Dark Veiled stress?

Bigvern

New Member
I have a Veiled chameleon he’s about 3 months old. He moved in with me 1 week ago. I spray viv humidity is about 50%. Temp is at 82 in the hot spot going down to about 75 at the bottom. The problem is he is very dark in colour, I thought this might be stress with the move etc. But the only time he goes a nice green colour is when I take him out of the viv. Would he not be more stressed when I handle him if that’s what is causing the problem. Oh yes he shed 4-5 days after I got him. any help would be appreciated. Thanks Glen.
 
Could just be that he is basking and staying dark to absorb light.
He may get excited being out of the cage, this is why his color changes.
your temp and humidity sound good.

answer these questions:
Size and type of enclosure?
Supplement scheduel?
What type of lighting are you using?
What is he eatting?
 
Hello Justin.
Thanks for the reply.

The viv is 3 foot tall 2 foot wide & 2 foot deep, it has 3 wooden sides wooden top and bottom It did have 2 glass doors but I have replaced 1 with mesh.

I use Repton dusting supplement made by Euro Rep.

Reptisun 5.0 18" and a ceramic heater.

He has only taken crickets so far I have offered mill worms and wax worms.

Thanks.
 
You have the basics down.
The cage may be a litle large for him.
You also may want to look into a multivitamin and calcium supplement.
Can you post a picture of him?
 
Can't do pic at the moment daughter has my camera, but I will get it back at the weekend.
Thanks for your help.
 
no ceramic heater. instead use your normal incandescent bulb (i used 75 watt).
if u live in cold place, use bigger wattage.
 
Thanks for the reply dodolah.
The only problem I see with that, is the light would be on all night to keep the temp up.
Thanks Glen
 
I don't have a cham yet, am in stages of setting up so could be way off but are you not supposed to let it get colder at night to allow them to sleep? Could that be the problem?
 
you can drop it all the way down to 60 if you want.
I leave my window open so it gets really cold in my room.
It was like 65 this morning, and i checked on him last night and he was super green and yellow. I even opened the door on his cage to get a picture of him.
He didnt wake up. he usually wakes up when you just barley bump his cage.
My female was the same way.
 
Thanks for all the help.
I have a zoo med labs 75w red bulb here would that be any good?

just get the 75 w zoo med basking spot lamp.
and then use night light ONLY if the house gets lower than 60F.
at night, chameleon does not need basking spot
constant heat at night is bad. they need 10 degree drop.
 
what is the night time temp? unless the room and his cage is 50 to 55.. you dont need any night time heat..
75 is too hot at night.. with no heat..I keep mine at 65 to 70 at night.. 75 to 80 ambient during the day..
with a zoomed 100 watt bulb backed away.. his basking area gets at around 90 to 95 ... but if your cham is under 5 months old.. keep them basking temperatures down to 85...
as long as you have a repti sun uvb tube light.. you can use any heat source during the day you want.. ceramic,inferred,black light,standard light bulb,grow light/plant light, or day glow bulb, but keep in mind, that chams normally follow the light for a heat source..
 
yes i agree loose the night light or heat unless temps drop below 50 degrees, my chameleon room drops to 55 degress sometimes, usually it is 62 degrees when the lights go on. i would disagree with the any heat source idea, you want to imitate the sun for heat and basking.
drew
 
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