My Chameleon isnt eating and his barely opens his eyes.

[shorton]

Hey everyone, I need some help with my chameleon.

So 2 days ago a friend asked me if I wanted his chameleon, I said sure. I go there and pick him up and take him home and after doing some research the chameleon had a terribly wrong and unhealthy home. He has a horizontal terrarium with a year old UVB light bulb and only a ceramic heater. He even told us to only mist him rarely. So a trip to petsmart and a chunk of money later we got him everything he needs, but I am not sure if it is already too late.
He is a beautiful green color and is somewhat active but he hasn't eaten since we got him (2 days ago) and until today his eyes were totally shut. Now he is opening his left eye sometimes and squinting the rest of the time. He has recently shed and still has a little skin left on his chin. I am hoping someone can give me some advice please I am really worried about him.

Chameleon Info:
Veiled Chameleon
Unknown gender
Year and a half old
Little smaller than the size of my hand
Is very good about being handled.
I have multivitamin and calcium for him but he hasnt eaten anything yet
I mist him often and make sure the humidity is at least 50 - 60 %
I also have a ghetto drip system with a plastic cup I use sometimes

Cage Info:
16 x 16 x 24
3 Glass walls with a screen top and 1 screen side
12 Hour lighting scheduled
100W basking light (about 95 degree basking area)
Nighttime ceramic heater
Brand new 25W UVB light bulb
Humidity 50 - 60%
All fake plants with a decent amount of hiding space
He is placed on a high shelf that is part of our fireplace, at about eye level
I live in Arizona.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. I'm sorry to hear that your chameleon is not doing well. Please post some pictures so we can see if anything looks off and see if it's male or female. Cool her/him down...95 is to warm. He doesn't need heat at night unless it gets below 65 in your house. Some nice long warm mistings might help with the eyes. I'm attaching my blog for new keeper for how I have has success keeping veiled and panthers.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[Lovereps]

Welcome to the forum!
How kind of you to adopt your friend's ailing chameleon.
There are many knowledgeable and helpful people here who may be able to help you to know what to do for your new cham.

Jannb is very knowledgeable and especially with Veileds.

If you post some pics it can help us to know what's wrong with him.
Sometimes it is obvious from a picture--sometimes not.
To post pictures first click on the "post reply" button.
Then, scroll down below the window where you type your post and click on "manage attachments".
A window will pop up.
Click "browse" and find the pics you want to attach on your harddrive, just find the file and click where it says "upload".
Wait for it to appear, then close that window and click "submit reply".

You can also read through the linked pages here https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/healthx/
and here https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/healthx/vet/

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Sounds like he is reacting to positive care. I would get him into a full screen cage.

Do you have a heat light on him yet? If so temps around 85 under the light.

Get rid of ceramic heater, most likely not needed.

 

[shorton]

Here if a full body picture of him and how his eyes are most of the time. Since the first post he is starting to open his eyes a lot more but still doesn't keep them fully open all day.

 

[shorton]

Yes he already had a heat lamp and we kept the ceramic heater incase it gets too cold at night in the winter. He hasn't eaten anything out of my hand but crickets are disappearing so I am assuming he is eating. My husband actually just ordered a full mesh screen cage for him so he should be getting into that soon.

 

[Djturna4thakidz]

Sounds good! I hope he keeps improving.