Help

[TylerG524]

Chameleon info:
*veiled chameleon, male, pet store never told me his age, he’s been in my possession for a month now.
Handling: handled him twice he used to hand feed but hasn’t eaten much in the last couple days and has become a bit aggressive.
Feeding: he had a great appetite, the first day I got him he managed to get 6 crickets. he’s been hand feeding for about 3 days now. I feed him when I wake in the morning and he used to usually eat about 6crickets. I feed him when I get home from work around 5ish but he usually only eats 1 or sometimes 2
Supplement: I use repticalcium and I’ve only put it on 2 batches so far because I read to only do it 2 times a week.
Misting: sadly I’ve been hand misting because I haven’t had enough money to buy an automatic one. I mist his viv 3 times a day but not for long because it seems as if it scares him so I stop. Is there anything I can do abt this?
Poop: His poop has been light brown with a white end

Cage:
My cage is a glass thrive cage that is 18in L x 18in w x 24in H I have ordered a 2X2X4 cage for when he grows.
Lighting: I have 2 thrive 5.5” deep dome lamps with one as my UVB and the other as my heat lamp (50w bulb) and a reptisun t5 HO lamp for the bigger cage
Temps: my day time temps are 75 at the bottoms and 80 degrees for basking at the top. His night time temps are usually around 70-72 degrees.
Humidity: his daytime humidity stays in the low 50s and his nighttime humidity is usually in the
Plants: he has 2 live plants and 3 fake ones. The live plants are an umbrella tree and a golden pothos.
cage location: his cage is located in the corner of my room away from high traffic areas. His cage is decently high off the ground and the top of his cage is about head level with me(I’m 6’1) .
Location geographically: I live in wilmington nc near the ocean so it’s pretty humid here but we’ve had a bit of cold dry air for once so it’s been nice

question: My Cham has been fine for the whole month Ive had him except for the last couple days. He hasn’t been eating he basks but only in a spot where he’s very hidden. I haven’t seen him poop in a day either. His colors have been fine he stays a light green and sometimes a dark green with light green spots. Is there anything wrong with him?

 

[TylerG524]

Chameleon info:
*veiled chameleon, male, pet store never told me his age, he’s been in my possession for a month now.
Handling: handled him twice he used to hand feed but hasn’t eaten much in the last couple days and has become a bit aggressive.
Feeding: he had a great appetite, the first day I got him he managed to get 6 crickets. he’s been hand feeding for about 3 days now. I feed him when I wake in the morning and he used to usually eat about 6crickets. I feed him when I get home from work around 5ish but he usually only eats 1 or sometimes 2
Supplement: I use repticalcium and I’ve only put it on 2 batches so far because I read to only do it 2 times a week.
Misting: sadly I’ve been hand misting because I haven’t had enough money to buy an automatic one. I mist his viv 3 times a day but not for long because it seems as if it scares him so I stop. Is there anything I can do abt this?
Poop: His poop has been light brown with a white end

Cage:
My cage is a glass thrive cage that is 18in L x 18in w x 24in H I have ordered a 2X2X4 cage for when he grows.
Lighting: I have 2 thrive 5.5” deep dome lamps with one as my UVB and the other as my heat lamp (50w bulb) and a reptisun t5 HO lamp for the bigger cage
Temps: my day time temps are 75 at the bottoms and 80 degrees for basking at the top. His night time temps are usually around 70-72 degrees.
Humidity: his daytime humidity stays in the low 50s and his nighttime humidity is usually in the
Plants: he has 2 live plants and 3 fake ones. The live plants are an umbrella tree and a golden pothos.
cage location: his cage is located in the corner of my room away from high traffic areas. His cage is decently high off the ground and the top of his cage is about head level with me(I’m 6’1) .
Location geographically: I live in wilmington nc near the ocean so it’s pretty humid here but we’ve had a bit of cold dry air for once so it’s been nice

question: My Cham has been fine for the whole month Ive had him except for the last couple days. He hasn’t been eating he basks but only in a spot where he’s very hidden. I haven’t seen him poop in a day either. His colors have been fine he stays a light green and sometimes a dark green with light green spots. Is there anything wrong with him?

 

[Benclark]

do you happen to have a picture of his hind feet? His pattern looks male but it is hard to tell at this age. If there are bumps on his hind feet he is a male, if not female. His poop seems healthy and hydrated. If he was dehydrated you would notice yellow urate and not white. Other than that he looks healthy! As far as husbandry goes, things seem okay. The fact that he isn't eating might be because he is stressed. Handling is very stressful for chameleons and if he is acting more aggressive than usual I would cut back on handling. I would also consider getting a screen enclosure as chams need good ventilation. As for misting you definitely need to be misting no less than twice a day. Chams will not drink out of a water dish and only drink water drops. You don't have to mist him directly but make sure to get the plants. What you are aiming for are dry warm days (50-60% humidity) and cool humid (60-80%) nights. Best of luck!

 

[CasqueAbove]

Others will likely follow up with a full review. But seems like you are on the right path. I would get rid of fake plants. Only use live. There is nothing wrong with hand misting as long as you do it. To make it easier get a cheep weed sprayer, 1 or 2 gal. Then you can pump it up and spray longer. To not scare him just mist from top through the screen so it falls like rain. If he heads for cover this is a natural reaction.
He is looking good so far. You addressed the UVB, so for now just make sure his basking spot is se correct. about 5 inches directly below uvb.

 

[Benclark]

I agree with CasqueAbove, live plants are always better than fake. Fake plants are less than useless and can hurt the cham. I used this webpage for a list of plants. I got most of them from Home Depot for like $4 each. Golden Pathos is a great option.

 

[MissSkittles]

Hi! I’ll give you a full husbandry review...just need a bit of time.

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll be putting my feedback in red.

Chameleon info:
*veiled chameleon, male, pet store never told me his age, he’s been in my possession for a month now. Going by his size, I’d guess he’s maybe somewhere around 3-4 months old. Little cutie! While he does look to have the male bar patterns, the best way to determine gender is males have tarsal Spurs - littl nubs on the backs of their back feet.
Handling: handled him twice he used to hand feed but hasn’t eaten much in the last couple days and has become a bit aggressive. The aggression is pretty much how veileds are. I’d suggest either using a feeder like this https://tkchameleons.com/products/shooting-gallery?variant=30018608595032 or if you want to continue hand feeding, use a cup to hold out and offer his buggies. I primarily cup fed for months to help build trust and would also hold out a silkworm on my hand to further develop trust.
Feeding: he had a great appetite, the first day I got him he managed to get 6 crickets. he’s been hand feeding for about 3 days now. I feed him when I wake in the morning and he used to usually eat about 6crickets. I feed him when I get home from work around 5ish but he usually only eats 1 or sometimes 2 It’s best at his age to feed just once a day in the morning so he has time to bask and digest. He should be getting around 12-14 feeders daily. As he gets older, you’ll be needing to reduce this amount. Also, variety is best and you need to feed your feeders so that they are more nutritious. Attaching feeder and gutload sheets.
Supplement: I use repticalcium and I’ve only put it on 2 batches so far because I read to only do it 2 times a week. Proper supplementation is essential. Does your calcium have vitamin D3 in it? I’ll give you 2 different supplement schedules. #1- calcium without D3 at every feeding except one per week. For that one weekly feeding, use calcium with D3 on weeks 1&3 and a multivitamin on weeks 3&4. #2 calcium without D3 except one feeding every other week. For that one feeding use Reptivite with D3.
Misting: sadly I’ve been hand misting because I haven’t had enough money to buy an automatic one. I mist his viv 3 times a day but not for long because it seems as if it scares him so I stop. Is there anything I can do abt this? Not a lot you can do as you need to mist. You should be misting for at least 2 minutes early in the day (before lights on is ideal), again at mid day and once more near or after lights out. Instead of a mid day misting, you could use a dripper for about 20-30 mins. To enhance hydration you could also get a cool mist humidifier and run that for a few hours during the night when temps are cooler.
Poop: His poop has been light brown with a white end

Cage:
My cage is a glass thrive cage that is 18in L x 18in w x 24in H I have ordered a 2X2X4 cage for when he grows. Perfect!
Lighting: I have 2 thrive 5.5” deep dome lamps with one as my UVB and the other as my heat lamp (50w bulb) and a reptisun t5 HO lamp for the bigger cage Use the T5 now. You should have either a 5.0 or a 6% uvb bulb for it. The screw in uvb bulbs aren’t able to provide adequate uvb except for in a very tiny area.
Temps: my day time temps are 75 at the bottoms and 80 degrees for basking at the top. His night time temps are usually around 70-72 degrees. Perfect!
Humidity: his daytime humidity stays in the low 50s and his nighttime humidity is usually in the ??? Daytime should be between 30-50% and at night when it’s cooler it can go to 100%.
Plants: he has 2 live plants and 3 fake ones. The live plants are an umbrella tree and a golden pothos. More live plants and get rid of the fake. He will eat his plants and veileds have been known to eat fake leaves, which causes potentially fatal impaction. Hang the fake on the outside of the enclosure to provide him more sense of privacy.
cage location: his cage is located in the corner of my room away from high traffic areas. His cage is decently high off the ground and the top of his cage is about head level with me(I’m 6’1) . They like to be able to look down upon us, but being so tall that may pose a challenge, lol. Perhaps when he gets into his big enclosure there’ll be a bit of it taller than you.
Location geographically: I live in wilmington nc near the ocean so it’s pretty humid here but we’ve had a bit of cold dry air for once so it’s been nice

question: My Cham has been fine for the whole month Ive had him except for the last couple days. He hasn’t been eating he basks but only in a spot where he’s very hidden. I haven’t seen him poop in a day either. His colors have been fine he stays a light green and sometimes a dark green with light green spots. Is there anything wrong with him? I suspect he’s just growing up and developing the attitude veileds are well known for. We love to look at and admire their beauty and they want nothing to do with any of that. Try to work on building some trust with him. Here’s a great blog on that. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/
Colors will vary depending on their moods and temperature, so is not of concern. My adult male stays a washed out murky green until he gets fired up. Hope I’ve been of some help. Feel free to ask as many questions as needed. This is a great community for that!