Help Needed: My Veiled Chameleon Hasn't Pooped in 18-20 Days

[lucimirka]

Hi everyone,


I need some help with my female veiled chameleon. She hasn't pooped in around 18-20 days. She has always had slowed bowel movements, which I believe is due to the lower temperatures I keep in her enclosure to reduce excessive egg-laying.


Feeding and Hydration:

• I feed her every 2 days with my own colony of Blaptica dubia roaches.
• I use the Repti Planet Heavy Rain automatic misting system, which runs for 3 minutes every morning, so I don't believe she’s dehydrated.
• She doesn’t eat any substrate, and I only hand-feed her, so there’s no chance she’s eaten anything other than roaches and plants (Monstera adasonii, Orchidea, Ficus Benjamin, and Pothos).

What I've Tried So Far:

• I’ve tried giving her a gentle massage and placing her in a warm bath, but it didn’t help.
• I also tried giving her olive oil (I read it might help), but that didn’t work either.

We have an appointment scheduled with the vet on Monday, March 17th. I’m hoping she will eventually poop before the visit.


General Information:

• Species: Veiled Chameleon (female)
• Age: 1 year and 2.5 months
• Egg Laying: 3 times (since I got her in March 2024)
• Feeding: I feed her with a colony of Blaptica dubia roaches, supplemented with veggies, water gel, and a special food mixture for roaches.
• Drinking: She drinks through the Repti Planet Heavy Rain automatic misting system, which runs for 3 minutes every morning.
• Enclosure Dimensions: 74 cm (width) x 100 cm (height) x 45 cm (depth), with ventilation at the top and bottom.
• Temperatures:
  • Basking Spot: Around 27°C (I use a weaker heating bulb to keep the basking spot less hot, to prevent unhealthy clutches and excessive egg-laying).
  • Daytime Temperatures: 26–23°C
  • Nighttime Temperatures: 21–22°C
• Monitoring: I use both a digital and analog thermometer to monitor temperature and humidity.
• Lights:
  • UVB: Arcadia Forest Lamp T5 6% UVB
  • LED: Arcadia Jungle Dawn LED
  • Basking: Repti Planet Daylight Basking 25W

Current Plants in the Enclosure:

• Monstera Adasonii
• Orchidea
• Ficus Benjamin
• Pothos

Thank you for any advice or support.

 

[elizaann2]

Hi! Sorry to hear about your girl!

Some things from me:
The baths don't help chameleons like they do other reptiles, they only cause them stress.
How much do you feed her on feeding days?
Can you send a picture of her? Sometimes when girls are close to laying a clutch they poop a little less, at least my girl does that.
I would consider upping her hydration method and add another mist session before lights are out.
Do you fog at night?
What are your humidity levels at during the day? Night?

My 3 guesses are: she is dehydrated, she has eggs so pooping has slowed down, she has in fact pooped, but you haven't found it. I find sneaky poop spots all the time in plants when I really dig around in my girls enclosure.

 

[lucimirka]

Thanks for your reply!

On feeding day, I give her only small roaches (maximum 1.5 cm) and usually around 4-5 in total.


Regarding humidity:

• During the day: around 40%

• During the night: 70-80%



I mist by hand in the evening before the lights go off.


I will try to encourage her to drink more and hope she will be okay until her vet visit on Monday.


As for her poop, I have thoroughly searched, almost like a detective, and haven’t found anything. So, she probably hasn’t pooped yet.

 

[lucimirka]

Hi! Sorry to hear about your girl!

Some things from me:
The baths don't help chameleons like they do other reptiles, they only cause them stress.
How much do you feed her on feeding days?
Can you send a picture of her? Sometimes when girls are close to laying a clutch they poop a little less, at least my girl does that.
I would consider upping her hydration method and add another mist session before lights are out.
Do you fog at night?
What are your humidity levels at during the day? Night?

My 3 guesses are: she is dehydrated, she has eggs so pooping has slowed down, she has in fact pooped, but you haven't found it. I find sneaky poop spots all the time in plants when I really dig around in my girls enclosure.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Oh boy, is she a round little lady! How long since she last laid eggs? Does she have access to her lay bin all the time…like is it in her enclosure now? From your use of the metric system, I’m guessing you’re somewhere where you aren’t able to get hornworms. Are you able to get some silkworms? I would be giving her some of those for extra hydration and loosen those poops up. I’d also just as a general rule suggest increasing the variety of feeders you give. There has been talk of a diet heavy in roaches greatly contributing to gout. Right now, in addition to silkworms, maybe also some crickets/locusts and gut load them with a pumpkin which is high in fiber and has a laxative effect.

 

[lucimirka]

Hi. Oh boy, is she a round little lady! How long since she last laid eggs? Does she have access to her lay bin all the time…like is it in her enclosure now? From your use of the metric system, I’m guessing you’re somewhere where you aren’t able to get hornworms. Are you able to get some silkworms? I would be giving her some of those for extra hydration and loosen those poops up. I’d also just as a general rule suggest increasing the variety of feeders you give. There has been talk of a diet heavy in roaches greatly contributing to gout. Right now, in addition to silkworms, maybe also some crickets/locusts and gut load them with a pumpkin which is high in fiber and has a laxative effect.
View attachment 362764View attachment 362765

She laid eggs in December, though I believe it was around late November or early December.

Regarding hornworms, I live in the Czech Republic and do not have access to them. However, I believe I might be able to find someone who has at least some silkworms.

 

[MissSkittles]

She laid eggs in December, though I believe it was around late November or early December.

Regarding hornworms, I live in the Czech Republic and do not have access to them. However, I believe I might be able to find someone who has at least some silkworms.

Usually in Europe hornworms are banned…they are crop pests. What about crickets or locusts? Gut load them well with pumpkin or even apple may work. While I usually frown upon giving veileds anything other than live bugs to eat, you could even try giving her some very thin apple slices for the fiber and moisture.

 

[lucimirka]

Usually in Europe hornworms are banned…they are crop pests. What about crickets or locusts? Gut load them well with pumpkin or even apple may work. While I usually frown upon giving veileds anything other than live bugs to eat, you could even try giving her some very thin apple slices for the fiber and moisture.

I checked to see if I could get at least some silkworms, but it looks like that’s almost impossible. However, crickets might work! Are crickets better than roaches? I’ll try to gut-load them. I’m very worried about my girl.

 

[MissSkittles]

Crickets aren’t better than roaches, but having a variety of staple feeders is better. I have no idea what is available to you there, but often we need to buy our feeders on line and some on line vendors sell variety packs.

 

[lucimirka]

Crickets aren’t better than roaches, but having a variety of staple feeders is better. I have no idea what is available to you there, but often we need to buy our feeders on line and some on line vendors sell variety packs.

okay, thx a lot!