My chameleon seems depressed.

[chuckd82nd]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Female, Panther Chameleon aged at 4 months.
Handling - I handle my chameleon maybe three times a week
Feeding - I mix the diet between crickets and wax worms. I gutload the crickets with romane letice
Supplements - I use Multivitamins with Beta Carotene "Herptivite". Also, for calcium I use "rep-Cal" phosphorus- free.
Watering - I have "Habba Mist" set at one hour intervals, for 15 second spray.
Fecal Description - Half white-black "bird poop".
Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? No

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Comobo glass screen/cage with 14x14x30 measurement
Lighting - "Reptisun" 10.0 UVB and "Zoomed" Infrared Heat Lamp 150W with controller
Temperature - I have a suction-cup vine that I hang high under the heat lamp with a therometer hanging out on one of the leaves, under the lamp. I keep it at 90-95 degrees.
Humidity - I really do not have a humidity therometer inside the cage, besides the one stuck on the wall. The cage came with it so i'm not exactly sure how accurate it is. It's giving off readings of 70, which seems increadibly high. I do have the Hubba Mist on all day long, and then I turn it off at night.
Plants - I use the "devils vine" which takes up about a quater of her cage.
Placement - Cage is placed near my closet, but not exactly in it. I have it on a wooden stand, and I keep the fan running in my room.

Location - Livermore, California

Current Problem - My chameleon seems a bit depressed. She has her chin stuck the the vine, and she stays that way throughout the day. She also displays streeks of black a little bit. She rarley basks under the lamp. I also encountered her sleeping at times throughout the day. Today I walked in after going to school and I think she sneezed. Are these signs of her getting sick?

 

[lindawaz]

Sorry to hear your Cham not feeling well - I am sure one of the more experienced keepers will help you out soon.

I did notice your gutloading is a wee bit sparse. They need more than just one. Here is info on gut loading that I copied from somewhere else on the forum for you

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

Good luck

 

[clarkrw3]

I think that having pictures might help. I am sorry your cham isn't feeling great, but you are in the right place to learn about the right things to do for her. You have done a lot of things right, but I am going to point out a few things I see that could be improved to help her out.

-Your crickets need to be gutloaded better see the link above.
-You are using a Multivit. that has Beta Carotene which can not be utilized by panther chams so I would recommend one of the others like Reptivite or Repashy calc plus.
Vit A is very important to chameleons.
-Misting for 15 sec every hr isn't the best for a few reasons. It takes longer for your cham to start to drink. They need longer and less frequent mistings the cage needs to dry out between mistings. Also don't mist at night.
-Glass can stress out chams due to the reflections I am not saying you can't use glass but it's better not to if possible, also if misting in a glass cage every hr the humidity is probably too high and possible bacterial and fungal growth.
-you don't mention this but lights should be on for 12ish hrs and off for 12ish hrs...Most will not sleep if there is light in the room.
-A 10.0 bulb is for desert species and is too much for panther chams. A 5.O is where you want to be.
-unless you have a REALLY cold house a infrared bulb is never needed and 95 in a glass/screen cage in my opinion is too high. Most use a small house bulb in the 25-60watt range as a basking spot and then the UVB 5.0. You really want a gradient of temperature from 75deg-85ish in the cage and then have a 10 deg drop at night. I have my cham room at 68deg at night.

I hope you don't find this too critical but all things that could contribute to your chams lethargy.
-

 

[jannb]

I agree with everything posted above. Little girls are fragile and delicate and need very special care. You need to lower the temps, add more gutloads and more supplements. I'm attaching my blogs below for new keepers with special info for females and also a link to my egg laying/laying bin blog. Females can and often do lay eggs around 5 months old if over fed and kept too warm.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/jannb/345-egg-laying-laying-bin.html

 

[Dawniegirl]

I know this may not be the case but does anyone think RI? Especially with mister running ever hour and during the night.
Any liquid in the back of her throat or bubbly sounds coming from her?

 

[ChameleonNerd]

the mister runs at night? how often, sleep deprivation possible?

 

[lindawaz]

No it does not run at night- under the humidity part it says they" turn it off at night."

 

[Dawniegirl]

No it does not run at night- under the humidity part it says they" turn it off at night."

Good spot .. but Im still wondering cause chuckd82nd thinks she sneezed.

 

[lindawaz]

that's what caught my eye the sneeze, but I am just learning and reading everything so I don't offer advice except for copying links already here and proven

but thanks

 

[chuckd82nd]

Thanks everyone for your insight and opinions. I will def. start to gutload a lot better. Also, any vitamen recommended without the Beta Carotene is perfered? And, replacing the 10.0 UVB bulb with a 5.0 is better? Also, what about the sleeping during the day. I was wondering if that really posses a problem. And one more thing; if I keep the feeding right and the tempature in the 75-85 range, she will not lay eggs at all? I was also thinking about setting the Habba Mist at 2 hour intervals with a 25 second spray instead. Tell me what you guys think.

 

[lindawaz]

That still seems short in misting times.My Lily is a vield she gets about 25 mins total throughout the lights on period.
1st one is about an hour after she has lights on for 7 minutes, this is the longest one since biggest time span from last misting. The shortest one is 3 mins 1.5 hours before bed to make sure it is dry before lights out. The rest of the 15 mins is broken up in 3 more mistings at 5 mins a piece.

My cage is all screen. Someone with a glass cage might have a better schedule for you and your panther.

There is no guarantee she will not lay eggs even with those temps it increases the chance of smaller clutches, possibly no clutches but you still need the laying bin because you never know.

 

[SonTigerPantherCham]

i think she also needs a bigger screen cage. I just measured out a 14x14x30, and that is pretty small for a panther. even a female.
So if you got her a bigger cage, laying bin, lowered her temps, gutloaded with above mentioned items, mixed up her feeders for variety, maybe some real sunshine, the 5.0 linear, no lights at nite....

She should perk right up!!!
I know, im sorry seems like alot of changes