Excessive Sheeding - Not Eating - Agressive?

[AZJ0SH]

I have had my chameleon Ziggy since May. Over the last few weeks he has been acting really strange. First, I will fill out the "how to ask for help" section:

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Male Veiled Chameleon - ~7 months old
Handling - Tried, and failed. He won't come near my hands.
Feeding - ~15 3/4" crickets daily, gut-loading with mixed veggies and orange cubes.
Supplements - Calcium every other day, calcium with d3 and multi twice a month.
Watering - Misting every 3-4 hours for ~3-5 mins, running a dripper throughout the day.
Fecal Description - Dark brown/black with bright white urate. Tested for parasites about 2 months ago.
History - Nothing major besides a fecal when I thought he was underweight, turns out I was not feeding enough.

Cage Info:
Cage Type - Custom enclosure, 22X24X46. All screened except the back, plenty of airflow.
Lighting - Reptisun 5.0, purchased in May 2011. Replacing in November at the 6 month mark.
Temperature - Basking temp is 83-85 degrees.
Humidity - 35% between mistings, around 75% when misting.
Plants - Using a schleffera and a "swiss cheese plant" both on the safe list.
Placement - Low-traffic area, far away from vents.
Location - Arizona, it's super dry here right now.

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He has been shedding once a week, for the last 3-4 weeks. His sheds are taking 1-2 days, compared to just a few hours when he was younger.

He is only eating about 5-8 3/4" crickets a day now, he used to eat 15-20. He doesn't appear to be underweight, if anything he has fattened up a lot over the last 2 months.

He has also been very aggressive, every time I mist he hisses at me and turns dark brown, even if I am not spraying anywhere near him. I go to feed him and he is super scared of my hands now, he sort of lunges and hisses at my hands now. He used to eat right out of my hand up until now.

I have no idea what is going on, or if this is normal since he is growing so much so fast right now? Any ideas?

Thanks guys.

 

[brandychams]

sounds like he starting to get territorial 6-8 crickets a daay is good for that age and i would up his temps to low 90s but everything else seems good his body might be playing catch up if he was a little underwieght

 

[camimom]

I would leave his basking temps just the way they are.
SOme chams can go through grow spurts,
I would offer about 10 medium to large crickets a day and see how he does.
As for his aggression, yes its normal, hes a 'teenage' cham. hes rebelling

 

[rangos]

@camimom
Thanks for the laugh!!! "As for his aggression, yes its normal, hes a 'teenage' cham. hes rebelling " I needed that. =)

@ AZJOSH My 5 month old veiled has started doing the same thing. He fears the hand and if I get anywhere near him he hisses and snapps. I still take him out about 2 times a week.... like it or not. Once he is out he is fine and turns green and wants to explore.

 

[camimom]

Have you considered free ranging?

When I first got Kink, my 9 month old male veield, I would never have considered not doing a cage.
I free range my guy now though, and for him it was like night and day on personality changes.
WHen he was in his cage, he would hiss, try to bite, and run away.
Now that he's on a 4 ft tall scheffelara, and hes not in a cage, theres no hissing, no bit attempts, no running away.
Hes a bit wary of my hand coming towards him, but if I move slow, and come from under him instead of over, he just climbs right on

 

[brandychams]

temps in the low 80s are good for babies high 80s for adult female and low to mid 90s for an adult male if hes dark in color and basking constantly id up the temps a bit jmo

 

[DavidBuchan]

I think you are doing everything fine....he is being a little monster though, lol. Mine went through a phase of being more territorial, and seeming to be always shedding, he lunged at me a few time but was fairly tolerant, so I count myself lucky. Male Veileds in particular have a reputation for this sort of thing, but it is just a phase, and in a few months you'll be able to temp him to eat things from your hand again.....just don't do what I did and spoil him with waxworms (now I have a whole new temperamental Chameleon problem....) . A bit of variety is my tip if you want to tempt him to eat, but always make sure he knows crickets and/or roaches are best for him.......
I would also agree a bigger cage or a free range for him or slightly higher temps would be worth trying.
P.s. - he might just be not as hungry as he was, you don't want to overfeed him and they do often have a big drop in appetite at about this age too, so don't worry too much about that.......

 

[AZJ0SH]

Thank you for the replies everyone, I am glad to see it's somewhat normal, and that he's going through a territorial "teenage" phase.

I put about 10 crickets in each day now, if he doesn't eat them within 2-3 hours I put them back in the keeper. I did read as they get older they graudally eat less and less, so I will just keep feeding him about 10 a day and see how many he eats and keep track of his diet.

As for free-ranging, I have 2 cats in my apartment that would see Ziggy as a nice treat, or something to play with, so as much as I want to free range it's not an option for me yet. Hopefully when I get a house next year I can do a free-range setup, I plan on having a full reptile room if my wife doesn't kill me first.

Again, thanks everyone. I was a bit worried when I made the post that I was doing something wrong, turns out he's just being a punk.