Malnourished
- Thread starter embraceimbalance
- Start date
zlew
Member
He does look pretty skinny. Fill this out for a more detailed answer:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
embraceimbalance
New Member
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, about 2 months, I got him 2 days ago
Handling - Haven't held him since I put him in the cage
Feeding - I got him superworms and put them in a bowl at the bottom of his cage, and pinhead or extra small crickets
Supplements - I have D3 vitamins reptile thing to dust on the crickets
Watering - I spray the cage frequently, whenever I see the leaves looking dry
Fecal Description - general brown color
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Cage Info:
Cage Type - Screen 16X16X32
Lighting- UV bulb and basking bulb 100 W, 10am to 10pm
Temperature - 73 degrees on the floor, and 83 degrees in the highest basking spot
Plants - I have a large ficus, silk vines, sticks and a pothos plant
Placement - On a desk
Location - New York City
Carlton
Chameleon Enthusiast
He does look skinny, but he's still upset by the change in setup and won't likely eat as much as he would once settled down.
A few comments on your husbandry to check:
Lighting: What specific type of UV and basking bulb are they? Brands matter for the UV bulb as most bulbs sold by the typical pet shop do NOT provide the correct type of UVB. The basking bulb only needs to provide heat, so regular household bulbs can be fine. However, unless you are using a specialized mercury vapor or metal halide bulb screw-in incandescent bulbs on their own will not work. Most of us use a combination of simple heat producing bulb plus a florescent tube UVB bulb such as the ReptiSun 5.0 or Arcadia, especially for such a young cham.
Can you use a lamp timer to turn your lights on and off starting earlier in the day and ending earlier at night? Even though indoors most chams respond to the general level of light in rooms with windows, and he needs to warm up early enough in the day to feed and drink properly. If he doesn't get to eat until late in the day he may end up with a full stomach all night when he's cooled down and unable to digest as well.
Supplements: Need to change this a bit. You should be dusting his food with plain calcium (no added vitamin D3) daily, dusting with calcium (with vit. D3) twice a month, and a herp multivitamin twice a month. Dusts are just gap fillers and don't replace good gutloads for your insects. What do you feed your insects? The better you feed your insects the healthier your cham will be, especially as he's growing fast now. There are good gutloads available from forum sponsors. The usual insect foods available at most pet shops aren't too great.
Are you measuring the cage humidity? If not you should. He could be slightly dehydrated for more of the day than you realize (especially in our cold dry months), and dehydration affects appetite somewhat. His casque looks very sunken in which is a sign of dehydration.
