help

[New Hampshire camfan]

I am a new chameleon owner and I just received my male panther yesterday from backwater reptiles. He seemed fine for a couple hours after he was first place in his enclosure.since then I have grown concerned. He is roughly 2 and a half to 3 inches from nose to vent. Housed in a reptibreeze 18x18x24 with branches and fake vines throughout. I use an exo terra 100 26w uvb and a exo Terra 50w night lamp. I have been misting every 2 hours with bottled water and a pressure mister. the digital thermometer in his cage reads 80 percent humidity and the temp has stayed between 70 and 82 degrees. it is really nice outside today so I placed his enclosure in direct sunlight outside for a couple hours this morning but since then he seems to be sleeping most of the day. I have been feeding him meal worms and crickets. Both in separate containers and elevated in his cage so he can find them easily. But he has only eaten one cricket and no worms. at first I thought he might be dehydrated but I have seen him drink many times from the misted leaves. his eyes appear to be clear and last night after turning his night lamp on his tail curled right up and he went to sleep. But I am very concerned today. I don't know if he is just tired and stressed out from the trip or if something is seriously wrong or if I am just paranoid because this is my first cam. please help I would appreciate any and all suggestions.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

He should not be sleeping during the day. The main concern I have with your setup is the night light. Panther chameleons do not need any light or heat source at night (unless the temp in his cage goes below 50 degrees F). Any light at night can disrupt their natural sleep patterns.

I would not worry too much about him not eating a lot yet. It can take a couple of days to start eating after going into their new homes. I would say to give him as much privacy as you can for a few days, but continue to keep an eye on him. And, as always, when in doubt it is always a good idea to take them to a good reptile vet. These guys can go downhill really fast.

I hope everything goes well with your little one.

 

[christineacero]

He should not be sleeping during the day. The main concern I have with your setup is the night light. Panther chameleons do not need any light or heat source at night (unless the temp in his cage goes below 50 degrees F). Any light at night can disrupt their natural sleep patterns.

I would not worry too much about him not eating a lot yet. It can take a couple of days to start eating after going into their new homes. I would say to give him as much privacy as you can for a few days, but continue to keep an eye on him. And, as always, when in doubt it is always a good idea to take them to a good reptile vet. These guys can go downhill really fast.

I hope everything goes well with your little one.

Agreed. I wouldn't be too concerned, but make sure to turn off ALL the lights at night. And limit the mealworms...they can cause impaction, but are okay every once and a while for a treat. It's good that hes drinking though! Eating will come soon, just give him some privacy. Post some pictures of the little guy and your setup!

 

[New Hampshire camfan]

thank you,I will immediately stop using the night lamp. come Monday I will be calling the vets in the area and find one that handles reptiles. also one more question, is it common for them 1 eye open and the other closed?? This has not been a constant thing but I have noticed it a few times.

 

[christineacero]

Not usually. Get some saline solution and do a steady stream over his eye to flush it out. He might have something in there. Either that, or do a really heavy mist over him and he should start rolling his eyes around to clean them out. Just keep an eye on it (no pun intended- haha!)

 

[New Hampshire camfan]

Haha will do and thank you for the response. I'm glad I joined this site you guys are putting my mind at ease already. I will post pics as soon as I figure out how do it. Thanks again guys

 

[laurie]

Here is my advice after keeping chams for many years. LEAVE him alone. Don't take him outside, don't check on him all time, don't bother his eyes except for spraying them. You humidity is high for a veiled. Let it drop to 60% most of the time, and be sure his cage drys out between mistings. Turning all light off at night is critical, that is great advice.
Make sure the crickets are the correct sized for him. They need to be no bigger that the area between his eye's from side to side. Make sure you are feeding the crickets some leafy greens, collard greens, mustard greens are a couple good ones. He should have around 20 appropriately size crickets. Try to make sure there are no crickets in his cage overnight. Make sure he had adequate chances to drink. A dripper is good. Just a styrofoam cup with a pins hole works well. Use room temp water. Keep up with the misting you are doing, that is great having him drinking. He needs at least a week to acclimate to his new home. What you are describing is stress.

Here is a link to more info.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

 

[christineacero]

thank you,I will immediately stop using the night lamp. come Monday I will be calling the vets in the area and find one that handles reptiles. also one more question, is it common for them 1 eye open and the other closed?? This has not been a constant thing but I have noticed it a few times.

No worries! Every single one of us were where you are at one point in time. Cruise the forums as often as you can and you'd be surprised how quickly you'll learn! And there are no stupid questions, so ask away!

 

[New Hampshire camfan]

I killed all the lights last night and didn't use the night lamp. I left him alone most of the day today except for misting. I have still only seen him eat one cricket but I know he must be eating cuz I put more crickets in this morning than I took out tonight. Same thing yesterday. Again I caught him napping several times today and he still has his left eye closed most of the time. I considered the direct mistto the eye but I thought they didn't like that. I will call a vet tomorrow and hopefully will get in the same day. He could be just fine but at least I will have peace of mind.

 

[ToniandGizmo]

I am a new chameleon owner and I just received my male panther yesterday from backwater reptiles. He seemed fine for a couple hours after he was first place in his enclosure.since then I have grown concerned. He is roughly 2 and a half to 3 inches from nose to vent. Housed in a reptibreeze 18x18x24 with branches and fake vines throughout. I use an exo terra 100 26w uvb and a exo Terra 50w night lamp. I have been misting every 2 hours with bottled water and a pressure mister. the digital thermometer in his cage reads 80 percent humidity and the temp has stayed between 70 and 82 degrees. it is really nice outside today so I placed his enclosure in direct sunlight outside for a couple hours this morning but since then he seems to be sleeping most of the day. I have been feeding him meal worms and crickets. Both in separate containers and elevated in his cage so he can find them easily. But he has only eaten one cricket and no worms. at first I thought he might be dehydrated but I have seen him drink many times from the misted leaves. his eyes appear to be clear and last night after turning his night lamp on his tail curled right up and he went to sleep. But I am very concerned today. I don't know if he is just tired and stressed out from the trip or if something is seriously wrong or if I am just paranoid because this is my first cam. please help I would appreciate any and all suggestions.

When you put him out in "direct sunlight", was their also adequate shade?

 

[New Hampshire camfan]

Yes. I took his cage outside. He basked for a while and when he started to head down deeper in the vines where it was mostly shady i brought him inside.

 

[New Hampshire camfan]

Thanks for the question. Yes there was adequate shade. He was placed outside in his enclosure in a place where the sun was shining on half of his cage while the other half was shady and although left alone I monitored him closely. As soon as he was done basking and started heading down further into the enclosure to seek shade I brought him inside. I called a reptile vet this morning and have an appointment for 4p.m. today. I hope he is o.k. and I wasn't shipped a sick cam. I'll do whatever it takes to get him better but if he is too sick then I pray that backwater reptiles with work with me to remedy the situation.

 

[CarlC]

Stupid question but did you do any research before buying the chameleon?

Carl

 

[Lathis]

Cut the OP a little slack, we were all newbies once...

NHCF - unfortunately some keepers never educate themselves on proper husbandry. They come here, act rude and hostile when given advice, and wonder why their chams keep dying. Seems like the you are learning, wanting to do the right thing, and are willing to invest in your new cham's health.

Being given bad advice by a petstore or inexperienced keeper is very common, as is receiving and chameleon not in the best shape, but it's correctable. Keep researching and don't be afraid to ask questions. The Forum is full of great people... even CarlC when he's not being feisty.

If you haven't looked through the information already, the link Laurie gave you (https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/) is a great resource for all the basics. Best of luck at the vet and keep us posted.

 

[CarlC]

Was I being feisty. Thought it was a pretty simple question.

Carl

 

[New Hampshire camfan]

Thanks Carl and Lathis. Yes, I did a lot of research on them before purchasing. Both species and breeder. He wasn't an " impulse" buy. I am commited to doing whatever I need to do to ensure a happy and healthy cam. I just hope I didn't start behind the 8 ball buy getting delivered a sick panther. I even feel guilty that I'm not referring to him by name but I was waiting to see what his personality was going to be like before giving him one. Thanks for the questions and comments. Keep them coming and I'll post the vets diagnosis this evening. Hopefully both he and I can get some relief. Atleast today he is moving around his cage a little more

 

[New Hampshire camfan]

And yes, I checked out Laurie's link last night....

 

[New Hampshire camfan]

Had the little one checked out this afternoon. The vet was really surprised with how small he was. Only 2 grams!!! After a very thorough exam or at least as thorough you can get with one this small. He said that his respiratory is fine. Inside his mouth looked good as well as did his eyes ( very clear ) Also he has healthy joints. He has had both eyes open most of the day but I told him what was going on so he flushed them with saline anyway. He had plenty of energy during the exam too. He was exploring both mine and the vets arms. He had a great demeanor the entire time too. He never hissed or inflated his dewlap. What a champ!!! when it comes to the not eating problem he suggested flightless fruitflies and a few of them are roaming around his enclosure now. He did not nap this evening after bringing him home either. I'm going to keep a close eye on him the next few days but I think everything is going to be ok. that was probably the best $65 I ever spent and now I have some peace of mind and can start thinking about nameing him. Just to let you all know, I e-mailed Backwater several times today when I had yet to have the diagnosis and I havent heard anything back. Next time I will be going through another breeder....... thanks to everyone for your comments, question and concerns. I will keep you all posted.

 

[New Hampshire camfan]

also I think that you all know that I have an 18 by 18 by 36 repti breeze.does anyone think I should go down to something smaller till this little one is a little bit older???? I do elevate his food in containers and am allowing the flightless fruit flies to free range in his current enclosure but if it could be a safety issue for him I have no problem doing so. I would appreciate all suggestions, thanks. NHCF

 

[MsLachelle]

He will love it!! Just make sure he's finding enough food and make sure all of his plants are very stable!! it's very important that they feel safe and don't fall