Chameleon turned black

[Leon911]

My chameleon has been displaying some unusual behaviour. When I open his cage he will try to climb out of it either onto me or on top of the cage. I guess he is not very happy in it.... perhaps it is too small.

Anyway when he was climbing around on top of the cage he stoped, went into the corner and turned black! I've never seen him turn black before and was worried.

 

[reptoman]

What kind of cham? Do you have pics of his setup? Turning dark/black is a sign is extreme stress. I have seen baby panthers turn black before when they are frightened, and have seen them drop to the floor after turning black. Its a survival instinct tactic like playing dead. Sounds like you have something stressing your cham so you need to check your husbandry or find what changed to create the stress. JMO

 

[bighutch917]

I agree with Brian. It is definitely a display of stress/unhappiness. It could be the result of a small enclosure, feeders, temps, improper lighting or a lack thereof. Check your setup and determine if you have over/under compensated for something.

 

[Elizadolots]

This might be a case where filling out the form would help.

Just copy the stuff there, paste it into a reply and add your information.

It will prevent everyone having to ask you questions about specific things (or, at least, minimize it).

 

[pieter089]

Turning dark/black is a sign is extreme stress.

My cham turns black when he's enjoying the morning sun

 

[reptoman]

My cham turns black when he's enjoying the morning sun

I agree that does happen. They darken to soak up heat but if he is climbing out of the cage I dont thnk the turning dark is for getting warm. The situation sounds more stress related to me

 

[dagy24]

The fact that he stopped and then lurched off into a corner and turned black seems like he probably spotted something that scared him that he hadn't noticed before, or maybe you did something that freaked him out. It's a sign of stress so if he were to keep turning black, you should try to figure out what is making him do it and recitfy the situation, but if that's the first/only time he's done it in your presence it was probably just him getting spooked or stressed by something.

 

[Leon911]

Okay thanks guys, I think he is just getting too big for his cage so he wants to climb out of it. I really need to find a better cage.