New veiled has bumps on his side / burrowing questions (with tons of photos!)

[Charms]

Hi folks,

My wife and I built our first terrarium for our first chameleon. We then purchased a 3-month-old male veiled chameleon from a reptile expo in Southern California 2 weeks ago.
I have noticed two issues with this chameleon:

Problem 1: BUMPS ALONG THE CHAMELEON'S SIDE

We only noticed this problem today. My wife says these bumps developed under our care. He did not have these when we adopted him.
I've read that this might be a calcium deficiency, but I've also read it could be crickets biting him at night. Charms does not eat in front of us so the crickets wander the cage while we wait for him to eat. Then we have to pick out the remaining ones every few days.



Problem 2: DIGGING AND RESTING [NOT SLEEPING] IN THE SOIL (we have removed the moss you see in this photo)

Charms really likes to chill at the bottom of the enclosure. Sometimes there are crickets down there, so maybe he's hunting them, but he will often just hide there for a while.
He's in my office, and I don't play loud music. No kids so nobody bothers him. We do not handle him.


We haven't yet taken him to the vet because he's so easily stressed out. We're trying to let him adjust. But next week I intend to take a fecal sample to the exotic vet in my town.


Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - 3-month old male veiled, in my care for 2 weeks
• Handling - Never
• Feeding - I feed him 10 small dusted crickets per day in the morning when I turn his lights on, but he does not eat in front of me. They go in the shooting gallery with a few dubia roaches and one waxworm grub. The bugs basically just climb out of the gallery and once every few days we have to pick them up from around the enclosure. All bugs are gut-loaded with carrot, spring mix, and apple. He does appear to be eating because he has big, soft poops the same time every afternoon. We also tried doing a suspended cup with dubia roaches and vegetables, but he does not eat out of it, so I don't think he's actually eating the roaches or the waxworms. He seems to be VERY fussy about eating only crickets.
• Supplements - Once per day, food gets dusted with "Zoo Med Repti Calcium without D3."
  Once every 2 weeks, food gets dusted with "Rep-Cal phosphorous-free calcium with D3."
  Once per month, food gets dusted with "Zoo Med Reptivite with D3."
• Watering - I mist the entire enclosure for 1 minute, twice per day, sometimes three depending on humidity, with the Exo Terra mister (the one you pump). I've never seen Charms drink, but I'm told this is normal.
• Fecal Description - Not yet tested for parasites but I intend to this week. Stools are large, soft, moist, and in two parts: brown and white. I'm colorblind so it's hard to tell if the white has any orange. Pooping always occurs same time each day after basking for 2 hours in the morning.
  
  
• History - The only thing we know about him is that his parents (which we got to meet at the expo) were GIGANTIC, and the company that bred him is called "Inland Bearded Dragons."

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Glass and mesh combo, Repti Zoo 24"x18"x36"
• Lighting - Exo Terra 60W Daytime Heat Bulb, T5 HO UV lamp with stock tube bulb that came in the package. 10 hours of light per day, 14 hours of darkness.
• Temperature - Basking temp is 80F. Lower cage is 72. Night time low is 66. Temp and humidity both gaged with the Govee Smart Thermo-Hygrometer recommended by this forum.
• Humidity - Between 35 and 50% during the day (although it hits 70 or 80 temporarily when I mist twice per day), and ~40% at night
• Plants - Dracaena marginata, pothos, umbrella
• Placement - Cage sits atop a 3-foot desk in the corner of my office. No foot traffic except me working at the computer across the room during the day. He has the entire office to himself at night with door closed.
• Location - Southern California

 

[MissSkittles]

Ah…testing my brain. I’m not able to recall at the moment what exactly causes those bumps, but I want to believe it is calcium deposits. Yes, it is from husbandry issues. Give me a minute and I’ll go over your info.

 

[Sonny13]

Ah…testing my brain. I’m not able to recall at the moment what exactly causes those bumps, but I want to believe it is calcium deposits. Yes, it is from husbandry issues. Give me a minute and I’ll go over your info.

Agreed, Nachito from @Ghostbirb had the same.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’m still just waking up, so either I’m going to be brief or long winded. Sorry - life of a night shift worker.
Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - 3-month old male veiled, in my care for 2 weeks He’s a cutie
• Handling - Never You’ll want to start working on building trust. @Beman made an awesome blog here. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
• Feeding - I feed him 10 small dusted crickets per day in the morning when I turn his lights on, but he does not eat in front of me. They go in the shooting gallery with a few dubia roaches and one waxworm grub. The bugs basically just climb out of the gallery and once every few days we have to pick them up from around the enclosure. First, for his age he should be taking in double that amount at least and he should be quite eager to eat. With those googly eyes, nothing misses their attention and he should be hunting down any escapees. This is quite concerning to me. Parasites is my first and main suspicion. A mouth or tongue problem is the second suspect I have. All bugs are gut-loaded with carrot, spring mix, and apple. He does appear to be eating because he has big, soft poops the same time every afternoon. We also tried doing a suspended cup with dubia roaches and vegetables, but he does not eat out of it, so I don't think he's actually eating the roaches or the waxworms. He seems to be VERY fussy about eating only crickets. He may have only been fed crickets or even mealworms as many tend to do and in time will accept other feeders. Just keep offering. But again, this could also be a parasite issue or an oral issue. Btw, no need to give him anything other than live insects. Give the produce to them.
• Supplements - Once per day, food gets dusted with "Zoo Med Repti Calcium without D3." Hopefully they don’t look like powdered donuts. A light dusting is all that’s needed and with some supplements, that can be hard to do. I place a tiny pinch of my supplement in a tall deli cup and then add my feeders. I don’t shake or swirl. As the bugs move around in the cup, they dust themselves perfectly. If on occasion they do get too much on them, I have no problem blowing the excess off them (when I move them via tongs to feeding station).
  Once every 2 weeks, food gets dusted with "Rep-Cal phosphorous-free calcium with D3." If you are using the ReptiVite with D3, you don’t want nor need this one. You’ll be giving way too much D3.
  Once per month, food gets dusted with "Zoo Med Reptivite with D3." The ReptiVite with D3 should be used at one feeding every other week, or twice a month if you prefer.
• Watering - I mist the entire enclosure for 1 minute, twice per day, sometimes three depending on humidity, with the Exo Terra mister (the one you pump). I've never seen Charms drink, but I'm told this is normal. Usually you want to mist for 2 minutes, twice a day. Be mindful of humidity since you have a glass enclosure.
• Fecal Description - Not yet tested for parasites but I intend to this week. Stools are large, soft, moist, and in two parts: brown and white. I'm colorblind so it's hard to tell if the white has any orange. Pooping always occurs same time each day after basking for 2 hours in the morning. Poop looks normal and urate is white. That doesn’t rule out a parasite problem though.

More to come…

 

[MissSkittles]

• Cage Type - Glass and mesh combo, Repti Zoo 24"x18"x36" Have you already been advised that this is too small for an adult? Males are active and usually patrol their enclosures several times a day. You need to give him the space to do so properly. While the minimum is a 2x2x4’ enclosure, I encourage to go bigger if you are able. Screen cages are very easily joined for double wides.
• Lighting - Exo Terra 60W Daytime Heat Bulb, T5 HO UV lamp with stock tube bulb that came in the package. Ok, you don’t say what strength the uvb bulb is - 5.0 or 10.0? Also, the uvb needs to span the entire width of the enclosure. If your enclosure is 24” wide, you need a 24” long uvb. 10 hours of light per day, 14 hours of darkness.
• Temperature - Basking temp is 80F. Good Lower cage is 72. Night time low is 66. Temp and humidity both gaged with the Govee Smart Thermo-Hygrometer recommended by this forum. Temps are all good
• Humidity - Between 35 and 50% during the day (although it hits 70 or 80 temporarily when I mist twice per day), and ~40% at night Night humidity could be increased since you have night temps below 68.
• Plants - Dracaena marginata, pothos, umbrella Good
• Placement - Cage sits atop a 3-foot desk in the corner of my office. No foot traffic except me working at the computer across the room during the day. He has the entire office to himself at night with door closed. Good
• Location - Southern California

While there are some things that need to be improved upon, your care is not so out of kilter that you should be having problems like you are. You haven’t had him long enough. So, I’m not a vet or anything like that and can only give my thoughts and suspicions.
First, he may have a health issue that is as of yet, unknown. Most responsible breeders won’t sell their babies until they are at least 3 months old, by which time they are usually proven healthy and strong enough. Then, was he truly bred by the vendor or was he “field collected” or “farm raised” I think is the other term? It’s very possible that he could have been wild caught in Florida or bred in a reptile mill. Since there are almost no primary breeders of veileds, those are the most common sources for them. This would greatly increase his risks for parasites or other health issues. Then, we have no idea what his husbandry was prior to you. Just because the vendor breeds beardies or other animals (or even if he does breed chameleons too), we can’t assume that the care was correct. We do see it often enough where people were told bad husbandry by a breeder. Another is he may have an injury or problem with his mouth or tongue. He’s so little that it would be difficult for you to see. Then there is the unknown that I can’t begin to guess at. Even though he is just a little guy and it will stress him out to be taken to a vet, if you don’t take him, he may not survive whatever is going on with him. The stress is temporary. Whatever is going on with him isn’t going to go away on it’s own. His size does limit that which the vet can do, such as blood work, but they have a lot more knowledge than I and can better help. Please don’t delay it any further. The younger a chameleon is, the fewer resources it has to fall back upon and the quicker they can decline and pass away. Attaching the vet list.
Regarding his going down to the substrate…that would/could be a sign of illness, unhappiness with his enclosure (he does need more branches or vines) or maybe his heat is building up and he’s trying to cool off.

 

[Ghostbirb]

Awesome! Thanks for going through this @MissSkittles I would have but haven’t had time!

You are in amazing hands!

The bumps can take time to go away, so making sure your husbandry is spot on is the best way to go!

Also is that a red bulb for heat? I can’t tell if it’s letting off red light or if it’s just the photo