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He ate 3 silkworms on Friday, but nothing since. I fear that he's stressed out. How often does an active adult chameleon eat?

His eyes seem a little sunken in - dehydration... I'm misting him 3 - 4 times a day and there's a dropper system in his cage. Is there a good way to get some fluids into him without stressing him out. I read that you can put a chameleon on a sturdy plant and put the plant in the shower. And let the mist drench half of the plant and not the other half for 30 - 40 minutes. Has anyone tried this, does it work?

He won't even pay any attention to silkworms, crickets, or roaches. Am I worrying for nothing or should I be concerned?

I wish I had more experience with chameleons, and I don't want him to be suffering because of my ignorance. So please share your experiences with me. My gosh, chameleons are so much different than beardies! LOL

Hugs,
Veronica
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Beautiful Dragons

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Signature file edited; [phw 8/31/04]

Veronica, I know many here use misting systems for hydration and humidity purposes.

I will let the experienced veiled owners help you on this. Its been a bit slow, but you can always give some of these guys a HOLLER !

I sure hope your new rescue comes around quickly, hes beautiful !

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PHEve/ Eve

Contact PHEve

I would definitely give him a nice lukewarm shower. Just put him on a plant and LOW lukewarm water. Leave him in there for about 15 mins or so.
You mentioned stress. Is his cage in a high traffic location? Does he have any other household pets he can see, ie dog/cat? Perhaps isolating his cage from other house mates will help with stress. Also might have to do with the enclosure- specifically potted plants and size of enclosure. Does he have enough hiding places and is his cage big enough?
I'm a huge proponent of natural sunlight. If possible, you may want to try moving him to a safe location where he can bask outside. Definitely wouldn't hurt.
Another thing that comes to mind is hydration. You mention misting him 3x's a day. Could you elaborate on your misting system and dropper system. How long are the mistings, how much water is he getting?
Finally, it's never a bad idea to take him to a vet for advice. At the very least, do a healthy animal check, maybe a fecal exam while you're at it. Chameleons are very good at hiding troubles until it's almost too late.
Hope this was helpful.
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com

Appreciate it!
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PHEve/ Eve

Contact PHEve

Thanks Victor! You gave me a ton of wonderful advice. Lele was right, you are great!

I'll definately give him a lukewarm shower, can't hurt anything...

>>You mentioned stress. Is his cage in a high traffic location?
Does he have any other household pets he can see, ie dog/cat?>Perhaps isolating his cage from other house mates will help with stress. Also might have to do with the enclosure- specifically potted plants and size of enclosure. Does he have enough hiding places and is his cage big enough?>I'm a huge proponent of natural sunlight. If possible, you may want to try moving him to a safe location where he can bask outside. Definitely wouldn't hurt.>Another thing that comes to mind is hydration. You mention misting him 3x's a day. Could you elaborate on your misting system and dropper system. How long are the mistings, how much water is he getting?>Finally, it's never a bad idea to take him to a vet for advice. At the very least, do a healthy animal check, maybe a fecal exam while you're at it. Chameleons are very good at hiding troubles until it's almost too late.
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Beautiful Dragons

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Signature file edited; [phw 8/31/04]

Ok, that was weird. I replied to your post Victor but most of what I wrote wasn't included, just what you wrote... Let's try this again.

I'll try the shower this afternoon with him and see how it goes.

He's in a room that gets some traffic in the morning and afternoon. I've blocked his views of the other reptiles though. And the dog isn't allowed in the reptile room.

His cage is way too small. It's only 3 feet tall by 18 inches wide and 18 inches deep. I bought some of the materials needed to make a home made mesh cage, just don't have the mesh yet. The cage is going to be 5 feet tall. If you have any pointers on how to make a cage, that would be great. I was thinking of using PVC (painted black) as the frame and mesh covering the cage. Making the door might not be so much fun.

It's still too cool here in Oregon to put him outside for some natural UV rays. But I plan to get him outside soon.

The dropper system is a very simple one. It's a container with a lid with plastic tubing coming out of a small hole near the bottom of the container. It has a knob so you can adjust the flow rate. It will hold about 2 cups of water. I usually fill it up in the morning and by afternoon it's almost empty. The drops fall onto the plant leaves and keep the cage moist all day. I mist him by hand with a sprayer in the morning, afternoon, and early evening. I drench his cage for a few minutes...

I'll be taking him to the vet saturday. I hope all is ok with him. Also, he started shedding his entire face yesterday afternoon. Could this be the reason he's not eating much? I know beardies get a little grumpy around shed time and sometimes don't eat much.

Thanks for all your help Victor!

Hugs,
Veronica Gomez
www.BeautifulDragons.com Reptile Rescue
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Beautiful Dragons

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Signature file edited; [phw 8/31/04]

>>His cage is way too small. It's only 3 feet tall by 18 inches wide and 18 inches deep. I bought some of the materials needed to make a home made mesh cage, just don't have the mesh yet. The cage is going to be 5 feet tall. If you have any pointers on how to make a cage, that would be great. I was thinking of using PVC (painted black) as the frame and mesh covering the cage. Making the door might not be so much fun.
I HAVE tried making a mesh covered PVC cage in the past, ala Reptarium. I found that the biggest challenges were:
1. finding corner pieces for the PVC. Three point 90 degree elbows are hard to come by and could be a cost factor.
2. Attaching the door is DIFFICULT. The easiest solution was to install a zipper, but then you have to find the PERFECT zipper: one made of nylon, with NYLON teeth (NOT METAL), and long enough to go around.
3. Stitching the mesh together was VERY difficult, but I did manage to find some VERY strong NYLON blend thread. Also, you need a larger sewing needle for your sewing machine, as stitching the mesh requires a larger, stronger needle.
In the end, I did not realize enough cost savings to validate building a mesh-covered PVC cage. Reptariums already exist and do this job VERY well.
>>
>>It's still too cool here in Oregon to put him outside for some natural UV rays. But I plan to get him outside soon.
If you could put him outside in the afternoon for even a couple of hours a week, that would help out TREMENDOUSLY, IMHO. Bonus: exposing them regularly to natural, unfiltered sunlight reduces the frequency requirements of supplementation. This cuts down the danger of oversupplementation, and reduces your husbandry bill by a little bit.
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>>The dropper system is a very simple one. It's a container with a lid with plastic tubing coming out of a small hole near the bottom of the container. It has a knob so you can adjust the flow rate. It will hold about 2 cups of water. I usually fill it up in the morning and by afternoon it's almost empty. The drops fall onto the plant leaves and keep the cage moist all day. I mist him by hand with a sprayer in the morning, afternoon, and early evening. I drench his cage for a few minutes...
This sounds quite adequate. If anything, it might be TOO moist.
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>>I'll be taking him to the vet saturday. I hope all is ok with him. Also, he started shedding his entire face yesterday afternoon. Could this be the reason he's not eating much? I know beardies get a little grumpy around shed time and sometimes don't eat much.
Could be that his shedding has him on the grumpy side. As long as he looks well hydrated and doesn't look especially thin, I wouldn't worry too much about his eating, like Carlton said. Very good idea to take him to the vet. If nothing else, at least your vet could set your mind at ease. Also, vet could look out for any early signs of MBD, oversupplementation, parasites, etc.... good luck!
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Victor Gomez
gomezvi@yahoo.com

First, I would not worry as much about eating as hydration. From the pic he doesn't look really skinny, so he is probably not eating because he's distracted by the change to his new home. A healthy adult cham can easily go a week without eating much. If he is showing bright markings, puffing himself up when you approach the cage, rocking or swaying as he walks, curling and uncurling his tail over and over, or spending a lot of time staring at something within view, he is concerned about something. Sorry, I don't remember if you got any info from his previous owner. If they fed him free range or only out of a bowl he might not "recognize" food offered another way. Sometimes a different bowl or one that is too small will confuse them. They really use visual clues to recognize "safe" foods, and they do have full color vision. Little changes can upset them. You might try using a plastic storage box nestled in his foliage to put feeders in. They can move around and attract his attention and he can stalk them from the rim to his heart's content. Also, your feeders are probably in better condition than what he got before and will taste different to him. Don't offer too many insects at once. They tend to just sit mesmerized by all the movement. Predators need to be able to isolate one prey item from the group to stalk it. You can give him more privacy by draping a sheet over part of the cage to block his view of stressors. Does he drink a lot every time you spray? When he drinks do strings of clear saliva form and hang from his lower jaw? This is a sign of dehydration and that he needs to drink more than he does now, or that he is dehydrating between sprayings more than he is taking in. When he's had enough or his stomach is full, he will tend to tip his snout straight up and turn away from the water. Check for dehydration by taking a fold of belly skin between your fingers. Release it. If the fold stays in place for a few moments after release, it's called "tenting" and is also a sign of dehydration. If the skin flattens out when released, he's OK. Chams sometimes pull their eyes in when they are stressed too.

Carlton and Victor pretty much summed it up...I had to re-read the original post and would only recommend trying to re-hydrate him first and worry about food consumption later. If they're dehydrated, they won't eat. Keep misting 3 times a day or more if you can...if using a hand mister make sure you get all the leaves on the plants, the sides of the cage and also on him but be careful not to spray directly in the eyes...have it pretty much soaked before stopping. You can also try using Pedialyte in the dripper instead of just normal drinking water. Try to get a ultrasonic humidifer...it will keep the humidity up and provide a little more moisture in the cage. Hope this helps and take care.
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