Is my chameleon ok?!

[Melvin]

HI! When i bought my Yemmen Chameleon he was abot 2 month old, and he's 3 months now. When i got him he ate 10-13 crickets a day and 4-5 silkwoms.. But now he only eats 2 crickets and 2 silkworms a day.. Is this enough for him? And it dosn't loke like he likes the crickets with Calcium and Vitamines on them. He Also eats the Ficus leaves but he has a dripper and i always mist.. Sometimes his brown but often green. But when he sleeps he's black, is that normal?

Please help me out!

 

[Lancecham]

He should be continuing to eat at the pace he was eating before. Veileds will eat the leaves of the plants in their cages. They are not usually black when the sleep.
If you fill out the "How to ask for help", we then could give you some suggestions.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

 

[Melvin]

Cage Info:

* Cage Type - I have a one screened glass cage and the demension are 50*50*70. But my chameleon is only three months old now, so he will get a bigger cage soon.
* Lighting - I use a Reptil glow 5,0 UV lamp and a 60watt bulb.I have a timer on both lights, they turn on 9am and turns off 10pm.
* Temperature - I measure the temperature with a termometer that shows the humidity too. The lowest tempeerature over night is 23 celsius (73 degrees fahrenheit). During the day the temperature is 28 degrees (82 degrees fahrenheit). But he has a hoter place if he wants to sun bath and a more cooler place under the leaves if he wants to get cool.
* Humidity - My humidity levels are often between 50-60%, but sometimes it's 70% and sometimes even 40%. I always mist in the cage, planty times a day, because I only have one screen door and I removed the other door and replaced it with a net for better ventilation.
* Plants - I had a Photos plant before but i replaced it with one Hibiscus and on shefflera today.
* Placement - My cage is in a warm room in to a corner on a table. My cage is 70cm in hights but it stands on a table so the top of the cage is 117cm over the floor.
* Location - in south Sweden.

Chameleon Info:

* Your Chameleon -My chameleon is abouth three month and it has been under my care for 1month. Its a male Yemen Chameleon.
* Handling - It depends, maybe 2-4 times a week.
* Feeding - Im feeding my chameleon whith silk worms and crickets. He ate abot 12 crickets a day and 4 silkworms, but now he only eats 2 crickets and 2 silkworms. Im gut loading my crickets and silkeworms with apples, carrots, dog food, planty of various greens.
* Supplements - I have a Terravit JBL (Multivitamins and trace elements for terrarium animals) and also Kalcium that i bought from the reptile store. I always feed him with the vitamines one day then the other with Kalcium and then with vitamines and so on.
* Watering -I mist a couple of times a day, then i miste the whole cage and both the plants. I have seen him drink once. I will also get a dripper in two days by the mail.
* Fecal Description - A little bit loose with some white stuff on it, maybe urine? No, he's never been tested for parasites as i know.
* History - I bought him from a reptile store, i dont no anything more, sorry.
* Current Problem - I think he eats to little and he's always black when the light turns off and when he sleeps. And 5 days ago he was breathing with he's mouth when he wasnt angry, just sat there for 20 minutes, but havn't seen him do it since then.


Please help me out!

 

[jojackson]

Mouth breathing, or 'gapeing' is done to cool down, this suggest your lizard is a little too warm, though your temps sound ok.
What is your basking temperature?
Keep in mind your lizard will climb to the highest point in the cage to sleep (safe from predators), so may be overheating as a result?
Please describe your cage more explicitely, is the top screen?
Is the room very dark at night? Is there anything to disturb it while its sleeping?
perhaps you could move the heat bulb higher to lower the overall temperatures a little.
82f is about the max temp you should expose a very small chameleon to, when its larger you can increase by around 10f.

 

[Melvin]

The basking temperature is between 82-85 during the day. I live in sweden and im not that good at inglish so I explained my cage wrong when i wrote about it before. I have a glass cage, but I have covered the three doors with thick paper. So there's no reflections and i replaced one door with plastic screen to get better ventilation, and the top is aluminium screen as well

No the crickets are in a comtainer so they cant bite him at night, and yes, the room is very dark at night.

Here are some pictures at my cage, please write if i should change anything inside it. I will buy a new lampstand today at put the bulb outside the cage and put it on the top over the screened aluminium top. Is that Better then inside tha cage?

 

[chameleon97]

Get the lights out of the cage, and trash the CFL.

-Steve

 

[justjumpit621]

I noticed u have a coil uvb bulb. toss it and buy a tube, or linear, bulb. the coil bulbs, as well as conpact bulbs, cause eye problems in chameleons and can cause blindness.

 

[jojackson]

Your lights are definately safer outside the cage, you want to minimise any chance of burns. As advised, the cfl (compact flourescent light) has a bad reputation. Generally long tubes provide a broader area of UV output anyway, which is better for your lizard.
To avoid any possibility of intestinal blockage, its best to leave the cage floor bare.
This also makes cleaning and organising drainage easier, and eliminates for the most part
the risk of mould and bacteria from constant dampness.
See what the humidity is like without it, you can always mist more if it needs increasing from time to time.

once you relocate the lights, try to arrange a horizontal basking perch beneath, but be sure to monitor the temperature.

 

[Melvin]

Thank you guys, I'll buy everything tomorrow and then I'll take some more pictures and show them to you guys

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Melvin]

I went to the reptile store today and the didn have the reptile glo 5.0 or the reptile sun, but they will get it in the store in 4 days. Should i leave the coil uvb bulb in the cage or should i replace it outside of the cage til I get the reptile glow uvb? or just trash it, can he make 4 days with out the uvb bulb?

 

[justjumpit621]

you can take it out for the few days. It is okay for them to go a few days without the uvb. It is more hurting him than helping.

 

[sandrachameleon]

Please dont "Trash" the CLF. They contain mercury and should be recycled.

 

[Melvin]

when i replaced the bulb outside the cage the temperature is only 75 degrees during the day. But he hs a basking spot and the temperature there is 90-100 gedrees.

Is the cage to cold for him? Should i buy a higher watt bulb?
Please help me out

 

[pssh]

when i replaced the bulb outside the cage the temperature is only 75 degrees during the day. But he hs a basking spot and the temperature there is 90-100 gedrees.

Is the cage to cold for him? Should i buy a higher watt bulb?
Please help me out

As a baby, his basking spot should only be 80 or you might cook him alive! So just raise the lamp or get a lowwer wattage bulb. 70 for the r
bottom of the cage and 75 around the middle should be good. They need a variety of temps. When he is 8 months old or so you can raise his basking temp to 90 degrees, but no higher than 93-95.