Chameleon Owner for 2 months, a few questions/tips needed

jaylenpaige

jaylenpaige

New Member
I have two veiled chameleons both in the same cage. I bought them from petco, (they were in the same cage). I'm not sure if I should keep them together or separate them. They get a little feisty sometimes, (climbing on top of each other), but nothing crazy. Both females, the smaller one always wants to get out every time i open the cage, and the other doesn't move. Both are active, eating habits vary. The smaller one displays much more color and pattern change and is more susceptible to eat from tongs/with me around. The cage has plenty of foliage and plants (pictures below) and I'm currently soaking branches and will "re-do" the cage in the next few days ( will update) Also, is the cage too cluttered? What to think of the smaller one wanting to get out all the time and pattern changes? Am i doing anything wrong/could i be doing something better? They haven't been eating worms the past few days, crickets seem to disappear.

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - 2 Veiled, Females, about 7-9 months
  • Handling - smaller one- 1-3 times a week(depends if she climbs to me when i open the cage) and the larger one- not since the pet store
  • Feeding - Crickets, wax worms, super worms, mealworms (all in order of preference)
  • Supplements -Repti-calc on a few crickets and all worms, crickets gut load.
  • Watering - spray bottle misting 4 times a day, 1 heavy misting
  • Fecal Description - normal, urate a bit yellow sometimes (could be one cham)
  • History - None, got them Nov. 25 2016
    AE95C9E2-1F8C-4E57-B44B-20CC96139A38 2.JPG
    E171EEA1-563B-4FB1-9CD2-0558E98C76CF.JPG
    E194A8B6-864E-49FD-A714-0907A78A2B0B.JPG
    BEE8A653-5021-4CA4-B599-AC52106BE18E 2.JPG

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Zilla tropical mesh fresh air screen habitat 30" x 18" x 30"
  • Lighting - Tropical uvb 100W
  • Temperature - ~60-80ºF
  • Humidity - 50-70% depends on time of day
  • Plants - 2 Live, some artificial
  • Placement - Bedroom
  • Location - Atlanta
 
DEFINITELY seperate them! they should never be kept together after about 2-3 months of age. you should also be dusting with calcium without d3 every feeding and with d3 once every other week:) please post some pics of you cham too!
 
also ditch the mealworms as they are all shell and fat, no nutritional value :) do you have a laying bin set up for them by the way? females can lay infertile clutches of eggs without ever seeing a male and if they don't have the proper place to lay them, they can become eggbound and die
 
jaylenpaige said:
I've seen keeping them both in the same cage are not good, but if they were in the same cage at a pet store why is it not okay to still have them together when i buy them?
Click to expand...
chameleon's should never be kept together, unfortunately pet stores lack knowledge in chameleons and do plenty of things wrong. they don't understand that chameleons don't drink from bowls, that substrate causes impaction, that they need calcium, sometimes that they need uvb lights, etc.
 
jaylenpaige said:
I've seen keeping them both in the same cage are not good, but if they were in the same cage at a pet store why is it not okay to still have them together when i buy them?
Click to expand...
See, when they are in the petstore, they are about 3 months old, very young, and dont care about cage mates, but when they get older, they will fight till the death.
 
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Lizzie The Chameleon said:
DEFINITELY seperate them! they should never be kept together after about 2-3 months of age. you should also be dusting with calcium without d3 every feeding and with d3 once every other week:) please post some pics of you cham too!
Click to expand...

Here is the smaller one, the dark pattern has been showing up frequently in the past week, never did that before
 
Dumzy said:
See, when they are in the petstore, they are about 3 months old, very young, and dont care about cage mates, but when they get older, they will fight till the death.
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my pet store disgusts me. they keep 2 adult females(around a year in age) in the same cage, no lights, bark on the floor, they don't mist and just have a sad little bowl on the floor. it's so sad and that's why i don't purchase from pet stores anymore
 
Lizzie The Chameleon said:
also ditch the mealworms as they are all shell and fat, no nutritional value :) do you have a laying bin set up for them by the way? females can lay infertile clutches of eggs without ever seeing a male and if they don't have the proper place to lay them, they can become eggbound and die
Click to expand...
I don't have a laying bin set up for them
 
Last edited:
Lizzie The Chameleon said:
my pet store disgusts me. they keep 2 adult females(around a year in age) in the same cage, no lights, bark on the floor, they don't mist and just have a sad little bowl on the floor. it's so sad and that's why i don't purchase from pet stores anymore
Click to expand...
Sad.
 
Lizzie The Chameleon said:
they're adorable girls! the dark pattern is from stress, could very well be the other female stressing it out, but it could be multiple other reasons
Click to expand...
I was at my petsmart the other day, they had a pacman frog inside a kritter keeper inside of the chameleon cage.. Pissed me off.
 
Lizzie The Chameleon said:
my pet store disgusts me. they keep 2 adult females(around a year in age) in the same cage, no lights, bark on the floor, they don't mist and just have a sad little bowl on the floor. it's so sad and that's why i don't purchase from pet stores anymore
Click to expand...
I saw one at a petsmart that was severely malnourished and dehydrated that i desperately wanted to save! The manager had no sense of knowledge on him and said, "he has been to the vet so many times, he probably wont even make it through the night." Then she picked him up, and put him in isolation after I was promised to be able to adopt him out. Very sad to watch, and terrible attitude from the manager. :(
 
Dumzy said:
BOI, Did you even research before you bought your chams? Your going to be taking care of 2 female veiled chams now. Your gonna need to know what a laying bin is.
Click to expand...
unfortunately a lot of cases here on CF are sick chams due to impulse buying. at least the OP has lights and a lot of foliage, of course there are mistakes, but they did the right thing coming to this forum to learn.
 
jaylenpaige said:
I saw one at a petsmart that was severely malnourished and dehydrated that i desperately wanted to save! The manager had no sense of knowledge on him and said, "he has been to the vet so many times, he probably wont even make it through the night." Then she picked him up, and put him in isolation after I was promised to be able to adopt him out. Very sad to watch, and terrible attitude from the manager. :(
Click to expand...
i don't purchase chams from there no matter how sick they look, that just gives them the opportunity to torture more chams
 
Dumzy said:
BOI, Did you even research before you bought your chams? Your going to be taking care of 2 female veiled chams now. Your gonna need to know what a laying bin is.
Click to expand...
I just wasn't aware females could lay eggs without a male, the petco employee said they were fine with the essentials that i have. I came on the forum page to be educated and seek help not to be insulted
 
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