Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby veiled that has been looking very ill. The chameleon is very lethargic and rarely moves. Often when it does move it will climb right off the edge of its perch. Eyes are barely open and she rarely feeds. I have her in a large cage my friend made and keep the temperature between 85 and 70 and mist her everyday. I am not sure what i can do to entice her to eat more often and fatten up a bit. Any help is appreciated.

We need more information. What is the humidity range in the cage (high and low)? How old is she and how long have you had her? What size is the cage? Screen? What brand of lighting and how long is the cage lit each day? Any heat or light at night? Night temps? Can she see any other pets from her cage? Are there live bushy plants in the cage?

Most often baby chams get dehyrated, start closing their eyes and obviously stop hunting and eating. Depending on where you live, winter heating dries out the room and the cage a lot more than you realize. You need to measure and keep track of the cage air humidity to know this. Misting her daily may not be enough as the cage can dry out quite quickly in dry air. Lots of bushy live plants help maintain humidity and provide surfaces for her to drink from.

The specific type of lighting is important. You may have a basking spot, but UV lighting is also necessary. Most UV bulbs do not emit much useful UV in the correct spectrum, and some of the heat/UV combination bulbs can cause eye damage as they are much too intense. A good safe option for a small cham is the ReptiSun 5.0. The bulb needs to be changed every 6-8 months also. Be sure to turn off ALL light sources at night. The cage temp needs to drop at least 10 degrees.

This may get you started on some answers.

What brand and type (compact/spiral/screw in or long/linear/tube of UVB light do you use?

What (specific) supplements do you use and how often for each? What do you gutload the crickets with?

What size insects do you feed her?

How old is she?

I don't recommend keeping babies in very large cages. They will often neglect to sit near the UVB often enough.

depending on how old it is it couls have MDF. aThats caused when baby chams don't get anough calcium. also make the temp higher