My Veil Cameleon not eating and hanging above light after enclosure change.

[Jmarks72]

I took her out of her encloser to clean and add a better light. After finishing the encloser I tried grabbing her and she fell on the ground. I then added her to her new encloser, and she fell again. She has been very afraid of me after this, and her eating habits have slowed down. She is shedding right now and the last two days she has been hanging above my light. I have a ZooMed light with T5 and LED. I built and encloser that is 3 feet in length 2 feet depth and 5ft height. The light hangs inside the enclosure. She was eating out of my hands and now I cannot seem to get her to eat. I have mealworms, crickets and Dubia roaches. I am trying to stop feeding her crickets and want her to eat the Dubia roaches. She seems to prefer crickets. She seems skinny right now also. Her poops are brown with some white. more brown than white. I have a mist system set to go off every 4 hrs. with 10 sec mist and a self-watering plant dripper. She does come out and move around the cage just hides when someone comes by. Pictures added.

Thanks for the help.

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum!

Can you post some recent photos of her please?
How old is she?

You said…”The light hangs inside the enclosure”…lights should never be inside the enclosure…she could get burned from it.

What supplements have you been using and how often for each?

Also, it’s important not to grab her to get her out of the cage…let her walk out on to you or onto a stick.

 

[Jmarks72]

Welcome to the forum!

Can you post some recent photos of her please?
How old is she?

You said…”The light hangs inside the enclosure”…lights should never be inside the enclosure…she could get burned from it.

What supplements have you been using and how often for each?

Also, it’s important not to grab her to get her out of the cage…let her walk out on to you or onto a stick.

Since I built it into a closet, I cannot get the light outside the enclosure. I posted 3 pictures from today.

I started with Herptivite and Calcium with Vitd3. The local exotic pet store recommended these. I since stopped the D3 and added just a calcuim with the Herptivite. When I say grab, it was trying to go under her until she gave me no choice but to try to grab.

I have added a few pics. Ell hides every time I come in, so we get the behind the branch pics. Haha

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. Does she have a basking light? Some better pics of her are definitely needed…need to see her whole body. Can you entice her to come out from behind the branch with a food treat?

 

[Jmarks72]

Just turned lights off. I will add a new pic tomorrow. Thanks for your response. and no all I have is that one light.

 

[MissSkittles]

What are your temperatures then?

 

[kinyonga]

You said…”Since I built it into a closet, I cannot get the light outside the enclosure. I posted 3 pictures from today”..then maybe you can put screen between the lights and her so she can be safe from burns, etc?

You said…”I started with Herptivite and Calcium with Vitd3. The local exotic pet store recommended these. I since stopped the D3 and added just a calcuim with the Herptivite“…so now she gets no D3 and no prEformed vitamin A. She needs phos free calcium at all feedings but twice a month and on those two feedings you should dust with a vitamin powder that contains D3 and a prEformed source of vitamin A. All dustings should be lightly done.

You said…”When I say grab, it was trying to go under her until she gave me no choice but to try to grab”…there should always be a choice. Instead of grabbing her when she won’t come out onto you try putting a stick in front of her so she’ll step onto it.

You said…”I have added a few pics. Ell hides every time I come in, so we get the behind the branch pics. Haha”…I need to see photos of all of her.

 

[MzLaurie11]

Hello. Female vieleds love to nibble on plants so if there is anything in your cage that is plant like and not real, please remove it. Also if that moss is not real it has to go.too. if she nibbles on anything thats not real, it could kill her. also she needs some cover up higher. I know its a pain with a tall cage, but you have to figure out how to anchor plants up higher. Also you need to make sure those falls did not injure her. did she fall because she is weak? If she is then she might be in the beginning stages of mbd metobolic bone disease. This can be reversed if you work quickly to get everything right. you need to get a screen across the top and have both the uvb light and basking light on top of it. This will add to ventilation which is a plus too. Then you need to get a temp and humidity guage and work on getting your setup right for those to elements. if your girl likes crickets then crickets it is. mine wont touch dubias.last but not least supplememts need to be right. Every store you go to will try and sell you what they have which might not be right. I kniw i have to order calcium without d3 online cause every store in los angeles carries it with d3! Ugh

 

[Jmarks72]

What are your temperatures then?

I do not think i am hitting the proper temps now that I tested. At the bottom is around 68 and the top was only registering at 73 - 74 so I definitely need a basking light.

 

[Jmarks72]

You said…”Since I built it into a closet, I cannot get the light outside the enclosure. I posted 3 pictures from today”..then maybe you can put screen between the lights and her so she can be safe from burns, etc?

You said…”I started with Herptivite and Calcium with Vitd3. The local exotic pet store recommended these. I since stopped the D3 and added just a calcuim with the Herptivite“…so now she gets no D3 and no prEformed vitamin A. She needs phos free calcium at all feedings but twice a month and on those two feedings you should dust with a vitamin powder that contains D3 and a prEformed source of vitamin A. All dustings should be lightly done.

You said…”When I say grab, it was trying to go under her until she gave me no choice but to try to grab”…there should always be a choice. Instead of grabbing her when she won’t come out onto you try putting a stick in front of her so she’ll step onto it.

You said…”I have added a few pics. Ell hides every time I come in, so we get the behind the branch pics. Haha”…I need to see photos of all of her.

Thank you so much for great information. I took these pics this morning. I know it might be a little difficult to see but it's the best i can without disturbing her.

 

[Jmarks72]

Hello. Female vieleds love to nibble on plants so if there is anything in your cage that is plant like and not real, please remove it. Also if that moss is not real it has to go.too. if she nibbles on anything thats not real, it could kill her. also she needs some cover up higher. I know its a pain with a tall cage, but you have to figure out how to anchor plants up higher. Also you need to make sure those falls did not injure her. did she fall because she is weak? If she is then she might be in the beginning stages of mbd metobolic bone disease. This can be reversed if you work quickly to get everything right. you need to get a screen across the top and have both the uvb light and basking light on top of it. This will add to ventilation which is a plus too. Then you need to get a temp and humidity guage and work on getting your setup right for those to elements. if your girl likes crickets then crickets it is. mine wont touch dubias.last but not least supplememts need to be right. Every store you go to will try and sell you what they have which might not be right. I kniw i have to order calcium without d3 online cause every store in los angeles carries it with d3! Ugh

Thank you so much for your help. I will get all fake plants out today and going to add a basking light also. My temps seem to low. I have not tried to touch her since that incident, but she is moving around the cage and has not fell on her own. I am going to add plants to the sides and give more cover up top. I am going to have to think about adding a basking light since my light takes up almost the entire top. Should I keep her in the enclosure while I do this work, or should I try to take her out?

 

[bruce the cham]

Thank you so much for your help. I will get all fake plants out today and going to add a basking light also. My temps seem to low. I have not tried to touch her since that incident, but she is moving around the cage and has not fell on her own. I am going to add plants to the sides and give more cover up top. I am going to have to think about adding a basking light since my light takes up almost the entire top. Should I keep her in the enclosure while I do this work, or should I try to take her out?

i would take her out well you work i would also angle the uvb bulb so you can add a heat bulb and then add a screen between her and the bulbs

 

[Beman]

So when she was acting normal was she in another cage? All of those red and blue panels are going to be very shocking to her. This is why we only use black or white panels for their enclosures. Red can be a fear color for them.

Having lights inside is very dangerous... Building an aluminum screen panel you can secure in will be safer or using galvanized mesh. This could be very easy to do if you build a frame that you can hook it to and then hook this frame in under the lights.

There will be other concerns having it built into the closet like this. Particularly mold growing under the panels you put on the wall.

 

[kinyonga]

Your photos in post #10 in this thread are not clear enough for me to see properly.

 

[Jmarks72]

Thank you so much for your help. I will get all fake plants out today and going to add a basking light also. My temps seem to low. I have not tried to touch her since that incident, but she is moving around the cage and has not fell on her own. I am going to add plants to the sides and give more cover up top. I am going to have to think about adding a basking light since my light takes up almost the entire top. Should I keep her in the enclosure while I do this work, or should I try to take her out?

So when she was acting normal was she in another cage? All of those red and blue panels are going to be very shocking to her. This is why we only use black or white panels for their enclosures. Red can be a fear color for them.

Having lights inside is very dangerous... Building an aluminum screen panel you can secure in will be safer or using galvanized mesh. This could be very easy to do if you build a frame that you can hook it to and then hook this frame in under the lights.

There will be other concerns having it built into the closet like this. Particularly mold growing under the panels you put on the wall.

I purchased a screen cage at first but decided to make her a bigger encloser, I painted the entire closet with Kitz then wrapped it in plastic, I had them plastic panels that I added just to add more insulation. I thought I just purchased black, but the color pack came instead. Hopefully that will take care of mold. I am a little nervous now that you said that about mold behind everything. I added a basking light and a screen between the lights. I put in soil and sand mixture at the bottom after I layered another layer of plastic. I planted the trees right in that. I added some plants up higher, but it will take some time to fill in. I think I am happy with it but let's see if Ell likes it.

 

[Jmarks72]

Thank you so much for great information. I took these pics this morning. I know it might be a little difficult to see but it's the best i can without disturbing her.

 

[Jmarks72]

Your photos in post #10 in this thread are not clear enough for me to see properly.

 

[Jmarks72]

Your photos in post #10 in this thread are not clear enough for me to see properly.

 

[Beman]

I purchased a screen cage at first but decided to make her a bigger encloser, I painted the entire closet with Kitz then wrapped it in plastic, I had them plastic panels that I added just to add more insulation. I thought I just purchased black, but the color pack came instead. Hopefully that will take care of mold. I am a little nervous now that you said that about mold behind everything. I added a basking light and a screen between the lights. I put in soil and sand mixture at the bottom after I layered another layer of plastic. I planted the trees right in that. I added some plants up higher, but it will take some time to fill in. I think I am happy with it but let's see if Ell likes it.

Ok I would still replace the colored panels.

What UVB strength are you using in the fixture?

 

[Jmarks72]

Ok I would still replace the colored panels.

What UVB strength are you using in the fixture?

It's a T5. I have since added a basking light and she seem to be hanging near that more also, screen was added between lights. I also purchased a new feeding dish. She seems to like the new set up as far as I can tell. My basking is a micro one but seems to be doing the job.