New to chameleons, bit nervous...

[snewpers]

Hi

I'm new to chameleons and have read as much as I could sponge up from websites etc. I have bought a Jemen (Yemen?) chameleon from someone, including the housing it was in. I took him home yesterday with as little as possible stress (I think/hope). The previous owner clearly wasn't to fond of cleaning the glass so I places the chameleon in another enclosure for about 2 hours, heated and with water and food while I cleaned the whole terrarium. I then waited for it to heat up again before placing it back. Now here comes the nervous part...

When I put him on a branch he kinda just sits there looking like he'll fall down any minute. I also found him sitting on the floor leaning against some plants or halfway in his food bowl. When I bought him he was just sitting there but now that he's with me I'm not convinced this behavior is OK. Could it be that he needs to adjust to his new surroundings? Is it a bad thing if he comes down to the floor and just sits there? The thermostat that is in the cool/low part of the enclosure reads ~22°C (71.6° F), the same as with the previous owner. It's humid inside and there's a UVB lamb. A fluorescent light and a headlight (100w). Nothing really changed to be honest. Can anyone give me tips on what I might be doing wrong or is this behavior normal? If you need pics or any other info about anything please let me know.

Thanks
JP

ps. just saw the 'ask for help list' I needed to add...

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Yemen, 8 months, male (I think)
• Handling - Not much, only for the necessary
• Feeding - Tomato, grasshoppers and some fruit
• Supplements - Calcium with D3
• Watering - Multiple times a day with misting and watering the plants
• Fecal Description - First day, haven't seen any yet
• History - unknown

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - glass, 1m x ,6m x 1m
• Lighting - Exo Terra heat andUVB light and fluorescent tube for about 14 hours. Heat always on.
• Temperature - about 71.6F
• Humidity - 70% done by misting, plants and sand
• Plants - 80% real and 20% fake, not sure what kind they are, were already in the enclosure
• Placement - Midde of a wall, about 3 feet between top of enclosure and ceiling, no draft and almost no human traffic
• Location - Netherlands?

 

[bobcochran]

Pictures of your set up and your veiled would be a good start for us to help you. Take some close ups of the veiled.
Also previous feeding/supplement schedule. Do you have a UVB light?

 

[snewpers]

Hi Bob

There's a UVB fluorecent light in there, but it's above the screen and glass. I thought that didn't work with UV? If not I'll fix that as soon as possible (this is the setup I bought like it was used before). The feeding of the previous owner was 5 grasshoppers a week and every other day some veggies and fruit.

I just went in the room and he just looks at me but seems to be a bit afraid or anxious when I took the pictures.

Thanks for helping!

 

[brownie64]

Yah pictures will help greatly. When you say glass are you talking about a terrarium, or aquarium one provides ventilation the other does not, and they need ventilation.

 

[snewpers]

... forgot this one. (edit: wrong one)

 

[snewpers]

It's a terrarium, sliding doors and mesh part on top. I have an aquarium for the turtles.

 

[snewpers]

Oh there's one more thing I forgot to mention... The previous owner had a tiny gekko in the same enclosure that lived inside a piece of bamboo. I have remove the gekko since I thought it was odd to have a very fast gekko in there, possibly stressing the chameleon. The gekko is in it's own little terra until I find someone who wants it.

 

[brownie64]

Okay from the pics I see it's a terrarium good. He is an adult male. What are your basking temps? You also need a calcium without d3 to give to him at most feedings, and give him the one with d3 only twice a month, then you're going to need a multivitamin to give twice a month also. If your UVB bulb is over 6 months old it will need changed. It will be reduced, but can go through the screen. It can't go through the glass though so the glass on the top will need to be removed.

 

[snewpers]

Thank you Brownie, will remove the glass and replace the UVB. Is it normal behavior for a chameleon to just, well, lean against plants and laying at the bottom? I have no Idea what the temp is higher up. The sensor was fixed about 4 inches above the floor in the opposite side of where the lamp is.

ETA: I was given wrong info about the D3 then at the petshop. I will get the vitamines and calcium without d3 tomorrow. I doubt he ever got any vitamines since I only got food for the gekko (some paste) but no vitamines or calcium from the previous owner.

 

[GrimCamel]

I would like to say your enclosure looks a little bit to low for an adult veild but my primary concern is his hiding spots. You placed foliage in the corners. Chameleons need places to hide to feel safe and this little man would do much better with lots of more foliage. Vines like the one he is sitting on are also an important part. They can easily rest on horizontal vines. If the temperature allows I would recommend you to place them even higher

Brownie64 gave you some really good advises too. Listen to him and good luck!

 

[snewpers]

Thank you all very much! I will fix everything tomorrow and make sure the foliage is there. That might also be the reason he's on the floor, trying to hide between the plants...

Thank you very much!

 

[brownie64]

If his basking temps are too low that can make him sluggish. I would get yourself an infrared heat temp gun you can get it on E-bay in my country fairly cheap. Not sure where you live. With this you can even measure the temp on his body. His basking temp should be around 90-95 degrees (34c).

 

[snewpers]

Thank you brownie,

I was just looking in to what the best temp would be. I think my neighbor has one of those and if not I'll make sure to get one. I'm reading about infrared 'lights' and ceramic 'lights' for heating (especially at night) without light. Not sure if this something I could use for nighttime (and daytime?) heating along a daylight bulb? And what is the correct wattage for heating? There's a 100w bulb in it now.

 

[brownie64]

The wattage of your bulb will depend on what your temps are it's kind of trial and error until you find one that gives you the heat you need. A 100 watt bulb should be sufficient IMO though. You won't be needing any heat at night unless your temps drop below 55-60 degrees (13c) the cool down is actually beneficial to them. I would use a daylight, or just a plane incandescent house bulb, but a infrared bulb is not necessary unless your temps drop below what I said. If they do at night only use the ceramic type so as not to keep him awake at night with light.

 

[snewpers]

Thanks brownie...

I have been so misinformed, it's kinda sad. I was told to leave the heating light on 24/7 and only turn off the uvb and the fluorecent tube light. It's never below 13c in that room. So I should just turn everything off at night, did I understand you correctly?

Also, neighbor is not home et the moment so I used an indoor/outdoor temp thingie with a separate sensor. If I measure the temp on the horizontal branch it's about 31 - 32 degrees C (78.8F) which would probably increase if i change the fixture above (for the UVB) and move the horizontal branches up an inch or two.

The chameleon was hanging with using his tail and lying on top of a plant. I've moved some bigger plants in front of him now to give it some shelter but do you think this will stop when I add more foliage above? Is this in any way bad for him?

Thanks!

ETA: I guess he rolled off the plant. he is semi- on his back, sleeping with his tail around a branch... Not sure if that's OK

 

[snewpers]

Hmm My wife, who's not too fond about reptiles at all, actually went to a pet store again because she thought the chameleon looked sad... women!

Anyway, he was on the floor again, sluggish and she asked the store owner what could be wrong with him. He sold her some vitamines which is fine but he said to keep the temp to 20°C (68F)at night. I thought I should turn off every light at night as I did last night. The basking temp dropped to 20C (68F) and neer the bottom of the enclosure it was ~17C (62F). I had the grasshoppers still in there with some tomato, cucumber and some morio worms but I don't think he ate anything. Store owner said I should remove all grasshoppers he didn't eat as the cause stress. I don't know why he won't go back up and stay there or eat something. This is day 2 in his new home btw. Should I worry about something?

Humidity is 70% atm.

 

[brownie64]

Hmm My wife, who's not too fond about reptiles at all, actually went to a pet store again because she thought the chameleon looked sad... women!

Anyway, he was on the floor again, sluggish and she asked the store owner what could be wrong with him. He sold her some vitamines which is fine but he said to keep the temp to 20°C (68F)at night. I thought I should turn off every light at night as I did last night. The basking temp dropped to 20C (68F) and neer the bottom of the enclosure it was ~17C (62F). I had the grasshoppers still in there with some tomato, cucumber and some morio worms but I don't think he ate anything. Store owner said I should remove all grasshoppers he didn't eat as the cause stress. I don't know why he won't go back up and stay there or eat something. This is day 2 in his new home btw. Should I worry about something?

Humidity is 70% atm.

70% humidity is great as long as you let it dry out in between misting's. 62 degrees (17c) is fine, and beneficial at night. Lets see if he gets more sleep now that you don't have the light on all night. If that was the case you should see him perk up. I would take out the grass hoppers as well they very well could stress him and keep him awake especially if the crawl on him. Give it another day and see if after some good sleep he don't perk up. You will need to get that basking temp up to 90-95 degrees (34c) that will help him to perk up greatly, and also help him with his digesting his food. If he don't perk up in another day or so you might want to consider taking him to a reptile vet, and take in a stool sample to check for parasites. Good luck

 

[snewpers]

Thanks Brownie

I took him out today for a while just to modify some branches and while he was climbing my arm he ate a morio worm. Nothing more though. I have added some more (taller) plants and moved his horizontal stick up 2 inches. I just checked to see if he was still sleeping there and he was

Also ordered a new UVB bulb (5.0 26Watts) and will get more foliage for him to hide out in this week. I was thinking about plastic vines, does it matter if it's real or not? All other plants are real now btw.

Thanks again, this forum is really awesome!

ps. pet store guy, who used to have a chameleon so he claims, was sure that chameleons don't eat fruits and veggies. I think I\ll switch store now.

 

[Cheeky]

Just to echo everything that brownie has said to you really

He's cold blooded so once you get his basking spot up to the right temp that should really perk him up.

Plastic vines are okay, there's no problem using them. Live plants are preferred as they also help keep the humidity.

On your second picture it looks like he might have a little bit of a burn on the top of his casque (head) it might just be the light is reflecting though as it isn't clear.

 

[kinyonga]

There should be a basking area in the mid 80'sF so he can warm up to digest he food properly and thus absorb the nutrients.

It may be a good thing in his case that he was given more calcium with D3 than we recommend since the UVB light was above the glass. It may have slowed any development of MBD. It could be that he is developing MBD since he is leaning and failing to lift his body off the branches....but you need a vet to confirm that.

Since most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous its important to dust the insects just before feeding them to the chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings to help make up for it.

To ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it and leaving the chameleon to produce the rest of the D3 from its exposure to the UVB light its recommended that you dust twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium / D3 powder. D3 from exposure to UVB won't likely build up in the system and lead to overdoses like D3f from supplements can.

It's also recommended that you dust twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources of vitamin A cannot build up in the system and lead to overdoses like prEformed sources can and will leave it up to you to decide whether the chameleon needs prEformed or not.

I really think your chameleon should see a vet.