need advice on keeping veiled healthy

[SittinOnGold]

Cage Info:

i have a screen/mesh cage 38 galon i do belive, standing up
the back side is covered because its faceing the wall, and at night i cover the other 3 sides. (2 sides halfway and front 3/4s covered) note* it is flappy and loose so he does get the air he needs when i do this.

i use exo terra baskin light(100watt) along with floresent exo terra UV bulb, 12 hours on 12 hours off

the temp gauge reads diffrent depending on the day i have it just beside the basking area (about 6 inches from ttop of the cage) witch reads a steady 95 C and in the morning when i wake up its usually about 70-75 C (note it is also nearing winter here)

i maintan humidity with a water fall and misting the cage 3 times daily with warm spring water, though i am looking to get a mist/fog machine for him.

my cham house is in my room where i keep the door closed and the cat out.
not to much in and out daily.
i am located in edmonton alberta in canada




* Your Chameleon - i have a veiled cham, he is a male and about 2 -2 1/2 months old. and i have owned him for approx. 1 month
i handle buddy about every 2 days but not for long, he used to hiss and puff up but now i think hes starting to accept me.

his diet consists mostly of a mix of small crickits and large cricits. (even tho at my pet store there isnt much of a difference otherwise id only feed him smalls) every week i give him a superwork, and every 2 weeks i give him 3 or 4 wax worms.

i give him about 3 or 4 crickits depending on the day,
and ill put some mealworms along with chopped peices of lettus in his food dish
(higher up in the cage he seems to like it that way)
THIS IS DAILY, although he dosnt eat it all i simply take out what he dosnt.

i feed the crickits crickit food jam packed with vitamins

i do not use any supplements yet, though i am wondering what would be best for him and how often to use !!

i mist the cage 3 tims daily and made a swirly vile looking thing to spray to the drops spin down in a spiral, he seems to love that.
i see him directly coming over as fast as he can to come drink 2/3 a day i do this. though, not for long 5 or 6 droplets the first, 3 or 4 the next.



his fecal seems to be split up in 2 ??
its dark brown kinda slimly, and than a yellow part ontop
im not sure what this is could you pls help or is this normal?
he has never been tested for parasites


i am concered about his white spots.
maybe theyre just white spots?
is it a shedding problem?
what can i do to help him out or is it normal?

he has these white spots 24/7 it seems more and more everyday ?????

this is my first reptile btw, but honestly.
ive grown marijuana plants so i kind of got the catch to things,
its just differenet.
and no i dont do that anymore, i need to know everything i can be doing better thanks!!

 

[jojackson]

Could be beginning to shed in an odd way, are they spots or tiny areas of flaking skin?
May be a bit dry, perhaps hand mist him occasionally.
95f is a tad high for youngster, 85f might be better for the time being.
welcome

 

[sandrachameleon]

Hi

How are you monitoring the humidity level? Do you have a quality guage? Edmonton is quite dry, so you might want to invest in a small humidifier for your room (rather than a fog machine).

Waterfalls are NOT recommended.
Drippers and misting is the way to go. More about hydration: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/92-hydration-importance.html

The poop is supposed to be in two parts - one part dark brown and the other (the urate) white. A little yellow or orange on the tip of the urate is okay, but all yellow or non-white is a sign of dehydration.

You do need supplements. Calcium especially, as crickets have a poor calcium to phos ratio.
read more about supplements here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/65-supplements.html

Mealworms are not recommended for regular use and neither are waxworms. Consider these treats and use sparingly (once or twice a month).

Better feeder options include silkworms, butterworms, moths, stick insects, roaches, ...
if your local pet store doesnt have much bug selection, consider buying on line
www.canadianfeeders.ca
www.feederfactory.ca
www.westcoastdragons.ca/FeederPriceList.html
http://www.trinitychameleons.com/
www.bugorder.com
and / or breeding your own bugs (roaches and superworms are very easy to raise)
and you need to properly gutload the insects.
More info on gutloading: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

In addition to this fabulous forum, here are some other websites you might want to check out
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/
http://www.adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/ryan-jarosek/119-new-arrival-bringing-home.html

 

[Syn]

Is there any white on or around his nose?

 

[tkilgour]

You canadians have it made. Your govt doesn't enforce marijuana cultivators. Maybe if you smoke some super skunk with your cham it will heal it! J/K

 

[pssh]

He looks older than two months to me... How big is he snout to vent? Age and size make a difference in what people will tell you, though most of the advice will definalety help.

 

[kinyonga]

Appropriate temperatures allow for proper digestion...which thus plays a part in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB (either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light) allows the chameleon to produce D3 which allows it to use the calcium in its system. There should be no glass or plastic between the chameleon and the light.

Now, its great that the chameleon produces D3, but it needs calcium to go along with it and if you don't provide it with some in its diet, it will take it from the bones. Since most insects we use as feeders (especially if they aren't fed/gutloaded properly) have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous...so its important to dust them before giving them to the chameleon at most feedings with a phos.-free calcium powder to make up for this. (More about the phos. later.)

I dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it. The rest of the D3 should be produced from exposure to the UVB. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and cause problems...so its important not to overdo it.

I also dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. Beta carotene can't build up in the system like prEformed vitamin A can. However, there is controversy as to whether any/all chameleons can convert beta carotene...so some people give a little prEformed vitamin A once in a while. Excess prEformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD.

Its important to gutload/feed your insects a nutritious diet too. Crickets, roaches, superworms can be fed a wide variety of greens (dandelions, kale, collards, endive, escarole, mustard greens, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, celery leaves, etc.). Other insects should be fed things appropriate for them too.

So...calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are all important players in bone health and they need to be in balance. When trying to attain that balance you need to look at what supplements you use, what you feed the insects, what you feed the chameleon, the UVB, the temperature, etc.

Here are some sites that should help you...
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://web.archive.org/web/20060502...rnals.com/vet/index.php?show=5.Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060421.../index.php?show=6.Vitamin.D3.and.Calcium.html
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=102
http://adcham.com/

 

[SittinOnGold]

Is there any white on or around his nose?

yes there is what does this mean?
i hand mist him gently 2 times a day
hes got plenty of moisture and humitity.

and for the waterfall yes i know bad idea but i do clean it regularly.
just use to to keep the humidity up to level before i buy the misting machine.

i will post pictures of his home,
and take him out to try and get better pictures of the white spots thanks you all !

 

[SS4Luck]

he looks ok to me, he is def a pretty guy.

like said before you cage seems a bit hot and you need to supplement and the waterfall is worthless.

Keep an eye on your baskin temps and humidity and youll be good

 

[SittinOnGold]

the waterfall is not pointless, without it buddy would require CONSTANT misting.
so it works for now....
plus he drinks right out of it most of the time...

 

[SittinOnGold]

NOTE**
when i took him out of his cage today all the white spots went away,
when i put him back in they came back.
could this mean his enviroment is too hot?
could he be turning white to let off heat?

 

[InGoodHands]

Growing weed is nothing like proper care for a chameleon...I hope you get it figuered out. Budy is pretty!

Also..do you have a coil bulb or a flo tube??

 

[pssh]

There is so much bacteria in waterfalls that you would need to clean t every couple hours to keep it clean enough to drink from. Better to just junk it. Spray for a longer time, like 3 minutes each time.

 

[jojackson]

NOTE**
when i took him out of his cage today all the white spots went away,
when i put him back in they came back.
could this mean his enviroment is too hot?
could he be turning white to let off heat?

Then possibly its just an unusually colored/patterned lizard. Changes in colors indicate mood, stress, comfort, etc etc.
Can you get another pic or two, both with and without the spots. If they go away (it goes dark) when you handle it/remove from the cage, its probably displaying 'whats going on, leave me be' colors.

Please fill out the questionair anyway, if there is anything you need to adjust in your setup etc, the information will pinpoint it.

 

[scut]

the waterfall is not pointless, without it buddy would require CONSTANT misting.
so it works for now....
plus he drinks right out of it most of the time...

Instead of the waterfall you can make a dripper for when you aren't misting. I have a pretty ghetto one lol, it is a tiny tube (like the skinny ones found in perfume bottles) poked through a chip dip container [all thoroughly cleaned of course], and I fill it up maybe twice a day. I have a large live plant in my cage so I have to make sure all the drips make their way into the pot, and I have a water source for my cham AND my plant

 

[SittinOnGold]

Growing weed is nothing like proper care for a chameleon...I hope you get it figuered out. Budy is pretty!

Also..do you have a coil bulb or a flo tube??

no shit sherlock lol
but the concept of keeping something like that alive is.
ill have no problem keeping him alive, i just want him superhealthy
witch is why im asking all of you lol.
since i am a noob!

i have 2 coil bulbs 75watt i do belive its 5am where i am so i dont want to disturb his sleeping pattern

i also just got surgury on my ankle so that is why i picked him up,
im constantly home 24/7 need somethin to do and stay out of trouble.
so i do clean the waterfall regularly with boiling hot water usually once a day, if not every 2nd. i let it cool down of coarse
like i said, i plan on upgrading soon its just hard for me to go pick up supplys since i cannot walk.

i will post pics in about 5 or 6 hours when he gets up

 

[Syn]

What time does he get up and go to sleep?
I noticed you posted temps in C but they are extremely high, did you mean F?

the temp gauge reads diffrent depending on the day i have it just beside the basking area (about 6 inches from ttop of the cage) witch reads a steady 95 C and in the morning when i wake up its usually about 70-75 C (note it is also nearing winter here)

Hey, just letting you know rule #8 on Posting says:

Content submitted should be appropriate for all ages. Please refrain from using profanity and discussing adult topics.

 

[chameleon97]

Every hour, Scrub it with a bleach-water soloution of 1:10 and rinse for about 2 mins with really hot water.
You really shouldn't use a waterfall. They build up an insane amount of bacteria

so i do clean the waterfall regularly with boiling hot water usually once a day, if not every 2nd. i let it cool down of coarse

 

[pssh]

Exactly as chameleon97 said, you might even be ableto cheat every now and then and wait two hours between each cleaning. You probably shouldn't use a coil UVB bulb because some are known to causes eye problems. It's best tostick with a reptisun 5.0 to be extra safe. A member on here has a chameleon that has gone blind because of a coil bulb.

For a two month old baby 95 is extremely hot and you'll cook him. Keep it around 80 in his basking site. Super worms are too big for him now if he's only two months. Dust with a plain calcium w/o d3 almost every feeding, a calcium w/ d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month also. Also most people consider meal worms a treat to give once a month because they can cause impaction which can kill a chameleon.

 

[Murrdox]

I'm a bit perplexed by all of the hate towards the whole waterfall thing.

Sure, they build up bacteria, but so does standing water. So do drip buckets. What's so different about a waterfall that it needs cleaned every HOUR?

Personally I'm of the opinion that if he has a chameleon that will actually DRINK from one, then I don't see what the big issue would be. I'd clean it every day or every other day.

I've never heard people recommend scrubbing their drip systems every hour, and I don't see how those systems would accumulate any less bacteria than a waterfall setup - unless the chameleon pooped in it of course.

I've never used a waterfall though, so I'm just asking where all this advice is coming from.