Dark Cham

[Jessi72496]

Hey everyone, I have a little male veiled (not sure on age exactly) and he seems to be extremely dark in his cage, almost black sometimes. His basking spot is about 85 degrees give or take and the lowest temp in the cage is about 70. He moves about freely and is eating and drinking like normal. When I take him out of his enclosure he immediately lightens up. And suggestions on why he is so dark in his enclosure?

 

[Jessi72496]

Heres a more recent picture

 

[jpowell86]

Being the size he is right now, a basking temp maxing out at 95 degrees would be more ideal. Predominantly, darker colors point towards stressors. Is he in view of anything while being in the enclosure that could upset him?

 

[Jessi72496]

Alright, I'll go buy a new bulb and up his basking temperature! And not that I would think of, I live alone so theres not a lot going on, its nice and quiet usually. I feel like I've thought about every possible thing that could be stressing him out and nothing comes to mind. I just wanna make sure he's as comfortable as possible

 

[jpowell86]

When I first started out with chameleons and they showed signs of stress, I would cover their entire enclosure with a sheet. This way nothing outside the cage was visible. I would then go peek in about an hour later. If their colors had returned to normal, then it was apparent that it was something outside the enclosure causing the stressor. Just a check system. Could you post a pic of his entire enclosure please?

 

[Jessi72496]

Yea of course
I'll definitely try putting a sheet over him. Maybe then I can narrow down Whats stressing him out.

 

[DaChameleonKing]

Chams also turn dark to absorb heat because darker colors absorb heat

 

[tim's owner]

How long have you had him in there. I'm not sure of the reason but when I mobed mine to his cage he did the exact same thing after a while he was happy again.

 

[MelissaB]

His front right leg looks "off" to me. How old is your UVB bulb, and what are you using for calcium supplements?

 

[tim's owner]

His front right leg looks "off" to me. How old is your UVB bulb, and what are you using for calcium supplements?

Especially in the last pic yea.

 

[Jessi72496]

His front right leg looks "off" to me. How old is your UVB bulb, and what are you using for calcium supplements?

My UVB bulb is brand new. A little over a week. As far as calcium supplements I am using Repti Calcium without D3 every day, Repti Calcium with D3 Once every other week and A Vitamin Supplement once a week. I'll take another picture of his leg and post it in a little bit.

 

[MelissaB]

My UVB bulb is brand new. A little over a week. As far as calcium supplements I am using Repti Calcium without D3 every day, Repti Calcium with D3 Once every other week and A Vitamin Supplement once a week. I'll take another picture of his leg and post it in a little bit.

Good, the bulb is new. The Vitamin A supplement, is it a multivitamin powder with Vit A? Once a week on the multivitamin is a little more than what I see recommended. It's usually 2x's per month.
The reason I asked about the supplements and UVB bulb, is in a few of the pics his one leg looks like it's bending in a way it's not supposed to. That's can be sign of MBD, which can be caused by not having UVB or the proper calcium supplements. Did you just get him?

 

[Jessi72496]

Theres a couple better pictures, I've had him for about Three weeks now