Sleeping during the day?

[cstocke]

My new baby Veiled Cham sleeps during the day while his lights are on. I hear that this is not a normal behavior. I'm not sure of his exact age but I can say he is very very young. I'm not sure if he is fully sleeping or just closing his eyes to take in the warmth. We were told when we got him that he wasn't doing so well and that he was the smallest and weakest of the bunch. We took him on anyway and seems to be eating and drinking just fine. At night, he does go to sleep and sleeps all night like normal. Any suggestions on why he does this or what could be the problem?

 

[kinyonga]

Please post some photos. Do you have a light on at night? What's the basking temperature? Rest of the cage?

 

[cstocke]

I turn his lights on at 7 am and they get turned off at 7 pm daily. He is drinking but lately we are lucky if he only eats a cricket or two a day. His enclosure is tiny so and he has a real plant in there with him.
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Henry

• cstocke
• Aug 1, 2017

Baby Veiled Cham

 

[Graves923]

He does look thin and should be eating way more crickets. How big are the crickets you are feeding? Its possible there might be something else going on that a vet might be able to diagnose

 

[cstocke]

He does look thin and should be eating way more crickets. How big are the crickets you are feeding? Its possible there might be something else going on that a vet might be able to diagnose

Right now we are feeding him small crickets and trying to get him to eat micro dubia roaches. We were told when we got him that he wasn't doing so well but we took a chance anyway. They said it was probably because there were so many babies in one cage. I'm not sure of his age but I know he is less than 3 weeks old. We have noticed over the past few days that his back legs seemed to have gotten a bit bigger since we got him but thats it. We really thought he was going to get better with some one on one love and care but so far he hasn't gotten much better.

 

[kinyonga]

. Do you have a light on at night? What's the basking temperature? Rest of the cage?

 

[cstocke]

. Do you have a light on at night? What's the basking temperature? Rest of the cage?

No, All the lights get turned off. Its completely dark. His enclosure is small and just right for his size. The temp is about 85F with a basking temp around 90F

 

[kinyonga]

Imho you need to lower the basking temperature. It's too warm for a chameleon that small.I can't say that's why it's sleeping during the day but it's still something that is needed.
I would get a taller bigger cage too.

What size are the crickets? Do they fit comfortably in it's mouth?

 

[cstocke]

Imho you need to lower the basking temperature. It's too warm for a chameleon that small.I can't say that's why it's sleeping during the day but it's still something that is needed.
I would get a taller bigger cage too.

What size are the crickets? Do they fit comfortably in it's mouth?

The crickets are tiny. They fit perfectly in his mouth and he is able to swallow with ease. I have been taking the black tube from the cricket keeper filled with crickets and putting it up to him and so far he's taken 4 from me today. I know thats not a lot but its better then him eating nothing. Ive also tried micro dubia roaches but so far he hasn't tried them. I think he hurt his tongue as well. yesterday he went for a cricket but he missed and hit the enclosure and went flying into the side. He was fine but he wont shoot his tongue out farther than an inch now.

 

[kinyonga]

You may have to put the crickets close enough that it doesn't have to shoot the tongue for a couple of days to let it recover.
Is it drinking well? What supplements are you using specifically and how often for each? Feeding/gutloading the insects with?

 

[cstocke]

He ate a total of 5 right from the tube. Im going to keep up with this method because he's eaten more today than any other day which makes me happy. We dust the rickets with Repti Calcium w/out D3 daily. All of the crickets are gut-loaded with Nature Zone Total Bites for crickets and feeder insects. (green cubes) We put in fresh cubes daily as well.

 

[Replife]

Sounds to me like you have really started turning things around for the little fella. I don't see anything that seems off,based off what u have posted this far nor can I think of anything more u could do. I think the tiny cage for tiny Cham was a good call it allows you to easily monitor progress without having to get all up in his business..best of luck I'm really praying to see a happy ending for this thread