Please help. I recently bought a Female Veiled Chameleon from a private owner. He said she is 9 months old and he has had her since February. I bought the entire cage and the chameleon. It has been 2 weeks since I brought her home to my house. I do not think she is eating and she hides often. I am afraid she is not happy, so please help!
Here is the details I know:
Owner did not have time to take care of her properly. He did not get her out very often and she hisses when trying to be taken out of cage but Healthy. There was poop everywhere when I got her cage but I watched him feed her several crickets with the long tweezers. She used her tongue to retrieve them. He did get her out of the cage and I held her. She eventually settled and let me hold her for a few minutes.
cage: 18x18x24 Exo-terra glass with screen top
3 Tiered fountain - which I have had continuous issues with and had to replace the pump. Still leaking out of bottom and have to refill twice a day.
Multiple vines and foilage which I have moved several times.
Temperature is average 80-82 degrees with temp around 90-92 for basking spot.
Original Lighting: Standard dual dome with 60watt emitter and 13 watt Zoomed Reptisun UVB. He had an additional lamp holding a reg house lightbulb for light in the front of cage -- My house is kept at cool so I have added different lighting to improve heating conditions. Now I have dual dome with 100 watt Repti Basking Spot lamp and 13 watt Reptisun UVB for 12 hour cycle. I have also added a Zilla night black 100 watt and a ExoTerra Night Glo 75 watt to the front of the cage that stays on all the time.
Original substrate was coconut fiber eco earth but I have since replaced with a laminate flooring after all the trouble with the fountain leaking. I have added some terrarium moss to help with the humidity level. This is soaking up most of the water that leaks from the fountain.
I mist with the mist'r lizard Jr at least 3 times a day and She does not like getting sprayed so I try to avoid where she is sitting.
Original bamboo and real plant but both were dead so I did not replace them.
I have the same size crickets that he fed them.
Since I brought her home, she is still very shy and hides frequently. I have tried to get her out of her cage to hold her several times but she does not like it. She has never eaten any crickets from the tweezers and I have waited for a very long time. Initially I placed crickets free in the cage but since I don't know if she actually ate them ... since yesterday I have 5-6 crickets in small clear cup at bottom of cage to try and see if I can keep track of her eating them. Sometimes they are able to jump out but mostly they stay in there. So it is not 100%. Yet I have not seen her eat any and she is not even tempted when I place one in front of her face. I have placed small mealworms in a bowl at the bottom of her cage but she did not eat any. I did see her lick the glass a few times so she did get some water.
She moves very slow but that may be how she always moved. She looks skinny, sometimes I can see her ribs but then other times I can not. I'm afraid she is not eating.
Every once in a while i can catch her in the front of the tank or somewhere we can see her but as soon as she sees us, she hides again.
Any advice greatly appreciated. I love her and I want her to be comfortable and hopefully come around to wanting to be held or eating from our hands. She is my first and I know how fragile they are. I have other reptiles but I'm worried about her.
I will try and attach some pictures of tank now.
Here is the details I know:
Owner did not have time to take care of her properly. He did not get her out very often and she hisses when trying to be taken out of cage but Healthy. There was poop everywhere when I got her cage but I watched him feed her several crickets with the long tweezers. She used her tongue to retrieve them. He did get her out of the cage and I held her. She eventually settled and let me hold her for a few minutes.
cage: 18x18x24 Exo-terra glass with screen top
3 Tiered fountain - which I have had continuous issues with and had to replace the pump. Still leaking out of bottom and have to refill twice a day.
Multiple vines and foilage which I have moved several times.
Temperature is average 80-82 degrees with temp around 90-92 for basking spot.
Original Lighting: Standard dual dome with 60watt emitter and 13 watt Zoomed Reptisun UVB. He had an additional lamp holding a reg house lightbulb for light in the front of cage -- My house is kept at cool so I have added different lighting to improve heating conditions. Now I have dual dome with 100 watt Repti Basking Spot lamp and 13 watt Reptisun UVB for 12 hour cycle. I have also added a Zilla night black 100 watt and a ExoTerra Night Glo 75 watt to the front of the cage that stays on all the time.
Original substrate was coconut fiber eco earth but I have since replaced with a laminate flooring after all the trouble with the fountain leaking. I have added some terrarium moss to help with the humidity level. This is soaking up most of the water that leaks from the fountain.
I mist with the mist'r lizard Jr at least 3 times a day and She does not like getting sprayed so I try to avoid where she is sitting.
Original bamboo and real plant but both were dead so I did not replace them.
I have the same size crickets that he fed them.
Since I brought her home, she is still very shy and hides frequently. I have tried to get her out of her cage to hold her several times but she does not like it. She has never eaten any crickets from the tweezers and I have waited for a very long time. Initially I placed crickets free in the cage but since I don't know if she actually ate them ... since yesterday I have 5-6 crickets in small clear cup at bottom of cage to try and see if I can keep track of her eating them. Sometimes they are able to jump out but mostly they stay in there. So it is not 100%. Yet I have not seen her eat any and she is not even tempted when I place one in front of her face. I have placed small mealworms in a bowl at the bottom of her cage but she did not eat any. I did see her lick the glass a few times so she did get some water.
She moves very slow but that may be how she always moved. She looks skinny, sometimes I can see her ribs but then other times I can not. I'm afraid she is not eating.
Every once in a while i can catch her in the front of the tank or somewhere we can see her but as soon as she sees us, she hides again.
Any advice greatly appreciated. I love her and I want her to be comfortable and hopefully come around to wanting to be held or eating from our hands. She is my first and I know how fragile they are. I have other reptiles but I'm worried about her.
I will try and attach some pictures of tank now.
WE are all here to help you and go on this journey with you and your cute little chameleon!
