Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a male veiled about 2 years old. I got him from a local breeder when he was about 2 months old and he has been perfectly healthy since I brought him home. About a week ago, I had to move his cage because of some minor rearranging for the Christmas tree, but that didn't appear to affect him at the time. Last night when I was turning off his lights, I noticed that he was sitting on the ground of his enclosure - near the "trunk" of his tree. He looked otherwise ok, so I decided to just leave him be and check him in the morning.

This morning, he was still sitting on the ground, didn't have his normal beautiful coloration and wasn't as feisty as usual. I thought perhaps he was a bit dehydrated since our house is drier from having the heat on, so I put the humidifier on him and turned his dripper on. He climbed up his tree to drink and sit by the "fog" coming from the humidifier. He drank a lot and seemed to enjoy the humidifier and I thought I had identified the problem. He lightened up a bit, but didn't get his normal coloration. I assumed that would just take some time. I worked out a new schedule for misting, his dripper and the humidifier and thought all was well.

About 2 hours ago, I noticed he was once again sitting on the ground and is a dark brownish gray color. I put his humidifier on, but he didn't climb up his tree to get to it and when the "fog" drifted down to the bottom of his cage where he was sitting, he moved away.

I know he is cold - the bottom of the cage where is is sitting is only 71 degrees (with 43% humidity). Its 82 degrees near the top where he usually sits.

Any ideas? I am tempted to put a clamp light down near the bottom of his cage and try to warm him up, but is he in the cold section of his cage for a reason? Would I just be defeating the whole purpose of a temperature gradient or does he need the heat to come to him? Is he, perhaps, still recovering from being dehydrated this morning? Or, is he maybe upset about the new cage location? I'm not sure what to do now.

I could take him to the vet tomorrow, but he does not tolerate handling at all and I don't want to put him under all that stress unless it is absolutely necessary. Up until last night, he has been eating and pooping normally and I thought he was fine. Any suggestions???

Lisa

embarrassing typo!

sorry,
Lisa

Could be he was just stressed by the move/change and will recover. Could it be something is amiss in his new location? Is his cage near twinkling christmas tree lights? Do you have a real tree, the scent of which may be bothering him?
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Sandra
BC Canada

Oh wow...

The answer is yes to both. He can certainly see the twinkling lights on the tree and we do have a real tree. I didn't even think of that.

Do you think it would be better to move him away from the view of the tree or maybe to keep him covered until we take the tree down next week and get him back to his usual spot?

Thank you very much. Those are great observations that I never even thought of!

Lisa

I doubt the scent of the tree is the problem...chams have a very poor sense of smell. But the lights left on at night could keep him from resting. You could drape a dark towel or sheet over the top and side of the cage next to the tree and block the light.