Worried!! Cham is climbing screen and falling

[NiniMarie]

This is my very 1st chameleon (veiled), she is about 10 months or so, and I finally moved her into her adult cage. It is an 18x18x35 mesh cage. I have a few branches, leaves and vines in there for her to climb on. I put her in there a few hours a day so she can get used to it and so I can see how she adapts.

I am concerned because although she does climb the branches, she continues to climb the mesh and I've seen her fall from a pretty high spot onto the bottom substrate. She lays there stretched out and I immediately pick her up and take her back into her indoor cage which is smaller. Is this normal? Her grip seems to be strong usually, maybe her nails are too long and thick for the screen? Is there anything I can do!?

 

[GabeCastro]

She'll be fine as long as she's not ready to lay eggs.

Chams can take a fall from a high height, might get a bruise but she'll be fine.

As for climbing on her "new" cage, it's because she's in a new environment trying to explore around. It can be frustrating at times since chams like to do acrobatics and scare us, but thats just how they do things. Try and add more top foliage so incase she falls, she can grab onto a branch or something on the way down.

Just let her do her thing and try not to handle her for a solid week, She'll continue to climb the cage, but eventually when she knows she's safe it'll cut down.

 

[NiniMarie]

Thank you very much! I feel better now

 

[GabeCastro]

Thank you very much! I feel better now

No Problem!

You just want to make sure your Cham isn't gravid. If your Cham is carrying eggs and took a fall I'd b highly concerned.

Just keep an eye on her, make sure she's not sleeping during the day or acting strange from her usual habits. Like I said, she may get a bruise but she should be ok.

Also welcome to the forums!

-Gabe

 

[juice28]

sounds like an accidental slip..you didnt say if she falls alot...if my cham fell she would bounce off of so much stuff on the way down i doubt she would actually hit the bottom lol.. her cage is a jungle but she seems to love it..i can hardly find her in it but i set it up for her comfort not my viewing....does she have gravid colors? i thought mine was gravid..she got all spotty on me but turn out hes just getting older and her markings are showing more and shes just a fatty lol but i have a laying bin in there just in case

 

[KellysChameleons]

Try putting in more places for her to walk , that should make her stop crawling on screen ..I use dowel rods u can get them at any hardware store and also at Walmart in the craft section ..good luck

 

[carol5208]

you said she fell on the substrate. What do you have in the bottom of the cage? Any type of substrate is not recommended. It can cause potential choking and impaction hazards as well as a place for mold and bacteria to breed.

 

[NiniMarie]

Gabe, now that you mention it I have caught her sleeping in the afternoon (in her baby inside cage), and when I get up to go to work at 7, she is awake too. She only has her heating lamp and a bit of sunlight shines through the window at that time. Does this ,ean anything ?

 

[NiniMarie]

No Gravid colors...regular green and spots. She is starting to show a little traces of blue though! My big girl


Dowel rods...that's great, thank you! Will def be buying more things for her to climb and/or fall on LOL

And on the bottom I have a mixture of dirt I bought from the pet store and some fir bark. What am I supposed to have on the bottom!? :/

 

[juice28]

Gabe, now that you mention it I have caught her sleeping in the afternoon (in her baby inside cage), and when I get up to go to work at 7, she is awake too. She only has her heating lamp and a bit of sunlight shines through the window at that time. Does this ,ean anything ?

just a heat light and natural light from the sun.. through a window im assuming.. do you have a uvb light? that is necessary, if your going to use natural sunlight you cant have the window closed, the glass filters out the uvb rays they need, its good for heat and extra lighting to brighten the cage but thats about it. what are you feeding how often and are you dusting her food?

 

[pelkos]

My chameleon did the same at first, was climbing a lot the mesh despite of having branches and vines, and he also fell one or two times. I think he was exploring his new home, and once he got used to it, he completely stopped it, only uses vines and branches now, and also never gets at the bottom of the cage as he did before.

So I think you just wait for her to settle down. You can provide her with some more ways to climb up and down, even though with my cham the mesh was still more attractive than the alternatives Maybe more foliage near the bottom will make it safer for her if she falls again...

 

[NiniMarie]

Yes, sunlight through a window. I've had the lights for a few months now and don't remember exactly. I am assuming its a UVB light (white light), and the heating/night light is blue. I wish I had the boxes to read them. Anyway, this is where I keep her during the day while I'm at work. When I get home I immediately place her in her outside cage, but I keep bringing her in at night just to make sure she is ok. I don't know what the right process is of transitioning her into her outside cage all day :/

 

[NiniMarie]

She only likes crickets. I try to feed her 3 large in the morning and 3 when I come home. Sometimes I skip a meal bc she was starting to ignore them. But after I do that, she started hunting again. I dust them with Zoo Med ReptiCalcium (with 3D). I try not to dust all her feelings BC at one point she was getting white things out of her nose. So I dust them once a week. I hope this is ok?

 

[vgaines]

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

Here is the link to a great care sheet for veiled chameleons. You may also want to fill out the How to ask for help form found under the health clinic tab.

You will need to change her dusting schedule. Veiled's need:
calcium without D3 every feeding
calcium with D3 2X a month
multi-vitamin 2X a month
As far as feeding goes. They need a wide variety of feeders. Along with crickets you can try dubia roaches, butter worms, Phoenix worms, silkworms, horn worms, super worms, meal worms, etc. do you gut load your crickets? If so, what do you use. The better you feed your crickets the better they are for your cham. Check out the Resources tab at the top of the home page. There is a lot of very good information to help you make sure your cham is healthy and happy.
The care sheet has more details on this as well as other great information on how to keep a healthy cham.

This is a great forum with a lot of very knowledgeable members who are here to answer your questions.

PS We love to see pictures so please post some of your cham and enclosure.

 

[GabeCastro]

No Gravid colors...regular green and spots. She is starting to show a little traces of blue though! My big girl


Dowel rods...that's great, thank you! Will def be buying more things for her to climb and/or fall on LOL

And on the bottom I have a mixture of dirt I bought from the pet store and some fir bark. What am I supposed to have on the bottom!? :/

I personally never used dowels, they got kinda moldy so I switched to some bamboo instead.

just a heat light and natural light from the sun.. through a window im assuming.. do you have a uvb light? that is necessary, if your going to use natural sunlight you cant have the window closed, the glass filters out the uvb rays they need, its good for heat and extra lighting to brighten the cage but thats about it. what are you feeding how often and are you dusting her food?

agreed.

Yes, sunlight through a window. I've had the lights for a few months now and don't remember exactly. I am assuming its a UVB light (white light), and the heating/night light is blue. I wish I had the boxes to read them. Anyway, this is where I keep her during the day while I'm at work. When I get home I immediately place her in her outside cage, but I keep bringing her in at night just to make sure she is ok. I don't know what the right process is of transitioning her into her outside cage all day :/

Your husbandry sounds pretty off...

You need to get rid of that blue light asap. Chams can see any type of light, geckos can be kept under infrared / blue lights with no problems.

Also chams NEED to be cooled down in the night time. Some can take temps down to the mid 50's with zero problems. So keep that in mind.

Also, You need to make sure you have a UVB light, as mentioned above I quoted someone but they stated UVB cannot be transferred through glass.

Without proper UVB lighting your cham can start to feel ill. Sleeping during the day is a HUGE factor that something is wrong. She may be tired / falling due to her not getting enough sleep from that blue light being on.

Also she should be on a 12 hour light cycle. Pretty much 7am on, 7pm off. At 7pm the area where she's at she be somewhat completely dark.

If you noticed she's cruising around the bottom of your cage she may be gravid, so be extra sure you know how to take care of a female veiled. They can lay eggs even without a male.

Also what are your temps at? If it's too hot / cold that could be another reason why she's always on the move...

-Gabe

 

[NiniMarie]

I personally never used dowels, they got kinda moldy so I switched to some bamboo instead.



agreed.



Your husbandry sounds pretty off...

You need to get rid of that blue light asap. Chams can see any type of light, geckos can be kept under infrared / blue lights with no problems.

Also chams NEED to be cooled down in the night time. Some can take temps down to the mid 50's with zero problems. So keep that in mind.

Also, You need to make sure you have a UVB light, as mentioned above I quoted someone but they stated UVB cannot be transferred through glass.

Without proper UVB lighting your cham can start to feel ill. Sleeping during the day is a HUGE factor that something is wrong. She may be tired / falling due to her not getting enough sleep from that blue light being on.

Also she should be on a 12 hour light cycle. Pretty much 7am on, 7pm off. At 7pm the area where she's at she be somewhat completely dark.

If you noticed she's cruising around the bottom of your cage she may be gravid, so be extra sure you know how to take care of a female veiled. They can lay eggs even without a male.

Also what are your temps at? If it's too hot / cold that could be another reason why she's always on the move...

-Gabe

Thank you, very helpful link. I will be posting pics of my princess shortly.

Gabe,

I feel horrible. I always thought it would be too cold for her at night since its 69 in here while I sleep. Basking at the moment is 85 and reg temp around 80.

Question, do you suggest I bring her back inside at night where she can cool down or leave her in her new outdoor cage where it will be 75 degrees coolest?

 

[NiniMarie]

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

Here is the link to a great care sheet for veiled chameleons. You may also want to fill out the How to ask for help form found under the health clinic tab.

You will need to change her dusting schedule. Veiled's need:
calcium without D3 every feeding
calcium with D3 2X a month
multi-vitamin 2X a month
As far as feeding goes. They need a wide variety of feeders. Along with crickets you can try dubia roaches, butter worms, Phoenix worms, silkworms, horn worms, super worms, meal worms, etc. do you gut load your crickets? If so, what do you use. The better you feed your crickets the better they are for your cham. Check out the Resources tab at the top of the home page. There is a lot of very good information to help you make sure your cham is healthy and happy.
The care sheet has more details on this as well as other great information on how to keep a healthy cham.

This is a great forum with a lot of very knowledgeable members who are here to answer your questions.

PS We love to see pictures so please post some of your cham and enclosure.

 

[juice28]

I would tone down the transportation back and for so much, going from outside to inside every day can be stressing her out, read the care sheet posted, its great info and don't dust with D3 daily that'll overload her only once maybe twice a month, use calcium without D3 for daily usage.. Correct me if im wrong pros but I believe a uvb loghe projects kinda blueish when we look at it but its not a blue light bulb..69-70 isn't top cold for her at night. Maybe if its an arish 69...yea it'll feel like 60-65 but if just normal temp no wind she should be fine

 

[NiniMarie]

The problem is that her inside cage is glass and too small. And the problem with her outdoor cage is that I live in Miami and it can easily go to the mid 90s :/ Plus, I work every day 9-5 so i can't keep an eye on her just to be sure. I'm in a tough position

 

[GabeCastro]

Just leave her be inside. She just needs a basking spot of around high 80's and night temp around high 60's. she should be fine.

Just don't use the blue light, add a lay box for her asap and cover her up at night with a big towel or blanket so she can't see anyone / activity. This should allow her to lay her eggs. If her indoor cage is too small, use her outdoor one but bring it inside. Just make sure she has a big enough lay bin to dig down into.

She looks super healthy and ready to lay. Don't stress too much! It's your first Cham, you'll get the hang of it.

You may need to invest into an automatic misting system such as a mistking or aqua zamp if you're not home enough to mist by hand.

Let us know when you set up a lay bin. She can die if she's not properly taken care of to lay. She looks extremely healthy so you still have some time if its too late to run to a store for lay substrate.

Try and take care of it first thing tomorrow morning before work if you can.