Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Veiled is in trouble. for the past couple days hes been eating, but he has gotten SO skinny, and for the past three days hes been laying on the GROUND. he NEVER has done that... and he seems very very weak and sluggish, i keep picking him up and putting him back into his pothos plants, near his water, but he keeps ending up back on the gound, hed been doing much better the last day or so, hed been crawling down into the sunlight when the sun was out etc etc. he seems to be drinking, i have no idea what is going on... please help with any experience you may have

Vael

have you thought about a vet?
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Lex and Cecily sittin in a tree.

Yes, I have. There is no rept. er around here and the soonest i could get him into state is tom. afternoon ( i will be going tom morning screw afternoon) and im trying to see if you all know anything i can do in the mean time.

how do u know he is drinking, is he eating, are u dusting, is there a reptile vet near you, not er.
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Lex and Cecily sittin in a tree.

Dusting every other feeding, hes eating because the crickets are dissapearing, and hes drinking because the last two days ive watched him do it..... there is a vet, normally a really good one, but hes not returning his voicemail right now for some reason.. i dunno what to do

how often/how much is he drinking? how many crix is he eating, are they gutloaded, hows the lighting, cage temps, humidity? How old is your cham, how long have you had him? How is his stool? I hear their very good at hiding symptoms until it is almost too late. I dont think there is much you can do right now but have faith and tell him you love him. I hope you can get him to a vet tomorrow. Good luck and be strong!
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Lex and Cecily sittin in a tree.

Don't want to sound like i am insulting you or anything, but are u sure he is a "he"? It is very typical for female chameleons to wander on the ground, which means they are gravid and looking for a place to lay. But if you are sure that he is a male, and he has been laying on the ground for 3 days, then it may be too late. Sorry to say that. But i do hope he is okay and you are just worrying over nothing. Good luck to you and your buddy.

Sounds a bit more serious then being gravid but ya never know.
You were saying that he crawls into the sun, but does he have a basking/uv bulb? How many hours of sun a day does he get? Is it open window or through glass?
What brands are you supplementing with? Not being strong enough to stand could be MBD. Any extra info you can give us would be great! Hope your little guy makes it to the vet!

Erin
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1:0 Veiled (Gene)
1:0 Sambava Panther (Knoxville)
1:1 Albino Clawed Frogs (Phedre and Jos)
?? Fire belly toad (Harold)
Various cats and dogs

go to the link at then of my signature for vet listings and a list of the setup info everyone is asking for - so you do it all in one shot.

This does not sound too good, female or not. How long have you had him/her?
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0.1 Veiled - Luna
1.0 Beardie - For now his name is Kinky Boy
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

Chameleon Help & Resource Info

He is a he. im sure of that. crix are not gutloaded. he refuses to eat those. he has a basking light, one part of his cage is always shaded, one is always in the sunlight, (while the sun is up of course) and the top/middle is hit by the bulb for 12 hours.ive had him since july, hes never had any problem at all until now, stool is less frequent now, but normal. I dont get it, he starts out at the top of his plant, and after i leave the room, he crawls down to the floor.

"crix are not gutloaded. he refuses to eat those"

huh?!?

so he is eating crix without gutload? I like to call these "hollow" crix because they are low on the nutrient level. Is the 12hr light uvb? vitamin D3 (what you get from the sun) and which these bulbs simulate, is what helps reptiles to break down the calcium from there foods and supplements into a useable form. correct me if im wrong...
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Lex and Cecily sittin in a tree.

Hope your at the vet right now and everything is working out. Your cham is in my thoughts.
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Lex and Cecily sittin in a tree.

It's a little weird. You're cham will eat non-gutloaded crickets but gut-loads he won't? I don't see how that's possible because they look the same.... Maybe there's something else to them? sorry, that just doesn't make sense.. not insulting or anything, Good luck with him.
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1.0 Savannah Monitor - Artimus
2.0 Emerald Swift - Jesus, unnamed
1.0 Baby veiled Cham - Sir August De Winter 1-20-05 RIP
1.0 Green Iguana - King Arthur
1.0 Rose-hair tarantula - Bill
1.0 Basilisk - Adam
0.1 Water Dragon - Lady