Help me!

Peter's not eating!
I have not seen him eat a thing in 4 days...it's quite possibly been 5 days though..
He's a veiled btw...

AND, he's been day sleeping for the last 4 days as well....

How old is he? ..approx. 3 months
What size? ...approx 5 inches (not including his tail)
How long has he been eating crickets and meal worms? ...ever since I got him ....before I got him he was only eating crickets. I've tried vegatation but he's not into it at all...only crickets and meal worms
How is he taking in moisture? ...he has a bubbler dish that he LOVES! No, it's not deep enough to cause him any harm... he hangs out on the edge often...I think he digs the mist from it on his skin..
I also mist his cage once a day ...and I'll occasionally see him get water from the leaves of the fake vegetation. He's very well hydrated in that sense
How often? ...very rarely he'll drink in the daytime....mostly he's a night drinker....and I know he drinks quite a bit because I have to refill his water each morning
Describe his environment. ............his cage is screen on four sides. He's got fake vegetation and chameleon safe "wood/sticks" to climb on. I don't remember what the wood is but I did ask at the local pet store which ones were safe to put in his cage and they pointed me in the right direction. He's got his hiding spots.....that he seems to take advantage of more lately than he used to.
Lighting inc. UVB source (light cycles too) .... He has a 50watt Zoo-Med Labs red bulb for night time.....mostly just to keep it "warm" for him....and his daytime bulb is a 75watts bulb ....porcelin hooded....
I switch out bulbs at approx 8 o'clock each evening and then again at approx 7 o'clock in the morning. I chose those times because he seemed to have a nice sleep cycle going on.....every night at around 7:45pm he'd go to his hiding spot, latch on to his favorite 'vine' and go to sleep...I wakeup at approx 7 each morning and his usually back out and hanging around...
Heat sources (range inside environment and range day/night) ...only the lights.....he's in a nice spot in the house that doesn't get too chilly for him. The temp in his cage stays at about 82f during the day and 75f in the night time..
Plants ...just the fake vegetation
Substrate ........Zoo-Med ReptiBark
Perches and their relation to heat/light The perch he has that is closest to the light source is about 8 inches from it...most of his kickin back areas are a couple of inches farther....so he has the option to get closer without getting "too close".
Calcium? ....I lightly dust his crickets with T-Rex Chameleon Dust...
Vitamins? ...the cricket dust....and I also have Nature's Reptile Vita-Spray that I spray him with once a day...and I gutload his crickets and meal worms
Gutloading insects? ...I used Nature Zone Cricket Total Bites



help....

see....it's freakin 10:40am right now and he's sleeping again...

also....he's only pooped once in the last four days....that I can see.....he normaly goes in the same area......but I did a search through the rest of his cage as well and only saw the one...

a friend mentioned force feeding him....
if that's something I should do then can someone please explain to me how to do it?

Also, I purchased a bottle of unflavored Pedialite this morning and added a bit to his water bubbler...

ANY help would be appreciated......I'd rush him straight to the vet right now if I could but finanacially it won't be possible for me till next week..
I'm so bummed about this...I really hope he's going to be ok in the end.

please....I know this may not be an ultra high traffic site...and I shouldn't be impatient.....but I just can't help it...

if anyone that reads this has ANY valid information to give me do not hesistate to post it here......please...

Donna Marie, I do not know about chameleons, but there were a couple of vendors that donated some to the Fauna Fund, and all of them were extremely nice, informative people when I emailed them. Look at the Fund, and when you see the chameleon auctions, send a pm or email to the vendors, I know they will fix you up with good info.
Good luck and I am praying for the good health of your pet cham.

fund fund...where is the fund?
Sorry, I'm new to the site......you'll have to point me in the right direction here..
well actually you already pointed me....but if you could also give me a shove that would help


and please....just "Donna"

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...play.php?f=792

Check your private message. I sent you a couple of names that can provide help as well.

you guys rock....thanks a ton...


any more info from others is greatly appreciated as well

Ill try to help you out here:

He is 3 months, how long have you had him?

Have there been any changes in his cage etc that may have stressed him?

UVB: What type bulb is it, I see its 75 watts but what type UVB and what percent?

If he will has not eaten veges well for you Id still try them once a week, I have some that eat them daily and others only 3 - 4 times a month. (greens (turnip, mustard and collard) & grapes) and take out the fake plants (just my opinion on those, I do not use fake plants with veileds)

He may also like a ficus, I have several that eat no greens but will eat the leaves off the ficus plant itself.

Also try some different live food, like silkworms, they love silkies. He may be bored with crickets and mealies. Yuu can also try waxworms from time to time.

The vitamin spray is to spray on the food NOT the chameleon. I use the vitamin spray on the insects then dust them to help the dust hold onto the food item.

Also how large is his cage?

It really sounds like everything is normal with his setup temps etc. except for the fake plants and the reptibark, I use no substrate or coconut fiber in the softtray and a live ficus and pothos (they will also eat those leaves). And NO fake plants, he may try to eat the fake plants when you aren't around and turn him off from real vegetation.

You can also try to take his cage outside for some natural sunlight that may stimulate eating, I keep mine outside all year except of coarse when its too cold and it really stimulates them to eat and get some nice natural sun rays.

ok so......when I do his next cleaning (in a couple of days) I'll get ird of the substrate...

what about mixing fake vegetation with real vegetation?

and I have had him for two months now....he was approx a month and a half old when I got him...

and no, there have been no changes.....I completely clean his cage sometimes.....but he's always chill with it ....and when I put everything back I put it back in the same way it was before...so as not to confuse the little guy

also.....on my bottle of Vita Spray it says...
"Spray from neck to tail once a day"

this his his "night lite"
http://www.zoomed.com/html/nightlight_red.php

this is his day lite
whoops.....I don't have a link for the day lite...
but...it's a T-Rex Day Blue Reptile Bulb
"Provide full-spectrum light that stimulates normal feeding cycles while aiding your pet's health and well-being. Day Blue Bulbs also provide a source of radiant heat to bask under during the day."

his cage is 2.5ft x 2.5ft x 1.5ft(w) .....I fully plan to move him when his size requires it...

yeah I can't wait till he can go outside......but I'm in Northern California and it's still a bit too much on the chilly side for me to feel comfortable to leave him out. but I'm spoiled when it comes to weather *lol* so it may be fine....but better to be safe than sorry I suppose..

I do not mix the vegetation with fake with the veileds since they do like to eat the plants, I am afraid it will confuse them.

The night light sound fine but you may not need it since room temps are about their normal nite temp.

The day bulb, full sprectum is not the same as UVB its output is not the correct amount or wavelength to provide aritificial UVB a reptisun 5.0 or 10.0 would be a good UVB.

Current studies show the 5.0 to be the best tested at the time the 10.0 has not been tested yet but claims to be better so that is a personal choice. But they will not provide heat. A mercury vapor would provide heat and UVB but they are very strong bulbs so you need to take care when using them to keep them high enough about the cage so you do not over heat the cham and in a cage that short a mercury vapor would probably do more harm that good. Id go with the reptisun 5.0 or 10.0 and use the day or night light for heat only.

Its warm here, we are lucky its 80 days but I do have to move them in at night since its still not in the 70's at night.

The Nature's Reptile Vita-Spray is different than the vita spray I use, sorry about that, that one is to go on the skin but I do not use it.

I use this for the insects, I mist the insects then dust them with Mineral:
http://www.reptiledirect.com/index.a...ROD&ProdID=229

If you are adding too much D3 it can be harmfull, the UVB will stimulate the cham to produce its own D3, also I use Mineral O daily and Mineral I indoors only once weekly with a UVB bulb when they are insdie and Mineral O daily with no D3.

Mineral O has no D3 and Mineral I has D3.