alyssak665
New Member
So I bought my very first male veiled a while back and was so excited. I have always wanted a chameleon and I researched EVERYTHING! I found a nice local breeder who had been at the reptile show that I went to and he hooked me up with everything I need. All his chams in his "chameleon garage" seemed to be doing fine. A lot of them old and very healthy! The only thing is that he didnt have any adult male veileds I could marvel at. Anyway, I had the screen cage, uvb lighting brand new, mister, heat lamp (he gave me a 25 watt bulb) he gave me the dusting powder so sadly I don't know what exactly is in it but I do know it was a calcium/D3 mix. I gut loaded my crickets with cricket food and greens. I had my new cham a whopping 2 months and then I noticed him looking sickly and he was dehydrated and had in-turned arms (start of MBD). I told the breeder and he said he would try and give him liquid calcium but sadly he held on for 2 weeks then passed. I was doing everything like I was told and researched. So fast forward to today. I waited a while before getting another cham and swore I would not let anything happen to this one. He seemed happy and healthy and was eating and drinking regularly and nice and active. I noticed the night before last that he was opening and closing his mouth while sleeping but the next day seemed ok. I wake up this morning and he is dead at the bottom of his cage. I had the new one a whole month and a half. I am starting to think I am not cut out for chameleons and don't want to keep getting them just to have them die on me, that is cruel! But I dream of raising a nice veiled with brilliant colors that I can proudly say is a few years old! I read all these stories of first timers that didnt know better and didnt use a UVB light, or kept them in a glass enclosure with no heat and they still live for 6 months or longer, why is it that mine wont even hold on 2 months?! Anyway, I guess I am looking for answers or similar stories that ended up better? I feel like poop!