Veiled problem with care sheet

[Seffers93]

Chameleon Info:
• Your Chameleon – Male Veiled Chameleon. About four months old. He has been in my care for about a month.
• Handling – He won’t let me handle him.. /:
• Feeding – He gets about four – eight crickets per day. I try to give him an occasional mealworm, but he will never eat them. I gutload my crickets with recommended fruits and veggies.
• Supplements – I dust his crickets with Fluker’s calcium with vitamin D3 twice per month. I use Rep-Cal Herptivite Multivitamins twice per month. Calcium without D3 every day.
• Watering – I plan on ordering a MistKing system, but for now, I spray his cage about three times a day.
• Fecal Description - His droppings are a dark brown with white in them.
• History – I wasn’t given a history.

Cage Info:
• Cage Type – It’s an all screened cage. (24” x 24” x 48”)
• Lighting – I’m not sure about the brands.. I threw the boxes away /: I use a 75watt basking light and a 5.0 UVB tube-style light. They go twelve hours on and twelve hours off.
• Temperature – I have gauges set up in his cage. His cool side is about 75 degrees and his basking spot is about 80 – 85 degrees.
• Humidity – I have a hygrometer in his cage. The humidity usually stays anywhere from 50% to 70%. I have a cool-vapor humidifier with a hose running inside the cage. It runs in hour cycles. On for an hour and off for an hour.
• Plants – I have a Pothos plant.
• Placement – The cage is about a foot off the ground with a draining system under it.
• Location – I’m located in Illinois in the United States.

Current Problem – He hasn’t been eating as much (or pooping) and his eyes are slightly sunken in.

 

[tenchijin]

First obvious guess is dehydration, based on the symptoms and the fact that you don't indicate any kind of drip system to let him drink for extended periods. Get him a drip and see if hydration helps.

 

[Lovereps]

I second tenchijin's dripper suggestion.
Cham problems are best "nipped in the bud" so to speak, before small issues snowball.
If the humidity, temps and water offered are all correct, then another possible cause of dehydration/sunken eyes is parasites.
Hopefully the feeders are lightly dusted, as opposed to looking a bit more like powdered sugar doughnuts.

 

[Seffers93]

Yes, I make sure just to give them a very light coat. I've tried making a drip system, but I just can't seem to figure it out. I tried using a clean milk jug, but the water pours out overtime.. I can't get a nice, steady drip /:

 

[Lovereps]

Take a pin or needle, heat it over a flame, puncture the bottom of the milk jug once.

Alternately, drill a hole slightly smaller in diameter than aquarium air tubing just above the bottom of the milk jug , insert a length of aquarium air tubing, attach an aquarium air valve, adjust drip to desired interval.

 

[dom1959]

or buy a "lil dripper" i mean they are less than $10 near me...

 

[HolyToledo]

I use a 2 liter soda bottle with a double aquarium valve and hose. I carve a hole in the lid of the soda bottle from the top of the lid just big enough for the valve to fit through. if you carve from the top, the hole in the rubbery piece inside the lid won't be as big and will stretch around the valve stem and keep it from leaking. that way I can run two hoses at the same time. then poke a hole in the bottom of the bottle where you can put your thumb over it when refilling the bottle so it doesn't vapor lock and drips freely and adjust the valves for how much you want it to drip. the aquarium valves seem easier to adjust than the ones on store bought strippers.

if you go to my pics in the gallery, I have a pic of my cheap and easy dripper there. sorry I can' t post it from my kindle cuz I'm a techno-weenie

 

[pigglett79]

or buy a "lil dripper" i mean they are less than $10 near me...

Yeah, a little dripper is what i use and it is cheap and has a dial to allow you to adjust the drip speed.

 

[Seffers93]

Awesome, thanks so much for all of the tips and info everyone! It is greatly appreciated!!