Worried about my new baby veild

[Tommy Naples]

I'm starting to worry about the health of my chameleon I've had him 5 days and when I first got him he was eating and now he stopped and I haven't seen him drink yet I have a dripper and I always make sure I spray the leaves of the live plants very time they dry and I made sure all the plants are safe for chameleons I have vines every where for him as swell he has a regular 100 watt basking light and a UVB 10 bulb on 12 hrs a day and I've seen signs of dehydration he will close one eye every once in a while the humidity is good 60 % and so is the temp and right now he's infer the basking light and he keeps opening his mouth which means he's regulating his temp but why would he stay there if he could go to a cooler spot I'm panicked can someone help

 

[Tommy Naples]

And his cage is 17 by17 by 36 inches

 

[Lovereps]

Welcome to the forum!
Sorry your cham isn't feeling well.
You are wise to be asking for advice here.

Dehydration causes a lack of appetite but dehydration can be a symptom of other things, sometimes.

It is very important to correct the dehydration.

If he is a very small baby, then mist him with a fine spray from a spray bottle until he starts drinking and then keep spraying him until he stops drinking.
If he is not tiny then, Place a large plant in the tub, aim the shower head against the wall, and run the water so that only a fine mist reaches the chameleon. The water should be room temperature (not hot!). They may drink for up to 30 minutes. Make sure to supervise your chameleon at all times while using this method.

That is from here https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/water/where there's more valuable info
Babies need cooler temperatures than adults and he may be overheating from the 100 watt bulb's heat
Temps for him should be Baby/juvenile (<9 months): ambient 72-80F (22-26C), basking 85F (29C)

From here https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

You need to know if his enclosure and basking spot are too hot.
A lower wattage bulb or raising the bulb higher above the enclosure will lower the temperature.
If you are in the USA and he is currently basking under his basking bulb--then that is a problem.
All lights should go off for the nighttime. No red lights. No basking lights and the room should be dark.

The best way to get the help you would like here is to copy and paste the questions from here https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and then add all of your answers.

 

[kinyonga]

What color are the urates? Is it pooping?
What are the temperatures in the cage?
Do you have substrate in the cage?
How do you know he's not eating? Are the insects the right size for it?

 

[Tommy Naples]

He was eating today and I watched him poop he's wandering the cage and changing patterns and shades of green ambient is 72 an the basking is 85 he is pretty big hes around 3 months his body is about 3 inches with the tail stretched about 5 inches I just haven't seen him drink yet he is active hell bask then roam the cage I mist till all the leave are wet and also have a dripper that bounces off the leavs of the plants should I try the shower idea or wait to see if he drinks I don't use nighttime bulbs and his cage drops to 70 at night. He will even eat out of my hand I use the calcium without d3 every feeding and with d3 twice a month and I orderd multi vitamins and I just don't know why he's not drinking.

 

[Tommy Naples]

And no there is no substrate just 2 potted plants and vines all around the top middle and bottom.

 

[xephyr17]

I'd be careful with spraying a baby that's tiny for too long. You can drown them with too much water

 

[Lovereps]

He may just need a little longer misting each misting session.
Chams need the spraying to stimulate them to drink and some just need more misting than others before they realize they should drink.
You also want to be sure that the cage dries between mistings.

An excellent area of the forum that new cham owners would be wise to read is the Resources section. There is info about food, water, cages, lighting, different species of chams and their specific care needs and more
It can be found here https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/chameleons/

As Kinyonga said, it is important to be sure the feeders are small enough.
More info about that here http://https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/

If you want to be sure that everything else is the way he needs it to be, you can copy and paste the questions from here https://www.chameleonforums.com/how-ask-help-66/ and then add all of your answers.

 

[Tommy Naples]

Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care? Male veild chameleon he's around 3 months am dive had him 7 days




Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon? I want to wait for him to get used to his cage ans his new family befor I start handling him and letting him travel the room




Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders? I feed him crickets he ate around 6 today a few this morning and a couple in the afternoon I feed the feeders cucumbers and lettiuce




Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?i do plain calcium every day and I plan to do calcium with d3 twice a month and I orderd a multi vitemens




Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking? I mist a lot I mist three times a day or more depending on how fast the leaves dry out for around a minute each time, I have a dropper I let it drip on the leaves and vines I have not seen him drink yet from inside the enclosure I tried the shower method he did not drink much


Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites? Poop is brown I did not see the white spot it was pretty big I have not seen him urinate he has not been tested for parasites


History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you. He got to the reptile store when he was three months old and they gave him to me and he has been healthy since then except for not drinking he did drink at the reptile store

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions? He cage is screen it is 17x17x36.5 I ordered the reptibreeze extra large and it should be here in three days I don't know if I should move him right away or not I built his current cage



Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule? Both bulbs are exoterra I have the exoterra fluorescent UVB bulb it's the 5.0 and a 75 watt basking light both on 12 to 14 hrs a day



Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps? Ambient 74 basking around 85 to 87 and lowest overnight is between 65 and 70



Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity? Around 50% to 60% I have a humidifier and I've been spraying the cage



Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind? All the plants are safe for chameleons I made sure, I followed a list I saw in this site there are also fake vines and plants all over the place in there he crawls around after he's done basking for long periods of time



Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
It's located close to under a fan there are kids running around they don't seem to bother him he doesn't change dark colors but he did the day I got him all the kids are going to school soon he will have the day to himself the cage is on a table that is about 3 ft high



Location - Where are you geographically located? I am located on Long Island, New York

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about. He's not drinking and he closes one of his eyes every once in a while I read it could be dehydration but the guy at the reptile store said he could be trying to shut me out of his vision but I'm not really sure what the actual reason is please tell me what you think.

 

[kinyonga]

You said he's "close to under a fan"...the fan could be causing him to shut his eye.

What color are the urates...white...white with a tinge of yellow...white with a lot of yellow??

How do you know he's not eating or drinking?

 

[Tommy Naples]

His appetite picked up a lot head eating and moving about a lot more but every time I mist and turn the dripper on sometimes hours for the dripper he doesn't seem to take interest in it and I did not see him urinate yet but he pooped again an it looked like a healthy poop I can't figure out how to post pics from my iPhone yet but it's wat the light brown with the white at the end and the fan is not on it hasent been on. And he doesn't close them as much anymore thanks for a quick reply

 

[RFWildlife]

White is good, that is the urine. He probably is drinking when you are not looking. I am a newer owner myself, and have yet to see my boy drink. Mine freaks if he is near the spot the mister hits when it turns on. I use a monsoon so probably why he runs, more of a sprayer than a mister. You said you have had him 5 days, could be the new cage freaked him out?

 

[kinyonga]

When a chameleon goes to the bathroom there should be a brown part (poop) and a white part (urine). If the urine/urates is not white it indicates possible dehydration.

 

[Lovereps]

As the others have said, the white part is good.
It sounds like he is drinking when you're not looking.

It's better to let him get settled in rather than moving him to a new cage right away.

Your setup and care look pretty good.
The only things I see to improve are:
What you feed the crickets because lettuce and cucumber don't have many nutrients.
The more nutritious diet the feeders eat, the more nutrients they give to your cham. More here about that https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/food/
If you use scraps from vegetables prepared for your family to eat, you will have more nutritious crickets.
A variety of feeders will also help to ensure that he doesn't get bored of his diet and that he gets different nutrients and other things from different feeders.
Most of us order at least some feeders from places like http://www.mulberryfarms.com/ and http://www.coastalsilkworms.com/

A humidity gauge and temperature gauge are very useful because humidity and temps can vary a great deal as the seasons change.
A/C and heat both dry the air.

 

[Tommy Naples]

Ok so he must be drinking because both poops were brown with white and I do have thermometer I have a digital that tells me both temp and humidity at the top of the cage and two gauges for humidity and temp at the bottom of the cage and yeah that is what I thought about the cage I get it tomorrow and I thought I would switch him around October and we did not use ac this summer because we had a very weird summer I like on Long Island New York and we have hot summers but this year we didn't have a single day that it went into the 90s it was even rare to hit the 80s this summer was very weird temp wise and we use a wood burning stove for heat in the winter it just raidiats keeps the whole house at like 65-70 degree which should be good for him as night temps what is the lowest it can reach at night I have searched this but can't see to find a straight number they're all over the place???? Thanks so much for your help guys I just want to keep my Cham happy and healthy he's deff one of the hardest animals I've kept I also have reef tanks and they are no where beer the care he needs lol

 

[Lovereps]

Weird summer indeed for the NE.
Like most things in nature, temps vary from year to year.
I'll take heat over cold any day, though.

It is funny, in a way, that keeping reef tanks is easier than chams.
Chams just have a fairly inflexible set of needs and once you meet those, they generally do well.
You'd be wise to find a vet who knows how to treat chams, before you actually need one.
The one I know of anywhere close to you is Dr Heidi Hoefer in Huntington.
There's also Dr Robert Monaco in Plainview, though that's further from you.

The only trouble I can foresee with the wood burning stove is the indoor dryness. If you keep a pot of water on it that can resolve the super-dryness of the indoor air.

Veiled chams can safely have temps drop down to about 50 Fahrenheit (10 Celsius) at night.

As for temps you've found being "all over the place", that's the downside with the internet.
Anyone can post anything.
For this reason, the forum caresheets found by clicking the green Resources tab are an excellent reference and provide useful info to experienced and new chamkeepers .
They aren't just based on a single chamkeeper's opinions.
They were put together by very experienced forum members.
Here is the one about Veiled chams https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

 

[chameleonlover101]

It all depends on how the urine and poop looks. If his colors are brown and don't change and if he is looking weaker and weaker see a vet. Our chameleon had a different case but to our sadness he did not make it.

 

[Tommy Naples]

He's very active I moved his cage upstairs away from the kids so it's quieter I actually saw him drink afterwards and he was trying to squeez out of the cage so I let him out to explore and in the winter we use humidifiers because me along with my 2 brothers have asthma so we keep it moist inside he should do good and thanks for all the help you've givin it's so awesome being able to ask questions and have them answerd by you guys again thanks so much and he crawled all around the room even made his way to me sitting on my bed he's an awesome chameleon!!