Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi i have a veiled chameleon and there seems to be something wrong with his crown. It's really dry and cracked. i spray his with water everyday (sometimes twice a day). i've tried some sprays from petsmart that they suggested for conditioning him and nothing seems to work. now i have to feed him super worms by hand because he wont launch his tongue like he used too. i know super worms have a lot of protien and maybe that's what he needs to make him stronger but he's really stubborn and likes to do things on his own at his own time. so sometimes he'll eat from my hand and other times he insists on trying to get his own food but he usually ALWAYS misses. im worried about his dryness. and his spine always has loose skin on it. what can i do to make him healthier??

ps. he's about 4-5 years old. how long do they usually live?

how long have you had him?
do you have the #'s on the heat and humidity?
the #1 thing to go wrong with herps is husbandry, if you think its perfect, then a trip to the vet is in order, because if its not from his husbandry, then there is somthing bigger then can be fixed on a web forum. it could be as simple as checking for parasites, to organ failure and tumors...
i dont want to sound like a bummer, but its the honest truth
good luck!
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

hey thanks for the advice. =] what did you mean by husbandry?
and ive had him for about 4 to 5 years and he was about a year when i got him. i thought about taking him to the vet but i logged into a reptile chat and "gnuby" (i think the name was) and they told me that it must not seem to be bothering him or hurting him because he's acting the exact same way he did before he got the wierd crack. they also said it coul have been a shed gone bad. (?) a vet visit is definately a plan. maybe in a few weeks when everything around me settles down. =]

thanks once again for your advice!

ps. dont forget to write back about the husbandry thing

Husbandry is a general term for the way we keep our reptiles. This includes what temperature ranges are available in the cage, how humid the enclosure is, what kind of food is offered, cage furniture ect. everything. The most common reason for reptile illness is the owner's failure to provide proper husbandry, from whatever aspect.

It sounds like your chameleon is no longer acting normal and is dehydrated. I would put a bit of a rush on your vet visit as chameleons in particular have a way of being much sicker than they may appear.

Ian