husbandry, and letting him get over the stress of a new home will get him happy and healthy again

 

[adholguin]

i think is a she, and she is doing better! she started to eat more than the previous days and i placed the dripping system yesterday as well. I've tried to observe if she drinks water at all because i haven't see her recently. Fixed parts of her husbandry and should move her out of the glass cage very soon. What it keeps me worried is that she hasn't climbed in to the roof which she used to do a lot when she got home.

thanks for the feedback and the help

 

[reptileguy112]

She should never go on the roof.She will get burned.It is not free to treat burns.She is going to the top because she is arboreal and dwells in high places.Put a plant in there.(4" under the cage top.)You should also put a fan next to the cage since it is glass and make sure there are no mirrors it can see.