Do my chameleon Duckys eyes look sunken?
- Thread starter brookester93
- Start date
Not really. She might be a "tiny" bit thin, but nothing bad. Very cute girl 
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brookester93
New Member
Thanks guys! I'm still trying to bulk her up, she was very obviously malnourished from where I bought her. She isn't use to being able to eat as many crickets as her heart desired but I'm sure she will get use to it
Any recomendations for a treat I could give her?
Any recomendations for a treat I could give her?
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
To me they look sunken. There can be many reasons for an eye to appear sunken other than dehydration. Some chameleons pull their eyes in when you handle them or take their picture. They will appear sunken when they are in pain or ill. While a picture tells a story, it is only a part of the story, and just a snapshot in time.
brookester93
New Member
Thank you for your input! I'm hoping she's not ill, she's drinking and eating normally. Just don't think she's use to getting as much food as she has in my care. I think the only thing I could improve on is humidity. I'm going to purchase a mistking and when she gets bigger I will set up the 4foot by 6foot by 2 feet cage I bought her.
Today I pick up a serendered veiled chameleon at my local shelter. Not sure how old he is. But I'm excited to get him.
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
She looks like she's getting ready for sleep? If it's towards lights off or after, not a good time to judge health. If she's around 4 months, I wouldn't give her more than at most a month to eat as much as she wants every day. In fact I would likely cut back as soon as she reaches acceptable weight which should happen around 2 or so weeks from the looks of things. Depending on how many grams she puts on a week.
You don't plan to breed these two that you have right?
You don't plan to breed these two that you have right?
brookester93
New Member
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable XD. Just making sure you weren't doing something silly. A lot of people who join this forum get chameleons from horrible situations and then later down the line think it's a good idea to breed them. So much wrong in so many ways with that. I am glad you are just making them happy ^^ I fully approve of this as I have done it many many times ^^. They will warm up. Especially when they realize you bring the yummy bugs, and usually the veileds do best with some free range time, so you could let them out individually at different times, on a free range tree or something so they can patrol more ^^
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
Oh and trust me, you will learn to love the grump face when you get it. Sometimes it is definitely better to get possibly bit instead of having no response at all. Usually if there is no response of any type, whether stressed or not, I start to worry. Only my blind senior does that because he can't see me approach. As soon as I open his door however he is prepared for something.
brookester93
New Member
Oh no you didn't make me feel uncomfortable. Just the thought of breeding does.
Do you think they could ever live together when she's bigger? I wanted to get them a huge enclosure
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
No, he will mate with her, she will have fertile eggs. Which will suck energy from her etc. Also living together is not necessarily recommended even if you were planning on breeding them unless you have a huge room sized+ enclosure that is preferably free range. Even then it's not great for veileds. Because males never stop pursuing and the female will get PISSED.
jajeanpierre
Chameleon Enthusiast
@brookester93 Female chameleons live short rather brutish lives usually dying from reproductive issues. If you care about your female, you will do everything possible to slow down or prevent her producing eggs.
Jajeanpierre is right...many female veiled chameleon female's die from reproductive issues. With proper care you can usually/often prevent this.
Overfeeding the constantly can push them to producing page clutches, push them towards MBD and constipation and even prolapsing. IMHO it's better to go a little slower to grow them than too fast. Veiled chameleons can produce eggs even when not mated so it's important to have a proprer egglaying site in the cage so they can dig to show you when they are ready.
I use an opaque container at least 12" x 8" x 8" deep filled with moist washed playsand. Some will not lay in this size bin so they can be moved to a larger bin once they are ready.
Well fed/gutloaded insects and appropriate supplements are important too.
I feed/gutload the crickets, roaches, superworms with a wide assortment of greens, veggies such as dandelion greens, collards, kale, endive, carrots, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, squash, zucchini, etc and a bit of fruit such as Apple, pear, melon, berries.
Since most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous it's recommended that you dust the insects just before feeding them to the chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder to make up for it.
You need a proper UVB light to allow the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system. Since it's not certain that a chameleon gets enough from the UVB lights used we recommend dusting twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure it gets it without overdosing it. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to MBD so we only do it twice a month and leave the chameleon to get the rest from the UVB light. As long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB at will it won't produce too much D3 from the light.
We also recommend dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed source) form of vitamin A. Vitamin A from prEformed sources build up in the system and lead to health issues...so by using this type of vitamin powder it leaves it up to us to decide if/when the chameleon needs it. There is controversy as to whether all/any chameleon s can convert the beta carotene.
When the female is getting close to laying she will become plump, roam the cage looking for a laying site, drink more, likely eat less.
It's important not to let her see you watching her while she's digging. It's said that seeing the male can push her into producing a clutch too.
IMHO two veiled chameleons should not be kept in the same cage and I don't even put the cages so they can see each other.
I hope this helps! Hope I didn't miss anything!
Overfeeding the constantly can push them to producing page clutches, push them towards MBD and constipation and even prolapsing. IMHO it's better to go a little slower to grow them than too fast. Veiled chameleons can produce eggs even when not mated so it's important to have a proprer egglaying site in the cage so they can dig to show you when they are ready.
I use an opaque container at least 12" x 8" x 8" deep filled with moist washed playsand. Some will not lay in this size bin so they can be moved to a larger bin once they are ready.
Well fed/gutloaded insects and appropriate supplements are important too.
I feed/gutload the crickets, roaches, superworms with a wide assortment of greens, veggies such as dandelion greens, collards, kale, endive, carrots, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, squash, zucchini, etc and a bit of fruit such as Apple, pear, melon, berries.
Since most feeder insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous it's recommended that you dust the insects just before feeding them to the chameleon with a phosphorous-free calcium powder to make up for it.
You need a proper UVB light to allow the chameleon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium in its system. Since it's not certain that a chameleon gets enough from the UVB lights used we recommend dusting twice a month with a phosphorous-free calcium/D3 powder to ensure it gets it without overdosing it. D3 from supplements can build up in the system and lead to MBD so we only do it twice a month and leave the chameleon to get the rest from the UVB light. As long as the chameleon can move in and out of the UVB at will it won't produce too much D3 from the light.
We also recommend dusting twice a month with a vitamin powder that contains a beta carotene (prOformed source) form of vitamin A. Vitamin A from prEformed sources build up in the system and lead to health issues...so by using this type of vitamin powder it leaves it up to us to decide if/when the chameleon needs it. There is controversy as to whether all/any chameleon s can convert the beta carotene.
When the female is getting close to laying she will become plump, roam the cage looking for a laying site, drink more, likely eat less.
It's important not to let her see you watching her while she's digging. It's said that seeing the male can push her into producing a clutch too.
IMHO two veiled chameleons should not be kept in the same cage and I don't even put the cages so they can see each other.
I hope this helps! Hope I didn't miss anything!
brookester93
New Member
I really appreciate everyone's input! Thank you guys so much!!
I never intended to breed them. Honestly the people who owned the new chameleon before me neglected him. We picked him up today sitting in an empty basement alone cold and dark.
Here he is in his new cage with a new set up and has already eaten 8 small crickets and drank a bunch of water!
I hope he's happy.
Baby ducky is exploring the new ficus tree I got today.
Everyone seems happy!
I never intended to breed them. Honestly the people who owned the new chameleon before me neglected him. We picked him up today sitting in an empty basement alone cold and dark.
Here he is in his new cage with a new set up and has already eaten 8 small crickets and drank a bunch of water!
I hope he's happy.
Baby ducky is exploring the new ficus tree I got today.
Everyone seems happy!
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brookester93
New Member
Not that I'm aware of. He's shedding
Andee
Chameleon Enthusiast
He has some absolutely gorgeous colors. God he is handsome XD. It looks like he has a casque burn that is in the shedding stage right now? If I am correct, do you know how bad it is? Is he in the scarring stage or more open wound stage?
Edit: not talking about the shed more about his right arm. He doesn't have any curving in his forearm does he? No signs of mbd? Hopefully it is just the casque burn, that is usually far more easier to treat than anything else.
Edit: not talking about the shed more about his right arm. He doesn't have any curving in his forearm does he? No signs of mbd? Hopefully it is just the casque burn, that is usually far more easier to treat than anything else.
brookester93
New Member
I have no idea what a casque burn is. (So that's something I'm researching as soon as I'm done typing this)
He was a rescue so his condition before today is unknown. My goal for him is to get him healthy and have him live the best possible life. He actually seems to be warming up to us all ready, and he must of been starving because he
I have no idea what a casque burn is. (So that's something I'm researching as soon as I'm done typing this)
He was a rescue so his condition before today is unknown. My goal for him is to get him healthy and have him live the best possible life. He actually seems to be warming up to us all ready, and he must of been starving because he at 15 small gutloaded crickets.
He was a rescue so his condition before today is unknown. My goal for him is to get him healthy and have him live the best possible life. He actually seems to be warming up to us all ready, and he must of been starving because he
I have no idea what a casque burn is. (So that's something I'm researching as soon as I'm done typing this)
He was a rescue so his condition before today is unknown. My goal for him is to get him healthy and have him live the best possible life. He actually seems to be warming up to us all ready, and he must of been starving because he at 15 small gutloaded crickets.
