Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The craziest thing happened to me and my chameleon, Wacko yesterday that I hope never will happen again. As of now I have my chameleon in a 20 gallon tank. I know this is not best for chameleons but I am ordering a nice screened cage for him soon. Well anyways, yesterday for the first time since I've had him he ate a cricket out of the tweezers I was holding it with. I thought it was cool and it was. Later that day when I was misting the aquarium he rushed over to my mister like a 4 year old wanting to splash in a puddle. Of course he started lapping at the leaves. He must have been real thirsty because he just kept drinking. I took him out of his aquarium and I let him perch on my hand near a 40 watt lightbulb to help him digest what he had ate and drank that day. He's never shown a complaint about being on me only when I try to put him back in his room. Well anyways here's the shocking stuff. The chameleon started to gurgle with his mouth wide open almost sounding like he was choking on what he had just drank. He did this for a couple of minutes it was scary. All of a sudden he got the strongest grip on my finger, almost puncturing my skin it felt like, and his body sucked in and he looked all disfigured. Sooner or later he starts vommitting up his water he just drank. He starts discontorting his body shape as he is vommitting this mucus. All of a sudden I see the cricket come out that I fed him earlier that day. It looked like the cricket was wrapped in like a dark emryonic sac, I wiped it up with a good wad of kleenixes and threw it away. After Wacko's little tramautizing experience he was the most vibrant green I have ever seen him before. He is usually green on top and kind of a olive brown on his bottom half. When I used to stick my finger in his cage he used to eagerly climb up trying to get to a higher position. Now he gets scared and I think I may have scarred him for life - him being on my finger when all the vommitting was going on. He doesn't climb up on to my finger anymore and when I put it near him he flinches. (Please don't tell me not to handle him because this has never been a problem before till I put him back in his tank the other day. I only handle him too for maybe 15 mins. each day avergae.) He has just been loafing around in his tank not making many movements. Do I need to give him time or do I need to consult a vet?

I'm guessing this is a very young Veiled. But, please confirm the species. And tell us the age, size, and the absolute complete specs of your setup and details on feeding.

It's good that you have a cage on the way, because unless he is only a month or two old, a tank is very bad.

The regurgitation doesn't neccessarily signal a major problem. Sounds like what might have happened is that he filled his little belly with too much water and just "puked". He may have been very dehydrated and just gulped water too fast.

Then again, he may have an upper respiratory infection from being in the tank, or some other disease or condition. More deatails about your setup and where you got him will help us help you.

As for handling, I wouldn't count on him liking that in the least bit when he reaches sexual maturity. Babies are ten times more submissive than adults and often give the impression that they "like" being handled.