Need help.

[Chameleonaire]

Hello, my friend just gave me a chameleon and I don't know much about them. I went out and bought some crickets, but it refuses to eat. What can I do to get it to start eating? Thanks

BTW: I have a few questions: How often do they eat? Are there any suppliments that will give my chameleon a better chance to survive? How do I tame my chameleon? Thanks.

Also, he looks very weak and goes to sleep whenever I see it.I don't want it to die, so please help.

 

[Jordan]

Can you get a picture of him?
Do you know what kind of chameleon it is?
Do you know the relative age?

I have never used this before but I have heard rave reviews from people who have, it is called bug juice.
http://adcham.com/html/husbandry/bug-juice.html
This will help to get some fluids and food in him for the time being. If you could relay any information as to how he was being kept and how you are keeping him how that would help. A vet maybe your only option.

 

[Frank Castle]

I would take it to the vet. Get expert advice. If it is sleeping during the day there could be some serious problems.

Frank

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."he looks very weak and goes to sleep whenever I see it"...that doesn't sound good. Are your temperatures in the right range?

Is it pooping? Do you have a substrate in the cage?

It may not be eating because of the new surroundings, but if you can't get it eating and your husbandry is correct, then it should go to a vets.

If its an adult chameleon then you can feed it every two or three days. If its a very young one it should be fed everyday.

Your chameleon should be getting UVB light either from the sun or from artificial lights. In addition, the insects should be appropriately gutloaded and just before you feed them to your chameleon, they should be dusted with phosphorous-free calcium. Once or twice a month I also dust with a vitamin powder (in order not to risk overdose, the vitamin A should come from a beta carotene source) and because mine get no sunlight, with calcium/D3. Vitamin D3 produced from exposure to sun or artificial UVB can't be overdosed, but from supplements it can...so dust lightly!

Here are some sites with good information that you might be interested in reading though...
http://adcham.com/
http://www.chameleonnews.com/
http://www.chameleonjournals.com/vet/
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/whatreptilesneed.htm

 

[Chameleonaire]

thanks for the info guys. As for the conditions it used to live in, it lived in a dark pen since the guy got it. As for how its being kept now, for the time being I'm keeping it in a shoebox with sand a cup filled with water and a lamp. I'm saving up to buy it a proper eco, but I don't think thats gonna happen for about a week. Oh, it has pooped once, but it was like gell.
I've tried hand feeding it by putting the chameleon on top of on hand facing me, then holding a cricket in the other but only holding the cricket closer to me. I've tried putting them in the same box, but the crickets only jump around and even climb on top of the chameleon. Any more ideas? Please keep them coming.

 

[Chameleonaire]

ok people, clearly, I don't have the know how or the budget to keep a chameleon. I hate to say this, but I think I need to give it to somebody who knows what they are doing. If anybody wants the little guy and is living in the Los Angeles area just say so on this thread and I will let them have it. I just don't want the thing to die, I don't have the budget, and my dad hates anything that isn't human. So if you want one, heres you chance. Thanks again for the help guys.

 

[chameleonare]

you need to put some sticks and stuff in the shoe box but what u really need is not a shoe box a chamleon should never be put in a shoe box for long periods of time its probaly not eating because its streesed because its in the wrong enviroment chameleons well most all chameleons live in trees and they dont drink standing water u need a drip system

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."it lived in a dark pen since the guy got it"...that's terrible! I'm glad you are rescuing it from that.

You said..."for the time being I'm keeping it in a shoebox with sand a cup filled with water and a lamp"...assuming that the lamp doesn't provide UVB, is it warm enough to take it outside for a while each day where you live? Do you not have a larger box or a tupperware type container or an old aquarium you could use for a few days? Any of these would be better than a shoebox. You might "bake" it if you are making the shoe box too warm. Most chameleons won't drink from a dish...you need to mist it or use a dripper. As long as the chameleon is not only a couple of months old, you can use a plastic container with a tiny hole in the bottom of it as a dripper. With very young chameleons, you have to be careful because the water could be aspirated (end up in its lungs) if you use a dripper.

You said..."Oh, it has pooped once, but it was like gell"...healthy poop should be brown and look like a little sausage. Gel can also be part of defecation, and there should be a white part that is the urates too.

To get it to eat, drip water on its nose and when/if it starts to drink, put the head of the cricket between its teeth and it should chew it and swallow it. If it won't drink and it won't eat the cricket, then its quite sick IMHO. How big are the crickets? They should be a size that fits comfortably into the chameleon's mouth.

You said..."I don't have the know how or the budget to keep a chameleon. I hate to say this, but I think I need to give it to somebody who knows what they are doing. If anybody wants the little guy and is living in the Los Angeles area just say so on this thread and I will let them have it. I just don't want the thing to die, I don't have the budget, and my dad hates anything that isn't human. So if you want one, heres you chance. Thanks again for the help guys"...it sounds like letting it go to someone who has the budget is a good idea...but, in the meantime I hope you will do what you can for it.

If you need any more help (if you can't get it to eat, drink, etc.) while its still with you, just ask....and I'll do the best I can.

 

[Fate X]

i do not panic when one or two of my veileds don't eat crickets or anything at all ,thats me though. ive found that from time to time they refuse to eat for a day or 2 sometimes one won't eat crickets but will eat superworms or silkworms or butterworms , a few times the one would not eat super worms but would eat crickets and butterworms. at some point i had to face the fact that crickets and superworms are not near enough to keep them happy matter of fact they might never be happy with their diet now if they don't eat nothing at all for a week i'd be very concerned about their well being.

because it lived in a dark pen i would say that is wrong , matter of fact very wrong you are going to have to take action now if you want to save its life if it can be saved . as for what action to take i have no idea because ive never had my chameleons in the dark pen its only dark at night, i would not give it to much light right away since its not been in light .

how do i tame my chameleon ive never heard that before . can chameleons be tame ?
but the impotant thing now is taming the poor thing.i can understand that its important right now to want to know if it can be tame .is it trying to bite you?

 

[ChameleonsTree]

I think the shoe box is your biggest problem right now. Get him in the proper habitat and he might start eating again.

 

[kinyonga]

Fate X said..."i do not panic when one or two of my veileds don't eat crickets or anything at all"...while most of the time if a chameleon doesn't eat for a day or so, it won't matter...but this one needs the nutrition, IMHO. Its not pooping properly and its weak and sleeps too much.

Regarding taming chameleons....chameleons only tolerate handling. Some tolerate it better than others, but its very difficult to change its tolerance level much. Even when it comes to eat out of your hand, IMHO there is still a level of stress because its always "on the alert".

 

[Heika]

ok people, clearly, I don't have the know how or the budget to keep a chameleon. I hate to say this, but I think I need to give it to somebody who knows what they are doing. If anybody wants the little guy and is living in the Los Angeles area just say so on this thread and I will let them have it. I just don't want the thing to die, I don't have the budget, and my dad hates anything that isn't human. So if you want one, heres you chance. Thanks again for the help guys.

I think that getting this chameleon some help is a very noble thing for you to do. Admitting that you don't have the resources to properly care for it is incredibly mature. If you can give me a bit of offline info on where you are, etc. I think I know someone with a lot of experience in your area that will have a good chance at rehabbing your chameleon if you like.

Heika

 

[Chameleonaire]

Ok Heika, I live just South of Hollywood and just north of Koreatown in the Wilshire District(I think its still called that). That's all I'm gonna say on a non-secure website . My email address is [email protected]. Seriously I will drive the animal to the location, like I said before I don't want the thing to die.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

I'm the guy that Heika was referring to in her post regarding someone in the LA area who can setup the rehab of that Veiled chameleon. I sent you an email with my phone number etc. I can pick him up ASAP. Call me soon!

 

[Will Hayward]

Good on you Dave. Hope everything works out.

 

[Chameleonaire]

Hey thanks everybody I'm gonna give the Chameleon to Dave, and from there its going to a lady named Lisa's place.
BTW: I finally got it to drink some water and eat a worm, so I made some progress. The poor guy was so weak that I had to hand feed it and practically put the worm into the chameleon's mouth. Soaking the worm helped as well. Guess its true most animals prefer wet food over dry food any day!

 

[Will Hayward]

Chameleonaire, if you have the chance, bug Dave about seeing some of his chameleons. Great quality animals and definetly a responsible person with good knowhow. You'd be smart to try and get as much knowledge in person as you can- as it seems to be more useful than reading a book or seing photos.

 

[Chameleonaire]

Dave showed some pictures of his two vailed and his panther. Man that panther is one sweet looking chameleon. I'm probably not going to get a chameleon for a while though, but once I move out, I'm going to get me a panther or I might locate my chameleon. I got it to eat a few worms and drink a lot of water. It was still very weak but accoording to Dave, it could have been in worse condition. I'm just happy that the animal is in good hands now. Also, Dave said he's gonna post some updates and possibly pics of the chameleon!

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy All,

I picked-up the female deremensis from Nelson this afternoon. She looks like she's got a chance. As I metioned to Nelson, I took her straight to Chamelisa's (some of you know her) chameleon rescue home where she is already getting long stretches of misting and unfiltered sunlight in her new location. I would have rehabbed her myself but constraints at the moment (expecting a batch of eggs to hatch very soon!) make it much better to have Chamelisa take on the challange. She'll keep me posted and I'll post any updates etc. Let's all keep our fingers crossed .

 

[Heika]

I am so glad to hear that this chameleon got the help she needs! Thank you to Nelson, Dave and Chamelisa for the extraordinary effort in saving this animal's life!

I love a good ending, and am hoping that she makes a full recovery.

Heika