KeepNupwithJoneseys
Member
I've already got two humans that are trying my patience. I hopey Cham takes it easy on me. By any chance, can you tell how old mine might be from the pictures?
Young veiled Cham not eating much anymore.
- Thread starter KeepNupwithJoneseys
- Start date
BostonKeith
Avid Member
I also think you have a girl as well. No buldge and i dont see spurs. Maybe one picture but i convinced myself its a bad angle.
BostonKeith
Avid Member
Age guess would be 4-6 months for me.
KeepNupwithJoneseys
Member
I'm not sure the age of my Cham and when I should prepare for egg laying. I have a lay bin in the enclosure at the bottom.
BostonKeith
Avid Member
I would keep an eye out for her colors to start changing. Constant turquoise and yellows are a good sign shes getting ready. If you got her at a big chain store like Petco or PetSmart the chams are usually anywhere from 1-3 months old.
You will notice restlessness and lots of exploring when she is getting ready to lay.
You will notice restlessness and lots of exploring when she is getting ready to lay.
KeepNupwithJoneseys
Member
@BostonKeith @MissSkittles @Beman @MzLaurie11 Just got a call from the vet on the X-ray results. They said bone mineralization looks good and Rexy is lean. Only thing they noticed is some constipation and advised me to soak Rexy for about 15 minutes in lukewarm water each day until I start seeing more normal poop. Rexy also ate 4 crickets today!!
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
Did they say what exactly soaking Rexy in water will do? It’s a good thing to try for say a constipated bearded dragon as the warm water will boost metabolism and can help enhance bowel motility. Adding additional hydration to any creature will help lubricate the bowel and soften the stool, but chameleons don’t absorb water thru their cloaca. Instead of a soak which would be stressful, I’d offer some juicy hornworms to boost hydration and get things moving. Adding some silkworms to your staple feeder rotation will also help with hydration and are nutritious.
BostonKeith
Avid Member
I've also noticed using luke warm water with mister a 2 minute light mist above raining down gets my guys to poop. I would skip the baths like said above!!
Even upping your humidity levels seems to get things going sometimes. Just make sure to keep your levels close to accepted husbandry levels.
Even upping your humidity levels seems to get things going sometimes. Just make sure to keep your levels close to accepted husbandry levels.
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KeepNupwithJoneseys
Member
The Vet tech is the one that called and maybe what they’re trying to accomplish is lukewarm water helping with a bowel movement? I was nervous about it causing too much stress as well. Humidity has steadily been 60 and I’m giving plenty of drinking opportunities with misting and Rexy’s dripper. I’m not seeing her drink much. I need to get some hornworms but I’m afraid she won’t eat it since she’s backed up? Any other ideas to get her to drink and hydrate?
MissSkittles
Chameleon Enthusiast
When my girl was backed up, even though she was eating my vet advised for me to give her some extra fluids with an oral syringe. This is very stressful for a cham (and us). Even though I am well aware that their airway is in the front of their mouth and I needed to aim as far back to her throat as possible, I was still nervous about causing aspiration. I found it easiest to keep her in her enclosure gripping a branch and I angled her head up for gravity to help. I worked quickly so that she was still trying to gape/bite and gave about 0.5- 1 ml at a time. Thing is, her urates were always white and I’d see poos, but they were little. I did feed her almost double what I normally do (vet’s advice) and most was silkworms or hornworms to get things lubricated. I would try hornworms, silkworms and go by urate color before forcing additional fluids.
Lindasjackson
Chameleon Enthusiast
You might up her humidity at night to 80-100%. This will help her hydration as well but only do it if you can get her cage temp down into the 60s. If you have her in a screen cage it will help if you wrap a shower curtain around just three sides you can attach it with magnets or Velcro tape but just make sure she cannot access any sticky. It can take their skin off!
KeepNupwithJoneseys
Member
I just did a soak and when I put Rexy back in the cage, there was a bowel movement starting to happen. I’m just getting nervous because I don’t want my chameleon to get sick. In the picture is what just came out minutes ago.
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KeepNupwithJoneseys
Member
I plan to get some hornworms this weekend but feeling very desperate for my Cham to eat and drink. I can see the eyes are starting to look sunken in. 
That's not much of a bowel movement...how much is your chameleon eating in a week now?
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KeepNupwithJoneseys
Member
Not much. I offer every day at least 2-3 feeders. Rexy may have 1 or two during the week.
KeepNupwithJoneseys
Member
I was feeding ten to twelve a day until Rexy wasn’t eating any of it so I thought I’d offer a little to at least see if the appetite was better and go from there.
KeepNupwithJoneseys
Member
I sure have. I got Dubias, crickets, hornworms, silkworms and black fly larvae. I’ve offered each one. The only thing I’ve seen her take a liking to during all of this is a couple of flys.
So I would run that T5HO fixture parallel to the higher branch. Right now where it is it is hitting the lower branch which looks much too far away to be getting the UVI level the cham needs. If this is a 5.0 bulb you want 8-9 inches to the branch. The cham needs that distance to be in a 3 uvi level. If it is the 10.0 bulb then your looking for a 11-12 inch distance. Incorrect UVI levels due to incorrect distances can result in a failure to thrive because the UVB bulb stimulates appetite as well.
This cham looks to be around the 5-6 month mark... Would be eating every day about 10-12 feeders easily. So something is off here. I would not have this young of a cham on an every other day feeding yet.
I highly doubt the cham is constipated. It is not eating enough to produce stool. And if the fecal test was on that small amount I would get another fecal to ensure no parasite issues.
can you take pics of your supplements and tell me what rotation and frequency you use them in?
This cham looks to be around the 5-6 month mark... Would be eating every day about 10-12 feeders easily. So something is off here. I would not have this young of a cham on an every other day feeding yet.
I highly doubt the cham is constipated. It is not eating enough to produce stool. And if the fecal test was on that small amount I would get another fecal to ensure no parasite issues.
can you take pics of your supplements and tell me what rotation and frequency you use them in?
