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ScottinAZ LunaC Vailedfan LunaC ScottinAZ Vailedfan LunaC Vailedfan LunaC ScottinAZ LunaC |
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ScottinAZ View Profile |
Chameleon keeps falling
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| 10/24/09 11:12am |
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LunaC View Profile |
Message To: ScottinAZ In reference to Message Id: 2088165 Chameleon keeps falling
What type/kind of heat source do you use? What is the wattage? What are the basking temps? Have you actually measured them to be sure it’s not too hot? Do you have a UVB source? What do you feed your crickets? What calcium/mineral supplements do you dust your crickets with and how often? What size crickets are you using and how many are you introducing into the cage at one time? Do you remove uneaten crix? Are you misting with room temperature water? Suggestions for now: do not spray your chameleon directly. Use warm water only. Lower the branches in the cage to prevent injury since he is already falling. When you mist, think rain, not mist. Chameleons drink dripping water; their drinking instinct kicks in when they see dripping water. Sometimes it’s necessary to mist 5 or more minutes before they actually begin to drink, especially so in young ones. |
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| 10/24/09 07:10pm |
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Vailedfan View Profile |
Message To: ScottinAZ In reference to Message Id: 2088165 Chameleon keeps falling
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| 10/24/09 07:10pm |
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LunaC View Profile |
Message To: Vailedfan In reference to Message Id: 2088301 Chameleon keeps falling
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| 10/24/09 07:16pm |
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ScottinAZ View Profile |
Message To: LunaC In reference to Message Id: 2088303 Chameleon keeps falling
What type/kind of heat source do you use? I have a red heat lamp that I believe is 150 watt that is mounted outside the cage. The inside temperature of the cage is usually in the low to mid 80’s What is the wattage? Wattage is 150 What are the basking temps? Have you actually measured them to be sure it’s not too hot? I have not measured the basking temps. I am assuming that they would be in the 90’s at the top of the cage. I thought that the chameleon would sort of self regulate it’s own heat by moving to different places in the cage. Do you have a UVB source? Yes, I have a flourescent UVB light that I keep on all day. The bulb was purchased new when we got the chameleon several months ago. What do you feed your crickets? We feed the crickets a gut loading food. The chameleon will not even eat crickets at this point. The only thing I can seem to get him to eat are wax worms. Sometimes he will eat 1 or 2 a day when I hold them with tweezers. What calcium/mineral supplements do you dust your crickets with and how often? We use Reptivite and Repti Calcium. We had been dusting the crickets during every feeding for awhile. I realized that we were dusting too frequently and cut it back. Now he doesn’t eat crickets anymore and hasn’t for about 2-3 weeks. Could he have developed a sensitivity to the supplements? What size crickets are you using and how many are you introducing into the cage at one time? We are still feeding small crickets. We try not to leave many live crickets in the cage, but there are usually a few. Do you remove uneaten crix? We try not to many crickets in the cage at one time. We don’t typically remove the live ones that he hasn’t eaten because it is difficult to catch them and I wanted to leave a few in there in case it has the desire to hunt and I’m not around. Are you misting with room temperature water? Yes, the water is room temperature. But he tends to panic when being misted. He tries to move so fast that he will sometimes fall. I have started using a dripper in the cage a few times a day as well as spraying the cage 4-5 times a day. Suggestions for now: do not spray your chameleon directly. Use warm water only. Lower the branches in the cage to prevent injury since he is already falling. If I don’t spray the chameleon I am afraid he will get very dehydrated because I have never seen him attempt to drink anything from the dripper. How should I get him to drink? When you mist, think rain, not mist. Chameleons drink dripping water; their drinking instinct kicks in when they see dripping water. Sometimes it’s necessary to mist 5 or more minutes before they actually begin to drink, especially so in young ones. Thanks for the suggestions. Shortly after my post he seemed to start doing better. He started eating wax worms from my tweezers and one day actually ate 4. He then started to get more active in the cage and I actually some him hunt and catch a few crickets for himself. I thought we were out of the woods and then a couple of days ago we started the same thing all over again. He started falling again and not eating. It all seemed to start again after we introduced the dusted crickets back into his diet. It’s probably just coincidence, but I thought it was worth mentioning. |
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| 11/09/09 09:58pm |
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Vailedfan View Profile |
Message To: ScottinAZ In reference to Message Id: 2093874 Chameleon keeps falling
room temp water can be a bit chilly for them.try misting with warm water. warm water will not be such a shock to his system. as for feeding.. my v-cham(when he was little) would not take food by hand, and wasn’t fast enough to to get them on his own. small crix can be fast.so a solution i came up with was to put the crix in the freezer for about 5-6 minutes prior to feeding.. the cold would make them go almost dormant and slow them down enough so tetley could get them on his own. i don’t know if that will help your cham or not but it may be worth trying. pls keep us posted and if you can try posting a few pics we "may" be able to spot something that might be causing this. |
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| 11/09/09 11:23pm |
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LunaC View Profile |
Message To: ScottinAZ In reference to Message Id: 2093874 Chameleon keeps falling
Quote: I have a red heat lamp that I believe is 150 watt that is mounted outside the cage.
Chams do not need light or heat at night. If you are using a 150-watt heat lamp, you may very well be overheating your cham. It’s imperative to actually KNOW what the basking temps are, especially for young chams. Regular household light bulbs in a cheap clamp lamp work perfectly well for basking - I find 75-watt bulbs are suitable for most of my chams, temps are measured at the basking surface and directly below the bulb to insure they don’t accidently burn themselves. Quote: I thought that the chameleon would sort of self regulate it’s own heat by moving to different places in the cage
No, not necessarily. That is how many chams suffer thermal burns or evenutally die from the long-term effects of sustained high temperatures. Quote: I realized that we were dusting too frequently and cut it back
Cut back to what schedule? Vitamins/mineral dust should be used sparingly; calcium only a couple times a week. It’s better to rely on a nutritious well-rounded diet for your feeders than dust IMO. Quote: But he tends to panic when being misted
Yes, most chams do .. especially young ones. Which is why I suggested you not spray him directly. Quote: How should I get him to drink?
If he is not responding to the dripper, then heavily spray the foliage in his cage ... not the cham. You should have enough foliage that sprayed water will collect and drip from leaves and get his attention. It may take several minutes of heavy spraying before his drinking instinct kicks in. And yes, a cool-air humidifier is always a good idea. |
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| 11/10/09 03:16pm |
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Vailedfan View Profile |
Message To: LunaC In reference to Message Id: 2094046 Chameleon keeps falling
Quote: And yes, a cool-air humidifier is always a good idea
thanks LunaC... i for got to say "Cool-air" good catch =) |
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| 11/10/09 08:02pm |
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LunaC View Profile |
Message To: Vailedfan In reference to Message Id: 2094144 Chameleon keeps falling
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another good idea Veiledfan suggested was cooling the crix in the fridge before feeding. You could then put those chilled and slowed-down crix in a deli cup attached to a lower branch (so he can perch, look down and shoot down into the cup) to eat. Only add as many as you think he will eat in one sitting. Cup feeding is also good for feeding roaches, and nutritious worms (silkies, Phoenix, horns) |
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| 11/10/09 10:40pm |
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ScottinAZ View Profile |
Message To: LunaC In reference to Message Id: 2094221 Chameleon keeps falling
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| 11/11/09 08:54pm |
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LunaC View Profile |
Message To: ScottinAZ In reference to Message Id: 2094533 Chameleon keeps falling
Be sure to get the basking temps measured. Even a 75-watt if placed too close to the basking source can be too hot. Just use a regular thermometer if you don’t have a temp gun. Let the bulb stay on a while and place the thermometer on the branch/vine (you can even tape it for a few minutes if necessary) to get the reading. Also measure the basking temp right below the bulb. Remember Veileds have casques which can also accidently burn. |
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| 11/11/09 11:11pm |
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