very sick baby.... is there anything i can do?

[Midge]

Veiled Cham. Male. got him as a jeuv. in December.
He does not get handled often
He eats gut loaded crickets, super worms and meal worms
they are dusted with Zoomed Reptivite and Zoomet Repticalcium every 3 days now. at first it was every day.
He gets misted with everything in the cage 3 times a day pretty heavily.
fecal and urates were normal until recently.

cage: screened cage 4ft high, 2x2ft
humidity is difficult in winter to keep up. I live in WV
Lighting, UVB and heat lamp. He's also in an area with lots of natural sunlight during the day
silk plants
pet is in the largest room in the house, vaulted ceilings, lots of windows, in the general area of a heat vent.

this little guy is cold, weak, stressed and not eating.
I had to go to work today for mandatory training in a new job....
he's at the bottom of his cage almost on his side. Honestly I don't know that he'll make it through the night and realize there may not be much I can do at all, but I'd like to know what I've done wrong so I can correct it.

Thanks
Midge

 

[Carlton]

they are dusted with Zoomed Reptivite and Zoomet Repticalcium every 3 days now. at first it was every day.

cage: screened cage 4ft high, 2x2ft
humidity is difficult in winter to keep up. I live in WV
Lighting, UVB and heat lamp. He's also in an area with lots of natural sunlight during the day
silk plants
pet is in the largest room in the house, vaulted ceilings, lots of windows, in the general area of a heat vent.

this little guy is cold, weak, stressed and not eating.
I had to go to work today for mandatory training in a new job....
he's at the bottom of his cage almost on his side. Honestly I don't know that he'll make it through the night and realize there may not be much I can do at all, but I'd like to know what I've done wrong so I can correct it.

Thanks
Midge

If you were dusting with the vitamin every 3 days he's been overdosed. The correct dusting schedule is:

Plain calcium (NO added vit. D3) daily
Calcium with added D3 once every 2 weeks
A herp multivitamin once every 2 weeks

What do you feed your insects?

What brand and type of UV light do you have? If its not correct he's unable to metabolize the vitamin D3 or calcium in his diet. He won't get any UV through window glass either.

 

[Midge]

He's by the window simply for the heat factor. It's not all that warm here yet... even with the heat lamp the cage gets down to about 65 at night. UV is on during the day. Heat lamp is on with it.

The bugs (what my 7 year old calls all that we feed Slow Poke) are already gut loaded when I get them. I've been getting them at Petco. Not the ideal but.. No one has been willing to ship this far north until this last couple weeks due to the amazingly fickle weather on any given day and all the rain, snow, ice, sleet, freezing roads and landslides. My own house had a basement wall cave in... we evacuated and I think that didn't help matters for Slow Poke.

Thanks.
Is there anything I can do at this point?

 

[nick barta]

Midge,

I think he might be too cold, this will stop him from eating.

Is he basking under a heat source? If not, put a 50-75 watt bulb above the top screen, and be sure he has a couple of branches to choose how hot he wants to get.

Hope he pulls out of his slump.

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[sharp229]

Can you provide pictures of him?

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."He eats gut loaded crickets, super worms and meal worms"...gutloaded with what? its usually recommended that crickets and such be gutloaded with a wide assortment of greens such as collards, dandelions, endive, escarole, kale, etc. and veggies such as carrots, squash, sweet potato, sweet red pepper, zucchini, etc.

You said..."they are dusted with Zoomed Reptivite and Zoomet Repticalcium every 3 days now. at first it was every day"..reptivite has prEformed vitamin A in it which can build up in the system and lead to health issues. I wouldn't use it any more than once every month or two and even then lightly for a veiled.

Since most of the feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos. its important to dust with a phos.-free calcium powder at most feedings.

We also recommend dusting twice a month with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder and twice a month with a vitamin powder with a beta carotene (prOformed) source of vitamin A. D3 and PrEformed vitamin A can build up in the system and lead to health issues.

Appropriate temperatures allow for proper digestion and thus aid in nutrient absorption and UVB allows the chameleon to produce the D3 needed to be able to use the calcium in its system to keep the bones and other systems healthy.

You said..."fecal and urates were normal until recently"...so how have they changed?

You said..."Lighting, UVB and heat lamp. He's also in an area with lots of natural sunlight during the day"...sunlight through glass? What's the basking temperature? Overall cage temperature?

You said..."in the general area of a heat vent"...assuming it isn't blowing right on the cage?

You said..."this little guy is cold, weak, stressed and not eating"...hopefully its not too late for him....but its not good that he is almost on his side.

Is he drinking well?
If he's cold then he won't be digesting his food well as was already mentioned...and it could be part of the reason he's not eating either.

Good luck with him.