Pale and Balled up?

[Insanityallthetime]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Ambilobe Panther Chameleon, Male, named Ranger, Around 5 Months old, Just received him Tuesday from Kammerflauge Kreations.
Handling - I don't handle him since he is a new arrival was wanting to wait till he settles in before I begin to handle him.
Feeding - I am feeding him at 7:00am 2-4 3/8 inch to 1/4 inch crickets and when I get home around 3:30 I try to also feed him 2-4 crickets of the same size.
I gut load the crickets with apples and oranges, I switch then out every 2-3 days
Supplements - I have Rep-Cal with VIT.D3 and Herptivite every other day, for now started on Tuesday and have dusted his crickets for today.
Watering - I have a dropper that I also put in 2-3 drops of Reptisafe, I mist his cage every 3-4 hours with lukewarm water.
I have seen him drink.
Fecal Description - I haven't seen any, also a worry of mine.
History - nothing that I know of.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Aluminum screen cage, 3ft high about 1 foot of depth and 2ft long.

Lighting - I have the reptisun 5.0 bulb as well as a 75 watt basking bulb by Exo-Terra. I have a 75 watt black light bulb for night time by Zilla
Lighting time is from 7am - 8pm for reptisun and basking light
8:30 pm - 6:30 am for the night time bulb
Temperature - It's about 70-85. 85 is the highest temperature for basking.

Humidity - on average it is about 70-80 but I let it dry out to about 40 or 50 before I mist again with lukewarm water for about a solid 30-45 seconds.

Plants - I have live plants, a golden pothos plant and a Dracaena plant that have been washed with lukewarm water before I placed it in his cage.
Placement - He is located on a counter in the laundry room away from any fans and such and the washer and dryer are a good 10 feet away and in a separate part of the room so I'm thinking it isn't a problem. The counter is about 3 feet high

Location - Georgia, USA

Current Problem - around 4:30 when I got home to find him for feeding I couldn't find him, I noticed that he was pretty pale and balled up in this secluded spot, eyes open and just looking around. He also has some tags of shedding on his crown since Tuesday so maybe this is time for shedding. Is this natural behavior? Or something that I should worry about.

 

[carol5208]

Ok so when you found him he had his eyes open...I thought he was sleeping in the other thread you started or he had his eyes closed. So that is good. Sometimes they will go into sleeping position a few hours before it is actually bed time. There is no reason for a black light at night. It serves no purpose and it is possible that it could disrupt his sleep. I would remove that. Get a calcium without d3 and use that daily. The Repcal one you have contains high concentration of d3 and you do not want to use that that often. Most of us go twice a month with our d3 supplements and also twice monthly on the herptivite is plenty. Also, would gutload your feeders better and if he is eating all the crickets, then offer more. Most likely because you just got him a few days ago he is adjusting to his new home so don't panic yet!!!

 

[Hakai]

When chameleons shed they can experience a lot of discomfort. That may be why he is acting this way. However (keep in mind that I am by no means an expert) this could potentially be a sign of something more serious. I think you could be feeding him more. At his age he should be eating around 10-12 small crickets, but this really depends on how big he is. I do see some problems with your supplementation, but nothing that I would think can cause any sudden changes in behavior. The subject of supplementation is often debated though so it's hard to say for sure. I guess I would try to get more food into him so you can get a stool sample and then take him in to the vet for a fecal and a checkup. When your unsure a vet visit is always a good idea, especially if you haven't been yet. But I would wait for the voice of a more experienced member before taking any further action. Good luck! His colors look awesome for 5 months btw.

Edit: everything carol said about supplementation is what I had in mind. I still think a vet visit is a good idea if you haven't gone yet, just to establish yourself with them and have a fecal done just in case. Don't let anything I said scare you, he's probably fine, it's just these guys are such fragile little creatures that you wanna take as many precautionary measures as possible to ensure a long, happy and healthy life.

 

[Insanityallthetime]

Thank you guys so much for giving me all this information, I plan on getting him situated on a better supplement plan, as well as a different variety of food to gutload the crickets with.
The night lamp will be removed, and I will try to monitor him tomorrow for any stool samples. I have been trying to get him situated on a better plan for feeding, I'm always there when eats about 2-3 crickets in he morning, and I leave about 1-2 crickets for him to hunt while I'm away, I'm just not always sure he eats them when I get back.
I also plan on trying to teach him to cup feed so I'm not sure how that is going to go.

Plan on going tomorrow to get just plain calcium supplements for him and try to schedule an introductory visit to the vet for him.

Ranger and I thank you in advance.

 

[carol5208]

It never hurts to get a fecal done, but just coming from the Kammer's, I would not worry about parasites so maybe hold off on that. Most likely your little guy is just getting settled in, and it may take weeks. Glad you are removing the black light.