My cousin in law works at Petsmart and asked if I would adopt a veiled chameleon that kept getting returned for bad disposition, so I abliged. I have experience with reptiles but this is my first time with a chameleon. It is temporarily set up in an exo-terra but I am going to upgrade the enclosure ASAP, as well as add a misting system and plants. Can anyone tell me the sex and what kind of body condition it is in? Thanks so much in advance!
Adopted Veiled - first timer
- Thread starter Rapture
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Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
Can you get a picture of the back of it's back feet? I think it's a male but not sure, it's colors throw me off currently, so need better pictures it's heels. Otherwise looks somewhat dehydrated and very emaciated. How well is it drinking in general during mistings? Since you haven't gotten a misting system quite yet, I strongly recommend a shower for 30 minutes.
Thanks for your reply. It's not fond of misting but this morning did not avoid it. It ate 13 large crickets this past 24 hours. I dusted with calcium plus D3. I can get more crickets for it tonight to put in the cage tomorrow morning. Should I dust them with something else? Can you explain how to shower it?
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
It will need regular calcium (no d3 phosphorous free)every feeding, d3 and a multivitamin twice a month each.
Showering, you need some sort of plant, either fake or real to put in with the shower, and bounce some warm water of the tile next to the plant so that water doesn't hit him/her directly. Check on him/her every 5-8 minutes because this will likely be a new experience, make sure the water is just above luke warm where it would hit near it.
Showering, you need some sort of plant, either fake or real to put in with the shower, and bounce some warm water of the tile next to the plant so that water doesn't hit him/her directly. Check on him/her every 5-8 minutes because this will likely be a new experience, make sure the water is just above luke warm where it would hit near it.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
As far as the emaciation, he needs food that will help with hydration as well, look into ordering hornworms online, look into getting some super worms too, higher fat content but still healthy and useful as far as somewhat gutloadable.
My preferred supplements are repashy calcium plus is I am honest. I use that three times a week usually and then the plain calcium every other time I feed. The other stuff isn't needed when you use repashy.
My preferred supplements are repashy calcium plus is I am honest. I use that three times a week usually and then the plain calcium every other time I feed. The other stuff isn't needed when you use repashy.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
Repashy calcium plus has calcium, D3, and all other vitamins needed, it is made to be given every day, but if you gutload correctly you don't need to, and honestly supplements should not be used in replace of a good gutload. I use repashy more than the calcium because of the general balance of how Repashy works... it takes a bit of research to understand it all. But I could try to explain, stuff in my head doesn't always transfer correctly. If you plan to take him outside regularly you want to use Repashy LoD
Thanks for all the vitamin and mineral explanations. What is Repashy LoD? What would you consider "regularly" for going outside?
He got a 30 minute shower tonight when I got home. He seemed to dislike it, and dislike being on the vine. He fell once and I lowered the vine. He got off of it again so I left him on the floor and put his vine down with him. He kept his eyes closed but also did not move away from the water falling, and eventually just sat there with his tail coiled up where some of the water was falling. I looked at his feet and the spurs are there for sure.
He got a 30 minute shower tonight when I got home. He seemed to dislike it, and dislike being on the vine. He fell once and I lowered the vine. He got off of it again so I left him on the floor and put his vine down with him. He kept his eyes closed but also did not move away from the water falling, and eventually just sat there with his tail coiled up where some of the water was falling. I looked at his feet and the spurs are there for sure.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
The shower is good for him in more ways that active drinking he will get used to it, I recommend getting bushier fake plants etc better set up later on, but you do what you can on the fly XD. He actually looks better after than he did before... It's hard to explain, it's the attitude he displays and the difference in color. You will learn to recognize it. I have seen too many sick chams not to. Repashy LoD is just a different form, it has low levels of D3. And going outside regularly to where you need to cut back supplementation of D3 would be for a cummulative 1 hour a week. I wouldn't take D3 supplementation out completely unless you were able to hit 3+ hours a week. My current man has no D3 in his supplements but the only form of UVB he has is real sun, he comes in at night and otherwise almost always spends 5+ hours outside every day. I honestly don't do it because I can, I do it because I have to for his health, the fact I can just makes it easier.
Thanks so much for your input. I am having a hard time judging how he's doing. I spent some time looking through images of male veileds just to become familiar with what a healthy weight looks like. I think you are right about his color. When I got home, he was dark brown on his branch. Right now he has some nicer colors even though he looks like he's getting ready to sleep (will show photo in next post). I think I will keep the D3 in for now. I work long hours, but I do have 3 days off per week... but since I just got him, I'm not sure how much sun time he'll get realistically. I'm hesitant about handling him too much as well. The reason he was returned twice and then given to me was for his temperament, so I don't want to mess with him unless it's really important. I am finding the better ways to get him out of his cage though. Some of his perches are in perch holders because I used to house my tree python in that cage, so I just take out the perch he is standing on instead of trying to get him off of the perch. From there, he doesn't mind walking off of the perch onto my hand. Maybe we will come to an understanding.
Another question, I know you're not supposed to feed them at night, but how soon before the lights and basking lamp goes off can he still eat something?
Another question, I know you're not supposed to feed them at night, but how soon before the lights and basking lamp goes off can he still eat something?
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
A lot of people fill up a cup immediately honestly chams will eat themselves around 1-2 hours after warming up. His colors will get lighter at night as he sleeps, we call them pajamas colors. You will notice his poor weight in around his spine, you shoudln't see that around of sinking towards the ribs and the line that goes done his spinal column shouldn't be noticeable. He should have just a bit more fat padding out his cheeks and face, not too much, but enough so he doesn't look so skeletal. And his tail is really worrisome, it's so noticeable where the line is in his spinal column and that usually means that have no fat reserves at all. Honestly he is not nearly as "aggressive" as most I have seen. In my opinion he was likely returned for another reason since the people obviously took shit care of him from the looks of things. He looks otherwise healthy, signs may show up otherwise as he settles in of deficiencies but for now just focus on weight gain and rehydration. It will take a while and they show very slow progress. But as long as you keep ontop of it he will get where he needs to be. He likely has some kidney damage but there is not much you can do for that anymore other than keeping him hydrated for the rest of his life. Might want to try seeing if he likes his greens at all? Some veileds are totally against them but he is definitely at the age where he would like them if he does.
What I mean is, if I get home at night and bring some food for him, can I give him some at night sometime before basking is over or do I need to wait until the next morning? If so, how long before basking ends can he eat? The spine thing reminds me of a skinny horse, thanks for the explanation. I did notice the very thin tail at the base - I've noticed that in wild caught tree monitors as well so that makes sense. Today when I first started putting my hand toward him to take him out, he did seem like he was huffing and possibly wanting to lunge at my hand, so that's when I decided to take the whole branch with him on it instead. The first people that bought him returned him for being aggressive. I'm not sure what kind of experience they had with chameleons. The second person apparently also has a female veiled and she has a great temperament. I don't know how long that person kept him but he also brought him back for being aggressive. That was at least 2 months ago, but I don't know how much longer. He had been there in the back of Petsmart since before my cousin-in-law started working there, and he was living in a 10 gallon. I'll ask my cousin-in-law if he can find out how long the chameleon has been waiting to get adopted from Petsmart. What kind of greens would you recommend?
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
I recommend starting with kale, since it seems to be a favorite among most veileds, then they can have small bits of fruits, general varieties of the darker lettuce types, raddichio, dandelion greens, and mustard greens are all good.
Adding on bits and pieces since I am tired and focusing poorly.
As far as basking, giving him food a couple hours before lights go out is fine in my opinion, just long enough for him to warm up before night and eat well.
Honestly aggression with chams is so much worse so often so yeah. And a lot of people don't realize how to make trust happen with them. Currently the way you are moving him is best since he will likely need more messing with than he will like in the beginning sadly.
Cricket Crack is a good gutload, I usually add something like Repashy's superload, and entire jar of that works for like 1 pound of cricket crack and you have your bases covered. And yes super worms gutload on that. Of course you still should do fruits and veggies for them.
30 minute showers only need to be once a day for him currently, later on you won't need to do them unless shedding issues happen or illness.
Adding on bits and pieces since I am tired and focusing poorly.
As far as basking, giving him food a couple hours before lights go out is fine in my opinion, just long enough for him to warm up before night and eat well.
Honestly aggression with chams is so much worse so often so yeah. And a lot of people don't realize how to make trust happen with them. Currently the way you are moving him is best since he will likely need more messing with than he will like in the beginning sadly.
Cricket Crack is a good gutload, I usually add something like Repashy's superload, and entire jar of that works for like 1 pound of cricket crack and you have your bases covered. And yes super worms gutload on that. Of course you still should do fruits and veggies for them.
30 minute showers only need to be once a day for him currently, later on you won't need to do them unless shedding issues happen or illness.
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That all sounds great, thank you so much for your help! I'm sure he really appreciates it. 
Would wax worms be a good supplement for gaining weight or should I stick with the insects that are lower in fat? I got crickets and super worms tonight that I will put in the cage tomorrow.
Would wax worms be a good supplement for gaining weight or should I stick with the insects that are lower in fat? I got crickets and super worms tonight that I will put in the cage tomorrow.
