Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i noticed today that my female chameleon, about 7-8 months old was sleeping during the day. she finally woke up and see was up the rest.. then at about 8:00 p.m. i noticed she was sleeping once again.

i remember reading somwhere that when they sleep during they day they can be sick... if anyone knows whats wrong and knows how to help me.. please let me know..

i plan on breeding her very soon with a beautiful male i am getting on monday along with another female. i am going to have 2 liters of eggs. i cant loose her.

please help me... also when the eggs hatch if anyone is interested in cheap veiled for helping me let me know.. i'll basically give them to you for free...

thanks
steve

p.s. pics coming soon of my 2 females and male

Steve,

Before you start counting your eggs, lets try to establish some details. A chameleon sleeping (or eyes closed) during the day doesn't immediatly point to anything exclusive. What can you tell us about history, setups, how he's eating/drinking?
Anything in the immediate area that the chameleon could be seeing and is closing his eyes to avoid?
Any swelling of the eyes? Any rubbing of the eyes?
Has he always had both eyes open since you have had him?
How long have you had him?
Any loose "powder" that have clouded during a feeding?

Joe

history - not much history, only about 7-8 months old.

setups - he's in a glass tank.. 39 gallong high.. constant temp of 80 and alwyas humididfies

how he's eating/drinking? - always drinks and always eays

Anything in the immediate area that the chameleon could be seeing and is closing his eyes to avoid? - only thing i can think of is me when i walk in the room

Any swelling of the eyes? - i dont know what swelling looks like but i havent seen anything abnormal

Any rubbing of the eyes? - dont know what this mean either but she seems the same except for the sleeping

Has he always had both eyes open since you have had him? - the only time she closed her eyes was when she was sleeping. so yes always had her eyes open

How long have you had him? - 4 -5 months

Any loose "powder" that have clouded during a feeding? - dont know what this means but no.. they ) the 2 females ) sit on a branch and shoot their tongues out at the crickets on the bottom.. after they eat they walk back up top

Steve,

There are some pretty obvious changes that need to made to your setup. It's better to know/do this now so that conditions don't worsen. If there is a problem (which I am unsure what it could be from you info) then it will only be complicated from this kind of setup. I'm thinking that he is just over-stressed and this is his escape.

There are a ton of different ways to take care of chameleons.. and a ton of articles on doing just this. Let me give you two things I would change right away.

1) Get him out of a glass tank and into something that allows ventilation. Lotsa options out on the market.

2) Temperature varients. Make a "hot spot" basking area about 95 degrees. Make a cool spot area, about 75 degrees. And the area in between..this will allow the chameleon to choose his spots.

I'm not going to critique your entire setup. I would recommend you do some reading on the "proper" setups for these guys.

If you have specific questions, I would be more than happy to answer them.

The short answer is - There are a ton of things that can still happen to chameleons when you provide an optimal environment. Having a bad setup is just asking for trouble, and makes it impossible to give magic advice.

If the conditions worsen for your guy, take him to a vet. Look for loss of weight. Sunken eyes. Lack of eating/drinking. Hangs out at the bottom of the enclosure. Doesn't move around much. Etc.

Joe

here's a caresheet that will help you out.
http://groups.msn.com/JEChameleons/yourveiledshome.msnw

jc,

Thanks for helping out with the article!

Joe

How many times do you dust your crickets a week?
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Ethan

>>please help me... also when the eggs hatch if anyone is >>interested in cheap veiled for helping me let me know.. i'll >>basically give them to you for free...

Where are you located?