Veiled chameleon won't shed??

[abcatgirl]

I have a male veiled born mid-May 2015 whose last shed was in the beginning of November. As far as I'm concerned he is very healthy, eats about 5 crickets a day. He hasn't shown any signs of shedding or grown any bigger. I was wondering if the process was slower in the winter, if not do you have any suggestions?

 

[JGuinan007]

misting longer and try showering

 

[abcatgirl]

What do you mean by "showering"? By the way we have a Monsoon mister, should we just make it so the misting is longer? (It's currently set 4 sec every 2 hours)

 

[jpowell86]

I have a male veiled born mid-May 2015 whose last shed was in the beginning of November. As far as I'm concerned he is very healthy, eats about 5 crickets a day. He hasn't shown any signs of shedding or grown any bigger. I was wondering if the process was slower in the winter, if not do you have any suggestions?

Hello and Welcome to the Forums! I am attaching a link that will direct you to a part of the forums that you should fill out. It is the "How to ask for help" area of the forums. Here is the link.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/

If you could complete this and post the information here, we could give you much better help and feedback. It could be something as simple as his growth rate is slowing down, but better safe than sorry. I would love to see a picture of him too!!

 

[abcatgirl]

Thanks for the help info post, here's all the extra info from that:

I've had Bubba since September 2015, purchased at a reptile exposition from a breeder. He's about 3.5 inches long (not including tail). I don't handle him very often except to show him to friends or see how he's doing to make sure he isn't stressed from that. He is fed about 5-6 crickets daily supplemented with calcium and Repti-vite. I use an Exo Terra Monsoon for watering, it goes off every 2 hours for 4 seconds, he does drink it off his leaves. Feces are brown/white and occasionally yellowish, he hasn't been tested for parasites recently.

Cage:
His cage is the large Zoo Med Reptibreeze (18x18x36") and is positioned on a small cabinet in an upstairs bedroom. I don't use live plants, instead I use bendable branches and some wooden branches with fabric leaves wrapped around them. I use the Zoo Med tropical lighting kit which features a lamp with two bulb spaces, a UVB bulb, and a 60 watt daytime heat bulb. This fixture is on a timer and turns off at around 6:15 PM switches to a black light on a separate fixture, then back to the daytime bulb + UVB at around 6:15 AM. He has about a 70-75 degree temperature range at night and 75-80 in the day, basking spot usually around 95. (Fahrenheit) I'm located in central Indiana.

Thanks again for sending me these guidelines, I'll be sure to use them in the future!

This is a picture of Bubba as of October. He is also in my profile picture but this one's a bit easier to see.

 

[SocialNumb]

Is that all he want's to eat or is that all you're offering? He should be eating something along the lines of:

Neonates: as many small crickets as they can eat several times a day
Juveniles 3-6 months of age: 10-12 small crickets daily
Juveniles 6-12 months of age: 10-12 medium crickets every other day
Adults over 12 months of age: 7-10 medium-large crickets every other day

well gut loaded, bits of fruit and some veggies. Of course, other feeders should be offered as well.

 

[abcatgirl]

Yes, he also gets kale/spinach/other dark greens every few days. I give him about 10 small crickets daily, sometimes he eats all of them, sometimes more like 6. The crickets are gut loaded on Total Bites (those green ones) and are supplemented with calcium powder and Repti-vite. Now that you mention it, should I be feeding him more??

I also tried mealworms a few weeks ago, should I bring them back?

 

[Gwendalyn.brock]

Yes, he also gets kale/spinach/other dark greens every few days. I give him about 10 small crickets daily, sometimes he eats all of them, sometimes more like 6. The crickets are gut loaded on Total Bites (those green ones) and are supplemented with calcium powder and Repti-vite. Now that you mention it, should I be feeding him more??

I also tried mealworms a few weeks ago, should I bring them back?

You should feed your crickets more greens, not just the cubes. As for mealworms, I believe they're not the best for your chameleon, you should try different kinds of worms and insects. Super worms, wax worms(not very often), calciworms, and hornworms are good.

 

[SocialNumb]

Ditch the night light. They don't need one.

The Total Bites stuff looks terrible imo. Take a look at sandrachameleon's blog: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/user/sandrachameleon.1614/ for gut load ideas. Also check out the "Commercial Gutloads" about 4 down if you're going to go with pre-made. Both would be great.

Take it easy on Kale and or Spinach because "oxalate content binds with calcium decreasing its absorption". More on that here: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/entry/oxalic-acid-content-of-vegetables.215/ I personally don't give either to mine because there's so many other options with lesser risks. Herbs like Cilantro and Basil for example. Again, check out the blogs.

Also, what Gwendalyn said about other insects. You may want to try one of the sample pack combinations here: http://www.lindasgonebuggie.com/ to see what you're little one likes?

You should also start preparing for a tube light and eventually a larger enclosure to fit it. Assuming your little guy starts to grow.

Good Luck! That little guy needs to eat.

 

[abcatgirl]

Thanks so much for the help. I really don't feed him greens that often, more as an occasional treat, and coincidentally I've been wondering if I really should give the crickets commercial food. I am planning on giving him superworms eventually but he's very small and I'm going to stick with smaller ones for now. Will the night light harm him? Once again, thank you very much!

 

[Gwendalyn.brock]

Thanks so much for the help. I really don't feed him greens that often, more as an occasional treat, and coincidentally I've been wondering if I really should give the crickets commercial food. I am planning on giving him superworms eventually but he's very small and I'm going to stick with smaller ones for now. Will the night light harm him? Once again, thank you very much!

There are small superworms. You can give the crickets almost everything you can give the chameleon for fruits and veggies as well as greens to gutload. There are good sources on the site as well.

 

[abcatgirl]

I just got back from Petco. I bought some mealworms, waxworms, calciworms and small superworms (thanks Gwen) and got rid of my night light. I also gave the crickets some dark greens. Thank you all so much for your help getting him on track. I'm hoping that he'll grow bigger soon and shed again, and all this extra food will probably help!

 

[Gwendalyn.brock]

I just got back from Petco. I bought some mealworms, waxworms, calciworms and small superworms (thanks Gwen) and got rid of my night light. I also gave the crickets some dark greens. Thank you all so much for your help getting him on track. I'm hoping that he'll grow bigger soon and shed again, and all this extra food will probably help!

Happy to help! Be sure not to feed your chameleon too many waxworms, the are mostly fat and can slow it down.

 

[SocialNumb]

There you go, good stuff!

Mealworms and Waxworms are treats. Mealworms are meh. Supers are cool about 2-3 a week. They also live for a long time, all they need is something to dig into and a moister source. I use raw oats and apple. Smells good. Also keep them together so they don't go all beetle on you. Reptiworms, PhoenixWorms and Calciworms are all the same thing and good for your cham.

About night lights, it could keep them up or wake them at night. Total darkness is best.

 

[alphakenc]

I like the silkworms,they are very good for ur chams,a lot of the chameleon breeders highly recommend the silkworm in their chameleon feeder diet

 

[gotwqqd]

I'm considering raising dubia and silkworms.

What would be appropriate amounts of these two as the main food source for veiled.

 

[abcatgirl]

There you go, good stuff!

Mealworms and Waxworms are treats. Mealworms are meh. Supers are cool about 2-3 a week. They also live for a long time, all they need is something to dig into and a moister source. I use raw oats and apple. Smells good. Also keep them together so they don't go all beetle on you. Reptiworms, PhoenixWorms and Calciworms are all the same thing and good for your cham.

About night lights, it could keep them up or wake them at night. Total darkness is best.

Yeah, I figured that his main diet would be calci and superworms (and crickets, of course). The ones I bought came in a container with burying material, so I think they'll be good. I think I can close this thread now with all the help everyone's been giving me. Thanks so much!

 

[abcatgirl]

Great news! I went up to feed Bubba this morning and he was shedding!!! Thanks once again for all your help, he is much happier with all his new foods and his new heat bulb (I just changed it). I'm excited for him to get bigger!