Can anyone tell if my baby veiled chameleon is a male or female?

[KingLoki729]

I just got this little guy about 2 days ago and I’ve never had a baby before. At the store they said at this young they couldn’t sex it until it gets a little older, but they said it had a big Casque on it for being a baby and also it has yellow bars on it. I can’t tell if it has tarsal Spurs or not, and I wanted to see what you guys thought .

 

[QuinnieLeeBlu]

I think you have a female but I could be wrong. They might be to young still. I know that @Beman and @jannb have veiled chameleons. They might be able to help. I’m know a lot more about panther chameleons instead of veiled chameleons!

 

[KingLoki729]

This is my first veiled, I’ve always kept panthers but I wanted to try something new. So I couldn’t say no to that little guy

 

[Beman]

Looks female. I am not seeing a tarsal spur. Can you get a pic more straight on at the side of the back feet rather then from above?

 

[KingLoki729]

When I get home I will Im at work at the moment, but are they born with the tarsal spur or does it take a little bit to develop? This is my first one so I’m not sure how this all works yet

 

[Beman]

When I get home I will Im at work at the moment, but are they born with the tarsal spur or does it take a little bit to develop? This is my first one so I’m not sure how this all works yet

It is a tiny nub when they are babies... but they are there. Females will not have a nub there. It will be smooth and rounded. This is the type of angle I need to ensure that I am correct in it being a female.

This is a 3 month old males spur.



This is a 7 month old males spur

 

[KingLoki729]

Sounds good, I’ll be home in an hour

 

[KingLoki729]

Looks female. I am not seeing a tarsal spur. Can you get a pic more straight on at the side of the back feet rather then from above?

 

[QuinnieLeeBlu]

View attachment 298073

Yeah it looks like a female for sure! But I might be wrong.

 

[KingLoki729]

I thought it was a boy because the casque was so big compared to the others. Oh well looks like I have a little girl now

 

[Beman]

View attachment 298073

Congrats you have a beautiful little princess.

Let us know if you need feedback on specific husbandry for having a female. It differs slightly from a males care requirements.

 

[KingLoki729]

I do ,I’ve never had a female

 

[Beman]

I do ,I’ve never had a female

So here are the basics for her as far as being different from a male.

As she matures you will have to start cutting back her food. By about 6 months she should be getting about 5-8 small feeders each day. At about 7 months you want to slowly reduce by cutting down feeder amounts so that she is on a feeding schedule of 3 days a week with 3 feeders. You want them to be on this schedule by the time they are 9-10 months old.


You will not ever want basking to be over 78-80 for her. Very important for females because as she ages she needs this temp no higher at basking to help control the amount of eggs she produces.

A lay bin should be added as a permanent fixture by the time they are 6 months old so they get used to it and it does not cause stress.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video.77225/

 

[KingLoki729]

Thank you so much! I’ll be coming back here if I have anymore questions because I want to make sure I’m not accidentally mistreating my little buddy, I’ve been doing it for a while but I still don’t know everything!

 

[Beman]

Thank you so much! I’ll be coming back here if I have anymore questions because I want to make sure I’m not accidentally mistreating my little buddy, I’ve been doing it for a while but I still don’t know everything!

You are welcome and no worries, none of us know everything.

I love this website for thorough husbandry info https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

And if you have any questions at all just let us know.