How old is my Veiled Cham?

[kailynkoenitzer]

Hey guys! So I've had Gaia for almost 4 months now. I got her as a rescue, and was told she was about 6 months old when I got her (making her 10 months old now). Now I am not sure this is accurate. I've been comparing her to pictures of other veileds that are 10 months old on this forum, and she doesn't look the same. I've attached some pictures so you can see her (yes she is missing a foot). Can anyone give me a better estimate on her age? Thanks so much!

 

[Andee]

10-12 months is accurate in my opinion, what are you Temps? How much are you feeding her? Do you have a laying bin?

 

[kailynkoenitzer]

10-12 months is accurate in my opinion, what are you Temps? How much are you feeding her? Do you have a laying bin?

My thermometer recently broke so I'm not positive on the temps, but I think they are around the mid 70's (which I know is too low but I'm doing my best). I live in a dorm so our thermostat is out of our control and our room is never higher than 60. I usually feed her around 9 medium to large crickets a day with calcium powder. I don't have a laying bin, and honestly didn't even know I would need one.

 

[Andee]

9 crickets a day is too much, you should only feed that much every other day, her basking temp needs to be around 85 so you need a infra red thermometer. And yes you need a laying bin, chameleons lay eggs even without being mated.

 

[kailynkoenitzer]

9 crickets a day is too much, you should only feed that much every other day, her basking temp needs to be around 85 so you need a infra red thermometer. And yes you need a laying bin, chameleons lay eggs even without being mated.

well yeah I figured that out reading this forum this past week. So, how do I make one? And How big does it need to be because I don't have much space in her cage.
Also, what's the best way to get her temps up?

 

[Andee]

What wattage for a basking light do you have? What size cage do you have? The bins are recommended to be at least 8-9 inches deep.

 

[Andee]

Do you know how she lost her foot? Digging a lay tunnel won't be easy I don't think with a missing foot. Though I am not quite sure, you might need to dig a few starter tunnels.

 

[Andee]

Can you get me a picture of her entire set up?

 

[kailynkoenitzer]

Can you get me a picture of her entire set up?

I've attached some pictures for you. She's currently in a 16Lx16Wx30H cage (I plan to get her a bigger one soon). She has a 60 watt bulb heat bulb and a 5.0 reptisun UVB (came with the kit I bought).
I was told she was attacked by another chameleon before I got her. She still has a teeny tiny bit of grip with it and gets around pretty well. She also has grown back a tiny claw recently which has helped haha.

 

[Andee]

If you do get a bigger cage, I would highly recommend getting a 24x24x48, it usually can easily fit a good sized laying bin in it. I would maybe try a 75 watt bulb, but honestly wouldn't change it until you have a infrared thermometer.

 

[kailynkoenitzer]

If you do get a bigger cage, I would highly recommend getting a 24x24x48, it usually can easily fit a good sized laying bin in it. I would maybe try a 75 watt bulb, but honestly wouldn't change it until you have a infrared thermometer.

Okay. Thank you so much for all your help!

 

[JGuinan007]

Whats going on with her left eye?

 

[kailynkoenitzer]

Whats going on with her left eye?

She had a pretty bad abcess on it about a week or so ago. The vet gave me antibiotics and it went away but its flaring up again so I have continued with the antibiotics. It's better than it used to be and is continuing to heal. The lighting in the picture makes it look much bigger than it truly is.