My veiled chameleon is really Ill and acting weird

K

Kaytie

New Member
Hello, my name is kaytie, I am completely new to this forum so I hope I am posting in the right place, super sorry if I am...... I have a 3 year old male veiled chameleon (winston), he has been acting strangely this past week, he started to hang from his jungle by his front legs, then started to fall over when walking, then started staying at the bottom of the tank and again kept falling over, I keep finding him laying on his side, he has stopped eating (normaly eats 3 adult locus a day depending on his appetite I dust them with calcium d3 powder twice a week, he occasionally eats cucumber aswell, and he loves fresh mint) he seems to be sleeping alot and is just all around lethargic, he kept climbing so far up his jungle vine then falling to the bottom, so I have placed him on a clean towel at the bottom of the tank, he has a uva and uvb bulb and the temperature is around 36°+ in the day and drops to around 25° in the night (when it foes get colder as I live in the UK I put a night bulb in for him) I'm really really concerned as he has no life in him and he is normaly very active and full of life but atm he seems to have nothing in him :( he is also still full of colour he hasnt been dehydrated as I have been managing to get him to take some water and I tried the skin test and his skin pulled back. I'm really really concerned can someone help please
P.s (he is on a towel because he kept falling and I was worried he would hurt himself and because he is at the bottom it seems to be keeping him warm, I didnt know what else to do)
 

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He needs a vet. D3 twice a week is too much d3 this should only be given twice a month. I’m not a vet or an expert but going on the info you have given it may be d3 toxicity. Do you give him any other supplements? What uvb does he have?

36c is waaayyyy too hot you want 30 max.

I can see there are things that need adjusting with you husbandry as well. Obviously getting him well again is the main priority but things will need to be addressed.
If you copy and paste the husbandry review and fill it out people will be able to give you feedback. It’s in the how to ask for help section pinned at the top.
 
Hi and welcome Kaytie. Removing his vines and placing him on a towel sounds like the right move right now. I suspect he is having a vitamin/mineral imbalance...possibly from too much D3. In order to better determine this though, can you please answer the following questions to give a more thorough picture of his husbandry. I also strongly suggest making the soonest vet appointment possible...do tell them it is urgent. While we can help possibly determine what is wrong, only a vet can treat him.

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
 
Rhea’s mum said:
He needs a vet. D3 twice a week is too much d3 this should only be given twice a month. I’m not a vet or an expert but going on the info you have given it may be d3 toxicity. Do you give him any other supplements? What uvb does he have?

36c is waaayyyy too hot you want 30 max.

I can see there are things that need adjusting with you husbandry as well. Obviously getting him well again is the main priority but things will need to be addressed.
If you copy and paste the husbandry review and fill it out people will be able to give you feedback. It’s in the how to ask for help section pinned at the top.
Click to expand...





Thanks for your reply, I have been on the phone to the person we bought him from and he told us the temperature was fine, so I'm sad to hear that it isn't, we also bought the calcium powder from him and that's what he recommended to give 🙈 I feel awful that I may have done this to him! Thanks for your help, I've been trying to get through to several vets atm none of which are answering, I'm not sure if it has something to do with covid! I've emailed 2 of the surgeries but had no reply and I'm going to struggle to even get him to a vet as I dont drive and we are currently in lockdown 😭
 

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MissSkittles said:
Hi and welcome Kaytie. Removing his vines and placing him on a towel sounds like the right move right now. I suspect he is having a vitamin/mineral imbalance...possibly from too much D3. In order to better determine this though, can you please answer the following questions to give a more thorough picture of his husbandry. I also strongly suggest making the soonest vet appointment possible...do tell them it is urgent. While we can help possibly determine what is wrong, only a vet can treat him.

Here is some recommended information to include when asking for help in the health clinic forum. By providing this information you will receive more accurate and beneficial responses. It might not be necessary to answer all these questions, but the more you provide the better. Please remember that even the most knowledgeable person can only guess at what your problem may be. Only an experienced reptile veterinarian who can directly examine your animal can give a true diagnosis of your chameleon's health.


Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?
Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:
  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
Click to expand...


Veiled chameleon, male, 3 years old, been in my care since he was a few weeks old (we bought him in a pet store he was tiny)

He will tolerate being handled but depends on his mood, can get aggressive at times but over all fine to handle, we handle him once a week or so, sometimes he will ask to come out by scratching on the glass, once you open the glass he just walks out onto your arm.

We feed him adult locust 3/4 a day I dust them normaly twice a week with said calcium powder (please see attached file)
He also eats small amounts of cucumber and fresh mint leaves once / twice a week.
Locust are fed cucumber and lettace or locust seed that we had from the pet store.

We spray his tank 3/4 times a day and he will then take the water either straight from the water sprayer or he will lick it off the leaves, we had a water fountain but found Winston kept head butting the corner (aggressively) of it which would the pull it apart so we got rid of it.

He has not passed faeces for 3 days the last faeces was of normal brown colour, urine was white, today he passed a small amount of urine which was yellow.

Cage is glass and wood, inside has jungle vines which used to be all around the tank but we have recently moved them lower due to him falling. Cage is 3ft tall 2 ft wide 1.4ft width.

Temperature at this exact moment is 32° at the middle of the tank (I think I read it wrong earlier) it drops to around 25°in the night.

Humidity at between 65-70 % but I think the humidity gauge is faulty atm it doesn't seem to change at all where as it used to. I spray in the tank to keep it moist in there.

His tank is placed in my living room, it's always been in the same place it has never moved.

I have fake plants but I put mint leave in for him to eat.

I am in wales, UK. Thanks hope this is enough information and I'm sorry if I am doing anything wrong I try to read my book on how to look after chameleons to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Thanks in advance x
 
Kaytie said:
Veiled chameleon, male, 3 years old, been in my care since he was a few weeks old (we bought him in a pet store he was tiny)

He will tolerate being handled but depends on his mood, can get aggressive at times but over all fine to handle, we handle him once a week or so, sometimes he will ask to come out by scratching on the glass, once you open the glass he just walks out onto your arm.

We feed him adult locust 3/4 a day I dust them normaly twice a week with said calcium powder (please see attached file)
He also eats small amounts of cucumber and fresh mint leaves once / twice a week.
Locust are fed cucumber and lettace or locust seed that we had from the pet store.
ok so by this age should be every other day as they don’t need the food to grow. Giving greens is controversial. Most people say don’t. You want to be feeding him a variety of feeders. There is a uk based company that does a subscription service that comes through the post that I use it gives you flexibility and a variety(I’ll pm it you). You also want to be giving the bugs more nutritious food. I’ll try and attach the info at the bottom.

We spray his tank 3/4 times a day and he will then take the water either straight from the water sprayer or he will lick it off the leaves, we had a water fountain but found Winston kept head butting the corner (aggressively) of it which would the pull it apart so we got rid of it.
good move getting rid of the fountain. They are bacteria breeding grounds. I would recommend cutting back the mistings to 2x - morning and evening. If you are worried about dehydration you can get a dripper or make your own dripper but as long as the urates aren’t more than 50% yellow then it’s fine


He has not passed faeces for 3 days the last faeces was of normal brown colour, urine was white, today he passed a small amount of urine which was yellow.

Cage is glass and wood, inside has jungle vines which used to be all around the tank but we have recently moved them lower due to him falling. Cage is 3ft tall 2 ft wide 1.4ft width.

Temperature at this exact moment is 32° at the middle of the tank (I think I read it wrong earlier) it drops to around 25°in the night.
this is too warm. You want 30c at the basking spot and a nice gradient down so they can cool off if they want. 25c at night is too warm. You shouldn’t need heat at night unless you don’t have any heating in the house. They need a decent drop at night to be able to sleep and help with their metabolism.

Humidity at between 65-70 % but I think the humidity gauge is faulty atm it doesn't seem to change at all where as it used to. I spray in the tank to keep it moist in there.
this is high assuming it’s still working. Cutting back the mistings will help with that. They need humid at night but drier in the day

His tank is placed in my living room, it's always been in the same place it has never moved.

I have fake plants but I put mint leave in for him to eat.
veileds are known to be plant munchers so it’s better to have live plants in there in case they do get the munchies. Fake plants can cause impaction if eaten. Real also give them more hiding places

I am in wales, UK. Thanks hope this is enough information and I'm sorry if I am doing anything wrong I try to read my book on how to look after chameleons to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Thanks in advance x
Click to expand...

what type of uvb do you have? Is it a long tube or a coil?

With the supplements you want to get a plain phosphorous free calcium to dust every day with and then to make things easier get a multivitamin with d3 that also has vit a in to dust 2 times a month. I use repticalcium and reptivite for the multivitamin (just make sure you get the one with d3 if you follow this schedule and use reptivite). There are loads of different schedules that you can find people follow on here using different supplements.
80DFEC12-F3F4-489F-93C1-0125DC23C3F1.jpeg


I would also recommend reading through thishttps://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/
 
Kaytie said:
Hello, my name is kaytie, I am completely new to this forum so I hope I am posting in the right place, super sorry if I am...... I have a 3 year old male veiled chameleon (winston), he has been acting strangely this past week, he started to hang from his jungle by his front legs, then started to fall over when walking, then started staying at the bottom of the tank and again kept falling over, I keep finding him laying on his side, he has stopped eating (normaly eats 3 adult locus a day depending on his appetite I dust them with calcium d3 powder twice a week, he occasionally eats cucumber aswell, and he loves fresh mint) he seems to be sleeping alot and is just all around lethargic, he kept climbing so far up his jungle vine then falling to the bottom, so I have placed him on a clean towel at the bottom of the tank, he has a uva and uvb bulb and the temperature is around 36°+ in the day and drops to around 25° in the night (when it foes get colder as I live in the UK I put a night bulb in for him) I'm really really concerned as he has no life in him and he is normaly very active and full of life but atm he seems to have nothing in him :( he is also still full of colour he hasnt been dehydrated as I have been managing to get him to take some water and I tried the skin test and his skin pulled back. I'm really really concerned can someone help please
P.s (he is on a towel because he kept falling and I was worried he would hurt himself and because he is at the bottom it seems to be keeping him warm, I didnt know what else to
Click to expand...
Rhea’s mum said:
what type of uvb do you have? Is it a long tube or a coil?

With the supplements you want to get a plain phosphorous free calcium to dust every day with and then to make things easier get a multivitamin with d3 that also has vit a in to dust 2 times a month. I use repticalcium and reptivite for the multivitamin (just make sure you get the one with d3 if you follow this schedule and use reptivite). There are loads of different schedules that you can find people follow on here using different supplements.
View attachment 286122

I would also recommend reading through thishttps://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-basics/
Click to expand...


Thank you so much, I will have a look at this, I've also just rang origan vets who put you in contact with a local vet who deals with exotic animals, I am waiting on a call back 🤞🤞 Acadia screw in round 80 watt uvb and uva bulb
 
If he is having a nutrient imbalance you will need to give him the correct supplements and also correct the imbalance until things are in balance again.
Once the problem is corrected you will continue with the correct supplements to keep it from happening again.

The UVB light also needs changing as was already mentioned.
 
kinyonga said:
If he is having a nutrient imbalance you will need to give him the correct supplements and also correct the imbalance until things are in balance again.
Once the problem is corrected you will continue with the correct supplements to keep it from happening again.

The UVB light also needs changing as was already mentioned.
Click to expand...


Thank you for your help
 
Veiled chameleon, male, 3 years old, been in my care since he was a few weeks old (we bought him in a pet store he was tiny)

He will tolerate being handled but depends on his mood, can get aggressive at times but over all fine to handle, we handle him once a week or so, sometimes he will ask to come out by scratching on the glass, once you open the glass he just walks out onto your arm.

We feed him adult locust 3/4 a day I dust them normaly twice a week with said calcium powder (please see attached file) It would be better if you could add some variety to the insect diet...silkworms, hornworms, BSFL, crickets, roaches, etc. And once in a while wax worms or superworms.
He also eats small amounts of cucumber and fresh mint leaves once / twice a week. No need to give him these things.
Locust are fed cucumber and lettace or locust seed that we had from the pet store. I would recommend a better diet for your insects...dandelion greens, kale, collards, squash zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potatoes, etc and a bpvery little bit of berries, apples, pears, papaya, etc.

We spray his tank 3/4 times a day and he will then take the water either straight from the water sprayer or he will lick it off the leaves, we had a water fountain but found Winston kept head butting the corner (aggressively) of it which would the pull it apart so we got rid of it. So glad you removed the fountain. You can add a dripper though.

He has not passed faeces for 3 days the last faeces was of normal brown colour, urine was white, today he passed a small amount of urine which was yellow.

Cage is glass and wood, inside has jungle vines which used to be all around the tank but we have recently moved them lower due to him falling. Cage is 3ft tall 2 ft wide 1.4ft width. Screen lid? Any vent holes?
It needs some airflow. Lights should be outside the cage to prevent him getting burned.

Temperature at this exact moment is 32° at the middle of the tank (I think I read it wrong earlier) it drops to around 25°in the night.
Basking area should be in the low 80's F

Humidity at between 65-70 % but I think the humidity gauge is faulty atm it doesn't seem to change at all where as it used to. I spray in the tank to keep it moist in there.

His tank is placed in my living room, it's always been in the same place it has never moved.

I have fake plants but I put mint leave in for him to eat.
Real plants are recommended since veileds often nibble on them and plastic ones can lead to impaction if ingested.
I am in wales, UK. Thanks hope this is enough information and I'm sorry if I am doing anything wrong I try to read my book on how to look after chameleons to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Thanks in advance
Hope this helps!
 
kinyonga said:
Veiled chameleon, male, 3 years old, been in my care since he was a few weeks old (we bought him in a pet store he was tiny)

He will tolerate being handled but depends on his mood, can get aggressive at times but over all fine to handle, we handle him once a week or so, sometimes he will ask to come out by scratching on the glass, once you open the glass he just walks out onto your arm.

We feed him adult locust 3/4 a day I dust them normaly twice a week with said calcium powder (please see attached file) It would be better if you could add some variety to the insect diet...silkworms, hornworms, BSFL, crickets, roaches, etc. And once in a while wax worms or superworms.
He also eats small amounts of cucumber and fresh mint leaves once / twice a week. No need to give him these things.
Locust are fed cucumber and lettace or locust seed that we had from the pet store. I would recommend a better diet for your insects...dandelion greens, kale, collards, squash zucchini, sweet red pepper, sweet potatoes, etc and a bpvery little bit of berries, apples, pears, papaya, etc.

We spray his tank 3/4 times a day and he will then take the water either straight from the water sprayer or he will lick it off the leaves, we had a water fountain but found Winston kept head butting the corner (aggressively) of it which would the pull it apart so we got rid of it. So glad you removed the fountain. You can add a dripper though.

He has not passed faeces for 3 days the last faeces was of normal brown colour, urine was white, today he passed a small amount of urine which was yellow.

Cage is glass and wood, inside has jungle vines which used to be all around the tank but we have recently moved them lower due to him falling. Cage is 3ft tall 2 ft wide 1.4ft width. Screen lid? Any vent holes?
It needs some airflow. Lights should be outside the cage to prevent him getting burned.

Temperature at this exact moment is 32° at the middle of the tank (I think I read it wrong earlier) it drops to around 25°in the night.
Basking area should be in the low 80's F

Humidity at between 65-70 % but I think the humidity gauge is faulty atm it doesn't seem to change at all where as it used to. I spray in the tank to keep it moist in there.

His tank is placed in my living room, it's always been in the same place it has never moved.

I have fake plants but I put mint leave in for him to eat.
Real plants are recommended since veileds often nibble on them and plastic ones can lead to impaction if ingested.
I am in wales, UK. Thanks hope this is enough information and I'm sorry if I am doing anything wrong I try to read my book on how to look after chameleons to make sure I'm doing everything right.

Thanks in advance
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...


Hi thanks so much, I have tried meal worms (didnt touch them) tried roaches and he didnt touch those either he ate Mario worms once or twice, I thought he was eating more but turned out each worm I put in (90%) would escape and burrow (bought the right dishes but they seemed to escape) I've found adult locust to be his favourite the crickets he would sometimes eat, I found I was wasting more crickets than he was eating (they would die in the container before hed est them), with the adult locust he eats them straight away,seems to be a favourite, tried carrot and sweet potatoes he didnt try those (I have tried all of these things more than once with him) he did however eat the cucumber and mint leaves (i will stop giving that) we had a dropper but it was absolutely rubbish kept leaking all over the tank and yes it has vents in the tank 2 on each side lid is wooden, I was already looking at a new bulb so that's taken care of and what types of live plants would you recommend for the tank? Thanks so much for your help
 
Hi thanks so much, I have tried meal worms (dint touch them) tried roaches and he didnt touch those either he ate Mario worms once or twice, I thought he was eating more but turned out each worm I put in (90%) would escape and burrow (bought the right dishes but they seemed to escape) I've found adult locust to be his favourite the crickets he would sometimes eat, I found I was wasting more crickets than he was eating (they would die in the container before hed est them), with the adult locust he eats them straight away,seems to be a favourite ...mealworms are not recommended as a good food for chameleons.

tried carrot and sweet potatoes he didnt try those (I have tried all of these things more than once with him) he did however eat the cucumber and mint leaves (i will stop giving that) we had a dropper but it was absolutely rubbish kept leaking all over the tank and yes it has vents in the tank 2 on each side lid is wooden, I was already looking at a new bulb so that's taken care of and what types of live plants would you recommend for the tank? Thanks so much for your help
im asking @MissSkittles to please post the list of plants since I don't know where to find it. :(
The cage still needs more ventilation IMHO. You need to be able to create a chimney effect.
 
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