my cham having problems

[JdmAllMotorHatc]

Here lately he for some reason will not open his eyes, this isnt really good because he falls off of branches and such all the time, makes me wonder how he even eats, still holding a good color and gets plenty of water, what could cause this?

[peterm15]

to give some good help you havt to give us more details abou temp humidity ect. ect... the more info you give the better chance you have of getting better help..

[JdmAllMotorHatc]

temp sets low 60s sometimes high 60s depends on night and day, also humidity sits around 60-70%

[Collide]

that dosent sound good assuming u have a veild chameleon

Temps should be higher during the day with no heat at night.
Do your have a UV light?
is he in a screened enclosure or a tank?
How old is this cham?
what kind of suplements do u use?
what is he eating ect...

things that can cause what u discribe varie, dehidration, MDB, vitimin problems...

[peterm15]

WOW thoes are low for any chameleon i know.. you have definatly gotta get thoes up.. my tank only drops to 68 at night and that worries me.. i lookd at previous posts and you do have a veild right..

you have GOT TO HAVE a basking spot of MINIMUM 90 degrees and an ambient of at least 80...

here read these

http://www.adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/chcalyptratus.html

http://www.kingsnake.com/rockymountain/RMHPages/RMHveiled.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/fl/chameleons/veiled/veiled.html

http://www.martinsreptiles.co.uk/ukchams/calyptratus_caresheet.htm

http://www.martinsreptiles.co.uk/vchamcare.html

please by all means pick up a book

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1285&item=4371575285&rd=1

im sorry if im freaken out here but this really isnt cool... how old is your chameleon... are you suplimenting his diet... are you makig sure hes eating..... you have got to get him into a steril envrioment and do something quick...

[DragnDrop]

Let us know what species of cham you have too. Temperature suggestions won't be of any use to you of they are for a vieled and you've got a montane species like jacksons (as an example).

[labomb]

temps of 60? where are you located that you would be able to even keep that temp, that isn't even room tempature. I am freezing just thinking about that. unless you may have made a typo err and meant differently or maybe you are speaking celsius? in that case you may have too high a temp, but I'm not up on metric so it's a guess. the questions have already been asked for more info to help you out, so I won't repeat.

[JdmAllMotorHatc]

vield is correct.......my basking side stays around 78 sorry the other side is what i was speaking about earlier in my post and there is no heat at night, yes i do have UV on him and hes not yet in a screened encloser in a 20 high right now right now, he is around 3-4 months old still eating pin head crickets the crickets he is fed are dustd each time with calcium powder

[tHeGiNo]

The falling off trees may be suggesting a calcium deficiency. Now, lets take this step by step. First, you need to establish a basking spot at around 90°F, improper heating will not only lead to digestive problems, but also a decrease in appetite and growth. At four months, I do not think it should still be eating pinhead crickets.

Next, you need to get him out of the glass aquarium, and into a screened enclosure - for multiple reasons. On top of the respiratory problems associated with an environment with stagnant air flow, I am sure the chameleon seeing his reflection in the glass is not helping at all either.

You say that it makes you wonder how he still eats - is he eating? If so, how much. He should be getting sprayed at least twice daily, this is a thorough spray down not a gentle misting.

Finally, I am going to stress to you the importance of doing your research BEFORE purchasing a reptile, especially a chameleon! If you're not prepared to have the proper enclosure or have the necessary time to dedicate yourself to the proper care of this animal, you should not be getting one. Correct your husbandry as soon as possible.

[JdmAllMotorHatc]

i have everything to fix the problems that im obviously having, i just dont understand why im having so many problems with his encloser now it has done just fine till recently, my other veild was in there for atleast 4 months of his life before he was moved and i never experienced any problems with him, all of my snakes everything in both my racks my skink and cresties are doing fine i guess i just messed up somewhere and never realized it

[peterm15]

thats probably just it.. just because one veild did ok doesnt mean that another will... a must is your basking spot.... a good soak down, and if it is dehidration using a constant spray just slightly on him will help alot.. hell feel the water by his mouth and lap it up... what uv light are you useing.... and how old is it... it might not be strong enough...

[vipervenom]

Chameleons are one of the harder lizards to keep. They are also much more prone to respiratory diseases than other lizards and your snakes. Therefore, they need a good circulation, and should be removed as soon as possible.

Please be sure to give a multivitamin weekly, and gutload your crickets with only the healthiest of foods, to ensure your chameleon is getting the nutrition it needs.

I also beleive, that pinheads are a little too small for a 3-4 month old veiled, he is growing fast and needs appropriately sized crickets accordingly to fill him up nicely.

Now I am not sure exactly how large 4 month old veileds are (my cham is a long way past that) but I beleive they could take 1/4" crickets my now, and about 8 crickets (or 4 silkworms) daily. A rule of thumb: feed insects no wider than the width between it's eyes, and no longer than twice that length. With that said, I am sure you can make the appropriate adjustments.

Proper research would have prevented your chameleon from this pain. It is always a good idea, for any animal, to research about it thoroughly before purchasing it. It is also just as important to gather a few opinions and from different media inorder to obtain the correct information. I am saying this because I am just assuming you got your info from a pet store, which more often than not, have no idea how to care for these beautiful reptiles. Please do all that you can to save this poor guy, which means finding him or building him an all-screened cage.

I will say however, the ods of his survival aren't the greatest. Once a chameleon shows signs of illness or pain, it is often too late to help it, and so they often just go downhill from there. Again, I appreciate the fact you have tried to get help with him, and I hope it all works out nicely in the end. Good luck!

[labomb]

my veiled was eating 1/2 in crickets at 4 months and eating at least 15 a day (he is a glutten) I can see without hearing from the experts that a warm basking spot is a must because my guy always "suns" himself after eating, so obviously it has to do with digesting his food. you need to provide different levels of perches under the heat lamp so he can find the level of warmth he desires. please let us know how he does.

[JdmAllMotorHatc]

well i have him in the all screen now up the temp in it with tons of climbing areas, hope he comes out of this soon, i went ahead and bought new UV and basking light branchs plants etc. my UV light was only about 5 months old i was using on him but i changed anyway, thank you for the help

[peterm15]

well between 5 and 6 is when you chould change it.. what type is iot taht your useing.. and what power ( if exoterra 5.0 2.0 8.0 ect)

[vipervenom]

Also check the expiration date on your Calcium, it may be expired. MIne was and it is no good after that.

Chameleons need high temps in order to digest their food properly, as with many tropical herps. Also, strong UVA/UVB is needed for the absorption of Vitamin D3 which is a cvitamin (I beleive) that helps the lizard absorb calcium, without it, your chameleon could end up getting MBD or the like.

I suggest getting Calcium w/ Vit. D3 without Phosphorous for your cham.

[DragnDrop]

Originally posted by vipervenom
Also check the expiration date on your Calcium, it may be expired. MIne was and it is no good after that.

Chameleons need high temps in order to digest their food properly, as with many tropical herps. Also, strong UVA/UVB is needed for the absorption of Vitamin D3 which is a cvitamin (I beleive) that helps the lizard absorb calcium, without it, your chameleon could end up getting MBD or the like.

I suggest getting Calcium w/ Vit. D3 without Phosphorous for your cham.



Calcium (Ca) never expires, but if the brand you're using also has Vitamin D3 added to the Ca, that's what expires, so you'll have to check the date.

Not ALL chams need high temperatures. You could fry a Jacksons at the temperatures a vieled would find comfy. Not all tropical herps need high temperatures -- montane species or some of those in cooler forested areas for example don't (Jacksons chams or Rhacodactylus geckos are examples).
UVA does nothing for absorption of Vitamin D3, and neither does UVB. However, UVB will stimulate the cham's body to produce Vitamin D3 which is not a C vitamin, it's one of the D group, that's why it's called Vitamin D3, not C3.
Too much D3 can be fatal to chams, so don't use it with real UVB from sunlight or strong UVB lights, and don't supply D3 at every feeding no matter what the source is - from food or light.

[JdmAllMotorHatc]

exo 5.0

[vipervenom]

Calcium never expires? Wow, that is something new. I assumed all calcium did mainly because of the expiration date on my calcium (with vit D3). I stand corrected.

My apologies for not stating specifics with chams. Veileds do need the higher temps to digest food better. I completely agree, temps for a Veiled would do untold damage to many of the montane or leaf chameleons. I failed to mention I was talking about this specific cham and events.

I also didn't go into a whole lot of detail about the vit D3, thank you for clearing that up that DragnDrop.

I meant no harm, merely to educate, my apologies in advance should my post be taken the wrong way in any way at all.

[peterm15]

hey i thought both posts were great...

but ya 5.0 is good.. thats what im useing now, and an old 8.0 just for added light...

[vipervenom]

Sounds great!

[DragnDrop]

Originally posted by vipervenom
Calcium never expires? Wow, that is something new.

Nope, Ca stays Ca, never expires. It's one of the elements (I think #20 or so on the Periodic Table). It's one of the ingredients that Earth is made of, been around since the beginning. If it expired/degraded etc, there'd be very little or none of it left to be found in that form on Earth. :) Short of something like fission/fusion/molecular level nuclear type activity, it will stay Ca until the sun blows up.
The vitamins will degrade, they're chemical combinations which will eventually change, leaving you with less potent or even non-existent vitamins. That's what the expiration date refers to when you buy the a Ca/Vitamin combo. You have to use it up before the vitamin(s) start degrading. One of the best reasons to buy a small container - in this case, Super-size isn't the best deal ;)

[vipervenom]

I guess I should have listened in chemistry more! :P

Haha, I know what you mean! I purchase Rep-Cals vitamins and calcium and I had to dig around to find one with an expiration date I might get my moneys worth from.

[labomb]

why do they sell those vitamins in such big containers?:confused:

[vipervenom]

For people who have many herps.