krusty46
New Member
We got Chip two weeks ago today at a Reptile Expo. I'll admit we weren't planning on a Chameleon so I did not have everything ready, but we got mostly everything at the Expo and he was up and running within a few hours. I'm not new to reptiles, so I kinda knew what to do.
Problem is he is still brown all day. Is this normal after two weeks? He started to show some yellow after about a week, but that's about it.
Chip is a male Veiled and as mentioned we've had him two weeks. He is about 6 months old.
My wife handled him briefly on day one to get him into his new enclosure, no one has touched him since. He has hissed at least once at my wife and he puffed up and hissed at me today for the first time when I was holding a superworm about 6-8 inches away from him.
We have been feeding him medium-large supers and small crickets, dusted with calcium w/D3 and vitamins. So far it's only been about 2 vitamin dustings with Calcium just about every other feeding. The calcium is Tetra brand and the Vitamins are RepCal. He has chewed up his plants a bit as well. I have a Pothos and as Schefflera?
I've been spraying/misting the tank 3-4 times per day to keep the humidify in the 60% range. I use a spray bottle and go until everything gets a decent soaking. Usually in the morning before work, when I get home from work (about 5pm) and a last one about 1 hour before lights out (currently 9pm). I sneak in an extra mid-day when I'm home on the weekends. My house tends to be very dry, so I let the digital hydrometer be my guide. I have never seen him drink. I can say HE HATES spray time. As soon as I start he zooms to highest ground and hides behind his plant. I try to not just spray him. Most of the damage is to the live plants, but I also give at least one spray up higher so as to get some water on the fake plants.
Poop looks normal or similar to my Beardie. Black with a white tip. Solid, not runny. He is pooping at least once per, maybe twice on a few days. Have not done a fecal.
Haven't really had him long enough to have an detailed history. He was bright green when we bought him and he's bright green when he goes to sleep.
He's in a Reptibreeze 2x2x4. I use different sized bamboo as branches. His main basking branch is held with screws, but I used magnets on all the others.
I have an Exo Terra 10'' dome with dimmer. I was using an Zoo Med 100 watt Basking bulb up until yesterday, with his basking temps hitting 82 degrees. Gradient went all the way down to about 74 on the floor of the tank. Thought he might be a bit cold, so I swapped it out for an Exo Terra Sun Glo 150 watt. The basking temps are now hitting the low 90's going down to 75-76 on the floor of the cage, but he's still brown.
We have central air running with the thermostat set at 75-76. We raise it to 77 at night, but I don't use any night time heat. I have never seen him gape and he is all over the cage. I frequently saw him on his basking spot, but not in the past 24 hours (since new bulb).
Humidity has been between 50-70%. I do my best to keep it at 60%. Again, I use a digital thermometer/hygrometer on the floor of the cage. I use a temp gun to measure the basking temp and specific spots of the cage. Typically hold it 2-3 inches from the spot I'm trying to measure.
Most of the plants (3) are fake, but I do have a smaller Pothos and the Schefflera(?) I also have a plastic/silk vine flower wrapped around a few of the branches and vines.
The cage is in my living room. It's across the room from an air vent. I stood up on a chair and I don't feel a breeze coming from the vent. It's actually far enough away from the vent that the room temp on that side of the room is a bit warmer then what the ac control box is set at. The cage is on top of a chest about 2-3 feet off the ground. Top of the cage is probably about 7 ft off the ground. The cage is about 15 feet from my front door, but I would not say we excessively go in and out. I do have a Green Anole tank next to his, but he's usually up high and they tend to stay hidden all day.
He frequently comes down to be nosy and watch me as I sit on the floor and get dinner ready for the gang. He'll sit about as low and close to the front of the cage as he can get.
The picture is from 9 days ago (sorry I don't have a new one and it's lights out already) before I added the rest of the bamboo and another fake plant.
We are just starting to worry a bit he has not settled in. I know it can take some time, but 2 weeks seems a bit long. I also know he may never want to be handled, but we want him to be happy in his enclosure. I thought I have all my bases covered and was hoping someone can point out if I'm doing anything wrong. Thanks in advance.
Problem is he is still brown all day. Is this normal after two weeks? He started to show some yellow after about a week, but that's about it.
Chip is a male Veiled and as mentioned we've had him two weeks. He is about 6 months old.
My wife handled him briefly on day one to get him into his new enclosure, no one has touched him since. He has hissed at least once at my wife and he puffed up and hissed at me today for the first time when I was holding a superworm about 6-8 inches away from him.
We have been feeding him medium-large supers and small crickets, dusted with calcium w/D3 and vitamins. So far it's only been about 2 vitamin dustings with Calcium just about every other feeding. The calcium is Tetra brand and the Vitamins are RepCal. He has chewed up his plants a bit as well. I have a Pothos and as Schefflera?
I've been spraying/misting the tank 3-4 times per day to keep the humidify in the 60% range. I use a spray bottle and go until everything gets a decent soaking. Usually in the morning before work, when I get home from work (about 5pm) and a last one about 1 hour before lights out (currently 9pm). I sneak in an extra mid-day when I'm home on the weekends. My house tends to be very dry, so I let the digital hydrometer be my guide. I have never seen him drink. I can say HE HATES spray time. As soon as I start he zooms to highest ground and hides behind his plant. I try to not just spray him. Most of the damage is to the live plants, but I also give at least one spray up higher so as to get some water on the fake plants.
Poop looks normal or similar to my Beardie. Black with a white tip. Solid, not runny. He is pooping at least once per, maybe twice on a few days. Have not done a fecal.
Haven't really had him long enough to have an detailed history. He was bright green when we bought him and he's bright green when he goes to sleep.
He's in a Reptibreeze 2x2x4. I use different sized bamboo as branches. His main basking branch is held with screws, but I used magnets on all the others.
I have an Exo Terra 10'' dome with dimmer. I was using an Zoo Med 100 watt Basking bulb up until yesterday, with his basking temps hitting 82 degrees. Gradient went all the way down to about 74 on the floor of the tank. Thought he might be a bit cold, so I swapped it out for an Exo Terra Sun Glo 150 watt. The basking temps are now hitting the low 90's going down to 75-76 on the floor of the cage, but he's still brown.
We have central air running with the thermostat set at 75-76. We raise it to 77 at night, but I don't use any night time heat. I have never seen him gape and he is all over the cage. I frequently saw him on his basking spot, but not in the past 24 hours (since new bulb).
Humidity has been between 50-70%. I do my best to keep it at 60%. Again, I use a digital thermometer/hygrometer on the floor of the cage. I use a temp gun to measure the basking temp and specific spots of the cage. Typically hold it 2-3 inches from the spot I'm trying to measure.
Most of the plants (3) are fake, but I do have a smaller Pothos and the Schefflera(?) I also have a plastic/silk vine flower wrapped around a few of the branches and vines.
The cage is in my living room. It's across the room from an air vent. I stood up on a chair and I don't feel a breeze coming from the vent. It's actually far enough away from the vent that the room temp on that side of the room is a bit warmer then what the ac control box is set at. The cage is on top of a chest about 2-3 feet off the ground. Top of the cage is probably about 7 ft off the ground. The cage is about 15 feet from my front door, but I would not say we excessively go in and out. I do have a Green Anole tank next to his, but he's usually up high and they tend to stay hidden all day.
He frequently comes down to be nosy and watch me as I sit on the floor and get dinner ready for the gang. He'll sit about as low and close to the front of the cage as he can get.
The picture is from 9 days ago (sorry I don't have a new one and it's lights out already) before I added the rest of the bamboo and another fake plant.
We are just starting to worry a bit he has not settled in. I know it can take some time, but 2 weeks seems a bit long. I also know he may never want to be handled, but we want him to be happy in his enclosure. I thought I have all my bases covered and was hoping someone can point out if I'm doing anything wrong. Thanks in advance.
