Help! My cham is almost black and I don't know why!

[shorton]

I have a veiled chameleon probably about a year and a half old and we got him almost a month ago. It started out rough and he was under cared for but now he is alert, eating and has always been green. He gets a little territorial and hates being misted, but it needs to be done. Well starting this after noon he is black and has stayed that way for hours now. We can not figure out why. When he sees us he runs and turns very dark and even after leaving him alone for a couple hours he is still almost black. Whenever we go anywhere near him he gets very aggressive and hisses. We are also not entirely sure if it is a male or female. We just bought a full 4ft screen cage for it but we are too scared to move him into it right now.

Attached is a picture of him right now (black) and a picture of his usual green color.

Chameleon Info:
Veiled Chameleon
Unknown gender (we believe it is a male)
Year and a half old
Little smaller than the size of my hand
Is okay about being handled.
I have multivitamin and calcium
I mist him often and make sure the humidity is at least 50 - 60 %

Cage Info:
16 x 16 x 24
3 Glass walls with a screen top and 1 screen side
12 Hour lighting scheduled
100W basking light (about 85 degree basking area)
Nighttime ceramic heater (right now temps are high enough so we don't use it)
Brand new 25W UVB light bulb
Humidity 50 - 60%
All fake plants with a decent amount of hiding space
He is placed on a high shelf that is part of our fireplace, at about eye level
I live in Arizona.

 

[shorton]

Just as an update, we just fed it about 6 mealworms and he ate them right up in a heartbeat. At least he is eating.

 

[jamjam]

so i'm more of a panther cham person and also dont breed or own a female. but to take a stab at things id say from the size of the casque i say you have a female there and guess she may be gravid. you will probably want to get a laying bin set up asap if thats the case. becoming egg bound and such can be fatal. as mentioned im not positive just try and get ball rolling on an answer.

for future reference and even this one when filling out the form more specifics are helpful. brands for calcium and lights. whether calcium is with or without d3. which you should have both btw.

 

[sharp229]

I agree, it looks like a female. I can't see spurs on the back feet, casque is small, and coloration looks female in the second pic.

Females lay eggs whether mated or not. I would recommend setting up a laying bin. See the below video:

https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

Also, could you post a picture of her from the top? Does she look plump?

 

[camimom]

How are you measuring your basking temps?

What are you feeding?

How often and with what are you supplementing with?

I think you have a female, but I need better pics of the backs of the back feet please.

 

[Sanababit]

Hello, first of all i have read that a chameleon will turn dark when it is stressed, maybe it is in a high traffic area, or it just doesn't want to be seen, or since the cage is new, it needs time to get adjusted to its new enviroment, just be patient, that is what i did, i started feeding my chameleon by hand, and now it doesn't run from me, well its a start, lol, good luck

Sana

 

[Charmeleon818]

I dont think meal worms are ok if thats his food staple. Theyre hard to digest (so ive heard) try super worms dusted with calcium! I would say feed her every other day and at least one day a week feed just regular super worms no dust... And once or twice a month dust with d3. I hope that helps ! And if it is female make sure you get her a proper place to lay her eggs wether fertile or not ^.^
I hope that helps!

 

[camimom]

Neither superworms nor meal worms should be a staple food.

 

[Devokid]

85 is a little on the low side for a basking area. It does depend on how accurate that measurement is though because I would think that a 100W bulb would easily get it hot enough. If that is all accurate, I would try moving the basking branch a little closer to the light.

It looks like a girl to me as well. I concur with the lay-bin being needed.

 

[camimom]

85 is a little on the low side for a basking area. It does depend on how accurate that measurement is though because I would think that a 100W bulb would easily get it hot enough. If that is all accurate, I would try moving the basking branch a little closer to the light.

It looks like a girl to me as well. I concur with the lay-bin being needed.

Actualy if it is a female 85 is perfect for a basking temp.

by keeping temps low, it can reduce her egg production.

 

[shorton]

Mealworms are not her staple food we feed her crickets sometimes coated with calcium. It is just easier to hand feed her mealworms and after she ate she turned back to her normal green color but when we woke up this morning she is back to being brown. We are going to get her a laying bin today and move her into her new 4ft cage. Our concern though is we hope we don't stress her out too much moving her but her current cage is too small for a laying bin.

 

[camimom]

how much foliage do you have in the cage?

She may not feel safe.

Also, you should not be dusting with calcium sometimes, you should be doing it every feeding.

You should be dusting with a calcium with no d3 every feeding, a calcium with d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month.

you should also vary her diet more.

silkworms, hornworms, dubia roaches, crickets, superworms, mealworms, thing like that.

what do you gutload the bugs with?

How are you measuring your temps?