help, not sure whats wrong with my veiled chameleon

[bylee2009]

he is about 6 months old and been healthy until this evening, fed him a wax worm ate it no problem, a few hours later i checked on him again and he was laying in the water fountian really dark colouring, eyes shut, not really breathing with only his mouth open and him slighty sticking out his tounge. we took him out of the cage and he wasnt moving at all so we misted him with water and held the heat lamp over him, he is now back to a good colour, mouth shut breathing rather well and his eyes are open and allert, he is also moving his back legs but wont do anything with either of his front legs. if he fell it was about 6 inches and was only on his left side so i dont understand why he wont move either front leg.

 

[rocket89]

you should take him/her to the vet

 

[Hoj]

def, sound like you need a vet but fill this out as accuatly as possible it will help other figure out whats wrong.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[bylee2009]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, he's around 6 months old. we've had him about 3 4 months now.
Handling - daily, he comes to the doors to come out now
Feeding - We feed him crickets dusted with d3 calcium ( calcium every other day)mealworms and waxworms.he eats around 10 crickets a day and a wax worm a day sometimes every other. we have cricket food and water gel
Supplements - d3 calcium every otherday
Watering - he has a fountian and we mist him with a spray bottle 2 3 times daily for about a minute each time and we see him drink from the fountian often.
Fecal Description - nothing different, long dark brown with a yellow white part attached, dont know if he has ever been tested for parasites
History -never had a problem with him before even today he was eating and drinking, he ate a waxworm a few hours before i found him like i did.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - glass screen combo 14''x14''x22''
Lighting - direct focus heat lamp and a coil uvb light, the lamps are on from about 9am until about 10pm
tempurature- his cage is always around 30 32 C daytime and at night around 21 c
humidity- is around 50 going up a bit when i msit his cage
no live plants
Placement - we keep him in our bedroom on a small stand near the window
Location -Ontario Canada

.

 

[Justin Ward]

i would get rid of the fountain in the enclosure...they are a breeding ground for bacteria...also, you should be using a calcium w/o d3 almost every feeding and calcium with d3 and a multi-vitamin supplement twice a month, every other day with d3 is too much...lastly, i would get rid of the coil UVB bulb and go with a linear 5.0 tube bulb instead...but def get him to the vet and get him checked out

 

[Justin Ward]

also, i would take the mealworms and wax worm out of the diet..use superworms instead of mealworms and if you do use waxworms, use them sparingly

 

[Rune]

To me it sounds like something scared him badly and he fell/in shock. I dont know though.

 

[Elizadolots]

I'm wondering if he took a fall and landed in the fountain? That might have hurt his front legs. The fountain is really not worth the risks it entails. You can get the humidity without an open container of water in the cage.

Would it be possible to see pictures of the animal?

I suspect you need to take him to a vet.

 

[ChameleonNerd]

water magnifies the sunlight. was he cooking?

 

[bylee2009]

i do have a picture of him on my computer just not sure how to get it on here, and no he wasnt cooking he never does its a direct focus heat lamp so its only one spot that gets really warm so when he does get hot he just moves away from under it, and the window has a blind so there isnt direct sunlight coming in allll the time not to mention that it was night time when this happened

 

[ChameleonNerd]

it was a joke. but in all seriousness, was it in the basking spot? my chameleon had a similar situation when i first got her. turns out my basking spot temp was way too high and she was extremely dark, and her mouth was open. controversial signs, as darkness usually represents cold, and gaping mouth usually represents excess heat. try getting a temperature reading and get back to us

 

[bylee2009]

i found him not moving or breathing with his mouth wide open n not from too much heat ive seen him do that before laying in the fountian, i picked him up he was limp, hes better now but hes still not moving his front legs THATS what i want to know about, if anyone has had a problem similar or an idea as to why as its too late to take him to a vet

 

[Drew V]

Probably should take a look at supplementing all that D3 may be causing some problems.
and the waterfall .. why does everyone want one of those /sigh

 

[ataraxia]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, he's around 6 months old. we've had him about 3 4 months now.
Handling - daily, he comes to the doors to come out now
Feeding - We feed him crickets dusted with d3 calcium ( calcium every other day)mealworms and waxworms.he eats around 10 crickets a day and a wax worm a day sometimes every other. we have cricket food and water gel multivitamin? what kind of calcium? gutload crickets with fresh veggies and fruits 24 hours before feeding.
Supplements - d3 calcium every otherday
Watering - he has a fountian and we mist him with a spray bottle 2 3 times daily for about a minute each time and we see him drink from the fountian often. Fountain needs to go. buy a dripper instead or make one.
Fecal Description - nothing different, long dark brown with a yellow white yellow is a sign of dehydration. bump up your manual mistings.part attached, dont know if he has ever been tested for parasites
History -never had a problem with him before even today he was eating and drinking, he ate a waxworm a few hours before i found him like i did.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - glass screen combo 14''x14''x22'' will need to upgrade to 2x2x4 cage
Lighting - direct focus heat lamp and a coil uvb light, the lamps are on from about 9am until about 10pm you dont want a direct focus lamp on a chameleon. they dont have instant pain receptors to tell them " hey thats hot". its very very very delayed. so ditch the heat lamp for a house hold bulb wattage will depend on the distance between your light and basking spot. UVB i would also ditch the coil and go buy a linear tube. if your coil is made before a certain date it will cause some eye issues.
tempurature- his cage is always around 30 32 C daytime and at night around 21 c ambient temps are 30-32c or his basking spot is 30-32 c?
humidity- is around 50 going up a bit when i msit his cage
no live plants
Placement - we keep him in our bedroom on a small stand near the window
Location -Ontario Canada

.

see red in quote..

no i have never seen a chameleon wade in water. only thing i can think is that he fell into it. that is one of the reasons for not having a fountain in with a chameleon. they are slow at getting up and can die from drowning or may get a uri from inhaling a little water. front leg situation can be from the fall. maybe he ruptured something in his spine or maybe he has mbd. with limited info and no pics i can only guess.

 

[Elizadolots]

bylee, to post a picture from your computer: hit "post reply" (do not use the quick reply box at the bottom of the thread) that will give you a tool bar that includes an icon for attaching a file. It looks like a paperclip. Click that and it will let you browse your computer and upload the picture. The picture will appear as a thumbnail in your post that expands when we click it.

 

[bylee2009]

hes been gettinga lil better he grips with his front claws a lil bit its alart my boyfriend build a new cage today alot bigger hes in that now sleeping on a towel when he got home i thought he was dead he picked him out and he kept getting better will let you know in the am

here are some pictures of him now
the last one is from 2 days ago

 

[Elizadolots]

Oh, poor baby. He's very pretty.

I strongly suspect he fell into the pool and nearly drowned. I think he's recovering from a major shock. I think you'll have a better idea how he is tomorrow morning. If he's having any problems, I do think you should try to get him into a vet. I completely understand how difficult that can be.

 

[Chamero]

When a Chameleon falls, its usually from other health reasons. Your chameleon may have MBD. Some things in your husbandry need to change immediately.

Lighting: Replace coil light with reptisun 5.0 TUBE

Food: Replace worms with Crickets

Plants: Replace fake plants with live plants

Supplements: I think your over-supplementing with D3. I think its to be used 2 times a month. (Someone please correct me if wrong)

 

[kinyonga]

Although there are changes that need to be made, I don't think you will have to worry about them if you don't get him to the vets ASAP.

 

[suzi]

Sorry for your little guy, I agree with the changing of lighting, feeding, supplementation and ditching the waterfall suggestions. Try and keep him well hydrated and get him outside for some natural sun if weather permits. Keep us posted.