Lethargic/Closed Eyes

[RiftPoint]

Hi all,

My chameleon has just recently begun exhibiting some strange behavior over the weekend. He's taken to spending more of his time hiding, and seemingly hasn't touched any of the crickets I leave in his feeding cup. Normally when my wife or I spray down his cage we see him climb into the pothos and drink from the leaves (not always, but often enough to know that he usually drinks) and I haven't seen him do that recently. He tends to get sprayed around 4 times a day (I've just ordered a mistking, since I think he could use more frequent during the day). I do have a dripper but I've been having a lot of trouble getting consistency out of it, which means it not dripping more often than not. All of his feces/urites have looked normal to me, but I can't always see them when they're fresh (he likes to hang out near the back of his cage). Yesterday my wife and I were working at our dining room table and he was making some chirping/squeaking noises at us while he basked. When I got home from work today I found him just sitting in the leaves hanging out with his eyes closed and he didn't even run away when I moved the leaves from around him, he just opened his eyes, changed color, and then closed his eyes again. A few minutes later he was moving about, but did seem to still have his eyes closed. I'm looking into which vets in my area will take chameleon and possibly have any openings today or tomorrow...

I've (hopefully) attached several pictures of him and his enclosure. The picture of the lights shows that he has (working from front left to the back) a dayglo full spectrum light, a reptiglo 5.0 UVB compact (2month old), and a basking lamp.

 

[laurie]

Hello, sorry your veiled isn't doing as well as he could. How long have you had him? I see his UVB light is 2 months so I would guess that is about how long you have had him but it does help to know.

Where was his head pointed when he was making noise? Was it pointed up, did you hear any gasping for breath? You can hold him right next to your ear and see if he is making strange breathing noises. He may not go for that, not all chams will allow you to hold them near your head. I stick my head in then after the cham is on me, I move my head til he goes close to my ear. This is not be a loud sound. Just from the little I know I will make A GUESS, only a guess that he has an uri.

Could you fill this out so I might be able to offer more informed help? Just copy and paste the form.

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

 

[RiftPoint]

Hello, sorry your veiled isn't doing as well as he could. How long have you had him? I see his UVB light is 2 months so I would guess that is about how long you have had him but it does help to know.

Where was his head pointed when he was making noise? Was it pointed up, did you hear any gasping for breath? You can hold him right next to your ear and see if he is making strange breathing noises. He may not go for that, not all chams will allow you to hold them near your head. I stick my head in then after the cham is on me, I move my head til he goes close to my ear. This is not be a loud sound. Just from the little I know I will make A GUESS, only a guess that he has an uri.

Could you fill this out so I might be able to offer more informed help? Just copy and paste the form.

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

Will do in a moment. Of course I saw that sticky as soon as I posted this thread.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

You do not need the full spectrum light and it looks pretty bright. It may be the reason the chams eyes are closed. Only need UVB and basking. I would recommend switching from a UVB bulb to a tube, and t5 is better than t8.

 

[RiftPoint]

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, male, 4-5months old, I've had him for almost 3 months
Handling - Almost never
Feeding - Crickets (small) gutloaded with Flukers gutloader, feeding cup
Supplements - dusted w/ Ca+D3 once a week, w/ Ca 5-6 days otherwise (both ZooMed)
Watering - Hand spray (mistking on order), ~4/day for a minute or two (until pothos is dripping), frequently seen drinking
Fecal Description - droppings look normal, white and brown, not mushy or overly liquidy. Never been tested for parasites.
History - N/A


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Reptibreeze, all screen, 2'x2'x4'
Lighting - Dayglo Full spectrum bulb for plants, Reptiglo 5.0 UVB, Phillips 75W flood (clear), 12/12 lighting schedule
Temperature - ~90F around the highest possible basking position, ~70F near the bottom of the cage (1 combo meter, 1 dedicated thermometer)
Humidity - Having trouble getting my hygrometer to read above 25% at all.
Plants - Draceanea, Schlefera, and Golden Pothos. All plants have medium sized stones placed over soil.
Placement -Dining room, in the back corner, top of cage is probably around 7-8' (almost to ceiling)
Location - Dracut, Massachusetts, USA


Current Problem: See first post

*edit: mistook basking lamp for 100W, actual is 75W

 

[RiftPoint]

You do not need the full spectrum light and it looks pretty bright. It may be the reason the chams eyes are closed. Only need UVB and basking. I would recommend switching from a UVB bulb to a tube, and t5 is better than t8.

I had read some people on the forum used full spectrum for their plants. It's a simple enough step that I'm certainly willing to give it a try in removing it. Maybe that's why he's spent so much time hiding recently? I've had that bulb going for about 2 of 3 months that I've had him.

 

[RiftPoint]

A new addition:

I just went to turn the full spectrum off and he was on his basking perch hanging out. While I was taking a look at him and turning the light off he turned around and started rubbing his eyes (closed) against his basking perch. Several times for each side, and it seemed specific to the eyes themselves.

 

[RiftPoint]

Hello, sorry your veiled isn't doing as well as he could. How long have you had him? I see his UVB light is 2 months so I would guess that is about how long you have had him but it does help to know.

Where was his head pointed when he was making noise? Was it pointed up, did you hear any gasping for breath? You can hold him right next to your ear and see if he is making strange breathing noises. He may not go for that, not all chams will allow you to hold them near your head. I stick my head in then after the cham is on me, I move my head til he goes close to my ear. This is not be a loud sound. Just from the little I know I will make A GUESS, only a guess that he has an uri.

Could you fill this out so I might be able to offer more informed help? Just copy and paste the form.

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

I haven't checked his breathing sound, and while I've seen him point his head before I don't believe it was linked with the chirping? He did chomp a little after each chirp.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Yeah rubbing the eyes can be caused by lighting.

 

[RiftPoint]

Yeah rubbing the eyes can be caused by lighting.

I have to say, since shutting the full spectrum off it seems like he's much more willing to leave his eyes open. He will still shut them after a bit, but he's been moving around from the basking area to directly under the UV lamp. Earlier he wouldn't even open his eyes unless I touched him, now he's opening them if I make enough vibrations walking up to the cage.

 

[RiftPoint]

You do not need the full spectrum light and it looks pretty bright. It may be the reason the chams eyes are closed. Only need UVB and basking. I would recommend switching from a UVB bulb to a tube, and t5 is better than t8.

So I managed to snag a new hood tonight, does this look like a better setup? If anyone is in the market Petsmart is having a clearance on Reptisun hoods and bulbs. I got this 24" hood that came with a free 5.0 T5HO bulb for $33, normally ~$60+! Bulbs were priced down to ~$10 (but sold out at my store).

I'm hoping that this helps him out. Already since turning off the full spectrum he's out and about more often, and he's currently shedding.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

That looks great

 

[RiftPoint]

I'm beginning to wonder if some of what I saw was him being uncomfortable from shedding... After looking around on the forums a bit it sounds like many chams go off their food prior to shedding, get irritable/sluggish, and sometimes have prolonged sheds. And since this is only the second shed I've seen him have I don't know what his baseline is. His head pointing that I mentioned before looked more like this: Shedding Sucks , but without all the really visible skin. When I got home yesterday his entire groin was peeling and he was hanging out on the screen door.

So far he seems to be doing fine, he's taken to settling down in much more visible perches for the evening which was his normal behavior before all this. Thanks for all the help!