Veiled Chameleon cowering on the ground

C

Cykon

New Member
Last week i took in a 3 year old veiled chameleon. He's been eating good, no signs of dehydration either despite rarely seeing him drink.

Now he is cowering on the ground, showed signs of troubles breathing and his eyes are swolen similar to a vitamin overdose.

I've been feeding him grashoppers, 3 to 4 every day. The last 3 days i started dusting them with powder and stopped today after noticing his eyes.
 

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I'm nowhere near as experienced as others here on the forums so take this with a grain of salt, but he looks extremely obese to me... Do you know/remember if the pouches under his eyes were there when you got him, or if they've only developed recently?

Normally we would be feeding adult veileds only about 3-4 times a week, so you may want to cut back on feedings. I'll let more experienced members advise on that and everything else, however.
 
He did not have those pouches under his eyes when i got him. He's also been underweight when i got him, for why i fed him daily
 
Hi and welcome. I’m afraid when it comes to those eyes, you’ll need a vet. Those big puffs could be something trapped in his eyes, infection of not just eyes, but sinuses or I don’t even know as I’m not a vet…just know that eye problems are complicated and we can’t fix them. We can however help you to ensure all of your husbandry is as perfect as possible. With there being so much misinformation out there, it’s too easy to have something wrong. I do agree that your guy is quite obese, which in itself can cause some serious health issues. Adding a video to show what we mean about his size. If you need help finding a good vet with chameleon experience, just ask.
 
Cykon said:
Last week i took in a 3 year old veiled chameleon. He's been eating good, no signs of dehydration either despite rarely seeing him drink.

Now he is cowering on the ground, showed signs of troubles breathing and his eyes are swolen similar to a vitamin overdose.

I've been feeding him grashoppers, 3 to 4 every day. The last 3 days i started dusting them with powder and stopped today after noticing his eyes.
Click to expand...
Update!
By now he's crawling arounf again and isnt hiding on the ground anymore.

My guess is, he had troubles with a big grashopper this morning that's legs gave trouble swallowing, so i'll stay away from big grashoppers from now on.


Since reptile vet's are rarer than gold these days and getting an appointment for a check up is almost impossible my poor Pascal must wait until at least the end of next week :(
 
This boy is extremely obese and needs to be put on a diet. You can see their eyes do this as well when they are holding this much fat in the casque and cheeks. You would feed him no more then 2 times a week and only small-medium at most sized grasshoppers and only 2-3 depending on their size. Risks with this type of obesity is organ failure along with things like gout.
 
Beman said:
This boy is extremely obese and needs to be put on a diet. You can see their eyes do this as well when they are holding this much fat in the casque and cheeks. You would feed him no more then 2 times a week and only small-medium at most sized grasshoppers and only 2-3 depending on their size. Risks with this type of obesity is organ failure along with things like gout.
Click to expand...
Alright, i'll put him on a diet then. Im more used to handling young baby chameleon's from working in a pet shop, a 3 year old adult is something im fairly new at.
 
My only question is how did he gain so much weight in a week? You said he was underweight when you got him but that’s a major difference for just a week, Just curious if you have any pictures of when you first got him 🧐
 
Cykon said:
Alright, i'll put him on a diet then. Im more used to handling young baby chameleon's from working in a pet shop, a 3 year old adult is something im fairly new at.
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Yeah babies are a totally different situation with food intake than adults. Babies need easily 24 feeders a day for growth. But with an adult being fed daily all food turns to fat because they stop growing.
 
yungzerk said:
My only question is how did he gain so much weight in a week? You said he was underweight when you got him but that’s a major difference for just a week, Just curious if you have any pictures of when you first got him 🧐
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Sadly no good pictures as he was hiding a lot when i got him :(
But from what i read and what i was told, he wasnt in a top fit condition but then again, it could be wrong. Apparently it was. I'll definitely put him on a diet now.
 
Cykon said:
Sadly no good pictures as he was hiding a lot when i got him :(
But from what i read and what i was told, he wasnt in a top fit condition but then again, it could be wrong. Apparently it was. I'll definitely put him on a diet now.
Click to expand...
All good I was just wondering! I know weight loss takes a while so I honestly didn’t know if weight gain was the same in how long it took, but either way make sure to keep us updated with how things goes😁
 
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