Please help! Veiled Chameleon has refused food and always in the dark.

[Beman]

May I see the entire cage set up as well? We also need to know what kind of UVB fixture and bulb strength you bought. This would be important because he is able to get very close to it.

How are you measuring your temps... That is a pretty extreme temp difference for daytime 85 at the top and 60 at the bottom. Unless you keep your house that cold.

You have a male and he is on the thin side. I would not reduce feeder intake yet. Especially since he is overdosed and not eating.

How long has he actually been off food?

 

[Alex7383]

I use a presto thermometer to measure the temps

 

[Alex7383]

This is the thermoter

 

[Beman]

Ok so UVB needs to be pulled to the middle of the cage. The heat fixture should not hang over your misting lines... You are going to heat the tubes and the water in the line. Looks like you are running to bulbs in the heat fixture. What are the wattage's on those bulbs?

The presto thing is not what you want for a cham cage. It would only detect temp/humidity on the floor of the cage which would not be accurate because it would be getting wet.

Can you please tell me what type of fixture. I am concerned you may be running a T8 and not a T5HO due to the bulb color and would like to double check this for you.

You said he got sick before? What was the diagnosis and what was the medication? I would highly recommend a fecal sample being tested to rule out a parasite issue. Just due to how thin he is and him being off food.

 

[Alex7383]

Here are some more pics

 

[Alex7383]

Ok so UVB needs to be pulled to the middle of the cage. The heat fixture should not hang over your misting lines... You are going to heat the tubes and the water in the line. Looks like you are running to bulbs in the heat fixture. What are the wattage's on those bulbs?

The presto thing is not what you want for a cham cage. It would only detect temp/humidity on the floor of the cage which would not be accurate because it would be getting wet.

Can you please tell me what type of fixture. I am concerned you may be running a T8 and not a T5HO due to the bulb color and would like to double check this for you.

You said he got sick before? What was the diagnosis and what was the medication? I would highly recommend a fecal sample being tested to rule out a parasite issue. Just due to how thin he is and him being off food.

The watts are 100

 

[Alex7383]

The watts are 100

We have a T5 in the back

 

[Beman]

The watts are 100

So both bulbs are 100 watt?

 

[Beman]

We have a T5 in the back

Ok so you want to pull this forward to the middle of the cage. On the end of the bulb if it is a reptisun bulb it will say 5.0 or 10.0 or arcadia will have different bulb strengths. Can you take a picture of what is printed on that bulb so I can see exactly what it is? Bulb strength then tells us what your total distance to basking branch should be to ensure the cham is not in over exposure levels.

 

[Alex7383]

So both bulbs are 100 watt?

I believe so

 

[Alex7383]

He's started to go up more, just fed him a hornworm and some crickets. I agree with the bigger enclosure so I'll try to find something bigger for him.

 

[Beman]

I believe so

So this would produce temps that would be far too extreme. You want temps that are 80 at the branch because where they rise up higher is hotter. You can do this with. 60-75watt regular bulb.

 

[Beman]

Can you post more pics of the cham from multiple angles please. I thought male but body looks more like a female. Tarsal spurs are very small which can sometimes happen with females

 

[elizaann2]

Can you post more pics of the cham from multiple angles please. I thought male but body looks more like a female. Tarsal spurs are very small which can sometimes happen with females

Interesting Beman and I felt I was seeing female patterns vs male patterns.

 

[Alex7383]

I'll post pictures tomorrow because he/she is sleeping and I don't feel like waking them up or bothering them.

 

[elizaann2]

Totally understandable

 

[Alex7383]

Talk to you guys tomorrow, I suppose.

 

[MissSkittles]

Female gets my vote. Although she has a large casque, she lacks male patterns and significantly sized tarsal spurs. I suppose it’s possible that she has a genetic or hormone irregularity. Regardless, she is showing big girl ‘colors’ so I want you to read this and then set up a lay bin which you want to be a permanent part of her enclosure. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/veiled-chameleon-laying-101.2488/

 

[Gloriawood]

I was gonna say female too. I wanted to say something earlier, but my track record with sexing is not great

 

[elizaann2]

I was gonna say female too. I wanted to say something earlier, but my track record with sexing is not great

Mine isn’t either. It’s 50/50 really