Doesnt like his cage?

Ricardopalma12

Ricardopalma12

Member
So i have a male veiled chameleon that i would say Its between 5 to 7 months and he seems to not like his cage, Im still missing plants in his cage is pretty empty right now if im honest but today he was really brown and he was going up and down in the cage and I decided to put him in one of my moms plants and he suddenly turned bright green and he has been there for an hour enjoying that plant

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - veiled, male, and i would say around 4 to 5 months. 5 days
  • Handling - when I got him and when I put him in my mons plant
  • Feeding - I'm feeding him crickets and I might look for more variety, i tried to do it the earliest i can because when I go back to school i will put some crickets in there at 6 am (i have swim practice that early) I gut load them with vegetables and fruits.
  • Supplements - I use flukers calcium with no d3 almost every day and I have a reptivitemultivitamin with d3 and every 2 weeks
  • Watering - i mist his cage for a couple of minutes and I think he drink yesterday it looked like it
  • Fecal Description - Big long piece is brown and another little piece is white. I dont think he has been check for parasites
  • History - he closes his right eye and he has a bumb almost at the end of his tail

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - I have a reptibreeze xl its 2x2x4
  • Lighting - I have a reptisun 5.0 uvb and currently I'm using a halogen light for heat and i'm going to replace it with a 75W bulb this week. His light are on from 8 am to 8 pm.
  • Temperature - 78-84. Lowest overnight would be my actual house temperature between 72 to 75.
  • Humidity - 75 most of the time and 90 when I mist
  • Plants - i'm currently not using live plants
  • Placement - His cage it's in my room, there is a fan yes thats another reason why I want to cover a part of the cage (top) with plastic or something,the only traffic here is me coming every once in a while in and out of the room maybe the dogs and that's mostly all the traffic here, the cage is in the floor for now, i'm a welding student and my dad is a welder so we planning on making a table for the cage (currently 4 feet from the floor)
  • Location - I'm located in Austin Texas
 
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Most likely age related! They go though a phase where they are on the move! Always in the same direction! I think that in nature it is to prevent inbreeding. But, can we have pictures of the cage please? Also, do you have pets (dogs, cats, birds) that he can see and be freaked out about? Even a picture of a predator on the wall could scare them!
 
Last edited:
Matt Vanilla Gorilla said:
Most likely she related! They go though a phase where they are on the move! Always in the same direction! I think that in nature it is to prevent inbreeding. But, can we have pictures of the cage please? Also, do you have pets (dogs, cats, birds) that he can see and be freaked out about? Even a picture of a predator on the wall could scare them!
Click to expand...
I do I have 2 dogs! That may be the problem? It's just that he is in the room and he gets scare of me but I have never seen him get scare of the dogs
 
Hi here some suggestions :

Ricardopalma12 said:
So i have a male veiled chameleon that i would say Its between 5 to 7 months and he seems to not like his cage, Im still missing plants in his cage is pretty empty right now if im honest but today he was really brown and he was going up and down in the cage and I decided to put him in one of my moms plants and he suddenly turned bright green and he has been there for an hour enjoying that plant

Chameleon Info:
  • Lighting - I have a reptisun 5.0 uvb and currently I'm using a halogen light for heat and i'm going to replace it with a 75W bulb this week. His light are on from 8 am to 8 pm.
Here, change this, the reptisun have no usb past 6 inch and after 2-3 month you have to change it because there is no more usb at all, go buy a t5ho reptisun linear with the fixture, this will help your chameleon to stay healthy and you will save money in the long term :)
  • Temperature - 78-84. Lowest overnight would be my actual house temperature between 72 to 75.
For a Veiled this is too cold, basking should reach about 90-95 other than that he will look for more heat of get some digestivee problems
  • Humidity - 75 most of the time and 90 when I mist
For a veiled, this is too much of humidity, its not confortable for him and only can lead to fungus infection or respiratory infection
  • Plants - i'm currently not using live plants
You should, plastic plant can be ingested and chameleons are not born to digest plastics leaves :/ go one plants at the time ;)
  • Placement - His cage it's in my room, there is a fan yes thats another reason why I want to cover a part of the cage (top) with plastic or something,the only traffic here is me coming every once in a while in and out of the room maybe the dogs and that's mostly all the traffic here, the cage is in the floor for now, i'm a welding student and my dad is a welder so we planning on making a table for the cage (currently 4 feet from the floor)
Dont cover the top, it will lead to stagnant air and can lead to respiratory and fungus and bacteria, got some pictures of your cage?
Click to expand...
 
Oups!
Here!
So i have a male veiled chameleon that i would say Its between 5 to 7 months and he seems to not like his cage, Im still missing plants in his cage is pretty empty right now if im honest but today he was really brown and he was going up and down in the cage and I decided to put him in one of my moms plants and he suddenly turned bright green and he has been there for an hour enjoying that plant

Chameleon Info:
  • Lighting - I have a reptisun 5.0 uvb and currently I'm using a halogen light for heat and i'm going to replace it with a 75W bulb this week. His light are on from 8 am to 8 pm.
Here, change this, the reptisun have no usb past 6 inch and after 2-3 month you have to change it because there is no more usb at all, go buy a t5ho reptisun linear with the fixture, this will help your chameleon to stay healthy and you will save money in the long term :)
  • Temperature - 78-84. Lowest overnight would be my actual house temperature between 72 to 75.
For a Veiled this is too cold, basking should reach about 90-95 other than that he will look for more heat of get some digestivee problems
  • Humidity - 75 most of the time and 90 when I mist
For a veiled, this is too much of humidity, its not confortable for him and only can lead to fungus infection or respiratory infection
  • Plants - i'm currently not using live plants
You should, plastic plant can be ingested and chameleons are not born to digest plastics leaves :/ go one plants at the time ;)
  • Placement - His cage it's in my room, there is a fan yes thats another reason why I want to cover a part of the cage (top) with plastic or something,the only traffic here is me coming every once in a while in and out of the room maybe the dogs and that's mostly all the traffic here, the cage is in the floor for now, i'm a welding student and my dad is a welder so we planning on making a table for the cage (currently 4 feet from the floor)
Dont cover the top, it will lead to stagnant air and can lead to respiratory and fungus and bacteria, got some pictures of your cage?
Ricardopalma12 said:
Hey I think you forgot to paste the suggestions hahaha thank you tho
Click to expand...
 
JoshD49 said:
No. Even if he did get a lady friend he will keep looking for her or another one. Just a phase. My veiled grew out if it.
Click to expand...

Do all males do that at a certain age? How long did their phases last? What age did you Chams go through it?
 
Both my boys started doing it at 6 months. My veiled is 9months and still walks his cage but not as much. My panther is 7 months and still marches around so we shall see if he slows down but I'm sure he will. They didn't really do it till they hit that age so I don't think it's a cage issue other then they want to explore a larger area. I have built some free range areas in the house and take them out side as much as possible to give them some enrichment and exercise.
 
JoshD49 said:
Both my boys started doing it at 6 months. My veiled is 9months and still walks his cage but not as much. My panther is 7 months and still marches around so we shall see if he slows down but I'm sure he will. They didn't really do it till they hit that age so I don't think it's a cage issue other then they want to explore a larger area. I have built some free range areas in the house and take them out side as much as possible to give them some enrichment and exercise.
Click to expand...

Actually, in that situation I thinks this is a cage issue.. Male usually want to explore more at a certain age but lot of parameter were not ok (temperature, UVB and humidity) so.. chameleon are just like us.. if they aren't confortable they try to go away for a better world..
 
Mawtyplant said:
Actually, in that situation I thinks this is a cage issue.. Male usually want to explore more at a certain age but lot of parameter were not ok (temperature, UVB and humidity) so.. chameleon are just like us.. if they aren't confortable they try to go away for a better world..
Click to expand...

I meant in my case. Sorry I should have been clear.
 
JoshD49 said:
Both my boys started doing it at 6 months. My veiled is 9months and still walks his cage but not as much. My panther is 7 months and still marches around so we shall see if he slows down but I'm sure he will. They didn't really do it till they hit that age so I don't think it's a cage issue other then they want to explore a larger area. I have built some free range areas in the house and take them out side as much as possible to give them some enrichment and exercise.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that up... was worried for a minute there! ;)
 
So i have a male veiled chameleon that i would say Its between 5 to 7 months and he seems to not like his cage, Im still missing plants in his cage is pretty empty right now if im honest but today he was really brown and he was going up and down in the cage and I decided to put him in one of my moms plants and he suddenly turned bright green and he has been there for an hour enjoying that plant

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - veiled, male, and i would say around 4 to 5 months. 5 days
  • Handling - when I got him and when I put him in my mons plant
  • Feeding - I'm feeding him crickets and I might look for more variety, i tried to do it the earliest i can because when I go back to school i will put some crickets in there at 6 am (i have swim practice that early) I gut load them with vegetables and fruits.
  • Supplements - I use flukers calcium with no d3 almost every day and I have a reptivitemultivitamin with d3 and every 2 weeks
  • Watering - i mist his cage for a couple of minutes and I think he drink yesterday it looked like it
  • Fecal Description - Big long piece is brown and another little piece is white. I dont think he has been check for parasites
  • History - he closes his right eye and he has a bumb almost at the end of his tail

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - I have a reptibreeze xl its 2x2x4
  • Lighting - I have a reptisun 5.0 uvb and currently I'm using a halogen light for heat and i'm going to replace it with a 75W bulb this week. His light are on from 8 am to 8 pm.
  • Temperature - 78-84. Lowest overnight would be my actual house temperature between 72 to 75.
  • Humidity - 75 most of the time and 90 when I mist
  • Plants - i'm currently not using live plants
  • Placement - His cage it's in my room, there is a fan yes thats another reason why I want to cover a part of the cage (top) with plastic or something,the only traffic here is me coming every once in a while in and out of the room maybe the dogs and that's mostly all the traffic here, the cage is in the floor for now, i'm a welding student and my dad is a welder so we planning on making a table for the cage (currently 4 feet from the floor)
  • Location - I'm located in Austin Texas
[/QUOTE]
I have the exact same issue as you do. My male is about 6-7 months now. We have 2 dogs and he does get a little spooked when the get too close. However, in the month weve had him he has gotten a little more used to them. Most of the time if he’s out and gets scared he will lean to one side like he’s hiding. I also have noticed his color is more brown and dark while in his enclosure but turns very green and bright when out in the ficus or being handled. There’s one exception when he climbs on our brown couch he changes to really dark colors with black stripes on his eyes and veil.
I was thinking that temperature had something to do with the temps being higher in his enclosure. Then I thought humidity was an issue, then climbing areas. This weekend I completely overhauled his enclosure with plenty of climbing opportunities and installed a Mistking ultimate and he’s still the same color as before. In my opinion I have to agree that is has to do with gender and age. A few years back I had a female veiled and the experience was a little different. At around 6 months she climbed much less than before, but would go through my substrate daily and dig. I never found any eggs but I think that’s their inherited nature to breed. Her color was also green in the enclosure but brown while out and didn’t like to be handled ever.
Is your male seem happy when handled? Does he willingly go to your hand when preparing to handle him?
 
I had a female the exact same way and he does come to my hand but then when I move he hisses so it weird but then he goes to his plant and climbs and he come back in his cage at night and to eat in the morning
 
Last edited:
pmdaggett79 said:
So i have a male veiled chameleon that i would say Its between 5 to 7 months and he seems to not like his cage, Im still missing plants in his cage is pretty empty right now if im honest but today he was really brown and he was going up and down in the cage and I decided to put him in one of my moms plants and he suddenly turned bright green and he has been there for an hour enjoying that plant

Chameleon Info:
  • Your Chameleon - veiled, male, and i would say around 4 to 5 months. 5 days
  • Handling - when I got him and when I put him in my mons plant
  • Feeding - I'm feeding him crickets and I might look for more variety, i tried to do it the earliest i can because when I go back to school i will put some crickets in there at 6 am (i have swim practice that early) I gut load them with vegetables and fruits.
  • Supplements - I use flukers calcium with no d3 almost every day and I have a reptivitemultivitamin with d3 and every 2 weeks
  • Watering - i mist his cage for a couple of minutes and I think he drink yesterday it looked like it
  • Fecal Description - Big long piece is brown and another little piece is white. I dont think he has been check for parasites
  • History - he closes his right eye and he has a bumb almost at the end of his tail

Cage Info:
  • Cage Type - I have a reptibreeze xl its 2x2x4
  • Lighting - I have a reptisun 5.0 uvb and currently I'm using a halogen light for heat and i'm going to replace it with a 75W bulb this week. His light are on from 8 am to 8 pm.
  • Temperature - 78-84. Lowest overnight would be my actual house temperature between 72 to 75.
  • Humidity - 75 most of the time and 90 when I mist
  • Plants - i'm currently not using live plants
  • Placement - His cage it's in my room, there is a fan yes thats another reason why I want to cover a part of the cage (top) with plastic or something,the only traffic here is me coming every once in a while in and out of the room maybe the dogs and that's mostly all the traffic here, the cage is in the floor for now, i'm a welding student and my dad is a welder so we planning on making a table for the cage (currently 4 feet from the floor)
  • Location - I'm located in Austin Texas
Click to expand...
I have the exact same issue as you do. My male is about 6-7 months now. We have 2 dogs and he does get a little spooked when the get too close. However, in the month weve had him he has gotten a little more used to them. Most of the time if he’s out and gets scared he will lean to one side like he’s hiding. I also have noticed his color is more brown and dark while in his enclosure but turns very green and bright when out in the ficus or being handled. There’s one exception when he climbs on our brown couch he changes to really dark colors with black stripes on his eyes and veil.
I was thinking that temperature had something to do with the temps being higher in his enclosure. Then I thought humidity was an issue, then climbing areas. This weekend I completely overhauled his enclosure with plenty of climbing opportunities and installed a Mistking ultimate and he’s still the same color as before. In my opinion I have to agree that is has to do with gender and age. A few years back I had a female veiled and the experience was a little different. At around 6 months she climbed much less than before, but would go through my substrate daily and dig. I never found any eggs but I think that’s their inherited nature to breed. Her color was also green in the enclosure but brown while out and didn’t like to be handled ever.
Is your male seem happy when handled? Does he willingly go to your hand when preparing to handle him?[/QUOTE]
I had a female too and it was the same as your female and he does come to my hand but he hisses when I move so its weird and he turns bright and green when he goes to the plant and he goes back to his cage at night to sleep and to eat in the morning and goes back into the plant
 
More plants and foliage will help your cham feel safe and less stressed. an Ideal enclosure is one where you actually have to look to find the chameleon.

Males will roam the cages due to hormones and looking for a mate. In my experience, Veiled chameleons go through a "muddy" stage in the coloration before getting their adult colors. Brown coloration in the cage could be his relaxed and content coloration. If he is a dark color while basking then he could be trying to absorb as much heat as possible. At 6 months of age I would get the basking spot to around 85-88*F and increase to around 93-95*F at alittle over a year old.

When you take him out of the cage and put him on a free range plant, that bright green coloration could be because hes nervous and may feel exposed. Thats just my guess since in my experience, my cham always shows bright colors when stressed and dull colors when relaxed. Every cham is different so you'll need to learn to read your chams body language over time.
 
I agree with @Graves923 in that my boy has been darker until the the 9 month she'd .The colors are really coming out now. In his cage he is still not as bright as when he is out. I think bright colors are his adventure clothes haha.
 
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