The Veiled Chameleon: May 2005: A Trip to the Veterinarian

Hi,

My roommate has a male veiled chameleon (Toby), he's about 4-5 months old I think. His body is between 4 and 5 inches long, and Im worried he's in some trouble. Whenever he walks he shakes an awful lot and has trouble moving around sometimes, he's usually been very capable of movin around the tank (a 10 gallon). She feeds him a diet of mostly crickets that are powdered with a suppliment and fed Fluker's cricket quencher, and mealworms every few days, and I try to spray the plants in the tank 2-3 times a day with water cuz she's at work during the day. His veil or crown, I don't know the technical name for the thing on the top of his head has a slight curve in it too. I'm wondering what, if anything is wrong with him, and what we can do to make sure he stays with us.

Thanks

Hi Ryan,

Man, I hate to do this, but I'm going to become pessimistic right off of the bat. The chameleon is a goner. Your only chance is to get him to the veterinarian RIGHT AWAY (that's NOW - stop reading and GO) and get calcium treatments. Your chameleon has no bones left - that's the curve of the head casque, that's the problem with tremors.

Also, you mentioned that it's being kept in a "tank". That's a chameleon that is not being cared for properly (no chameleon should be in a tank), and a chameleon which is not being cared for properly is a dead chameleon (they are a delicate species). I apologize for sounding harsh, but someone else may be reading this in the future whom it will help before it's too late.

Honestly, though, there is nothing that you can do for your chameleon alone. A vet may help you save your chameleon, but I wouldn't count too much on that.

If you want to try for a second opinion, visit The Chameleon News - http://www.chameleonnews.com/ - and ask your question there (several email addresses available). I would be interested to find out if they say anything different from what I've said.

Good luck, and I'm sorry to have been a downer. :-(

--Jeff

How do you take care of the claws on a veiled chameleon. Do i trim them or does he? Please help.

I've searched the Internet, including "The Chameleon Journals" discussion list, for an intstance of anyone else asking this question, and I've not been able to find one. Neither is it a topic I've ever seen written about books or on care sheets. The best I've been able to find is advice on keeping things away from a chameleon that it could catch its nails upon - and one entry about someone who would put sand covered bird perch covers in his chameleon's cage (with no mention of whether it worked or not).

My answer is this: You don't trim its claws and neither does he. Chameleons are climbers - they need their claws to climb and to hold on. Further, they should not be handled - attempting to trim a chameleon's claws would severely stress it, it seems to me.

Perhaps you can elaborate on why you're asking?

Hi Jeff, my son has a 6/7 month old VChameleon. She is female, we are worried about her not having a mate and running the chance of when ready becoming egg bound. How old is typical for a female to lay eggs? Do you have a site or info that you can share with me regarding purchasing a male, and must I have one inorder to keep her healthy?? Thanks Jeff
Lydia/Joseph

Hi Lydia,

First, I am surprised that she hasn't laid eggs yet. You'll notice that my female, something like 2-2.5 months old, is already growing eggs.

Next, I am nothing like convinced that being unmated leads to egg binding. In fact, The Chameleon News lists that as one of their myths on their "Myths" page (strangely, The Chameleon News has disappeared from the Internet today; perhaps they have changed servers and they allowed the DNS to propogate before uploading to the new server; I don't know - but I'm sure it'll be back soon). Here's the link to their Myths page: http://www.chameleonnews.com/myths.html

Here is the relevant portion from the myths page:

-------------------------------------------------
Myth #9: An unmated female does
not require a laying site. A related
myth is that an unmated female will
die from dystocia (egg binding)
and must, therefore, be mated as
soon as possible.

Fact: All oviparous females, whether
mated or unmated, require a place to
lay their eggs. Failure to provide an
acceptable site can result in egg
retention (dystocia) and death.
Whether the eggs have been
fertilized or not is irrelevant. The fact
that many people believe that an
unmated female does not require a
laying site almost certainly led to
the associated myth that an unmated
female will necessarily die from
dystocia. The truth is that as long as
they are provided with a proper
laying site, unmated females will do
just fine. It needs to be emphasized
that a *proper laying site* is one
that includes privacy. Constant
observation of a female during the
process of digging and laying can
also lead to dystocia. That being
said, the stresses associated with
reproduction mean that the novice
chameleon owner is well advised to
begin with a male.
-------------------------------------------------

My suggestion would be to visit The Chameleon Journals -http://lists.topica.com/lists/chameleon_journals/ - join their mailing list. Once you've joined, you can participate in the discussions (which are all too few, I'm afraid), and get the benefit of the experience of lots of chameleon owners. In fact, right now there is a discussion about this very subject. From that discussion comes this quote from kingsnake.com:

-------------------------------------------------
Veiled can reach sexual maturity
very early, some authors report as
early 3 1/2 months, but 6 months is
more average. Just because the
animal is sexually mature at this age
does not mean she must be bred. It
has been stated in the literature that
female veiled chameleons who are
not bred will die egg bound carrying
infertile eggs. This falsity has been
perpetuated in the captive care
literature. It is thought currently that
egg binding is not caused
specifically by infertile eggs,
although it is true that female veileds
with infertile eggs become egg
bound more than females carrying
viable eggs. This evidence is of
course, anecdotal only. Excessive
feeding and lack of calcium, and lack
of a suitable egg laying site are all
thought to contribute to eggbinding
in veiled chameleons. Adult female
veiled chameleons should not be fed
all they want, their diet should be
restricted to 20-30 insects per week,
babies up to the age of 4-5 months
can be fed 30-40 (small) insects per
week.
-------------------------------------------------

Good luck, Lydia, and thanks for dropping by!

Hey Jeff,

I have a 5-6 week old CB Veiled about 3"-4" long. I have it in a small 12" Depth x 18" Width x 20" Tall Screened Reptarium. I have a UVB Fixture and a 50 Watt Halogen basking lamp. I also have a drip system that gets filled 2-3 times a day with warm spring water. It is filled with lots of climbing areas and fake leafy vines. I have his basking area 3"-4" away from the light and ample areas to thermoregulate. I have a few questions for you.
1: The timed lighting system turned off the other night, and when it came on the next day (12 hour cycle) he gaped his mouth a lot and he positioned himself hanging down from his vine and shook as if he was trying to regurgitate something. I also noticed him bulging his right eye. He also leans to one side when he is resting on his perch or vine. There is no yellow in his stool indicating dehydration or newly formed wrinkles of any kind. Is there any problems that you foresee or am I being an overprotective Veiled keeper?! He also seems not to like misting at all!
2: What size should he be to move him to a new cage? I am building a cage that will be 24" depth x 24" width x 48" Tall
3: I was also wondering about lighting. I was thinking of using 2 of the 8 and a half inch Compact UVB Mystic Fluorescent bulbs and fixture available at www.bigappleherp.com and a Repti Halogen bulb and reflector dome for heat, light and UVA rays also available at www.bigappleherp.com. These will go on top of my larger cage that I build. Will this lighting be more than sufficient? And where can I find rock walls or large pieces to decorate my Reptarium once it is done?

Hiya!

See my response on this entry: http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/weblog/archives/000160.html

You may also want to read my entry on what to consider before buying a veiled chameleon: http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/weblog/archives/000131.html

i just recently got a female veiled chameleon. She is almost done shedding but i noticed she has a thick piece of brownish dead skin haning from her foot. Ive been spraying her "house" with water 2x a day like i was told and it hasn't shown any sines of getting off f her foot. Should i continue to wait for it to come off itself or take a trip to the vet?

I have a veiled chameleon that is about 18 months old. When I got "HIM" I had asked for a male. My first question is how noticeable is the spur on the hind legs of a male. It looks like he has some extra skin there but not a lot. The reason I ask is a couple of days ago I came home and he had dug about 8" into the soil of his ficus planter, I wrote it off as him being bored and feared that the hole may cave in on him so I pulled him out. The next day he dug another hole, I'm starting to think I may have a female. I've read that they will lay eggs without having been mated and having heard the story of the birds and the bees so I take that the eggs are sterile, is this true. Does anyone have a picture of the spur of male, and should I put a box of sand in the cage or will they lay eggs in the soil?

Another side question, if your chameleon gets several hours of out door sun light, should you cut back on dusting the crickets with calcium?

Please help!!
Thank you
myktarvin@yahoo.com

Hi Mike,

There are photos of the spurs (and heels without spurs) on the care sheet page. From what I can tell, even on very juvenile little buggers, the spurs are easy to see. If you aren't sure, then you probably don't see them.

I'm amazed that your chameleon is digging in the soil. My first female wouldn't accept soil, and subsequently carried the eggs way too long - and it killed her (the suckers drained her dry of calcium). But maybe you should put sand in with her - it's better to be safe than sorry. Use playsand, not building sand, and make it damp enough that she can dig her tunnels.

With regard to calcium, I'll give you a couple of links:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/myths.html
http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm
http://www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/gutload.html

Notice that kale is in the suggested gutload mix. My veterinarian said to use kale as well. But if you read the second link, from the green iguana society, you can see that there is a significant problem with kale. I'll be avoiding it from here on out.

Here's an egg laying page as well:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2003/mar2003/eggs/egg_incubation.html

Molly,

Can you share more of the reasons why you're concerned about this bit of skin?

However, a trip to the veterinarian couldn't hurt. It'd probably be costly, by my hallucination is that not taking a chameleon in for an x-ray after the first couple of months of owning it could easily be even more costly. As you can tell from this post, I considered it important enough for me to do, and I'm still concerned. Chameleons are not hardy.

@Mike:

I didn't notice before I posted the above, but you said 18 months old??? If it does lay eggs, I'd like to read about it. I would've guessed that her first eggs would've come 'round about a year ago.

How long have you had it?

Jeff

I have the chameleon since Feb 04.

Hi, i have a veiled chameleon it well over 2 yrs old and its a female lately she has been sitting there with her mouth open (but not breathing heavily) i called the vet to find out what could that be because she has never done it before and of course all they say is to just bring her in the closest chameleon vet to me is about $200 just to walk her in the door so if theres anything you could think of to help that would be great !! thanx

Has she ever laid eggs?

"When the female displays gravid coloration remove her from the male's enclosure. Gravid displays include dark coloration, mouth gaping, and swaying in a threatening posture."

This is with reference to a Melleri chameleon:

"Exposure to higher temperatures will induce a heat stress response as indicated buy an overall lightening of coloration as well as possible gaping of the mouth. Precautions should be taken with any chameleons displaying this type of response and swift efforts made to lower the temperature of the chameleon."

This is with reference to a Jackson's Chameleon:

"The male is an opportunist and uses a head jerking display to continually check the females' state of sexual receptivity. An unreceptive female signals her lack of interest, turning dark, with gaping and rocking behavior."

Of any of those, I'd be concerned about the egg laying. Get sand or be surprised if she lives.

But I see people asking about gaping behavior frequently. And I see other chameleon owners answering that it's perfectly normal. When I see my chameleon gaping, it never occurs to me that anything might be wrong.

Thanks Jeff I ended up taking her anyways to the vet last night just to be on the safe side and she has internal parasites the vet says its normal for them to get then but she was counting 28 per slide which would have killed her in a couple of weeks i had xrays done and she has no eggs which is odd because she still hasnt laid any yet thanx anyways for the info !!! Great Site!!!

Ick.

What kind of parasites? Do you know?

Hi Jeff, Great site!!! I have a 3 to 4 month old female Veiled Chameleon. When should I put a container of sand in her tank for egg laying, or should I do that now? Thanks!

Hi Jeff, I haven't been able to find any growth charts on veiled chameleons. I'm guessing ours is 3 to 4 months, but would like to know for sure how young she is. We bought her at Pet's Mart, and they aren't given the hatchling dates and have no clue how old she is. Her body is about 4 inches long (not including her tail), if that helps. Thanks, Linda

Hi Linda,

How long have you had her? I've had my current chameleon since March 23rd and I'm about to put a container of sand in the bottom. (Incidentally, she's about 4 inches long without the tail as well - she was much smaller when I got her). I've chosen a good size enclosure which has me questioning myself about why I don't just keep one in there all of the time. I wonder if, maybe, it'd be unsanitary.

At any rate, I'd guess that if she's hanging out near the bottom of the enclosure a lot, she's probably looking for nesting places (I read that in a book). My last chameleon did that.

Hi Jeff,

My nephew surprised me with her on June 19, Father's Day.

So, how old is your chameleon now if she's about 4 inches long?

Do you know what size container to use and how much sand? Also, should it be damp?

My first veiled chameleon, Lillian, died on April 4, which I had for two years (she was 5 months old when I got her). My other nephew (their twins) had geckos, which when the novelty wore I stepped in to care for them, and found myself totally attached to lizards. I was totally confident in caring for Lillian and all was going well, and then suddenly I noticed she was closing her eyes a lot during the day and having trouble using her hind legs and tail. She also hadn't pooped in several days, so her belly was pretty big. I took her to the vet, he took an x-ray, and he said that there were no sign of eggs and that she did not have metabolic bone disease. He gave her an antibiotic shot and a calcium shot. This was on a Thursday, and by Monday, she seemed to be getting worse. I took her back, and this time he whisked her away to show her to the other vet, came back, and then whisked her away again to give her a shot of calcium. All this whisking about really stressed her, and when we got back home, she died an hour later. He never did diagnose what was wrong with her. He seemed knowledgeable, but I don't think the office cared for many Veiled Chameleons.

Thanks, for listening...I've been wanting to write you about losing Lillian to see if you or someone else might have experienced this. I was devastated, and wasn't sure if I could go through that again, so I held off getting another one. But my nephew knew how much I missed Lillian and got me another one. We've named her Jade. So far, so good.

I'm pretty sure that the growth rate of a chameleon varies considerably according to how much their fed. I am feeding the one that I have now considerably less that I fed her predecessor (I'm pretty sure, from reading, that her enormous clutch of eggs came about from eating a lot; both are very common with captive chameleons). Based upon how fast they seem to grow, though, I think mine was about a month old (or less) when I got her on March 23rd.

For a container of sand, I use one of those sort of tupperware types of drawers that are so popular now. It's about 15 long, 10 inches wide, and about 6 inches deep. Advice I've seen in the past is to have it at least 4 inches deep.

Wet or dry? Well, they *tunnel* in the sand, as opposed to just digging holes, so it needs to be wet enough that they can tunnel in there quite a ways without it collapsing on top of them. I've read to only use playsand, and *never* the type of sand that is used for building materials (such as cement). I do know of at least one person who makes a mixture of coconut substrate and sand for his chameleons.

I was pretty bummed out with my first experience with a veiled - it really bothered me when she died. I know how you feel about Lillian. Anyway, I try to make sure that my experience doesn't happen again by seeking out qualified information wherever I can find it. May I suggest that you search through the following two websites, and - even better - join the mailing list on the second link (it gets a reasonably small amount of mail, but very useful):

http://www.chameleonnews.com/
Chameleon Journals Mailing List

That last one is a very, very good place to ask questions. One person answers, another referrees that answer and gives another opinion. It's not formal, or anything, but it tends to be that way. Very worthwhile.

Can a Veil Chameleon live with any other reptile?

anole, green tree frog, bearded dragon??????

hi Jeff,
I have a veiled chameleon that is about 10-12 mos. old. I measured him today, he is 13 inches long from head to the end of his tail. He seems to have a hearty appetite, I feed him crickets (dusted in calcium and vitamins), mealworms, waxworms, superworms... and I also feed him dead prey: grasshoppers, silkworms, and snails (in the cans you get at a pet store). I have developed a trick for feeding him dead prey. I dip the refrigerated prey in calcium by holding it with tweezers, and then I hold him in my other hand and place my face close to his... causing him to open wide of course... Then I gently place the prey in his mouth, and he gobbles it down fast.
I water him by dripping warm water from the top of the screened in cage I have for him twice a day, and he seems to drink well. Just in case, once a week I place him on top my shower head and allow him to soak up the warm steam for hydration.
My question to you is this... My chameleon has missing spikes on his back ( about 4 or 5), that I believe were caused months ago because I sat him too close to the UV light...( I found out the hard way that anything closer than 10-12 inches is not good and can burn him).
Those spikes have not grown back fully yet.
Does this mean he never grow them back again? Im overprotective I know, but I want him to stay in top shape for breeding. Any hints?

Hi. I have a female veiled chameleon that's about a year, or almost a year, old. She's recently become ill and went from, what i thought was a healthy chameleon, to hanging from her branch by her two front legs. Her back legs are very weak and she has stopped using them. I immediately took her to the vet but the only vet nearby i could get to examine her did not seem to know much about chameleons. He thought it seemed liked a calcium deficiency and told me to feed her worms. I did that and she's gotten worse. Now I can't get her to open her mouth for me to feed her. She has a uv lamp and i've always fed her dusted, gut-loaded insects. She doesn't have any of the symptoms of metabollic bone disease, except for the weakness in her limbs.I haven't seen her lay eggs since ive had her, and ive just recently been informed about females becoming egg-bound. Im beginning to wonder if this problem could be a combination of the two, since egg bound chameleons are prone to calcium deficiency. The nearest reptile specialist is hours away from me and very expensive. Can you give me any advice? Sorry for the LONG story but i'm desperate!

Hiya...sorry to read about your troubles.

My advice to you, if you can't get to a qualified veterinarian, is to join the mailing list at http://lists.topica.com/lists/chameleon_journals/, then ask your question there. There are many qualified chameleon keepers and breeders there who can advise you.

Good luck!

Hi,
I have a male veiled chameleon approx 5-6 months old. I bought him a few months back and as of recently he tends to have his mouth open, i have gave it time thinking it might stop but he still does it. Its not to hot in there for him and he's got plenty of air circulation. Do you have any ideas why this could be? Also, i'v noticed my friends chameleon and other chameleons are always a lush green where mine is a darker kind of green/baige? any help would be great.
Cheers

Hi Jeff, I just wanted to thank you for your information a while back. I haven't been able to check out your site since then. Also, Jade is doing very well. How is your chameleon, and what is her name? Thanks, again for the helpful info.

Hi Linda! I'm glad Jade is doing well! I don't have much occasion to use a name for my chameleon, so I haven't paid that much to it. In fact, I've not thought about it since I made my last effort to choose a name about 3 months ago. I came up with "Fido". My girlfriend tells me that I need to choose a different name, one "that has some dignity". I still like "Fido", though.

Hi, I have a female veiled chameleon which I purchased July 18, 2005. The pet store did not inform me of her age and I plan to find that out asap. She is 8 1/4 inches. I spray her terrarium 2-3 times a day, but she has unfortunately not been eating for 2 days. I feed her a usual daily 6 crickets. It is unusual because the crickets crawl right on her and she does nothing. I wonder if perhaps I am feeding her too much or if she is sick. Before I take her to the vet I'd like to know if you believe anything suspicious of her behavior and if you can recommend a vet in Barrie, ON. Mine has NO idea what he is talking about ( he recently suggested I feed the crickets more greens for vitamins, and luckily I know that isn't a good idea ). Thank you so much, hope to hear a reply soon.

I have a Female Veield chameleon, Her name is Starla. i have read and done so much research to keep my pet in the best shape possiable, And just recently i read that they lay eggs with out being mated. She is about 12 inches long from head to tip of tail I have had her since january. im wondering do i need to set up a spot to lay eggs. or is it too late because of the age i need to know have i failed my beauty and what i need to do immedatly. please write back i need to know it will ruin me if i lost her.

Something is wrong wiht one of my veil was woundering if someone can help cant get to vet tell tomorrow email me i have picture he is get something around hes mouth

Hi Jeff,
I have a 5 1/2 month old Veiled Chameleon Female. Thursday evening I noticed her digging the bark in her cage and then I noticed she has a Prolapsed Rectum. I didnt know what to do, at the time we were having a hurricane (yes we live in FL) and then Friday the vets has no electric. Finally I found one that was open and rushed her there. She was not looking good. The Dr said that she may be eggbound but the he checked her and he said she wasnt. He did say she has 2 large masses possibly swollen kidneys. Do you know the cause for that and the remedy? Anyway I picked her up Sat afternoon and she has been stitched for the prolapse and they told me she is dehydrated. They told me what I needed to do to make her better. Shes been home for 1 day and she went to her waterfall today and ate some crickets. She looked good at 8am this morning but then by 3pm she was digging and dark(stressed) and skinny looking. I had to go out and then I came home about 830pm and she was green and up on a branch again. Do you maybe have any idea whats going on with her? I love her and dont want to die. you know I love her if i can spend 138.00 to have her fixed.. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know how to help with such a thing. All I can suggest is that you visit The Chameleon Journals - http://lists.topica.com/lists/chameleon_journals/ - and join their mailing list and ask your question there. I'm sure you'll get more than a few qualified answers.

I have kept a tub of playsand in my chameleon's pen since it was 3 months old - still no eggs and it's been months. My first chameleon laid eggs and died from metabolic bone disease (in part because of the eggs) earlier than that.

I think that the difference, from what I've gathered from other owners and breeders since, is that it depends upon temperature and how much females are fed. If you restrict their diets, they're less likely to lay eggs, and they're less likely to lay oversized clutches (as mine did). It would seem that overfeeding is the killer of females (well, really, it's just that they're egg factories, nothing more, so you just have to shut down production).

So it's anybody's guess whether your chameleon has egg problems or not. If you look up at the X-ray in this thread, you'll see plenty of eggs. they're still in there, and she's got opportunity to lay them. But she's not getting big like my last chameleon, and - incidentally - she's markedly better off in terms of bone structure, too (I've got better lights for her than I did for my previous chameleon, and I think I'm giving her much, much better food - in the form of crickets with much, much better gut load).

Hi Jeff. My female veiled, her name was Bernie, has just passed away from metabolic bone disease, but unfortunately because of bone deterioration and not her eggs. I suspect it was because of the pet store I bought her at, since her fin was already half-bent and they were trying to get rid of her ASAP. I took the best possible care of her and spent tremendous amounts of money getting her tongue amputated and paying for exams at the vet. I was thinking of going back to the pet store and asking for my money back, but don't know if I can ever buy another chameleon because of Bernie's death. What helped you get over your chameleon's death?

hey I have a male veiled and jus perchased a female but the only problem is i am not sure how old the female is i plan on breeding them in the future i was wondering if there is anyway you can figure out the age of a veiled by there size or body characteristics

I have a female veiled chameleon that I think is eggbound only I'm not sure becuase she did lay one egg. I put some sand in a reptarium for her with her heat lamp and uvb light and left her there for three days and she did nothing. Should I put her back with the sand or leave her be. She seems to be lathargic, skinny(I can see her ribs), she is dark all the time, drinks a little bit of water, and refuses to eat most of the time. She has been doing this for the last week and i don't know what to do? If you have any suggestions, please help.

She lives in tank that is 13in by 31 1/4 in. She has a leafy vine, a log, and a fountain for water. I mist at least twice a day, keep her uvb light on her for several hours and feed her crickets(which she seems to prefer over other insects) that are dusted in Herpacare cricket dust,and her tank is cleaned once a week.

I would be devestated if I lost her. I am hoping that she is just stressed and not eggbound. Should she see a vet?
thanks

@Sarah: If I were you, I'd take her to the vet. Without proper diagnosis, there's no way to know the proper treatment.

@everyone else: Sorry, I've not been available to respond to old threads recently. However, I when I have a chance I'll post responses (which will be soon).

Hi Jeff, When you get a chance, I was curious to know what type of supplements you use and how often you dust the crickets. Thanks, Linda.

Hiya Linda,

I use Rep Cal vitamin powder: http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/cgi-bin/newfront/link.cgi?af=pm&pd=repcalvitamins - and Rep Cal calcium: http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/cgi-bin/newfront/link.cgi?af=pm&pd=repcalcalcium

I rarely use them. The only time that I do use them is when I've not been able to gut load the crickets (i.e., when I've just brought them home from the store). I suspect that I use powder 2 or 3 times per month.

At present, my chameleon is near the point of laying her eggs for the first time, and she's developed a swelling under her chin. The most common reason given on other webpages that I've found for this swelling (edema) is over supplementation with vitamin A. Since I nearly never supplement, that's ruled out. However, the cricket's gut load (all natural, made by me, and not commercial) may be a bit high in vitamin A, but according to the veterinarian (visited last Friday), the swelling is probably not caused by vitamin A. Right now, the most likely culprit has to do with the state of her pregnancy (sort of like how human females get weird health problems during pregnancy).

I mention that only because I want to highlight a problem that comes up with over-supplementation (which seems to be much more common than under), and also to point out that my methods aren't giving exactly perfect results (so maybe my methods ought not be mirrored precisely). At any rate, you can read more about my chameleon's current problem here: http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/weblog/archives/000218.html

Now that I've visited the veterinarian and I've got pictures of her current x-rays, I'll be updating that topic (with a new entry). If you're interested, look for it in a day or two.

Here's the update: http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/weblog/archives/000222.html

Hey Jeff,

Thanks so much for the info. on supplements.

Wow, I just read your log on your Chameleon's neck swelling. It makes sense that the swelling is most likely caused by her pregnancy. I sure hope she lays her eggs soon without a hitch and the neck swelling will right itself. You're handling it very well--I would be freaking out.

BTW, that's a great picture of her. She looks very healthy otherwise. Now, don't you think after all of this that she is deserving of a name?

Actually, I was freaking out for the past few weeks because Jade hadn't pooped in two weeks. We recently moved, but she seemed to adjust to the new place quickly. So I was able to rule that out, so the other thing was that I had gotten her new supplements. I was using T-Rex Dust specifically for Chameleons, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So, I picked up this one:

T-Rex 2:1 Cal/Phos Reptile Supplement
2:1 Calcium Phosphorus is a powdered supplement with vitamins for herbivorous lizards, turtles and tortoises. T-Rex 2:1 provides both minerals and vitamins in one easy to use product. 2:1 is designed for use with herbivorous reptiles whose vegetable diets may lack phosphorus and calcium. Scientifically formulated to provide the proper 2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus required by these animals.

That's why I was asking you what dust you use because I think (no, I know) that I caked the crickets, not dusted. I think this might have affected her in a bad way. When I got home yesterday, she had finally pooped. It was not a pretty site. This morning she seemed to be more active, so I was very, very happy to see that.

I feed the crickets the following. Maybe I can cut back on the dusting? I usually dust them about three times a week.

- Fluker's® High Calcium Cricket Feed
Designed for gut-loading crickets to increase
their vitamin/mineral content prior to offering
them as prey.

- Green Leaf Lettuce

- A small amount of dried oatmeal

- A moistened sponge for water (cheap and easy
source for water)

- Sometimes, I throw a small amount of this, but
the crickets usually don't touch it:
Fluker's Orange Cube Complete Cricket Diet
This concentrated vitamin and mineral formula
is a primary food source for feeder insects.

Do you think this is sufficient?

I hope all goes well and your Chameleon (who needs a name after all of this :)) has a speedy recovery.

Take care and good luck.

Hi Linda,

The best I can do is to share with you what my veterinarian has shared with me. But first I'll just comment on the supplement dust from what I've learned reading on the Internet.

The type of dust you're describing uses pre-formed vitamin A. It is this type of vitamin A which is usually reported as the suspected cause of edema. The Rep-Cal Herptivite multivitamins and the Rep-Cal calcium come in separate jars because, among other reasons, it has beta carotene instead of vitamin A in the multivitamin powder. According to the label, if it were mixed with calcium, the calcium would damage the beta carotene. Beta carotene is converted to vitamin A in our bodies (and, presumably in a chameleon's body as well; that'd make sense, 'cause I'm not sure that pre-formed vitamin A exists in nature [I could be very wrong about that]). Also, such as in the case of my chameleon with her neck swelling, an owner may want to skip the vitamins all together and only give calcium. That sort of thing.

But that brings us to the gut load. I've noticed that the more experienced, and thus the more likely to be termed an "expert", a chameleon enthusiast is, the more likely they are to say that supplements need not be used at all if the chameleon is properly gut loaded, and that if you're not properly gut loading, then the supplements probably aren't going to help. According to my veterinarian, this is also the case. I've found on my scours of the Internet that over supplementation is more commonly reported to cause problems than under supplementing. That's why I only do it 2 or 3 times per month.

So next we get to a proper gut load. After my first appointment with my present chameleon (which was very young) to its veterinarian, I told him about my former chameleon. I also told him what I was feeding my crickets at that time - which turns out to be almost EXACTLY what you're feeding yours. I've only had one other chameleon, and my first died of severe metabolic bone disease. My best guess is that the problem was brought on by inadequate UVA/UVB lighting (my present chameleon's enclosure is thus flooded with it!). But the gut load was highlighted to me by my veterinarian.

He said that he constantly gets one extremely dedicated, extremely conscientious person with a sick lizard into his office right after another, each of which thinks that they're taking excellent care of their pets because they're reading labels on pet products and listening to pet store employees. And they do exactly like what I was doing. He said that commercial gut loads and supplements are virtually useless because they're not organically produced. He compared it to feeding a child Wonder Bread and multivitamins, pointing out that it just wouldn't work.

Now, you'd think that if he's right, then the makers of the gut loads would go out of business, right? Well, the thing is, the gut loads feed crickets, and crickets feed pets. Many pets rely heavily upon the gut load, whereas many other pets rely heavily upon the meat of the crickets. The easier and more hardy lizards would be doing well with the crickets without any gut load at all (I suspect that leopard geckos may be in this category, for example). But "advanced animals" (i.e., less hardy, ones that require more dedication and education from their owners), such as chameleons, aren't going to do well with that. Thus the commercial gut loads do well because of: A) they're okay for a lot of common pets, and B) they've got excellent marketing.

So he told me to put away the Fluker's gut loads and not feed them to my crickets. I've still got my jar, but I've not opened it in six months. (I've also read that corn, which is a significant part [to my recollection] of the Fluker's cricket feed is very difficult for chameleons to digest.) He also told me that the calcium in the "Cricket Quencher", made by Fluker's, was useless, but I still use it because it's simple and easy water for the crickets - and I don't know of any way that it'd hurt. I've been intending to buy sponges for plain water, though, like you.

He then told me what to use for a gut load. He said that the following was all that was necessary, that I'd never need anything else: kale, collard greens, endive, and dandelion greens. That's it, nothing else. He seemed to emphasize "nothing else", as if that was important. So, I questioned him about things that I'd been feeding the crickets, and things that I'd considered feeding them:

Lettuce? No - it's just crunchy water without any appreciable quantity of nutrients at all.

Carrots? No. I don't remember if I asked why.

Oranges? Apples? No, stay away from fruit, as it tends to be low in the kind of nutrients that chameleons need.

Potato? No.

Spinach? Absolutely not. Although it is high in calcium, it's full of "oxalates" which inhibit the absorption of calcium, and would prevent calcium from other sources being absorbed.

I asked about other things, but I can't remember right now off of the top of my head. But those "oxalates" intrigued me, so I searched the Internet for an explanation of them and I found this page: http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm

It is from that chart that I chose my cricket food. I even eliminated kale from consideration (something the vet recommended) because of its moderately-high concentration of oxalates. I use dandelion greens, collard greens, watercress, and endive. And I'll tell you this: The crickets EAT EVERY LAST BIT OF IT. The crickets spent time in their dish when I gave them Fluker's, but they sure didn't eat it all, and they avoided certain ingredients in it as well. AND, Fluker's seems to be what they're fed at the pet store. This is important because, when I bring them home and dump them into my container with my home made gut load, they IMMEDIATELY pile on to my gut load and GORGE themselves. They just aren't all that impressed with the Fluker's. In addition, I also give them bee pollen and egg yolk, because of what I read on this link: http://www.adcham.com/html/husbandry/gutload.html

My current chameleon's bone structure is excellent, which is a relief to me after my last dying from metabolic bone disease at about the same age as is this one. So what's made the difference? The lighting? Or the gut load? Or both? Who knows. But I'm not going to argue with success at this point (except to cut down on vitamin A with the chameleon until that swollen neck goes away!).

Incidentally, I had the same experience with that Fluker's orange cube stuff - the crickets wouldn't touch it.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks so much, for the much needed information.

That's it! I'm going to gut load the crickets using the greens you mentioned, watercress, and try to find the bee pollen and dried egg yolk.

The sponges work great. I picked up a package of I think about 10 from the dollar store and cut them into smaller pieces to fit in the cricket keeper. Usually, you have to moisten them every other day and replace them when you can no longer bear touching them.

BTW, how often do you change your UVB bulb? 6 - 8 months or so?

Those Chameleons are comical creatures, eh? Here's one for ya. I tried putting sand in a half log (the one's you buy at Pet's Mart) upside down, of course, and stapled cardboard to the sides of it. I thought this would be a great idea because of it being real tree bark, right out of nature. Well, when I put it in Jade's tank, she froze and wouldn't take her eyes off of it. This went on for hours. She was sitting up on her branch and was not moving, not even her eyes. I put my hand near her to see if she would move or walk away. Instead, she played opossum and fell off her branch to the bottom of the cage and laid there playing opossum. So, there went my great idea of using something natural for sand. As soon as I removed it from her tank, she was back to normal. I haven't tried anything since, but I must try something else...I'm getting worried that she might need it. I think I'll try introducing a small container and gradually increase the size and see how she handles that.

So, still no name...after everything that she's gone through and still is going through...

Linda, I'm glad Jade suffered no ill effects from her fall! I noticed you said you put the log thingy (cute idea!) in Jade's tank. Is she in a glass aquarium? If so, and if she is older than 3-4 months you should probably consider moving her to a suitable screen enclosure.
As for the UVB bulbs, it's recommended they be changed every 5-6 months.
Good luck with a laying box! Maybe try a large bucket with play sand or a fertilizer-free potting soil mixed with sand.

Hi Laura, Yes, me too! No, I have her in a mesh tank, so all set there. I thought it was a great idea to use something that was natural than plastic, but I think it was too big for her tank. I put in a much smaller plastic container, and amazingly enough, she didn't seem to mind this one one at all. I'm waiting to see some footprints in it, but she hasn't climbed on it yet.

Here's an update on over supplementing. I can say from my experience (may not apply to everyone that uses supplements) that over supplementing has adverse affects. As I had mentioned earlier, Jade was constipated for two weeks, which worried me greatly. All we have to go on for making sure that our chameleons are doing well is observing daily that they eat, drink, eliminate and are active. So, when she finally went, it was a considerable amount, but she appeared to be fine. The next day, she went again (again I was very relieved.) The third time, I noticed there was blood in her stool and some smeared on her branch. It was alarming to see the blood, but she again seemed to be doing fine (more relief.) So, I felt awful for causing her so much discomfort for at least three weeks when I thought more was better.

Hi i have a 8month female Vchameleon called spyro n am looking for some1 who lives by me with a male chameleon so i can mate her iv heard your not ment 2 keep males and females together so i think this will work out beter. i live on the wirral in england. Thank-you kate & spyro x

jus thought id show her off!!

Hiya Kate!

Have you tried www.photobucket.com? They allow free hosting of pictures on the Internet. :-)

Thank-you jeff!! would jus like 2 say ur site has been a great help!!! love kate & spyro x

hi, we bough a veiled chameleon about a month ago and now it won't eat anymore and he's always digging at the bottom... but it's a male... what should we do?

@Kate: Thanks. :-D

@Christina: Male digging is not an uncommon report, but I can't remember anything that's been said about it, other than to make sure that it is, in fact, a male, perhaps even treating it as if it's a female.

I suggest that you visit the following link, join the mailing list, and ask your question. In fact, you might find the answer by searching the archives. Good luck!

http://lists.topica.com/lists/chameleon_journals/

So does any1 live by the wirral who has a male vChameleon jus my female is coming in2 season soon. Or is there a site i can join that deals wid dis? Also did u get my pic of Spyro? Kate & Spyro x

My brother-n-laws chameleon has something coming out of his rectum, that must have dried coming out, because he says its still there and has crusted to the outer skin. They have tried to make a vet appointment and the specialist can't see him until next Tuesday. Last night he said there was a little bit of blood coming out. Could he be constipated? He put him in a humid cage hoping that it would loosen it up, but it didn't seem to help. Do you have any idea what could be going on here? Thank you,

Hi!
Enjoy your website,have a question, would like answer posted on your website. 1 1/2 year old given to us by a friend of a friend. We are having to hand feed him b/c his tongue is nothing more than a blob that hangs out of his mouth when he attempts to feed. He can catch a cricket but not enough to fill him up or to keep his weight at an ideal level.Is this a conginital abnormality or is this something that we should consult a vet about? He [yes, it is a he] is very friendly and doscil, we enjoy him very much but want him to be happy and healthy also, please reply. Thanks, skeetfrog4888@bellsouth.net

@Megan: I don't know what that would be, but I do know that a common remedy for constipation in lizards is to put them into a warm container of warm (not hot nor cold!) water, maybe a half-inch deep, to soak. I'm not sure how willing a chameleon would be to put up with that, however.

If it is constipation, it almost certainly comes from dehydration. This is a common problem with chameleons. Most chameleon owners also own a small tree which they put into their shower two-to-four times per week, then allow a very slow warm (not hot nor cold!) shower to shower the tree for 30-60 minutes. The chameleons love it, they get plenty to drink, and they get very very wet. That'd probably help with your chameleon's problem. I've never had a single instance of showering my chameleon in which it didn't deficate at least once.

@Donna: If that were my chameleon, I'd be taking it to the vet in a hurry. It could be an infection, or something else which may cause further problems later.

That being said, sprained tongues are not uncommon with chameleons. Here's a link which you might find helpful:

http://www.chameleonnews.com/year2002/sept2002/questions_sept2002/just_ask_sept_02.html#Anchor-Wh-62898

Hi, my name is Mary and a couple of days ago i bought a vieled chameleon and he is doing well, but he is somewhat a brown coloration, on top of his natural green. Is this a bad sign?

thanks,
mary.
P.S, I have a cockatiel as well, and a chameleon. Nice Cockatiel.

Hi Jeff,

I'm definitely going to try the spa method for hydration especially now because I'm certain Jade has a problem with constipation. When I had Lillian, she used to drink out of her water fall and deficate any where from 4 to 5 times per week. Jade is going at a rate of every two weeks. I thought it was because I was dusting the crickets too heavily, but I see from your web log that it is most likely from dehydration. Do you know what the normal frequency is? Thanks!

P.S. Any name yet?

My chameleon dumps a huge load at least once per day.

I don't know what you mean by a "spa method", but if you're referring to soaking the chameleon in a bath, that's just a temporary fix which helps a chameleon go to the bathroom. It does nothing to actually hydrate the chameleon.

The big issue with dehydration is long term organ damage. A chameleon may look very healthy, and not dehydrated at all, but slowly and surely its organs are being damaged, until one day, the symptoms show up and it's too late. That's why I've finally taken the advice of most other successful chameleon keepers and have started putting my chameleon in a tree in the shower for at least a half-hour 3-4 times per week.

By "spa method", I mean to put her in a tree in the shower. I've been misting her tank heavily and gently misting her, but I haven't seen her go after any water droplets on the leaves. That surely sounds like the best way to keep them hydrated. Thanks so much for the information.

BTW, are you using a Ficus tree in the shower?

Yes, I use a ficus tree. I put its pot in a kitchen garbage bag and then I pull the top of the bag as high up the trunk as I can, then I tie it very very tightly around the trunk in an effort to seal it and keep the water out.

You are keeping your chameleon in a *tank*? How tall is this tank? How long has your chameleon been in a tank?

Good idea! I was wondering what to do about protecting the soil. Yes, she's in a mesh tank and has been since June 2005 when I got her. It's a horizontal tank, so not very tall.

When I had Lillian, I used to let her climb in my hanging Pothos that hung near a window throughout the year. In the summer, I let her get sunlight by letting her climb in the Sunflowers. We have since moved, and I had left all of my hanging plants and Ficus, so now I've lost that option of letting her be free of her tank and climb. I would really like to get a tall tank now. How tall is yours and approximate cost?

@Linda: Mine is a 29x29x60 reptarium. Various sizes and prices on reptariums can be seen here: http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/cgi-bin/newfront/link.cgi?af=pm&pd=reptarium Is this what you're using? Is it a horizontal model of one of those? They have horrible, horrible zippers. If they had good zippers, I'd be singing their praises to high heaven. But by skimping on the cost of a good zipper, they make the things almost undesirable. (You threw me with the term "tank", which I generally expect to mean something than can be used to hold water - thus it would be air and water tight.)

Tall is the big deal for chameleons. Mine spends most of its day near the top of the enclosure, then at night it climbs near the bottom. It gives a nice temperature gradient from the top to the bottom which the chameleon may use to regulate body temperature.

Sorry, about the confusion in tanks. We had Geckos before and they were in an aquarium with sand, so I keep using "tank."

Fortunately, when I bought my first Veiled, the guy who helped me at Pet's Mart seemed very knowledgeable about the type of tank (mesh not glass) and all the accompanying setup gear. However, I'm not sure if the store carries bigger than what I have. I don't remember now what size I have. I'll have to measure it tonight.

Yes, it has the horrible zipper on top. I've had it for over 2 years now, and the zipper still works fine. Although, I have to cut off stray strings from time to time to keep the zipper from snagging.

I see the size that you have is not on the website. Did you order it online? Do you know if the tall reptariums are available only online, or can you buy them at Pet's Mart, Petco, etc.?

About the zipper...being your reptarium is 5 feet tall, where is the zipper located? Also, do you then use extension cords for the lighting above? I use a timer for the heat and UVB lights, which are plugged into a power saver. Or, the waterfall is plugged into the power saver. Don't remember which it is. It was a little tricky figuring out the safest way to plug everything in, so that's always a concern too.

Hello. I have a 3-4 year old female veiled. She has not gone to the bathroom for 2 weeks. A week ago, I did find a very miniscule amount of urate and feces, but it does not add up to the volume she is consuming. I suspect she is constipated, and I wanted to know how to treat this. I have made an attempt to mist her cage more for longer times each day. Someone suggested Pedialyte for dehydration, but how much should I give her? Any ideas? Her belly is big, and she has a white patch around her vent (as if its being stretched)

Thanks.

Hi Kittiekat: The best I can offer is what I already said above: I do know that a common remedy for constipation in lizards is to put them into a container of warm (not hot nor cold!) water, maybe a half-inch deep, to soak.

If it is constipation, it almost certainly comes from dehydration. This is a common problem with chameleons. Most chameleon owners also own a small tree which they put into their shower two-to-four times per week, then allow a very slow warm (not hot nor cold!) shower to shower the tree for 30-60 minutes. The chameleons love it, they get plenty to drink, and they get very very wet. That'd probably help with your chameleon's problem. I've never had a single instance of showering my chameleon in which it didn't defecate at least once.

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for the advice. I will try putting her in the shower and putting the shower head on mist. I just hope she dosent freak out cause she's never expereinced that before. I gave her some pedialyte at the advice of a veiled breeder, in conjunction with the shower mist, I hope everything will be ok! Thanks again!

Dear Breeder,

I am in dire need of assistance. My Veiled Chameleon (Female) is certain to lay infertile eggs soon. I don't have the money to buy the tub which she needs to lay them in... I need to know what type of sand is best... What substitutes can I use for an egg site? She is 1 year 1 month and 3 weeks old. Please help...

Well, I'm not a breeder, but I have had some experience with this. My previous chameleon went straight to digging and laid her eggs right away when I gave her sand. The type of sand to use is the type of sand that people put into "sand boxes" for their kids to play in. At hardware stores, such as Home Depot, it's labeled "playsand". You DON'T want to use the kind of sand that is used by masons for mixing concrete.

I know other people who have mixed playsand 1/2 and 1/2 with coconut fiber ( http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/weblog/archives/000152.html ). That's what I've given to my current chameleon, but, with any luck, she'll never need it!

Hi Jeff,

Because of all the helpful information that you've provided, Jade is getting a bigger home. I just ordered the 100 gallon reptarium online. I bought a 65 gallon (the largest they carry in the store) from Pet's Mart yesterday, but I returned it today and decided to go bigger. I also put her in the shower this morning, and she absolutely loved it. I can't thank you enough for all your research and much needed information to be able to provide the best possible environment for her health and well being. I also purchased the substrate to help in providing more humidity and the weed blocker to keep her from ingesting any of it. I've also increased the time I mist her tank and have seen an immediate improvement in her behavior.

I can't wait until her new, expansive home arrives, and I get it all set up. I'm having trouble at this time of the year finding a Ficus tree, though. All the Ficus plants I've found are the shrub type and are too large. I have one more Home Depot to try, though.

I've always forgotten to ask this question. Do you know how many hours to keep the lights on? I've read about 12 hours or less. Does that seem right?

Thanks, again.

P.S. I printed out your section on substrate and showed your setup to my nephew. He thought it rocked!

I went to Home Depot to get the floor tile, but they don't carry it. Do you know where I can get it or what else might be good to use to line the floor? BTW, is it made out of vinyl or carpet? Thanks!

@Linda: My thought is that the Multy-Tile is made of rubber. I have read a post (on another website) by someone else that it's made out of recycled vinyl. I've also read two posts on two other websites where people have said that they got it at Home Depot (I can't find it at their online store). Maybe if you printed out the photo of it and showed it to a few employees, one of them might have a light bulb come on in his or her head.

Also, if I type "interlocking modular tile" into a search engine, I get all kinds of other options (other brands). Quite a few of them wouldn't be suitable, because they don't have holes in them, but there's lots of brands that do have holes (which allow the substrate to dry underneath). Showing an employee the photos of what Multy-Tile is might give her an idea of a similar product that they do carry.

It's weird that it's so difficult to find...but it is.

Jeff, Thanks, for the info.! I did bring the picture of the Multy-Tile on your website and showed it to a guy in the flooring dept. at Home Depot, but he said they don't carry anything like that. When I told him what I was going to use it for, he suggested I go to a pet shop in the area that also carries reptiles to see if they have something that can be used or suggest something that can be used. There are several other Home Depot's in the area that I can try too. Also, I still have had no luck finding a Ficus tree either. However, I did pick up a beautiful Marble Queen Pothos from Home Depot. I've been using that to put Jade on in the shower. I put the Pothos on a small plastic garbage can that is turned upside down out of the direct spray of the shower, so all the soil doesn't go down the drain. That seems to be working for now. If I can't find a Ficus tree, I'm going to try to find a medium size, inexpensive fake tree to use. This way, I don't have to worry about protecting the soil. Her new larger home should be arriving any day now. I can't wait to set it up and create more chameleon highways (saw that term on a link posted on your page) for her to climb about.

Hope all is well with your chameleon.

My male veiled chameleon is at the vet. When I went to feed it at lunch he was on the bottom of the cage "frozen". Not cold frozen but his muscles had locked up. Took him to the vet they are going to keep him overnight for observations but their first guess is vitamin defeciency. He has a 7% UV light. His crickets are gut loaded and I put Reptical Vitamin and Calcium supplement on them. My female, same conditions, seems perfectly fine, and she laid two clutches of eggs. I have noticed a decrease in appetite in the male for the past couple of weeks. Any body with ideas?

Hi Jeff
I have a veiled chameleon, not sure on age but at least a yr, who we got for free because it was a rescue mission. The people who had it before, there kids were playing with it like it was there toys. Ive had her now for 4 mnths and shes been fine, except for the odd digging around in the bottom of the cage. A couple of nights ago my wife came to me asking if i had seen her and what is happening to her. We asked around and found out she has a prolapsed rectum. We were told to use sugar water on it so it will go back in. It was twice the size of a grape, and is now the size of a grape. It was getting better, but now she is trying to deficate at the same time, and it is pushing it back out. I am constantly giving her water, and putting the sugar water on her rectum. Is there anything else you could suggest i do. I cant take her to the vet, there is only one who can do anything, and they are expensive, and i have no money to do anything. What can i do?

@Dwight: I have no answer for you. I'm sorry.

@the others - I'm in a bit of a hurry and can't answer right away. I shall respond when I get free time.

my chameleon has been acting strange the last week or 2 she has been coming on to the ground alot which she doesnt usually do and has got a really big stomach.i got her when she was young and since then she hasnt been with a male but then i read the comment on when you found out how your chameleon was pregnant now i think she is pregnant. how can i be sure?
CHAMELEONS RULE

@mark: She is. They're born...er, hatched...pregnant. If she doesn't have a place to lay eggs, she's going to die.

hi jeff
i have a 8 month old male veiled chameleon.Im leaving you this comment today because he has something hanging out of his rectum.I asked the guy at the pet store what it might be but all he could tell me was to watch it for a few days its been 3 days already.I really love my chameleon and dont want nothing to happen to him so i was wondering if you can tell me what mite be wrong. The thing hanging out his rectum isnt poop because its not yellow. Its about a half inch long and its red in color.Anything you mite know can help thanx alot jeff.

Hi jeff,
My veiled chameleon is about a year and a half old, and lately I've been noticing that the end of his tongue is enlarged and he is having trouble catching his food with it. Does he have a tongue infection, and if so what do I do for him?
Thanks for your help,
Andrea

Hi Jeff
You seem to have tons of info about Veiled Chameleons.
My wife has a female about 1 year old that started to go to the bottom of her cage ,about 1 week ago, we placed a container with substate in it for her to lay eggs. She was going down there but now is very weak and stays down there on the bottom. we found a yellow pile on the bottom of the cage and a thick white film on her rectum about three days ago.
She didn't lay any eggs on and hasn't pooped in a couple days and doesn't seem to be eating.

I see posting about both eggbound and dehydrated and wonder if she is now dehydrated. We have a drip system that constintly drips H2O down some leaves in her cage and found her on top of the screen on the rubbermad container that catches the water.

Scott

Jeff also you mention about showers and we were told not to allow them to drink tap water and to let the water being used for her to sit for a couple days before use.

Scott

hey i'm having a very hard time setting up my chameleons tank i have have some ideas of wat it will look like but thenn on the other hand i'm lost so do u no any good website that would show me some tank setups or/ can u send me some pics?

hey i was just wondering if u were going to send me any pic or list out any websites. thanks in advanced

Thomas

The best chameleon website I know is http://www.chameleonnews.com.

I, personally, have very few answers to give anyone about chameleons. I'm one of the disoriented many, not one of the enlightened few.

Hi I have a female veiled chameleon and she has not eaten since February 11th and it is now the 21st. I have been trying to feed her but she will not eat. I phoned the pet store and they told me to give her electrolytes to keep her hydrated. I have been giving her Pedialyte with electrolytes for the past 5 or 6 days now and she will drink it and seems to like it, however she will not drink from her own waterfall so that is the only way she gets anything to drink. She seems constipated and will not poop. She stays higher up on her vines and hammock which is directly under her heat lamp. I phoned the vet and they also said just to keep her hydrated and that her tank might not be a good habitat. She is in a very big tank with a screen top and has all the other necessary stuff for lighting, etc. I feed her crickets and mealworms and sometimes butterworms. I asked the people at the pet store if that type of tank would be good enough and they said it would be but the vet seems to think differently. She is approx. 7-8 months old now and is about 6" long. I dont kow what else I should do and I dont know why she is this way, please help!!!

Hi Shawna,

It's just amazing, really. Your post and the posts of so many others demonstrate a complete lack of having done homework on the pet BEFORE acquiring it. In short, OF COURSE the chameleon isn't drinking from its waterfall. Sometimes chameleons do drink from sources like bowls and waterfalls, but you can be sure that if they are drinking from those sources, then they are severely dehydrated. My advice: take the waterfall out of the cage. Why? Not because of its effect upon the chameleon, but because of its effect upon you; i.e., you'll stop thinking that you're actually providing your chameleon with water.

So how should you hydrate your chameleon? The answer to that question is on, oh, just about every website about chameleons on the Internet including this one (and I suspect that none of them say to use a waterfall).

ps: I don't mean to be picking on you. I'm just...amazed. Another example: keeping a chameleon in a *tank*. What the heck? You can hardly find an information site on chameleon husbandry that doesn't say to not use a tank. Yet, scrolling through the questions and comments on this weblog, I find over-and-over-and-over-and-over again "Is my TANK big enough?" "What kind of lighting should be in her TANK?" "How big should her TANK be?"

Anyway, I've got to go now. My dog has outgrown her tank and I need to go get her a new one. Also, can anyone tell me why my dog seems sick and unhappy? I water her with a spray bottle and give her plenty of spinach each and every day! Please help!!!

Hiya everyone, looks like its getting a bit tense in here so thought i'd lightn things up and let you know how my babys doin. my chameleons name is spyro and shes nearly 1year bless! All is well with her and she makes me laugh with her habbits. her cage is in my bed room so when im at work she can chill but shes fasanated with the telly, when i have it on she comes right to the frount and watches it and when i turn it off she looks really gutted as she walks back amongst her ficus benjamina tree, which looks a bit bare in parts because she scoffs it, so the trees looking a bit sorry for its self. anyway i could go on forever about how great chameleons are but i gess you all know! keep loven ya funky rolly eyed buddys a! love kate & spyro x

Hi,I purchased my first chameleon a three months ago at a reptile show and although I had 2 female leopard geckos that I have owned for 4 years. This year I bought a male and a nother female to start breeding them. So I have a some knowledge with reptiles at least I thought so. My Cham was a baby only month old when I got him and he was doing great until a couple of weeks ago. I noticed that he was constantly pacing the cage and climbing up and down his branches as if he was looking for something and he could not find it. After observing him one night for a long time I decided to move him close to a window were he could get more brightness he already had 2 lamps with a Exo Terra sunglo 50W bulb in each one but he seemed more at ease when I put him by the window.

And I thought everything was good. Wrong He has started to swell around the neck and today I even saw some swelling around the eyes and he seems a bit lethargic lately. I have read all the postings. Of course I am the kind that will not do research unless I need to. My wife gets angry when I don't ask for directions until we have been lost for a long time.

Any way I have gathered a lot of information now and I know what to do. No powdered insects, gutload with the right stuff, a lot water available (which he already had)and have started to add some superworms to his diet. What I would like to know is if there is anything else that I can do to speed up his recover or to avoid him getting any worst. I was dusting his crickets twice a week for the three months that I have had him. And the crickets were being fed mostly multigrain bread, corn meal and some fruit.(which I have now changed to collared greens and bee pollen). Will the excess vitamins continue to affect him and make him worst, since I had him on this diet for so long or will they loose the effect as soon as I change his diet. In others words what can I expect, him to get to get worst before he gets better or will he just get better from here?

hi.i have a female veiled chameleon that i got about three months ago, so i think shes about 6 months old. she is about 5 inches long and is as fat as a cow. i dont think im over feeding her so she might have eggs, but i dont know. ive noticed letely ALL she does is sleep and now, i think it has become a problem. i think she might be sick because when she does open her eyes they are squinted. sometimes though, she snaps out of it and acts like she is just fine. i work at petsmart and got some "electolites" because i thought she might be dehydrated. i gave them to her orally today and then a tiny black secretion came out of her mouth. strange. Can you help me at all? im really really worried.

I dont no how to trim my iguana's nails do i use something special??

JUSTIN--To Clip iguana's nails-First, make sure your iguana is as relaxed as you are going to get him/her to be. Having two people work on this task is helpful, but one can do it alone if need be. If you have a partner, one person should hold the lizard with both hands, one around the neck and front area, and the other in front of the hind legs. The other person, using a clean reptile (cat, rabbit, etc.) claw clipper (found in most pet stores) then clips off the sharp pointed TIP on the claw. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO CUT INTO THE BLOOD VESSEL!!!! Using a bright light behind your iguana allows you to look through the nail and show you where the blood vessel starts. Don't cut all the way up to it, leave a little bit of room from where it becomes visible to where you cut. Cutting into the blood vessel will hurt your iguana and upset him, which could result in injury to the both of you. kate & spyro x

Please help
my male wont open his left eye. The only times he does is when his eye gets wet. What do i do about this

Eye problems can be early signs of sinus/respiratory infections or nutritional problems. Look for enopthalmia, which is usually an indication of dehydration/emaciation. Eyes problems can also be caused by the sap of a plant or cricket powder. what ever it is it can turn in to a serious infection so its best to go the vet or you could ring them and ask for advice there. good luck Kate & Spyro x

Hi jeff this is sam my female veild chameleon just died from laying her eggs. we were giving her a place to lay them giving her some calcium and mixing it with babby food. she was laying about four a day for about 1week then one morning we woke up and she was laying down so my mom got ready to take her to the vet when she was ready she was dead. what should we have done. sam

hi jeff this is sam my mom wants to get a male but that means buying a bigger cage what should i do sam

hi my mom told me i can get a female chameleon if i can get all the info i need to have a female chameleon so im looking for any info that is very helpfull thanks sam

My Male Veiled Chameleon died last night. It was all of a sudden 2 days after I got these crickets for "free" from a stupid pet store.

Do you think it's possible that the crickets could have caused his death, like maybe they weren't sterilized properly or maybe they were carrying something? because he was bloated and in pain.

I don't know what to do. could you email me?
starch123@hotmail.com

I think that the crickets having anything to do with the problem is highly unlikely.

Hi,

My Girlfriend bought a male chameleon named "Tex" about 6 months ago. He is most likely about 8 months old and getting huge. We have him in a 24 x 24 x 48 aluminum screened enclosure with a setup similar to yours.

I have read that you should not use a metal screen, but he does not seem to have any problems with his nails or anything.

I just read through this entire board and learned a lot of good stuff and things to watch out for.

The main thing that I was wondering is how much we should be feeding him. I think (but not sure) that we give him about a dozen half inch crickets, and a few meal and wax worms each day.

How much do you recommend?

Tex seems to be in awesome health, beautiful, and getting really big.

I was also wondering if maybee we should take him to the vet just for a check-up or just assume that he is in good health. I hear a lot about parasites and worms.

I'll post this on the journals also to see what they think.

Veiled chameleons, when young, should be fed as much as they will eat. As they get older they should be given a more stationary diet (large crickets, large mealworms or superworms, waxworms, earthworms etc.). It is important that you limit the amount of food you feed an adult chameleon. Allowing a chameleon to gorge itself, will result in a very obese and unhealthy chameleon. When they are young they will devour anywhere from 6 to 20 small cricket sized insects daily. When they grow up to adults, they will eat about 5-15 full grown medium to large sized insects. Kate & Spyro x

I was once advised that female veileds should be on an especially restricted diet to help to inhibit egg production.

Captive veiled chameleons tend to lay many more eggs than wild veileds, and I'd bet you a shiny new nickel that the reason why has to do with the over-availability of food for those in captivity.

Egg production is very very hard on females for a variety of reasons. I try to avoid it and do so by deliberately keeping my chameleon thin.

Hi there
First I have to say that this site is very informative. My 2 year old chameleon Charlie hasn't gone to the bathroom in about 4 or 5 days. He is eating the normal amount and isn't acting strange in any way. Any suggestions before i fork out a rediculous amount at the vet?
Thanks!

Charlie is probably very dehydrated, and that can be a major, major problem. Best you put it into the shower, make it hiss at you and dump water into its mouth, spray it a lot, etc.

It's amazing how much these little suckers drink.

Thanks for the reply. Started to spray down cage and he started to drink right from the spray bottle and preceeded to do so for about an hour. Will do the shower thing too. Going to turn up the mister in his cage. Much appreciated.

I have a 2 year old veiled female and I'm worried because she should be ready to lay her eggs once again! however this time she has a sack hanging from her butt! I care for my pet 100%, I mean her temperature is just right! I mist her regularly and she seems to be eating! Should I take her to a vet or not???

@Paul: Boy, I sure would! That's a common thing, but I don't know what it is, and I don't know if it's a killer or not.

Hey!
Well, I just got a v-chameleon on the 11th and I went up to my room after school and she looked really bad. She hasn't been eating since I got her. I've been feeding her crickets and mealworm everyday, but she's not touching it. She's about 3 months old. She's not even drinking either. I spray her cage about 2-3 times a day. I tried hand feeding her a cricket and she doesn't want it. What should I do?!

Take her to the vet.

I suspect that she's dehydrated, too.

I just wanted to update everyone about my chameleon which had a sack coming out of her rectum! the sack was actually the lining for her anus and her reproductive organs! The vets pushed the sack back in and sticked her up! Sadly she didn't make it! REST IN PEACE BUFFY!!!

Hi, I recently purchased a Veiled chameleon. I have always wanted one since i was little, just never got it. So anyway now that i have her i have a few issues.
First: i gotten into an argument with the store owner about living conditions? substrate or what to use... any suggestions... other than that listed, something clean something that can retain water.Today she was eating and she injested a little piece (i was so frustrated)But, the owner was so sure that it wouldn't hurt her!
second: what is the proper lighting for Veiled chameleons how hot should they really be?
third: Should u really use Real plants as long as they are not posionous or toxic?
Fourth: is it true that chameleons do not like glass repeteriums due to the simple fact that they can see themselves in the reflection.
fifth: upon reading another post i read something about a shake... she also resembles similiar traits while, other times she is fast!
Sixth: what do i do about rehydration? i'm scared that she isn't getting enough water i've tried ice on the top o