Sleeping alot, left eye shut, help!

[ChameleonNate]

I need some help on my cham. I noticed that about a week ago he has started sleeping a lot during the day. Not long ago he has started keeping his left eye closed almost at all times, even when feeding. He seems quite healthy and hydrated. Eats pretty well, maybe, just maybe, a little more lethargic than usual. I thought it could be because the UVB is too strong? I have some pics.

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon: About 7 month old male veiled chameleon.
Handling: I try to handle him. As he is sleeping alot he seems ok to be handled. If he's awake he will puff up and hiss but can be held.
Feeding: Eats well, up to 8 small dubia roaches a day around 3 o'clock. I have a colony of roaches that are fed a very good high quality cat food, oats, and occasionally lettuce.
Supplements: I use Flukers calcium with d3 almost every feeding, exo terra multi vitamins about twice a month.
Watering: He has a monsoon mister going off for 30 seconds every hour. I try to mist with a spray bottle once in the morning and afternoon. His poo looks good, so I assume he's drinking. I only saw him drink once.
Fecal Description: Normal looking black with a normal looking white urate. Never been tested for parasites.
History: Only had him for about 2 months, don't really know his history before then.

Cage info:

Cage type: Screen Reptibreeze 48x24x24 inch. 3 sides are covered with plastic wrap to keep humidity in.
Lighting: One 10.0 tube zoomed UVB light. One exo terra 75 watt daylight basking spot bulb. Lights turn on at 7 am and turn off at 8:30 pm.
Temperature: Basking spot goes up to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The rest of the cage stays around 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I use two thermometers and a humidity gauge. Night time temps can go to 65 degrees Fahrenheit at winter. Now, it's about 67 degrees.
Humidity: Stays around 50 percent but can go down to 30. When I mist with a spray bottle it can go up to 70 percent for about an hour. Again, I use a humidity guage.
Plants: I have some fake plastic vines and three live plants, an umbrella plant, pothos, and a Venus fly trap (I read on this forum fly traps are ok).
Placement: Low traffic right now as I'm in school during the day. It is located in my room about 2 and a half feet from my window, 3 feet off the ground. Location: I'm located in Eastern Washington. Hot summers, cold winters.

 

[ChameleonNate]

More pictures

 

[ChameleonNate]

More pictures.

 

[Kristen99]

Stop giving him d3 every feeding.... I would stop giving him d3 for a few weeks.. hopefully he is able to recover from this..
Supplements should be giving as so for a Vailed Chameleon...
calcium WITHOUT d3 around every feeding calcium with d3 once every two weeks
Vitamins once every two weeks
Also you should be feeding in the morning 3pm doesn't give him much time to bask and digest his food properly. If you go to school I would feed him before.
One more thing set your missing sessions for around 2 mins at a minimum for 4 times a day 30 seconds isn't nearly enough time for him to be stimulated into drinking you want to have periods where the enclosure has time to dry out not constantly moist.
Add some more foliage in there he has nowhere to hide you want to focus the foliage to the top of the enclosure where he will be spending the majority of his time thing of trees try to recreate his natural environment.


Please do some more research on your chameleon and the proper care for him.

 

[ChameleonNate]

Thank you, I'll keep you updated!

 

[Kristen99]

I hope he recovers. Good luck.

 

[Kristen99]

One more thing I would take out the Venus fly trap I'm sure some have said it is ok to have it in there but why have it in there is the question it would compete with your Chameleon for food it is a carnivorous plant and it is toxic.. Vailed chameleons are known for eating plants munching on fake and real plants so why take that risk...

 

[ChameleonNate]

My cham doesn't seem interested in plants at all. But I'll take your advice, thanks!

 

[ChameleonNate]

I've been thinking, since he sleeps a lot, he won't wake up in the morning untill like 10 am. I have to leave by 8 am during school days. How should I feed him? If I wake him and feed him won't he be cold and lethargic? What do you think?

 

[Syreptyon]

I have one more comment. The way you are gutloading your roaches is a one way ticket to trouble! Never ever use cat food or oats in a gutload. And lettuce carries next to no nutritional value whatsoever. You're basically giving him nothing useful and only stuff that can lead to gout and other major health concerns. Judging by how small his casque is, I think he's likely nutrient deficient. You should change your gutload immediately to include a combo of any of the following: collard greens, dandelions greens, alfalfa, mustard greens, turnip greens, sweet potato, escarole, papaya, carrots, bee pollen, etc. You can look up what other ingredients are acceptable, too.

From the Food & Nutrition section in the blog... "Avoid these gutloading ingredients because they are low in calcium, high in phosphorus, goitrogens or oxalates: potatoes, cabbage, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, corn, grains, beans, oats, bread, cereal, meat, eggs, dog food, cat food, fish food, canned or dead insects, vertebrates."

 

[ChameleonNate]

I have one more comment. The way you are gutloading your roaches is a one way ticket to trouble! Never ever use cat food or oats in a gutload. And lettuce carries next to no nutritional value whatsoever. You're basically giving him nothing useful and only stuff that can lead to gout and other major health concerns. Judging by how small his casque is, I think he's likely nutrient deficient. You should change your gutload immediately to include a combo of any of the following: collard greens, dandelions greens, alfalfa, mustard greens, turnip greens, sweet potato, escarole, papaya, carrots, bee pollen, etc. You can look up what other ingredients are acceptable, too.

From the Food & Nutrition section in the blog... "Avoid these gutloading ingredients because they are low in calcium, high in phosphorus, goitrogens or oxalates: potatoes, cabbage, iceberg lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, corn, grains, beans, oats, bread, cereal, meat, eggs, dog food, cat food, fish food, canned or dead insects, vertebrates."

Is Fluckers gut loading food good? Do you know any good brands? Thanks!

 

[Syreptyon]

No problemo! And unfortunately nope, fluker's is really no good. You should avoid the commercially available stuff. It is made with the intent to keep insects alive, not full of good nutrients. There is no better substitute than real produce

 

[ChameleonNate]

Ok, I'm looking at gut load recipes on this forum right now, thanks!

 

[ChameleonNate]

No problemo! And unfortunately nope, fluker's is really no good. You should avoid the commercially available stuff. It is made with the intent to keep insects alive, not full of good nutrients. There is no better substitute than real produce

Ok, today I gave them apples and carrots, I'm gonna try to get some sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and dandelion leaves for some more nutrition. Shouldn't be long g untill I get a good gut load recipe for them!

 

[ChameleonNate]

Stop giving him d3 every feeding.... I would stop giving him d3 for a few weeks.. hopefully he is able to recover from this..
Supplements should be giving as so for a Vailed Chameleon...
calcium WITHOUT d3 around every feeding calcium with d3 once every two weeks
Vitamins once every two weeks
Also you should be feeding in the morning 3pm doesn't give him much time to bask and digest his food properly. If you go to school I would feed him before.
One more thing set your missing sessions for around 2 mins at a minimum for 4 times a day 30 seconds isn't nearly enough time for him to be stimulated into drinking you want to have periods where the enclosure has time to dry out not constantly moist.
Add some more foliage in there he has nowhere to hide you want to focus the foliage to the top of the enclosure where he will be spending the majority of his time thing of trees try to recreate his natural environment.


Please do some more research on your chameleon and the proper care for him.

I added some more plants and I am thinking of adding a couple more branches to add another vine. Does it look a little better?

 

[jamest0o0]

One more thing I would take out the Venus fly trap I'm sure some have said it is ok to have it in there but why have it in there is the question it would compete with your Chameleon for food it is a carnivorous plant and it is toxic.. Vailed chameleons are known for eating plants munching on fake and real plants so why take that risk...

A little off topic here, but I had to point out... this is not true. Venus fly traps are not toxic and wouldn't compete for food in any threatening way. That said, the venus fly trap would likely not survive long in these conditions. They are bog plants that require very strong light and must remain wet at all times, while sitting in a tray of distilled/ro water(like they would be in a bog). They also need a chilly winter dormancy where they die back and don't grow for a few months. The cham would also kill them by closing their traps(which is bad for them if they're not feeding).

 

[jamest0o0]

Would add more horizontal branches up and down the cage

Try to feed more greens like watercress for gutload. Check out the lists on this site, variety is the most important thing. I wouldn't use oats, and as mentioned, definitely not cat/dog food or any animal protein. Roaches can store uric acid apparently and can pass on to your chameleon even if you stop feeding the cat food. I wouldn't feed anymore of those roaches and wait until you get nymphs from the colony and separate them. I wouldn't want to risk gout.

 

[VerucaSalt]

You need calcium.WITHOUT D3 daily. D3 can harm in overabundance! Calcium WITHOUT daily, d3 maybe every 3 weeks now that it's been way overdone. Then multivitamin every 2 weeks.

No cat food filler with roaches!!!!! Review husbandry feeders, there's little to no nutrients for them in just roaches with cat food!!!!!

Set up a drip system for drinking....they will do well getting a 15-20 min stimulation to drink a couple times a day--there are several cheap options to build one as well as the drip set ups you.can get for cheap that are a jug and hang or sit outside the cage.

Get it into the vet asap. They may give you eye drops and assess what we can't physically see. They can live a long healthy life if you do some research, you're trying to do the right steps just some tweaking!!

 

[VerucaSalt]

For feeding him crickets and a variety of bugs that'll perk him up and give him a better diet and spark him healing, I leave crickets and have a small carrot tied to the cage for the crickets to leave Gus alone (not bite him) since I can't stay to watch him eat.

 

[ChameleonNate]

What I got done so far:

• Bought calcium without d3
• Added more foliage and more coming
• Increased automatic mister spray time (2 min)
• Changed dubia Roach diet (apples, carrots, ground flax seed, ground sunflower seeds, ground almonds, ground sesame seeds).

Anything else to add please? Thanks for all the advice. I don't really know if he's that much better but I'll wait!