Help! Does he look okay? I'm afraid he might be sick or he might get sick soon

[fred.like.freddie.]

I recently got Fred and we got a very rocky start. The first day he arrived he wasn't opened immediately. He waited for about 2 hrs but when we opened him up he was fine. The delay was due to the fact that I still needed to pick up some "river rocks" to go on top of his plants so he wouldn't accidently eat the soil which was re-potted with organic soil but still had fertilizer in it. I was also very busy trying to finish an exam within the hour so I couldn't open him up sooner. I could not find the drill 9 16" bit that fit in my drill so I couldn't set up his auto misting system right away. The first few days he was home he would climb to the highest point of his cage and stand on his back legs. My mom was worried he would fall so she made me try and pick him up despite the fact it stressed him out. He hissed and ran from me. The first few days he didn't eat. I went to the pet store and picked up super and wax worms they put them in the fridge so I thought it was okay to do that, only the wax worms survived. There weren't any crickets at petco so he's only been eating wax worms these last few days. My hand-misting him seems to stress him out and I don't know what to do for him. I mist every 2-3-4 hours depending on his mood. He doesn't appear de-hydrated yet and I have a photo of him. I think he's been screen climbing because he'll climb on a plant, stand up, look around and then sit back down or just stand and touch the wall. He doesn't have a dripper yet but i've been sure to thoroughly mist. For a couple of days now he's been going to bed or having his lamps turned on in the morning late. I put in an outlet timer today so that shouldn't be happening after today. I'm ordering bugs, getting more plants, and installing about 4 new branches. I love Fred already he's been my dream pet for 3 years now, and I'm so worried abut him today. This is my first time having a reptile and I hope I haven't already killed him. I am sincerely trying my best to take care of him with what I have right now, please help me keep Fred healthy and happy. He is usually orange around the eyes and a brighter color when happy.

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

Hi and welcome to the forums!

If you fill out the husbandry form we can better assist you

 

[Kamikaze Chameleon]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
Photos can be very helpful

 

[Beman]

Your going to want to add many more branches for him. I would consider reworking your entire DS cage. Your not utilizing it to its fullest potential.

So here are links... Start reading everything.
2x2x4 cage how to set up: https://chameleonacademy.com/case-study-2-x-2-x-4-cage/

how to fully utilize your DS ledges: https://dragonstrand.com/getting-the-most-from-your-dragon-strand-dragon-ledges/

And read through this entire husbandry program it is very thorough. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

And you have a hybrid so knowing your humidity levels and not over doing misting during the day is important. Which is why you want to read through the husbandry program.

You can do this with a properly set up DS cage....

10-4-20 Updated all enclosures

• Beman
• Oct 5, 2020
• 1
• cage dragon strand enclosure

So these are my three dragon strand enclosures.
Left: modified Medium tall Atrium. I added the...

 

[fred.like.freddie.]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
Ambilobe panther chameleon. Male. 3 months. One week, arrived on 12/17/2020.

Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
I try and see if he will take my finger every day in addition to an attempt to hand feed a worm.

Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Wax worms. As much as he will eat, has eaten as much as 6 in a day. I offer & leave food 3 times a day usally after morning and evening no time after 7:30, he goes to bed at 8:00.

Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
Reptivite without D3 6 days a week then repti-cal calcium with D3 on Sundays. Bee pollen all week with all supplements. Has not been getting vitamins as he only recently started eating constantly.

Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
I hand misting with a hair spray bottle (has been cleaned before use) that releases mist. I mist until all plants are completely covered at least 3 times a day (takes about 4/5 minutes). I never see him drinking but his urates are not alarming. No dripper yet.

Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
brown then bright white, crème, and a VERY SLIGHT orange yesterday. Usually watery. Never tested but from a reputable breeder.

History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Not that I know of.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
Tall hybrid dragon strand cage. 24x24x48 size. PVC on 3 sides, acrylic door. Screen top and service door.

Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
Arcadia 6% T5HO UVB blub. 65 watt dimmable flood light and ceramic flucker's clamp lamp fixture for heat bulb.

Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
Usually 77/78 at the top of the cage and 75 at the bottom unfortunately. 70 when I wake up. Temperature gun to double-check and thermometer that tells usual.

Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
I am not sure, hygrometer not working! Misting to keep up humidity. (Will Have another hygrometer soon)

Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Golden pothos, lemon lime dracanea, umbrella pants, dracanea compacta.

Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
Next to the bed. 15 feet from my celling vent. Facing the bed and gets visited by parent despite discouragement. On a stand about 3/4 ft away form the floor.

Location - Where are you geographically located?
Las vegas, Nevada.

Current Problem - possible Sickness, de-hydration, stress related illness

Took a while to fill out, yes I care about my cham!

 

[fred.like.freddie.]

Your going to want to add many more branches for him. I would consider reworking your entire DS cage. Your not utilizing it to its fullest potential.

So here are links... Start reading everything.
2x2x4 cage how to set up: https://chameleonacademy.com/case-study-2-x-2-x-4-cage/

how to fully utilize your DS ledges: https://dragonstrand.com/getting-the-most-from-your-dragon-strand-dragon-ledges/

And read through this entire husbandry program it is very thorough. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

And you have a hybrid so knowing your humidity levels and not over doing misting during the day is important. Which is why you want to read through the husbandry program.

You can do this with a properly set up DS cage....

10-4-20 Updated all enclosures

• Beman
• Oct 5, 2020
• 1
• cage dragon strand enclosure

So these are my three dragon strand enclosures.
Left: modified Medium tall Atrium. I added the...

Thank you for your through responses, I'm sure these resources will help a lot. I'm putting up about 4 new branches today and ordering another 5 pack of the dragon ledges so I wanted to put 2 of those in between the ones I already have and then add 6 more plants which will defiantly fill out the cage a lot more. I don't have a lot of external equipment working right at the moment which is a lot of what's wrong. I'm working on acquiring everything and getting it working right. It may seem like I'm a little careless with Fred but I did my research before I got him and I really just need some more time to get him all of what he needs. I just hope I can do it all in time before he gets sick. Last thing: I'm working on getting him some more branches, we don't have a lot of trees I can get them from out here, do you know of any place that sells them?

 

[FVcham]

Thank you for your through responses, I'm sure these resources will help a lot. I'm putting up about 4 new branches today and ordering another 5 pack of the dragon ledges so I wanted to put 2 of those in between the ones I already have and then add 6 more plants which will defiantly fill out the cage a lot more. I don't have a lot of external equipment working right at the moment which is a lot of what's wrong. I'm working on acquiring everything and getting it working right. It may seem like I'm a little careless with Fred but I did my research before I got him and I really just need some more time to get him all of what he needs. I just hope I can do it all in time before he gets sick. Last thing: I'm working on getting him some more branches, we don't have a lot of trees I can get them from out here, do you know of any place that sells them?

Hi!
I ordered branches from Alec O'Brien at Reptibranch and I can not tell you how HAPPY I was with what I received. The branches I got were cut perfectly, cleaned, sanded edges, and were just perfect. I found Alec through one of the chameleon academy podcasts and then reached out through messenger on Instagram. His Instagram page is reptibranch. He is part of the Kammerflage family. I was in the same boat as you as far as finding branches and this saved me so much time and made my life so much easier. Hope this helps!! I'll post a picture in a bit.

 

[Shanar808]

Ok someone will chime in with more accurate info for your type of chameleon but I can tell you that your supplement type/schedule probably needs to be adjusted since the most common suggestions I’ve read state that the reptivite is one day every other week alternating with calcium with d3 one day every other week and calcium without d3 every feeding (with the pollen is good). Try checking out the chameleon Academy website for the care sheet and supplement schedule for your chameleon. I worry that your night humidity may be too low and your day humidity too high without night fogging/misting, it might work for some, but warm humid air is a risk for respiratory infections especially without good airflow. At night your temperature should be lower so your chameleon can sleep well and the moisture in the air is cool.

 

[FVcham]

Hi!
I ordered branches from Alec O'Brien at Reptibranch and I can not tell you how HAPPY I was with what I received. The branches I got were cut perfectly, cleaned, sanded edges, and were just perfect. I found Alec through one of the chameleon academy podcasts and then reached out through messenger on Instagram. His Instagram page is reptibranch. He is part of the Kammerflage family. I was in the same boat as you as far as finding branches and this saved me so much time and made my life so much easier. Hope this helps!! I'll post a picture in a bit.

 

[Beman]

Thank you for your through responses, I'm sure these resources will help a lot. I'm putting up about 4 new branches today and ordering another 5 pack of the dragon ledges so I wanted to put 2 of those in between the ones I already have and then add 6 more plants which will defiantly fill out the cage a lot more. I don't have a lot of external equipment working right at the moment which is a lot of what's wrong. I'm working on acquiring everything and getting it working right. It may seem like I'm a little careless with Fred but I did my research before I got him and I really just need some more time to get him all of what he needs. I just hope I can do it all in time before he gets sick. Last thing: I'm working on getting him some more branches, we don't have a lot of trees I can get them from out here, do you know of any place that sells them?

You do not need more ledges. You need vertical branches between the ledges you have. These should be cross latched to the ledges. Then you latch on to these verticals. When you read through all the links you will understand what I am saying.

You can use branches from any trees that are not sap producing. So NO pine, cedar, eucalyptus. But pretty much any other branches you find can be utilize. Manzanita can be used as well. Often easier to find in desert landscapes.

None of us really buy branches we find them outside. You can find places that sell them but they are pricey.

 

[FVcham]

Here is a picture of the branches I received, a lot are hidden behind the plants but the worked great with the dragon ledges!

 

[fred.like.freddie.]

We've ordered from him and are waiting on those! I spoke with Bill multiple times on my set-up and he's recommended him, thank you for the review on the branches! it's really hard to set-up his cage using only branches because I can't just go out and break some off of a tree. We have palm trees out here and my back yard only has little trees with tiny, tiny, twigs. Thank you again for the review, maybe I should order a couple more or bring some shears with me when I head up to Mt. Charleston. I'm looking forward to that visit because that's the only place that really has trees you can cut from.

 

[Mrjamwin]

Hi there, why do you hand mist him if you have a misting system installed? i see the nozzle on top of the cage.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi and welcome! Wax worms are good for treats only as they are very fatty. Attaching the feeder and ‘gutload‘ sheets for you. It’s not really so much as true gutloading, but you need to feed your buggies well so that they will offer more nutrition to your cham. Variety of course is best.
You’ve already been told about the correct supplementation schedule. While bee pollen is a great thing, go a bit easy on it...maybe just use a couple of times a week. Too much of a good thing is possible.
Definitely check out chameleon academy learning modules and the podcasts. Since your mom seems to want to have involvement, it could be something you two could do together. Also you could check out Neptune the chameleon on YouTube. She has lots of great videos on many topics and is always adding more.
Many chams are secret drinkers (like all of mine ) and won’t drink if they know they are being watched. It’s ok for the urates to have a little bit of yellow or orange at the tip.
I’m always a fan of having a wellness visit with a vet and having a fecal done to check for parasites. Besides the fecal and assurance of wellness from a vet, it’s always good to start forming a relationship with a vet.

 

[fred.like.freddie.]

Hi there, why do you hand mist him if you have a misting system installed? i see the nozzle on top of the cage.

Until today I didn't have a way to get a hole drilled into the reservoir so I had to hand mist until my system was properly assembled. I am having really bad luck with him because I ordered a hygrostat-thermometer with my mist king thinking it would give me updates on my humidity as well as let me set custom mist times. It turns out the timer I ordered only mists according to humidity levels and now I can't figure out how to set the initial timer; it seems to be set for 23 hours? I'm ordering a new one today so for now I'll just plug it in whenever he needs a mist and manually un-plug it.

 

[MissSkittles]

Do you have the standard timer that comes with the Mist King? If so, this should help.

 

[.Luke.]

Misting every 2 hours seams to much, 2-3 times a day and mist 2-4 minutes each time

 

[fred.like.freddie.]

Christmas update:
I have since switched to a 75 watt bulb and it raised his temperatures by a a good amount. I'm ordering him hornworms, black solider fly larva, silkworms, and 1/2 inch banded crickets from Josh's frogs. I had him on a diet of only wax worms because that's all I could find locally and I wasn't sure if he would eat much his first week home even though I was aware they were only meant to be treats. I also ordered the right timer for his mister but for some odd reason he really hates the mister. He was turning his nice colors for some days then after misting he was just black for about two days. He wasn't sleeping during the day but for the last few days he's been less active and just laying in a sleeping position with his tail curled up by his basking spot. He was laying like that for a couple hours this morning but he was light from the time he woke up and he's been climbing again. When I first hand misted this morning he turned bright again. He ate yesterday (6 worms I think) but he hasn't eaten yet today. He'll get new bugs by next week and his new branches are going in today. Does anyone have any tips for handling? I know they aren't supposed to be handled at this stage because they get stressed but I need to move him onto a plant for a bit so I can get in his cage and zip-tie the new branches up Thank you for all your help so far guys! My set up is nerve wracking because he basically has all the wrong things or things that aren't working out like the wrong wattage, the auto-mister, and his diet (or lack of verity in it). Any who hopefully once his new bugs and timer come in he'll be happier. Merry Christmas!

 

[fred.like.freddie.]

Also his humidity may have been as low as 20% for about a week now but he's not displaying any signs of an upper respiratory infection. Is it possible he may have already developed one?!?!

 

[Lennoncham]

Hi welcome to the forums. It looks like others have covered most things with you.

I just wanted to add you may want to move that lamp that’s near his cage. It looks reflective and if he can see himself in it, it will stress him out.

I doubt the humidity was at 20% especially since you have been misting so much.