# Stressed Chameleon??!!



## Kirstx (Nov 26, 2008)

Hi there,

I would be grateful if anybody could give me some advice please. I purchased a 4/5 month old male Yemen Chameleon yesterday, but he is acting a bit odd. He is a brown colour with bits of green, but he seems quite shaky. When he is taking steps he's really shaky, and i'm now very worried about him. Could i just be stress from being moved or something serious like MBD??!!

He is currently in a exo terra mesh top viv as this came with him, he has a UV reptiglo 5.0, and a 75w halogen basking light. His current basking spot temp is 99f. He has a dripper system in his cage, and i have misted him this morning. He is not interested in his crickets which are in a tub on the viv floor, but he has taken a couple of waxworms from my hand. His previous owners said he was eating 20 crickets a day and was dusted with calci supp 3x a wk.

Please help as i am scared for him :help:

I am not a complete newbie as i do own a beardie and 2 leo geckos who are perfect in everywhich way : victory:

Thanks in advance


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## ToxicSiren (Aug 8, 2008)

The shaking could be a sign of MBD. Normally chams dont eat for first few day till they settel in. Keep offering food dusted with calcium as they shake when there calcium levels are low. Offer 5 days calcium and 2 days nutrobal. If the shaking continues over the next couple of days he needs a vets. If the problem gets worse it will cause, loss of grip, failure to use tongue and seizues. Please keep an eye on him as this is how mine died few weeks ago. He had MBD from last owner. x


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## Kirstx (Nov 26, 2008)

Thank you for your advice. I thoroughly cleaned his cage and plants today and have added some more plants for him to hide. He seems much better since i have done this. Fingers crossed he was just nervous with his new move. He's so cute :flrt: - hope he's ok!! x


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## ToxicSiren (Aug 8, 2008)

Hopefully it was just nerves...keep an eye on him tho. Good luck x


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## daddycool (Jan 22, 2007)

*doesn't sound too bad*

Chameleons can and do shake when they walk, in the wild they do it to imitate a leaf i think, its a sort of camoflage.
If the previous owners say they dusted 3 times a week, they possibly also gut loaded the food?? maybe check, and also check if he had uv?? but if that is so, then MBD is not as likely, 

ps i wouldn't offer supplements every day, as too much supplements can also be bad, gut load the crickets instead, and maybe try some decent size hoppers, fed a few greens and fish flakes

Plus you say he's only been in his new enclosure 1 day.......my babies when going to new homes often go funny colours the first day or so...often because of new enclosure new environment, different temps, different person feeding them etc...lots of new things to cope with, the natural way to show this is colour change, and hide, colour change is usually a brownish colour when stressed (they usually get over this in a couple of days), and to hide they move under foliage and whilst moving they shake like a leaf......they also sometimes do this when stalking hoppers etc...(that is funny!!)

hope this helps reassure


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## gtm15782 (Aug 24, 2008)

Sounds like he is just settling in. Just give him some space don't try and handle him for a couple of weeks. I agree about not over supplementing. A good way of telling is that your cham will get a white powder around his nostrils. This is him trying to get rid of excess calcium etc. If you keep offering crickets and he takes them your lucky as neither of mine will give them a second look. They like there locusts too much. 
Just keep an eye on him and I'm sure he will be fine


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## 4PY (Mar 13, 2008)

Yer mate a wouldnt worry to much, cham's in the wild act like leaves, and shake so that they dont get spotted by prey, so if he's just been moved into a new home, id let him settle in, i wouldnt worry about it mate, but if it keeps occuring then id probly take him to a vet to see if he myt have mbd, but dont worry, hes got a new home so its probly just nerves :2thumb:
Anyway congrats on the new cham :no1:


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## BlackRose (Jul 8, 2007)

im glad hes feeling better now. Is there any chance however that you can buy/build him a viv thats not made of glass all round or put a background over sides? Chams have been known to get stressed from their reflection and any animal benefits from a background that hides then outside world as much as possible.


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## kerryrep22 (Jun 10, 2008)

yeh i would definitely agree with that point cos glass is the worst thing for a chameleon, it can really freak them. i also have a chameleon of the same age, and i got a spare 3ft viv, put it on its side to get the height, took out the glass and made a mesh front, so no glass at all! he settled in really quickly and is doing great, and yeh mine walks a bit like that sometimes too so i wouldnt worry too much about that. and i dust mine every other day, or every third day, something like that, so its not too much. chameleons are one of the more fragile lizard so they need some special care. but definitely fink about the glass fing, cos thats one of the biggest things people get wrong with chameleons, a glass viv. good luck with the little guy. :2thumb:


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## Kirstx (Nov 26, 2008)

Most of the glass is covered, but he will be in a new viv in a couple of weeks, I'm either going to buy his a flexi one or convert my beardies old wooden one by taking out some of the wood and replacing it with mesh, haven't decided which yet!!

Also - a question on substrate, i currently am using eco earth, but find that it stays wet and doesn't dry out between sprayings. Any tips or advice on this would be great?!!

Thanks guys :2thumb:

(i will post some pics of my reps soon)


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## daddycool (Jan 22, 2007)

Yemens aren't that fragile, no more so than many other reptiles, and glass doesn't seem to worry many that I have seen and def not affected my lot who according to some on the forum should be dead by now, since I up to recently had a breeding trio housed together in a wood and glass viv

that doesn't mean all yemens are the same, but worth mentioning IMO

ventilation needs to be good though whatever viv you have




kerryrep22 said:


> yeh i would definitely agree with that point cos glass is the worst thing for a chameleon, it can really freak them. i also have a chameleon of the same age, and i got a spare 3ft viv, put it on its side to get the height, took out the glass and made a mesh front, so no glass at all! he settled in really quickly and is doing great, and yeh mine walks a bit like that sometimes too so i wouldnt worry too much about that. and i dust mine every other day, or every third day, something like that, so its not too much. chameleons are one of the more fragile lizard so they need some special care. but definitely fink about the glass fing, cos thats one of the biggest things people get wrong with chameleons, a glass viv. good luck with the little guy. :2thumb:


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## daddycool (Jan 22, 2007)

try just spraying the leaves, and increasing amount you spray, or change the substrate....i use orchid bark, but don't have that problem, its usually quite dry....although i do seem to have giant meal worms colonising it presently....



Kirstx said:


> Most of the glass is covered, but he will be in a new viv in a couple of weeks, I'm either going to buy his a flexi one or convert my beardies old wooden one by taking out some of the wood and replacing it with mesh, haven't decided which yet!!
> 
> Also - a question on substrate, i currently am using eco earth, but find that it stays wet and doesn't dry out between sprayings. Any tips or advice on this would be great?!!
> 
> ...


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## kerryrep22 (Jun 10, 2008)

well i appreciate that the glass worked out ok for you, and of course these are only our opinions, but i have seen so many chameleons kept in reptile shops in glass that look so sorry for themselves and scared stupid, and you only have to read any or every care sheet in the world to know that generally glass is not the best thing for chameleons at all, and although yours seem ok, thats completely fair enough, as a rule they should not be kept in glass, and beginners should be advised that this is the case. and i guess they mite not be thought of as more fragile to keep, but they are certainly more fragile when it comes to handling and things like that, and i would not recommend them as a first lizard for a novice, compared to say a beardie or a leo. not to say that beginners couldnt look after them with the right information. im not saying you are wrong, im really not, if it works for you thats great, but generally people keeping chameleons in glass vivs is quite a common reason why they get stressed, as possibly is true in this case.


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## Kirstx (Nov 26, 2008)

Hi thanks for all your advice and opinions. He was already in the same viv when i bought him, but i shall be changing it soon. I'm not a complete newbie as i do own a beardie and couple of geckos, but am new to chameleons!! Thanks again


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## kayskritters (Feb 16, 2009)

Hi, dont worry about asking questions, its good!! Some people dont bother then wondered why their animals die!

I tend to agree that a flexarium or some sort of viv with more mesh would be better as it is quite commonly known that chams need the ventilation. But people have successfully kept and bred chams in wood and glas vivs.

As for the shaking etc, let him settle in a bit more, definately gut load your crix/locusts etc, and perhaps trying upping UV to 10.0?? Thats what I had as much of the UV is filtered out throught the mesh of a flexarium or glass of a viv.

The substrate will get moist, DONT mist less because of this though. Just gently stir the surface to aid the bits or faeces & urates (that u didnt manage to pick up when spot cleaning) to fall to the bottom and naturally degrade. This will stop the smell and make it more of an active substrate. If it does get soaked every time, and doesnt seem to be drying out, lots of people use no substrate and use a built in tray to collect moisture. It depends on what you want to do. The soil worked for me, but there is a MASSIVE 'NO substrate debate' for chams, especially in the usa, so Iv probably opened a can of worms here!! 

Anyway, Im NO expert but hope this helps a little, Kay x


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