Possibly sick chameleon

[Reptiles-39]

I have a veiled chameleon, I’ve had her for around 6th months I would say? She lives in a screen cage with moss vines and a moss carpet (it has substrate under the moss) she gets fed mostly mealworms everyday, sometimes I give her waxworms. And she gets crickets at least once a week, sometimes more. And she does get calcium dusted in her food about 1 or 2 times a week. Just recently I moved and she’s been acting a little different. Since I moved her colors have been mixed with dark green, light green and some yellow and a little black when I get closer to her cage . But before that she was normally light green and maybe a few other lighter colors. It looks like she may have shed stuck on her nose. Another thing that is weird, She normally goes right for her food when I put some in there but now she kind of just lets it sit there or waits awhile to go for it. She does have UVB lighting and heating. I have a fog system, which I mostly use at night and her tank gets sprayed down 2 times a day other than that. Any ideas on what could be wrong? I have 6 other reptiles, but yoshi is my first chameleon and I am very worried that something is wrong. I haven’t been able to hold her since the move which has been about a week and a half, she flares up and hisses at me Everytime I try to get her

 

[kinyonga]

Welcome to the forum and the world of chameleons!

Please post some photos of her and her cage.

She's showing her matures colors by the sound of it and may be producing eggs. Does she have a laybin in her cage?

Mealworms and waxworms are not a good diet for her. They are ok to feed her once in a while but it would be better to feed her properly fed/gutloaded crickets, roaches, silkworms, horn worms, black soldier fly larvae, etc.

For gutloading/feeding crickets, roaches, locusts, superworms I use greens such as dandelions, kale, endive, escarole, collards, and veggies such as carrots, sweet red peppers, sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, etc and a small amount of fruit such as alleles, pears, melon, berries.

Since most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos it's important to dust the insects lightly just before feeding them to the chameleon with a phos free calcium powder st almost every feeding. Twice a month I use a phos free calcium/D3 powder lightly to ensure that the chameleon gets some D3 without overdosing it...and leaving it to produce the rest of its D3 from its exposure to the UVB you provide. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to health issues but D3 produced from exposure to the UVB light won't as long as the chameleon can move in and out of it at will. I dust twice a month lightly with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. PrOformed sources won't build up in the system like prEformed sources will...so this leaves it up to you to decide if/when your chameleon needs some prEformed.

The most often recommended UVB light is the long linear reptisun 5.0 tube light.

What's the temperature in the basking area? A regular incandescent household bulb of a wattage that produces the proper basking temperature is also recommended. Not blue or red or coloured bulbs should be used and no lights should be on at night.

You could ad a dripper that drips at the rate of one or two drips per second too.

Hope this helps!

 

[Reptiles-39]

the first picture of her cage is before I moved, when I first put the moss in there and you can already see how much lighter she normally was (she was a little puffed out, she wasn’t a fan of the moss when I first put it in). I’ve always had a red light on her cage, is that a really bad thing? The bottom of her tank is around 75° and her basking spot, she normally sits on the vine right infront of the door, directly under the light is about 85°. I do not have a laybin in her cage, is it just sand? Or what else should I include? I appreciate your help a lot! Thank you! I’ll look in to getting her different food for everyday

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi. I have several suggestions for you based on your pics. Red lights aren’t any good for chameleon eyes. A regular incandescent light bulb is best choice for basking. Is that a fogger going? Foggers should only be run at night when it is cooler. Daytime humidity ideally is 40% or below. At night it can go much higher as it’s cooler. Heat+high humidity= upper respiratory infection. Unless you are bioactive, get rid of the bottom substrate. Is a bacterial breeding ground and serves no purpose other than aesthetics. Bare floor is best. Not sure about using any moss in a veileds cage. They tend to eat things. Personally I err on the side of caution and use no moss. You need to add much more to the inside...live plants, sticks/branches and vines. These are their little roads that they travel and enriches their lives a bit. Also, they need to walk on varying sizes to properly exercise their feet. Live plants will provide leaves to drink from, humidity pockets, shade, hiding spots and sometimes a snack. Pothos are my favorite to use. Bill Strand has created an incredible website that I suggest you check out. He also has podcasts that are just as awesome. https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/
Here is how I’ve set up one of my girls enclosures. I keep a lay bin in all the time. As my live plants have grown, I’ve since removed the plastic plants.

 

[kinyonga]

I love you cage @MissSkittles and your advice is great too!

 

[MissSkittles]

I love you cage @MissSkittles and your advice is great too!

Thank you! I consider that a great compliment!

 

[Reptiles-39]

Hi. I have several suggestions for you based on your pics. Red lights aren’t any good for chameleon eyes. A regular incandescent light bulb is best choice for basking. Is that a fogger going? Foggers should only be run at night when it is cooler. Daytime humidity ideally is 40% or below. At night it can go much higher as it’s cooler. Heat+high humidity= upper respiratory infection. Unless you are bioactive, get rid of the bottom substrate. Is a bacterial breeding ground and serves no purpose other than aesthetics. Bare floor is best. Not sure about using any moss in a veileds cage. They tend to eat things. Personally I err on the side of caution and use no moss. You need to add much more to the inside...live plants, sticks/branches and vines. These are their little roads that they travel and enriches their lives a bit. Also, they need to walk on varying sizes to properly exercise their feet. Live plants will provide leaves to drink from, humidity pockets, shade, hiding spots and sometimes a snack. Pothos are my favorite to use. Bill Strand has created an incredible website that I suggest you check out. He also has podcasts that are just as awesome. https://chameleonacademy.com/veiled-chameleon-care/
Here is how I’ve set up one of my girls enclosures. I keep a lay bin in all the time. As my live plants have grown, I’ve since removed the plastic plants.
View attachment 255971

Thank you for the advice! Before I got the Moss bedding, I had coco husk, would that be okay to use? As far as the lay bin, how would I go about setting that up? She does seem a tiny bit more active recently but her appetite hasn’t improved at all and that’s one of my biggest concerns, she always went right for her food. But since I moved it has been completely different. How do I know that she is just getting used to being in a different room, or if she is sick?