Newbie to chamelons and forum

T

toyotatech1

New Member
Hi my Name is Matt I live in westerville ohio. I just got a veiled chameleon a few weeks ago. I have him in a medium exo terra cage. I think he is around 6 months old. I joined chameleon forums to hopefully learn more and help maintain a good healthy chameleon. Here is a picture of Randall.
 

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Hi Matt, some more pics would be great. To be honest, I don't like the look of his front leg in that pic. MBD?
 
hey welcome ot the forums....

and please giv all the info u know about chams and your cham specifically...

BTW i think Randall is a "SHE"....at 6months, it seems she mite soon be ready to lay eggs....i hope others will agree with me....

they can lay infertile eggs (without a male)

pluys she may also have MBD...not for sure..needs better pics...and do u use supllements, wat do you feed her?, get a laying bin with some play sand or all natural dirt if she seems crawling alot on the ground...I believe Jaanb has the link to caring female veileds...

Ask questions..we are more than happy to answe them..

Good luck!!
 
jackscham said:
Hi Matt, some more pics would be great. To be honest, I don't like the look of his front leg in that pic. MBD?
Click to expand...

I know, that's what I was kinda thinking but did not want to suggest that until some further pics were posted. Could just be the angle of the leg in the pic. Let's hope so!
 
Wellll, I can see faint striping. Perhaps if he has been stunted and what not. Plus, I don't see any mature lady yellow spots? Maybe it's not even 6 months!
 
she looks to have beautiful coloring but respond quick matt. it is very easy for these little creatures to get ill if things arent taken care of properly.
 
sorry..i should of place it in better phrasing..

i meant for the age and that if randal is a she, then she has a possiblity of producing eggs by now...given by the current age the OP stated...she mit not lay eggs now ,but will eventually...and yeah...i hope she gets bettter
 
Actually yes, I can see it now that I looked at the bigger picture (they take so long to load sometimes!)

The male stripes and lines are there. Aw.. :(
 
damn....nice job you two..ok, so it is a male..but still it doesnt look 6 months, though u never know...and also mite have MBd..

So its male...need to look better next time:rolleyes::p
 
He is definitely a he. He does have the tassel spur on his rear feet. I know right now that he is dehydrated and i am truing to get that under control. As far as his age i am just guessing, but he may be a lot younger according from what I have seen. Here are a couple more pictures that i have of right now and the girl friend is working on taking some more pictures. The second one was taken today and i do know that there is something wrong with him and i think from what i have read that it is dehydration and i am working on trying to get him to drink more.
 

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He needs a vet appointment for further treatment. He will probably need calcium injections. You will definitely need to fix your husbandry if you want him to live a somewhat normal life. In order to know what should be changed (for the better, I promise!) you may want to do some serious research/fill out the how to ask for help form so people can offer suggestions. If some of the info is slightly different it's because there is no one way to keep chameleons, though there are some general guidelines (especially with MBD.)

Basically, MBD causes the bones to become flexible and very likely to fracture/break. His elbows should not be c's, they should be L's (angle wise.)
 
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled , male , guessing 2-3months. 3 weeks in my care
Handling - twice in 3 weeks
Feeding - crickets about 6 a day. not gut loading
Supplements - Sticky Tongue Farms Calcium/ Mineral supplement Miner-All. On all feedings
Watering - Constant running waterfall. Misting at least 3 times a day. Dripper all day. Not seeing him drink and he hates to get wet.
Fecal Description - Brown, white, small amount of orange/yellow
History - Since he started shedding last week, we’ve noticed the signs of dehydration (sunken, closed left eye, sleeping during the day)

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass. 18x18x24.
Lighting - 75w daytime basking lamp and red infrared night lamp. UVB compact fluorescent (Retiglo 5.0).
Temperature - Top under basking - 90 bottom front- 77
Humidity - hydrometer reads 90
Plants - Live plants only. Golden pothos. Can’t recall the names of the other two. One is a small fern
Placement - It’s in the living room, over 6 feet away from the nearest vent. Sits about 3 feet off the floor.
Location - Columbus, Ohio

Current Problem - Have noticed him sleeping during the day over the past week. Left eye is shut and starting to become sunken. Since starting this project we have heard many different opinions, and many contradict. Trying to make sure we’re doing this right.
 

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Unfortunately it looks like your chameleon has MBD(Metabolic Bone Disease) from the previous owner/ pet store not supplementing him properly. You have to get him to a vet and see what treatment they can suggest for you. There are three supplements that you will need. Calcium w/0d3, Calcium w/d3 and you have the multivitamin. The multi does not need to be given every day. Twice a month is good. The calcium w/d3 twice a month and the calcium without every feeding. You need to discuss the supplement schedule with your vet due to the fact that you are probably going to need calcium injections for him. The waterfall is not a good thing to have in a chameleon enclosure. It may look nice, but they will most likely not drink from it and it can breed bacteria, especially if you cham poops in there. Your chameleon should not be closing its eyes during the day. Most of the forum members on here use the Reptisun 5.0 but the tube kind instead of the compact. There have been people who have had eye problems with their chamleleons using the compact bulb. If you cham is only 2 months your basking temp is too high, should be more like 80. Get a 40 watt bulb or try a 60 to lower the temp. Does your humidity ever fluctuate? Also, glass is not the best habitat as you get poor ventilation. Its ok, but not as preferred as screen enclsoures. Make sure you know that your fern is not toxic. The pothos is ok and you need to research your other plants to make sure. Veilds eat plants!! Need to guload your feeder with fresh veggies an fruits. Very important!!!
 
Here's what I will suggest:
Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - veiled , male , guessing 2-3months. 3 weeks in my careIf he has faint striping he is likely more than 3 months
Handling - twice in 3 weeksThis is good. Chameleons aren't really handle-able pets.
Feeding - crickets about 6 a day. not gut loadingGutloading is very important. Whatever goes into your insects goes into your chameleon. There are two parts of a gutload, the wet part and the dry part. The wet gutload should make up a greater portion of the gutload than the dry. Good wet gutload items would be high calcium leafy greens like collard greens, escarole, dandelion, endive, and mustard greens. Other veggies and fruit can also make up a part of the wet gutload, including apples, raspberries, oranges, other berries, yams, sweet potato, carrots, and squash. You can choose to make your dry gutload or buy it. I prefer to buy cricket crack (sold by tiki tiki reptiles, a sponsor) It's very good for your reptiles.
Supplements - Sticky Tongue Farms Calcium/ Mineral supplement Miner-All. On all feedings What kind of minerall? indoor formula or outdoor formula? Either way, you will need both and a multi vitamin. A generally accepted supplementing schedule would be to dust with the outdoor formula (d3 free) on almost all feedings, but very lightly. The indoor fomula could be used 4-6 times a month (has D3 in it.) The multivitamin would be used once or twice a month.
Watering - Constant running waterfall. Misting at least 3 times a day. Dripper all day. Not seeing him drink and he hates to get wet. Waterfalls are very difficult to keep clean enough for the chameleon. Chameleons tend to poop in water+ if it drinks the poopy water = ewww. Not really worth it in my opinion. If he doesn't like to get wet then dont directly spray him at first. Use warm water and work your way towards him so he knows it's coming.
Fecal Description - Brown, white, small amount of orange/yellow
History - Since he started shedding last week, we’ve noticed the signs of dehydration (sunken, closed left eye, sleeping during the day)

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass. 18x18x24. it is very difficult to create enough of a temperature gradient in such a small glass cage, though it can be done. It is usually recommended that newer keepers use either partial or full screen cages.
Lighting - 75w daytime basking lamp and red infrared night lamp. UVB compact fluorescent (Retiglo 5.0). No need for the red lamp unless your house temp drops down to the 50s at night. if you need nighttime heating, a space heater or ceramic heat emitter would be better.
Temperature - Top under basking - 90 bottom front- 77How are you measuring the temps? Those stick on dial gauges are usually very inaccurate (which means you may be making it too hot for you chameleon) Digital thermometers are more accurate. I would lower the basking temp down to the mid 80s as well.
Humidity - hydrometer reads 90
Plants - Live plants only. Golden pothos. Can’t recall the names of the other two. One is a small fern
Placement - It’s in the living room, over 6 feet away from the nearest vent. Sits about 3 feet off the floor. it makes chameleons feel more secure when they have a perch/basking spot above your height. I would suggest moving it up so he can look down at you.
Location - Columbus, Ohio


Vet care is still required in addition to changes to your husbandry. An experienced reptile vet who is knowledgeable about chameleons would be best. If you can, bring in a fresh poop sample for a fecal. :) Good luck!
 
When a chameleon has calcium issues its important to bring it back in line ASAP because it affects not only bones, but muscles and other functions in the chameleon's system. A vet can do tests to determine the calcium levels and then give it calcium injections until the blood calcium levels are high enough to give it an injection of calcitonin to draw the calcium back into the bones. This is the quickest way to bring things back to normal. Once they are normal then you need to have proper husbandry to keep them there.

Here's some information that I often post for newbies...
Exposure to proper UVB, appropriate temperatures, supplements, a supply of well-fed/gutloaded insects, water and an appropriate cage set-up are all important for the well-being of your chameleon.

Appropriate cage temperatures aid in digestion and thus play a part indirectly in nutrient absorption.

Exposure to UVB from either direct sunlight or a proper UVB light allows the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system to make/keep the bones strong and be used in other systems in the chameleon as well. The UVB should not pass through glass or plastic no matter whether its from the sun or the UVB light.

Since many of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorus in them, its important to dust the insects before you feed them to the chameleon with a phos.-free calcium powder to help make up for it.

If you dust twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder it will ensure that your chameleon gets some D3 without overdoing it. It leaves the chameleon to produce the rest of what it needs through its exposure to the UVB light. (Some UVB lights have been known to cause health issues, so the most often recommended one is the long linear fluorescent Repti-sun 5.0 tube light.) D3 from supplements can build up in the system but D3 produced from exposure to UVB shouldn't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it.

Dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A will ensure that the chameleon gets some vitamins without the danger of overdosing the vitamin A. PrEformed sources of vitamin A can build up in the system and may prevent the D3 from doing its job and push the chameleon towards MBD. However, there is controversy as to whether all/any chameleons can convert the beta carotene and so some people give some prEformed vitamin A once in a while.

Gutloading/feeding the insects well helps to provide what the chameleon needs....so its important too.

Calcium, phos., D3 and vitamin A are important players in bone health and other systems in the chameleon (muscles, etc.) and they need to be in balance. When trying to balance them, you need to look at the supplements, what you feed the insects and what you feed the chameleon.

Here are some good sites for you to read...
http://chameleonnews.com/07FebWheelock.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200605020...Vitamin.A.html
http://web.archive.org/web/200604210...d.Calcium.html
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/
http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

Sorry this is to long...but hope it helps.
 
well i just got a digital thermometer so i can better monitor his temp. and i am going to call the vet tomorrow to see about getting him checked out.
 
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