Chameleons in new homes

M

mackenzieyeomans

Member
hey I just had a question, how are male veiled chameleons around 2-3 months supposed to act after you recently buy them? Do they normally start out stressed or acting weird? I just bought a 2-3 month old from petco. He’s been mostly dark green and brown stripes, and mostly tired a lot. I’ve handled his some but not a lot.
 
It is normal for chameleons to be stressed out after moving to a new home. It's unfortunate you got him at Petco, though, because they do not know how to care for chameleons properly and he may have health problems as a results of their lack of chameleon-specific education Please fill out the following form in full (including pictures of your chameleons and his enclosure). If you are getting your information from petco, then there is likely a lot you are going to need to change:

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.
 
IMG_0441[2].JPG IMG_0437[1].JPG Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - He is a male Veiled Chameleon. Petco told me that he is about 3 months old. I just bought him February 18, 2018 around 5:30 p.m.
  • Handling - The first night I got him before I bought him at the store he crawled up and down my arm and over my hands for about 20 minutes and was a bright green and didn't seem to be grumpy about it at all, when I took him home he crawled on my thumb and went to sleep, whenever I got home he crawled around my room for a little while and then went to sleep for the rest of the night. the next morning I held him about 3 times that day, once in the morning for about 5 minutes, and then about 230 in the afternoon for about the same time, and then that night around 6 for about 20 minutes. and then this morning around 8 I took him about for about a hour and he crawled around mostly but he is turning real dark green and brown striped, he would sleep on my hand for a little while and whenever he did he would turn bright green and a beige color and curl up underneath my comforter. I haven't held him since though.
  • Feeding: The first day I had him I fed him about 10-12 cricket not all at once, I would feed him some and wait for them to disappear and then give him more, and he also ate 2 mealworms. Today he has had about 5-6 now, not all at once though, its been taking him a lot longer today to eat that amount. I've only been feeding his crickets with apples since I've had him. he has only been eating small crickets but the mealworms I gave him were large.
  • Supplements - I haven't even bought any supplements or vitamins yet, but the cage kit that I got came with some zoo med repti calcium ultraline precipitated calcium carbonate supplement without D3.
  • Watering - I don't have a dripper right now, looking into the best one to buy. right now, I mist him about every time I see his vine start to get dry and I mist for about 2+ minutes until I see dripping water drops. I saw him drink the first night I had him but didn't really notice whether he was or not since then.
  • Fecal Description - the first day I had him he had poop and urates, but their were two poops and one had urates attached to it that were all white. I didn't take a pic of them the first day but I have a pic attached of his ones from today. I have not sent them in yet to have them checked.
  • History - their has been nothing brought up by Petco about any issues with him before. did say though that he had him for about 3 weeks before I bought him and that he was 3 weeks old whenever they got him in.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - the cage he is in is a zoo med reptibreeze chameleon kit. i have a picture of the box attached that it came in. the dimensions of the cage are 16"L x 16"W x 30"H
  • Lighting - The Brand of lighting is the zoo med tropical uvb & heat lighting kit, its a mini combo deep dome lamp fixture, it came with a 13 W reptisun 5.0 UVB mini compact fluorescent lamp and a 60 w daylight blue lamp but I changed the blue lamp to a zoo med 75w reptile basking lamp. I keep the lights on for 12 hours, and turn them off for the rest of the night. I turned them on at 9 this morning.
  • Temperature - the floor stays anywhere from 72 Fahrenheit to about 78.2 and the basking spot stays in the low to mid 80's. The lowest temp overnight has been about 62.1. I measure them with a digital thermometer that came with the cage setup.
  • Humidity - the humidity stays anywhere from 65% to 90%, however they did drop at one time to about 50% but just put a towel up on the back side of his cage to keep the humidity level up. I mist his cage about everytime I see that his vine is getting dry and I mist for about 2+ minutes. I also have a towel pulled over the backside of his cage. I use a humidity zoo med gauge.
  • Plants - no live plants yet looking to get a ficus soon though. only have one vine and one bush right now both artificial and the ones that came with the cage as well.
  • Placement - it is sitting on a table right now. I will attach a pic that shows where it sits in my room. it is located about 5 feet form the top of the cage to my floor.
  • Location - I live in daphne, Alabama.

Current Problem - the first night I got him he was very friendly and would walk all over my arm and crawl to the top of my head and stayed a bright green. he was doing a bulging of his eye in and out and around, and it had stopped for a while but noticed it again the first real day I had him and he had rubbed it some against the vage and a vine and then stopped figured he was just cleaning his eye. he had been doing a thing where he would open his mouth real wide and kind of act like he was croaking or stretching his body. he didn't do it a lot but started doing it a lot more today. he has also been very tired today, and stayed mostly dark green and brown. I have attached some pictures of him as well.
IMG_0381[1].JPG IMG_0389[1].JPG IMG_0387[1].JPG IMG_0403[1].JPG IMG_0420[1].JPG IMG_0432[1].JPG IMG_0434[1].JPG IMG_0436[1].JPG
 
Chameleon Info:
My answers are in red.
  • Your Chameleon - He is a male Veiled Chameleon. Petco told me that he is about 3 months old. I just bought him February 18, 2018 around 5:30 p.m. How do you know he is a male?
  • Handling - The first night I got him before I bought him at the store he crawled up and down my arm and over my hands for about 20 minutes and was a bright green and didn't seem to be grumpy about it at all, when I took him home he crawled on my thumb and went to sleep, whenever I got home he crawled around my room for a little while and then went to sleep for the rest of the night. the next morning I held him about 3 times that day, once in the morning for about 5 minutes, and then about 230 in the afternoon for about the same time, and then that night around 6 for about 20 minutes. and then this morning around 8 I took him about for about a hour and he crawled around mostly but he is turning real dark green and brown striped, he would sleep on my hand for a little while and whenever he did he would turn bright green and a beige color and curl up underneath my comforter. I haven't held him since though. You should not be handling him for a recommended minimum of 1 week, as they need adjusting time.
  • Feeding: The first day I had him I fed him about 10-12 cricket not all at once, I would feed him some and wait for them to disappear and then give him more, and he also ate 2 mealworms. Today he has had about 5-6 now, not all at once though, its been taking him a lot longer today to eat that amount. I've only been feeding his crickets with apples since I've had him. he has only been eating small crickets but the mealworms I gave him were large. Mealworms are not a recommended feeder because they have high chitin levels that can cause impaction. He should be eating around 10-15 crickets, plus other insects at his age. Chameleon should have a varied diet. How are they gutloaded?
  • Supplements - I haven't even bought any supplements or vitamins yet, but the cage kit that I got came with some zoo med repti calcium ultraline precipitated calcium carbonate supplement without D3. Depending on your conditions, supplementing varies. The general guideline for his age is supplementing with a phosphorous free calcium w/o d3 everyday, a phosphorous free calcium w/ d3 every 2 weeks, and a multivitamin every 2 weeks, but be careful with Vitamin A.
  • Watering - I don't have a dripper right now, looking into the best one to buy. right now, I mist him about every time I see his vine start to get dry and I mist for about 2+ minutes until I see dripping water drops. I saw him drink the first night I had him but didn't really notice whether he was or not since then. Drippers are recommended, and his misting is very crucial, so try to keep a good schedule, and give him plenty of opportunities to drink and clean his eyes.
  • Fecal Description - the first day I had him he had poop and urates, but their were two poops and one had urates attached to it that were all white. I didn't take a pic of them the first day but I have a pic attached of his ones from today. I have not sent them in yet to have them checked.
  • History - their has been nothing brought up by Petco about any issues with him before. did say though that he had him for about 3 weeks before I bought him and that he was 3 weeks old whenever they got him in. That would not make him 2-3 months old, please clarify.

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - the cage he is in is a zoo med reptibreeze chameleon kit. i have a picture of the box attached that it came in. the dimensions of the cage are 16"L x 16"W x 30"H Honestly, the kits are terrible, please do your research and get the supplies you need individually.
  • Lighting - The Brand of lighting is the zoo med tropical uvb & heat lighting kit, its a mini combo deep dome lamp fixture, it came with a 13 W reptisun 5.0 UVB mini compact fluorescent lamp and a 60 w daylight blue lamp but I changed the blue lamp to a zoo med 75w reptile basking lamp. I keep the lights on for 12 hours, and turn them off for the rest of the night. I turned them on at 9 this morning. A linear 5.0 UVB is recommended, and try using a normal white incandescent light, like the ones you use in your home.
  • Temperature - the floor stays anywhere from 72 Fahrenheit to about 78.2 and the basking spot stays in the low to mid 80's. The lowest temp overnight has been about 62.1. I measure them with a digital thermometer that came with the cage setup. Is this the one with the probe? Do you constantly move it around to get the floor temperatures and the basking temps?
  • Humidity - the humidity stays anywhere from 65% to 90%, however they did drop at one time to about 50% but just put a towel up on the back side of his cage to keep the humidity level up. I mist his cage about everytime I see that his vine is getting dry and I mist for about 2+ minutes. I also have a towel pulled over the backside of his cage. I use a humidity zoo med gauge. Try to get a reliable digital gauge, as the analog ones sometimes aren't reliable.
  • Plants - no live plants yet looking to get a ficus soon though. only have one vine and one bush right now both artificial and the ones that came with the cage as well. You need a lot more foliage and vines in there. Make sure to repot plants when you get them, as many soils contain harmful fertilizers, etc.
  • Placement - it is sitting on a table right now. I will attach a pic that shows where it sits in my room. it is located about 5 feet form the top of the cage to my floor.
  • Location - I live in daphne, Alabama.

Current Problem - the first night I got him he was very friendly and would walk all over my arm and crawl to the top of my head and stayed a bright green. he was doing a bulging of his eye in and out and around, and it had stopped for a while but noticed it again the first real day I had him and he had rubbed it some against the vage and a vine and then stopped figured he was just cleaning his eye. he had been doing a thing where he would open his mouth real wide and kind of act like he was croaking or stretching his body. he didn't do it a lot but started doing it a lot more today. he has also been very tired today, and stayed mostly dark green and brown. I have attached some pictures of him as well. The body stretching and "yawning" is very concerning. I think you have a bigger problem on your hands than acclimation. Please do your research!. Please get rid of the carpet, it can get nasty quick. There are a lot of things needing improvement, so please get to work on this. Ask questions if you have curiosities, don't be afraid! Thank you for reaching out for help
 
Update: I just misted him again because I noticed his humidity levels falling so I misted again for about 3 minutes and whenever he noticed he started coming down his vine, hes been hanging on the bottom vines more now and I just watched him nip at the fake plant to get some water, he moves quite slow though. IMG_0442[1].JPG he also hasn't done anymore of his what I called croaking movements
 
mackenzieyeomans said:
Update: I just misted him again because I noticed his humidity levels falling so I misted again for about 3 minutes and whenever he noticed he started coming down his vine, hes been hanging on the bottom vines more now and I just watched him nip at the fake plant to get some water, he moves quite slow though. View attachment 200452 he also hasn't done anymore of his what I called croaking movements
Click to expand...
His position in some of your pictures can signal bad issues, such as a URI. Him falling asleep on you when you handled him can be a sign of extreme stress. You also don't have to mist him every time his branch dries, unless there is a need to.There are changes to be made, and I hope you take my suggestions and do something about it. Please.
 
Petco told me that he was a male I haven't really had a chance to look to see if he has spures or not. I have stopped handling him I figured that's what was making him stay dark so much. the crickets I bought from Petco but I have given them apples since they have been with me. when I was at Petco I asked how old he was and the girl said he was about 3 months old. the light I am already looking to upgrade. and is any wattage recommended on the light. the thermometer is the one with the probe. I constantly move it from the floor, to the midpoint in the gage to the very top of his vine. what would be the best humidity gauge that you would recommend? I'm already looking to buy more vines and plants, and looking to have a rock potted ficus. what would you say the "yawning" would be caused from? ive been watching videos and looking all around but I cant exactly pinpoint it. what would you recommend for the bottom of his cage? I have been worried sick and talking to everyone about it? going to take him to the vet tomorrow to make sure everything is alright, I don't want anything to happen to him or it be my fault.
 
CJ's Exotics said:
His position in some of your pictures can signal bad issues, such as a URI. Him falling asleep on you when you handled him can be a sign of extreme stress. You also don't have to mist him every time his branch dries, unless there is a need to.There are changes to be made, and I hope you take my suggestions and do something about it. Please.
Click to expand...
what could his positions signal exactly? as soon as I would see him fall asleep I would put him back in his cage and let him be. I really want to make sure everything is okay with him, hes been drinking water more frequently right now, and walking around a little bit more.
 
mackenzieyeomans said:
as soon as I would see him fall asleep I would put him back in his cage and let him be.
Click to expand...

He should not fall asleep while out of the enclosure and being handled. In most cases this is a bad sign. Sounds like you had him out rather late, and that could be part of the issue, but it could also be a reaction from being handled too frequently right away. As for the humidity, right after misting there should be a spike up to 80% or so (not an exact amount) and then it will fall back down from there. It is OK if the levels get down to 45 or 50% before the next misting. Veiled chams are not from very wet areas and can deal with some dry periods as long as they have enough opportunity for hydration.

Here is a link to the veiled caresheet...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Make sure to check it out and then ask questions on anything that isn't clear and we can help you succeed with your new addition.
 
Decadancin said:
He should not fall asleep while out of the enclosure and being handled. In most cases this is a bad sign. Sounds like you had him out rather late, and that could be part of the issue, but it could also be a reaction from being handled too frequently right away. As for the humidity, right after misting there should be a spike up to 80% or so (not an exact amount) and then it will fall back down from there. It is OK if the levels get down to 45 or 50% before the next misting. Veiled chams are not from very wet areas and can deal with some dry periods as long as they have enough opportunity for hydration.

Here is a link to the veiled caresheet...
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Make sure to check it out and then ask questions on anything that isn't clear and we can help you succeed with your new addition.
Click to expand...
I have been handling a bit much and they recommend not to so that is my fault, and it was about 7 when he fell asleep on my hand at night. and just wanted to make sure about the humidity because I wasn't sure if he was getting dehydrated or not.
 
So, as mentioned, lots more vines and foliage to allow him to spend time near the top section of the enclosure, and also feel more secure and not like he has to hide all the time. Think like a chameleon would. Are things around him potential threats?
 
Decadancin said:
So, as mentioned, lots more vines and foliage to allow him to spend time near the top section of the enclosure, and also feel more secure and not like he has to hide all the time. Think like a chameleon would. Are things around him potential threats?
Click to expand...
I'm definetly going to do that for sure. I figured that's why he was staying dark so much. and nothing around him is a threat from what I know
 
Please research the enclosure threads to give you some ideas. Please change out uvb bulb to linear tube. You need atleast one branch run horizontally below your basking light about 6 inches down so he can warm up. If it is warm where you live by all means take him outside for some natural sunlight. Make sure he is caged and not left in a plant or tree unattended. You have the risk of birds and him running away. Turn out all lights at night in your cage even the lights in your room or cover cage for darkness.. As soon as it gets dark outside turn off your lights. Here is a pic of one of my cages. I have two dome lights. Most people have one. One is for heat the other is to light up cage and really doesn't give off heat
 

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