jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
Female veiled, unknown age, 33grams, 3.75 inches long. First weight 26g. Has not gained for four days after gaining a gram a day over the previous week.
Bought November 14 from Petsmart.
Housed in a glass terrarium, 16" x 16" x 24"h, screen top, one side has vertical screen 4"w x 16"h. Cage furnished with bonsai ficus (live), live bamboo and bendy fake vines and some wooden branches. No substrate, but I did have some shredded coconut husk in for a few days until I learned it was not a good idea. (Yes, I will be getting a bigger screened cage.)
She is fed mostly crickets, which have access to ******s Orange and dark leafy greens. She has been given a few mealworms. Up until this past weekend, she ate only small crickets, but I was not able to find any small ones in the local stores so gave her medium crickets which she devoured. Up until yesterday, her appetite was excellent except for the first few days after I bought her. I dust with plain calcium, no phosporus, no Vitamin D3.
At first, I couldn't find any bowel movements, then she had a couple of big ones over the weekend, missed a day and had a bowel movement yesterday. Urates are white. I do not believe she ate yesterday or today--I just found one of the crickets from yesterday sitting on her head.
I spray her cage (and her which she generally hates) several times a day. Humidity rates fluctuate based on when I sprayed the cage. I leave lots of droplets on the glass and the leaves.
Temps are good I think. I just used an infrared temp gun and her skin temp was 86F when she was basking under a light. The closest she can get to any light is about 3" unless she were to hang upside down off the screen. I use four lights during the day, all sitting on but not touching the top screen. At night, all heat and lights are off. Temps drop to mid to low 60s.
Reptisun 5.0 UVB (Zoo Med)
Daylight Blue 60w (Zoo Med)
50w and 75w Infrared Spot Bulbs (All Living Things)
My concerns are that she seems a bit off. She isn't eating. She is the same morning weight as she was Saturday after gaining a gram a day for a week. I worry that she might be losing a bit of weight. It has dropped from an all-time high of 36g Sunday, which might have been a false high since she had gorged on crickets the day before but hadn't had the huge bowel movement she did after she was weighed.
Here's what I did differently: On Sunday I had her outside in a small screen cage to give her natural sun. Outside temps were about 80. She was NOT happy in that cage. She had a strawberry plant to hide in and plants around her so she wasn't exposed. After about an hour, I put her on a hibiscus beside her cage, which she really likes and opened the window so she could get some direct sun.
So, bottom line, I suspect I stressed her a lot on Sunday.
Is what I am seeing indicative of her being stressed or am I dealing with some other health issue?
I took a few pictures of her this morning but I can't seem to load them onto the web site. Once I find out how to put them on, I'll post them.
Thanks for any advice or guidance.
Bought November 14 from Petsmart.
Housed in a glass terrarium, 16" x 16" x 24"h, screen top, one side has vertical screen 4"w x 16"h. Cage furnished with bonsai ficus (live), live bamboo and bendy fake vines and some wooden branches. No substrate, but I did have some shredded coconut husk in for a few days until I learned it was not a good idea. (Yes, I will be getting a bigger screened cage.)
She is fed mostly crickets, which have access to ******s Orange and dark leafy greens. She has been given a few mealworms. Up until this past weekend, she ate only small crickets, but I was not able to find any small ones in the local stores so gave her medium crickets which she devoured. Up until yesterday, her appetite was excellent except for the first few days after I bought her. I dust with plain calcium, no phosporus, no Vitamin D3.
At first, I couldn't find any bowel movements, then she had a couple of big ones over the weekend, missed a day and had a bowel movement yesterday. Urates are white. I do not believe she ate yesterday or today--I just found one of the crickets from yesterday sitting on her head.
I spray her cage (and her which she generally hates) several times a day. Humidity rates fluctuate based on when I sprayed the cage. I leave lots of droplets on the glass and the leaves.
Temps are good I think. I just used an infrared temp gun and her skin temp was 86F when she was basking under a light. The closest she can get to any light is about 3" unless she were to hang upside down off the screen. I use four lights during the day, all sitting on but not touching the top screen. At night, all heat and lights are off. Temps drop to mid to low 60s.
Reptisun 5.0 UVB (Zoo Med)
Daylight Blue 60w (Zoo Med)
50w and 75w Infrared Spot Bulbs (All Living Things)
My concerns are that she seems a bit off. She isn't eating. She is the same morning weight as she was Saturday after gaining a gram a day for a week. I worry that she might be losing a bit of weight. It has dropped from an all-time high of 36g Sunday, which might have been a false high since she had gorged on crickets the day before but hadn't had the huge bowel movement she did after she was weighed.
Here's what I did differently: On Sunday I had her outside in a small screen cage to give her natural sun. Outside temps were about 80. She was NOT happy in that cage. She had a strawberry plant to hide in and plants around her so she wasn't exposed. After about an hour, I put her on a hibiscus beside her cage, which she really likes and opened the window so she could get some direct sun.
So, bottom line, I suspect I stressed her a lot on Sunday.
Is what I am seeing indicative of her being stressed or am I dealing with some other health issue?
I took a few pictures of her this morning but I can't seem to load them onto the web site. Once I find out how to put them on, I'll post them.
Thanks for any advice or guidance.
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