Question on Male Chameleon Health

[Daesie11]

He’s only been like this for a few days. He’s still just a baby. When I got them they told me that they were only a month or two. I’ve had them for now going on 2 1/2 months.. I check on them everyday right along with my bearded dragon. Both my female Cham and female bearded dragon are fine. But I was confused on why he’s the only one seeming sick. Their aquarium is a 100 gallon which was the biggest Pet Smart had when I purchased it.

You keep saying your female is fine, yet in the picture you showed us it seems like her eyes are closed. That's the #1 sign that something is wrong.
Chameleons are not like humans, they dont show signs of being sick until they are near death. The fact that your boy has been showing these signs only for a few days means nothing except that he needs a vet immediately. If you couldnt afford a vet bill for one animal, you surely should not have gotten 3.
I understand that you are doing everything the store told you to do, but everything they told you was wrong. A quick check online would have shown you that.
Just because you check on them every day doesnt really mean anything.

 

[Rst_Cham]

You keep saying your female is fine, yet in the picture you showed us it seems like her eyes are closed. That's the #1 sign that something is wrong.
Chameleons are not like humans, they dont show signs of being sick until they are near death. The fact that your boy has been showing these signs only for a few days means nothing except that he needs a vet immediately. If you couldnt afford a vet bill for one animal, you surely should not have gotten 3.
I understand that you are doing everything the store told you to do, but everything they told you was wrong. A quick check online would have shown you that.
Just because you check on them every day doesnt really mean anything.

Agree, your female looks incredibly stressed in the picture. I'm really worried for your chameleons and hope you understand that the pet store gave you absolutely terrible advice, they are notorious as a company for misleading people. Please take your male to a vet before its too late.

 

[Rlc1994]

Okay your going to need to get ready to spend some money. Your other chameleon might look fine at the moment but it will soon face the same fate as your male if you do not change everything in your setup.

First off chameleons should not be in fish aquariums they need some ventilation which a fish tank does not provide. They need wide and high screened or partially screened cages. The mainstream adult size chameleon cage is a 24x24x48 sized screened or partially screened cage.

https://www.diycages.com/

https://dragonstrand.com/




Also they both need separate cages. Do not house chameleons together. They are very territorial and will cause stress to one another.

Your supplement schedule needs to be Calcium WITHOUT D3 everyday. Calcuim WITH D3 every 2 weeks. A multivitamin every 2 weeks also. Alternating between these two.
https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Calcium-Without-Vitamin/dp/B005FTMGYO

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Calcium-Vitamin-Reptile/dp/B005FTMHFC

https://www.amazon.com/Repashy-Calcium-Plus-All-Sizes-x/dp/B00K6ZDF4W


They need a variety of insects such as crickets,roaches of all types,silkworms,black soldier fly larvae, blue bottle flies, superworms,hornworms, mantids,stick bugs etc etc. These need to be properly gutloaded so the nutrients can be passed on to your chameleon.


Lighting you need a T5HO fixture with a 6% or 12% Arcadia linear tube bulb. The percentages to get depend on the size of your fixture. This lighting is absolutely essential to the health of your chameleon! You will also need a basking bulb fixture too.
https://www.amazon.com/Odyssea-Timer-Aquarium-Marine-Cichlid/dp/B016VAZ31S

https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/arcadia-6-uvb-t5-reptile-bulb.html

https://www.amazon.com/Flukers-Repta-Clamp-8-5-Inch-Ceramic-Dimmable/dp/B003H200QC


Veiled chameleons need a humidity range of 30-50% humidity during the day with 80-100% humidity at night. I highly advise in getting a mistking system. Their basking temperatures need to be around 87-90 degrees Fahrenheit with an ambient of around 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit. Night time it can drop down into 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit. These need to be checked with digital gauges for best accuracy.
https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-0032...ocphy=9005964&hvtargid=pla-351043362615&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000MD3MFA/ref=psdcmw_2975519011_t2_B004PBB1XU

https://www.joshsfrogs.com/mistking-starter-misting-system.html



You should really think about adding a lot more vines and live plants in your enclosures when you upgrade the cages they need tons of hiding spaces and climbing surfaces. Your chameleon cage interior should resemble something like this. Lots of places to hide and climb



You really need to make these changes if you want your chameleons to live a healthy happy life. I know pet stores do not give good information most of the time but you really should of researched a lot before buying this animal. I know this is a lot of information to take in but hopefully you go through it and make the changes necessary!

 

[Carlton]

OMG!!!! I haven't seen a cham this bad for a long long time. Just have no words except unprintable ones. I'm sorry to be blunt OP but your male is probably dying. The pet shop that sold you those garbage supplies and garbage care information should be sued for animal cruelty/neglect. This is inexcusable. Just can't believe this sort of ignorance still exists despite good sources of care information like this one and that newbies don't even look beyond what some shop employee tells them when they buy a new pet. Gotta sign off until I calm down.

 

[Zevil]

Please get a leopard gecko instead.

 

[MrsM]

I have both male and female chameleons. My female seems perfectly fine but my male I’m not to sure about. He is not eating, not drinking, very skinny in my opinion, not the typical green, moves very slow, eyes barely open, tumbles when he walks, and has these weird black lines on his skin. I looked up possible reasons but got nothing. Tried something new in their aquarium but scared for my little man. What could possibly be wrong with him. I don’t see signs of MBD but I’m new to this so I don’t know for sure.

Hey there.
He is emaciated and he most likely has parasites or something going on internally that a vet can diagnose. He needs a vet, an experienced owner, a corrected setup.
I know you are new to this. When I was new I had a well meaning person give me a chameleon that looked that way. Even if your setup is perfect it is a matter of days.
You need to follow all the advice on here to change your setup and it may save your other, it may even give this guy an extra week... But chameleons they don’t look that sick like yours does until they are dying.
Keep him comfortable. He needs to eat and drink from a syringe until you reach the vet (carnivore care/ water). He needs to be the correct temperature, and won’t move to it on his own so set up a hospital box and use a thermometer.
I’d recommend upgrading your setup but tbh your chameleon may not survive this, and your other pet is most likely already really sick.
The 19 dollar vet visit was a really good deal. This is gonna sound mean but the only resolution cheaper is gas money to a new owner or a shovel. I feel sad for your chameleons but it’s the harsh truth.
If you upgrade everything and take your other pets for parasite and health checkups or find a rescue that is how you move forward.

 

[Graves923]

Question.... Would you put a fish in a bird cage? Why would you put an arboreal reptile in a fish tank that is barely two feet tall?

Your cham is starving... They wont eat dead/freeze dried food. If they do, the food is so devoid of any beneficial nutrients that the cham might as well eat sand.

The male pictures in the first post is too far gone. You need to get a screen cage, live food, supplements, and proper lighting in order to save the other chameleon.

 

[MissSkittles]

This has to be the saddest post I’ve seen here so far.

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

This has to be the saddest post I’ve seen here so far.

I've seen worse. I also decided not to help OP after he/she became defensive towards others about their setup and defending it. You can't fix stupid unfortunately.

 

[Highway61]

In the OP's defense, he was bamboozled by <insert big box pet chain here> who saw him coming. They even sold him the fish tank (yes, fish tank!) to house the two chams they sold him and advised keeping them both in it!

I mean how many times a week do we see a newbie here, desperate to save their dying cham because the pet store (over)sold them all the wrong accessories complete with erronious advice? I think the consenus for them is, at least after all the impluse purchasing is done, "the pet store advice can't be *this* wrong". It doesn't absolve the OP of not doing their homework before impulse buying the livestock but by this time, they've already been swindled of most of their funds to remediate the error of their ways.