New Cham owner...is she ok??

[Solliebaby]

Is the white around her nose normal?? Also she has a dry spot on her eyeball.

I have spoken to cham owners and read lots of info bit of course a lot of it is conflicting advice. I just want to make sure I am doing right by our little Camille.

We just got her last Wednesday and have been avoiding handling her so we don't stress her out.

Today I went in to look at her and she was nearly black! Is that normal??

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[joshuadh2310]

that white around her nose and on her eye just looks like a normal shed to me. also what does her setup look like do you have a laying bin for her? temps humidity water supply?

 

[Dragon1516]

Is the white around her nose normal?? Also she has a dry spot on her eyeball.

I have spoken to cham owners and read lots of info bit of course a lot of it is conflicting advice. I just want to make sure I am doing right by our little Camille.

We just got her last Wednesday and have been avoiding handling her so we don't stress her out.

Today I went in to look at her and she was nearly black! Is that normal??

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

Ok so the white is just her shedding her skin but what dry spot on her eye are you talking about? And She may just be stressed out being in a new cage and area sense you haven't had her for long but what are all the supplements you are using and take a pic of the cage and what are the temps.

 

[Solliebaby]

Temp is 71.6 in cool spot and 82.4 in basking spot. Humidity has been reading around 30% because she's indoors so we set up a humidifier next to her cage and it goes up to 65%. We mist 3-4 times per day with bottled water. She is still eating and pooping but I don't know what a healthy poop should look like exactly so I attached a pic. Today I found her hanging upside down from right under the basking light with her mouth open. She has occasionally been sitting around with her mouth open and her coloring very dark. I have a water bowl in her cage... not sure if I shoud leave it or take it out as I am pretty sure she doesn't drink that way. Let me know what we are doing right and wrong, please! We plan on moving her entire set up to the patio, we live in Southwest Florida, once temp is consistently warm and humid.

 

[Solliebaby]

Also we are dusting her crickets with Repticalcium powder.

 

[Bekkageary]

She is turning black because it's her coloring or she's cold. The humidity should be 50-80, The white is normal shedding nothing to be alarmed by. Don't dust crickets too much or she will release the excess calcium from her nose. Do you have a UVB light?

 

[EveryGreen]

the white on her nose could be salt deposits or shed, looks like the eyes are shed also. as a new cham owner its natural for you to be worried of every little thing that happens to her. could be big or small things but this time it looks like small things

 

[alphakenc]

If she is turning black while she sits under the basking spot,thats because she is absorbing the heat other than that ,she could been feeling stressed or just in that "moment" of the color since they do change their colors from time to time.
Do give her more time to get use to her new environment.Camille makes us smile in her pretty self.

 

[Dragon1516]

Ok raise temp to 85-86 for basking and Humidity at 60-70 at all times. That is healthy poop your good there. And take the water bowl out. what supplements are you using and how often are you using them.

 

[Craigz90]

Are you dusting the crickets with or without D3 daily?

 

[Solliebaby]

Thanks everyone! We are dusting everyday with repticalcium powder. I am assuming that is D3...? To raise the temp, should I buy another heat bulb?? Probably a silly question, but newbie here. Thanks again!

 

[Andee]

I say she's black all the time not because she's basking because she's not sitting under the basking light ALL the time, it's because she doesn't have enough coverage as far as plants in that cage by far. It's best to almost be able to lose her for a few seconds and have to search for her for a bit.

 

[Solliebaby]

Also yes we have a uvb light. How often should I dust the crickets? Thanks again!!

 

[Solliebaby]

Thank you Andee, we are getting more plants soon, I agree. I am going to get some live plants too when we put her outdoors when the weather warms up some more. What type of live plants do you recommend? Thank you!

 

[Craigz90]

Read the can it will say with or without D3 if your giving calcium with D3 everyday that is not healthy and a what you described white around nostrils can mean too much d3. The norm is need to dust daily with calcium without D3. 2 times a month with d3 + multivitamin

 

[alphakenc]

It appears to me that in this pic she looks a bit underweight to me,unless is the camera angle at the time of shooting.

 

[Andee]

For a veiled? I never recommend one of the go to species for chameleons for veileds, which is ficus, instead Pothos, schefflera, cammelia, mulberry trees.

I am not sure she is underweight. She definitely looks dehydrated. Which if she's truly dehydrated she could easily look underweight. It will depend how much she plumps out after being rehydrated.

 

[alphakenc]

Well Im not sure if she looks dehydrated since the eyes doesnt appear sunken to me n also the white urate....
But I know for sure something is going on that causing her being dark all the time.
My suggestion will be take the cham to a chameleon specialist vet n have the vet to do some test including the fecal since picture can only tell me so much on this cham.

 

[Solliebaby]

What is the best way to rehydrate her? I have read about showers but don't want to freak her out, unless you guys say that's the way to go.

She is not always dark...

 

[alphakenc]

Today I found her hanging upside down from right under the basking light with her mouth open. She has occasionally been sitting around with her mouth open and her coloring very dark.

This is the reason I think she turn dark,the body weight will tell by using a food measure weight scale to determine if she is eating enough feeders to grow since she is an younger chameleon , the poop amount on the pic showing has more white urate n not so much brown poop in the comparison.