Chameleon never shows colors

[hilltowner]

Our chameleon, who is 1 yo. and 2 months, is a really mellow guy. He's only flared up once a few months ago when I startled him putting in a temperature gauge. He is really sweet and you can hold him and he just chills. What's worrying us is that he doesn't show the bright reds that he used to show. He's just a light green all the time. He's almost white when he sleeps. Sometimes in the morning he is a darker brown. We did have him at the vet a couple of weeks ago for constipation, but it worked itself out. Should we be worried that he isn't showing his coloring anymore?

I'll post pics of before and after as soon as my daughter emails them to me.


Here's the cham fact sheet filled out:

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon – Lupine is a panther, male, 4 mos., We have had him 1 month.

Handling – My daughter handles him every other day for 5 min., usually just to move him to his free range perch or when I'm cleaning the cage. She only picks him up when he climbs on to her hand. If he refuses, she leaves him alone. He also free ranges on some birch limbs that we have screwed into her wall above her bed.

Feeding – We feed him small crickets (15 + /day), silk worms (when we have them) (8-10/ day)with a couple of mealyworms (3/day), waxworms (2/month). Because he is young, no schedule. Gut-loading crickets with banana skin, apple, broccoli, orange, carrots, and Rapashy Superload Insect Gutload.

Supplements – Giving him Repashy Calcium Plus dusted on all his food every day.

Watering – Mistking starter system. Every 4 hours for 3 minutes during daytime. On from 8:30 am to 6:30pm. He loves to drink from the leaves and the hand water mister.

Fecal Description – Feces: Dark brown with some white on top. Looks really good.

History – No previous history other than is one of Ranger's babies from Sublime Exotics in Texas.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - 24” x 24” x 48” screen cage.

Lighting - Have an 18" Reptisun 5.0 UVB 20 inch tube Bulb in hood and a basking 75 watt bulb in a mini-dome for basking. Both located on top of cage. Lights on from 7 am – 7 pm.

Temperature – Temperature ranges from 70 - 90 deg. 85 deg. at basking sites. 70 deg. at coolest sites. Overnight temperature is 70 deg. Temperature measured with Chaney Instruments Acu-Rite 00891A1 Indoor and Outdoor Thermometer and Humidity Gauge.

Humidity – Humidity levels: 40% to 80 % . Create and maintain humidity: Mistking starting mister kit for 5 minutes every 3 hours. Cool mist humidifier on and off throughout day. Plexiglass on 3 sides of cage and 2 live plants. Measure humidity: Zoo Med Economy Analog Dual Thermometer and Humidity Gauge.

Plants – 2 live plants: Scheffera and Pothos plants. Also, 2 fake plants, one 5 ' fake vine, 1 Flukers Repta vine, 3 surreal vines, and 1 large sandblasted manzanita branch.

Placement – Cage location: In a corner of my daughter's bedroom away from the door and windows. She's a quiet type, so pretty mellow room. Not near any fans, air vents or high traffic areas. Cage is off the floor on a 14” high, 24” x 24” wire rack.

Location – Near Albany, NY. Northeast.

Current Problem – Not showing his beautiful red colors anymore.


Thanks!!

Marla

 

[Tannervan20]

Try giving him some natural sun... Maybe he will show his colors

 

[stalincat]

so, is he 1y 2m or 4 months old?

 

[KingJulian]

When we first got my panther, he was green. We got him when he was 1 year old. He never fired up and was a brownish color during the day. I was really worried since he was our first chameleon. We decided to use repashy superpig to supplement since it's a pigment enhancer. We started using in February or March, I can't remember exactly when. After his last shed, he had amazing colors! (that's him in my avatar pic). I attached before and after pics. We got him in January and the first pic was the night we got him. The second pic was a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if it was the supplements that brought out his colors or if it was him finally being settled in his new home, but he's doing awesome now! He still doesn't fire up, he's very laid back, these are the colors that he shows all the time now

 

[carol5208]

so, is he 1y 2m or 4 months old?

yes, I was wondering the same thing!!!!!

 

[hilltowner]

Oops! LOL! He's now 1 yo. and 2 mos. I cut and pasted that information, with some minor changes, from when we first got him.

By the way, he is eating and drinking well and moving around and basking, so otherwise seems fine.

Thanks for looking!

Marla

 

[hilltowner]

Here are several photos. The first one is him with lots of color (a couple of months ago) and the second one is him now with little to no color (today).

He also has developed some dark spots that some people said may be burns or bruises. I've included two photos of the dark spots to.

Thanks for any ideas!

Marla

 

[hilltowner]

I also wanted to say that if the spots are burns, I'm not sure how he got them because I hang his light at least several inches above his cage and have 2 thermometers to keep track of the temp, which is usually in the mid-upper 80's at his basking light. There was a time when it did get up to the 90's a couple of months ago for a few hours, but I moved the basking light as soon as I saw the higher temp.

Also, I don't know where the bruises are from, as he hasn't fallen or been handled roughly.

Here's a pic of his setup.

Thanks again to everyone for their ideas.

Marla

 

[hilltowner]

Any ideas would be great.

Thanks!

Marla

 

[slim pik]

Hi Marla I'll chime in with some advice.Throw away the thermometer you don't need to over anaylize husbandry practices.I've been keeping and breeding chameleons for 7 years and I've learnt that they have a wide range of tolerable temps that work for them on the low side not the hot side.I run quite a few cages and all I have is a basking light in the corner of the cage that is about 6 to 8 inches above the cage and an exposed flourescent tube for my uvb/uva on top of the cage.I usually run smaller wattage basking bulbs in the summer and higher wattage bulbs in the winter,mind you I have pretty cold winters.Do a test ,if the mesh is hot to the touch elevate that hood setup on top of your cage.His colors do look washed out which would indicate to me that the temps are to high.As for the brown it could be something as simple as pigment from natural type branching transferring onto him.I've actually seen something similar with grape vine although not mid body.Wait till the his next shed that spotting might disappear,if not there is not much you can do about it.Your focus should be ambient room temp,about mid seventies,hydration,looks like a mist king /aqua zamp nozzle in your cage place that nozzle in one corner of the cage and aim it to the middle of the cage.I usually give them a good blast manually first thing when the lights go on.One other piece of advice I would give you is a nutritional gutload for your crickets.Personally I make my own but there are quality commercial gutloads out there.Hopefully that helps.BTW an adult chameleon which yours is will defecate about once a week sometimes two.

 

[thiago1311]

When we first got my panther, he was green. We got him when he was 1 year old. He never fired up and was a brownish color during the day. I was really worried since he was our first chameleon. We decided to use repashy superpig to supplement since it's a pigment enhancer. We started using in February or March, I can't remember exactly when. After his last shed, he had amazing colors! (that's him in my avatar pic). I attached before and after pics. We got him in January and the first pic was the night we got him. The second pic was a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if it was the supplements that brought out his colors or if it was him finally being settled in his new home, but he's doing awesome now! He still doesn't fire up, he's very laid back, these are the colors that he shows all the time now

Do you can show me what supplement with pigment you used?

 

[hilltowner]

Thanks so much for all your good advice! It's great to hear from someone so experienced!

I'll definitely check the mesh where the lights are located. The brown has disappeared overnight, even though he hasn't shed. My daughter has a heater 24/7 in her room for Lupin, so her room is never below 65, and usually mid-70's. We do gutload the feeders with Repashy Superload.

Thanks again for all of your time and expertise!

Marla and Lupin

 

[hilltowner]

Hi,

I'm bumping this up. We've made some changes to increase humidity. I've always gut loaded my crickets with Repashy Superload Plus, Flukkers Cricket Quencher with Calcium, and a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits.

He still is almost as white as a ghost with a little bit of very light turquoise color.

We don't mind him not being colorful, but we just want to make sure he is healthy.

Do you think he is ok?

Thanks!

Marla