I have a veiled chameleon about 8 months old. His color is good but he is very listless and I have to hand feed him food and water. He will not stay on the vines in his cage he keeps falling off and gets very cold. His fecal matter looks normal in the cage. I was gone for 4 days but he had plenty of food and misting. I have him in an aquiraum with a heating pad on low with mist. Have you dealt with this before? I don't know what is wrong with him?
Hello,I have a few questions:What type of lighting are you using?What is his diet?thanks,John
I am using a heat lamp and lighting is what was recomended at the pet store. UV like the sun lighting. Food ... meal worms with a little calcium(calcium added about once every week), crickets fed with gut load.
Ok is the UV light a fluorescent bulb strip or a power compact? Also what temperature is he kept at?
Its like a florescent bulb strip. It is 85 degrees with 90 percent humitity
Hey,
Sorry my internet is giving me issues because of tropical storm Fay.
Well from the symptoms that you are describing, the species and age it sounds as though it would most likely be some sort of nutritional/ vitamin deficiency disorder. But From the information that you are giving me I assuming that the lighting/ heating is correct. But even with correct lighting, you can still have a nutritional/ vitamin deficiency disorder.
Two possibilities that come to mind with your species and symptoms. Are metabolic bone disease ( MBD) and Hypo vitaminosis A.
Metabolic bone disease is probably the most common disorder in reptiles. It is caused by improper lighting and/ or improper vitamin supplementation.
Hypo vitaminosis A is caused by a insufficient amount of vitamin a in the diet. Clinical sings in chameleons would be disorientation and/ or neurological appearance.
My reccomendation would be to take him to a qualified reptile vet asap. The vet would most likely need to run some diagnostics. Most likely some blood work, that will include bile acids, a cbc, chem, and uric acids. This will show the functions/ level of major organs. For example an increase in bile acids can be a indicator of gout. Or increased Liver levels indicate renal failure.
They may also reccomend shooting radiographs. Radiographs will be necessary to check for MBD or a foreign body obstructions. The xray will check the bone density levels, which will check for MBD.
Also they recommend running a fecal. A fecal will check for intestinal parasites. Parasites could cause the decreased weight, and lethargy.
But also on the other side if it is a severe case of MBD the vet could simply look at him and diagnose.
Well good luck, and if you have any other questions or need help locating a qualified reptile vet let me know.
Best wishes,
John