How old is our chameleon?

[mandyyy]

Me and my boyfriend recently got a baby chameleon and we were wondering if anyone could tell us his/her age? Also how many crickets he/she should be eating per day? Some days he/she will eat 3 or 4 small crickets but then other days he/she wont eat any. This is also our first chameleon so feel free to give us any advice!

 

[yojon3000]

why is the chameleon asleep in the pic? thats unhealthy sign...
and if it has a spur on its back legs its a boy.
a baby like that should eat more then 3-4 crickets wayyy more

 

[Swayne8998]

He looks to be pretty young, no more than one or two months old. And not to rain on your parade, but he looks a little sick, his eyes shouldn't be closed if it's daytime (is it daytime in the pic?)

 

[reptileman]

looks to be about 2 months, are its eyes closed like that alot during the day? if so thats a bad sign, and at that age I think it should eat daily and more than 3-4 crickets.

 

[Swayne8998]

looks to be about 2 months, are its eyes closed like that alot during the day? if so thats a bad sign, and at that age I think it should eat daily and more than 3-4 crickets.

why is the chameleon asleep in the pic? thats unhealthy sign...
and if it has a spur on its back legs its a boy.
a baby like that should eat more then 3-4 crickets wayyy more

Yeah at that age he/she should be eating 15-25 small crickets.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

Holy he is small, I would also guess 2 months if that. At that age they should be eating a ton. Like Swayne said 15-25, maybe a little less. And you should be able to tell if it is a boy or a girl by looking at its back feet and seeing if there are spurs on it.

Here is a picture

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=Veil...w=172&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:75

I would also question if it is night time by you when you took that picture, he should not be sleeping during the day that is a bad sign. Anyway I also would not disturb him if him is sleeping. Hope this helps you!

 

[ChamBust]

Make sure he/she is receiving proper hydration. Might need more UVB (sunlight, etc.) and a regulated sleeping schedule (lights off at night).

 

[yojon3000]

I dont think it was night time look in the back it looks like a redbox IMO. this was probably taken during the day

 

[mandyyy]

The picture was taken about 10pm. Hes a lot more active during the day but he sleeps a lot during the night. We're not sure if hes sick or not. We actually found him on the floor of a department store, so we don't know much about him. I almost stepped on him, so we picked him up and brought him home. The store we found him in did not carry pets so we're not sure how he got there or how long he was there before we found him. Hes been in our care for about a week now.

Is there anything I can do to encourage him to eat? He usually eats 3-4 crickets sprinkled in protein powder and I also picked up some meal worms but so far hes only eaten one and really hasn't shown much of an interest in them.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

Alright well first of all you need to not give him protein powder lol get him on a supplementation schedule with every single feeding.

1. Every feeding he should get calcium without D3 and without anything else added.
2. Twice a month he should get a Multivitamin as well as some calcium with D3 I myself prefer the 1st and the 15th of every month, it helps me keep track
3.You will want a UVB bulb, it is extremely important and it will prevent the little guy from getting MBD, you do not want that lol it ruins there lives and degrades their bones and prevents them growing properly into a healthy chameleon. You also want a basking bulb, many people just use a common house bulb it works well.
3. Meal worms are fine do not feed to many their shells are loaded with a large amount of chitlin that is hard to digest. If it goes undigested it can lead to impaction and your chameleon can die.

The above is what I think you need to address ASAP the guide below will explain everything in better detail

I found this guide extremely helpful when I first joined the forum please read it through it will really help you a lot

https://www.chameleonforums.com/complete-veiled-care-sheet-52325/

 

[mandyyy]

Alright well first of all you need to not give him protein powder lol get him on a supplementation schedule with every single feeding.

1. Every feeding he should get calcium without D3 and without anything else added.
2. Twice a month he should get a Multivitamin as well as some calcium with D3 I myself prefer the 1st and the 15th of every month, it helps me keep track
3.You will want a UVB bulb, it is extremely important and it will prevent the little guy from getting MBD, you do not want that lol it ruins there lives and degrades their bones and prevents them growing properly into a healthy chameleon. You also want a basking bulb, many people just use a common house bulb it works well.
3. Meal worms are fine do not feed to many their shells are loaded with a large amount of chitlin that is hard to digest. If it goes undigested it can lead to impaction and your chameleon can die.

The above is what I think you need to address ASAP the guide below will explain everything in better detail

I found this guide extremely helpful when I first joined the forum please read it through it will really help you a lot

https://www.chameleonforums.com/complete-veiled-care-sheet-52325/

I meant calcium powder I have Reptocal with calcium and vitamin D3. And we have a UV bulb for him that I turn on for 12hrs a day.

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. My guess it around two months old. Chameleons take ALLOT of special care which require quite special lights, supplements and properly guy loaded feeders. Your chameleon is a veiled chameleon. I keep veileds and have a blog for new keepers attached below. I hope it will help you to get this little one setup correctly so that he can survive.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[ISA my Veiled]

I meant calcium powder I have Reptocal with calcium and vitamin D3. And we have a UV bulb for him that I turn on for 12hrs a day.

Oh lol then it was just miscommunication on both of our parts. But that is good, make sure you take a look at that Veiled care guide, it should answer a lot of your questions if not, feel free to message me and I can help you or a lot of other members can help you if you just post a thread with your questions! Welcome to the forum by the way!

 

[carol5208]

Chameleons only sleep at night and they really sleep all night long until the sun comes up. As the other member said, you do not want to dust with protein powder! Too much protein in a their diet can lead to a painful condition called gout. So get the correct supplements as you were told. We need to see a pic of your cage and tell us what lighting you are using. Also what temps you are creating?. Lighting and temps are the most critical. Also, at 10pm if your chameleon is sleeping, leave him sleep. Not good to disturb their sleeping cycle. Hydration is critical so we also need to know if he is drinking and how you are providing water. They do not drink from bowls incase you did not know that. I would try using an eye dropper and drip some on his nose to try and get him drink if he is not drinking for you already. They can dehydrate and go downhill very fast. Very weird how you found him like that. What a mystery...

 

[ISA my Veiled]

Welcome to the forums. My guess it around two months old. Chameleons take ALLOT of special care which require quite special lights, supplements and properly guy loaded feeders. Your chameleon is a veiled chameleon. I keep veileds and have a blog for new keepers attached below. I hope it will help you to get this little one setup correctly so that he can survive.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

And to be honest I forgot that JannB had this blog lol sorry Jann! please don't have Luie hurt me

She has some very good blogs and I would recommend a lot of them in the future as you gain experience with your chameleon

 

[Swayne8998]

Alright well first of all you need to not give him protein powder lol get him on a supplementation schedule with every single feeding.

1. Every feeding he should get calcium without D3 and without anything else added.
2. Twice a month he should get a Multivitamin as well as some calcium with D3 I myself prefer the 1st and the 15th of every month, it helps me keep track
3.You will want a UVB bulb, it is extremely important and it will prevent the little guy from getting MBD, you do not want that lol it ruins there lives and degrades their bones and prevents them growing properly into a healthy chameleon. You also want a basking bulb, many people just use a common house bulb it works well.
3. Meal worms are fine do not feed to many their shells are loaded with a large amount of chitlin that is hard to digest. If it goes undigested it can lead to impaction and your chameleon can die.

The above is what I think you need to address ASAP the guide below will explain everything in better detail

I found this guide extremely helpful when I first joined the forum please read it through it will really help you a lot

https://www.chameleonforums.com/complete-veiled-care-sheet-52325/

Lol that is my exact schedule with D3!

This is the schedule I use and prefer. If I were you, I might get him to the vet just to get a checkup on the little guy because you don't know where he came from. Like Isa said, get a 5.0 UVB light and a basking spot of about 80-85 degrees.

 

[ISA my Veiled]

Lol that is my exact schedule with D3!

This is the schedule I use and prefer. If I were you, I might get him to the vet just to get a checkup on the little guy because you don't know where he came from. Like Isa said, get a 5.0 UVB light and a basking spot of about 80-85 degrees.

Well that is the schedule Isabella is on lol pretty sure I got that from you a month and a half ago ha

But yeah since you have not said if your guy is a Male or a Female here is the basking temps for each.

Female: 77-79 (but at that age you will not even need a basking bulb yet until around 3-4 months, and also you want a lower basking temp for females so that it takes them longer to produce their first infertile clutch also less feeders for females at around 5-6 months old)

Male: 83-85 like Swayne said he ha a male Veiled himself.

 

[mandyyy]

Chameleons only sleep at night and they really sleep all night long until the sun comes up. As the other member said, you do not want to dust with protein powder! Too much protein in a their diet can lead to a painful condition called gout. So get the correct supplements as you were told. We need to see a pic of your cage and tell us what lighting you are using. Also what temps you are creating?. Lighting and temps are the most critical. Also, at 10pm if your chameleon is sleeping, leave him sleep. Not good to disturb their sleeping cycle. Hydration is critical so we also need to know if he is drinking and how you are providing water. They do not drink from bowls incase you did not know that. I would try using an eye dropper and drip some on his nose to try and get him drink if he is not drinking for you already. They can dehydrate and go downhill very fast. Very weird how you found him like that. What a mystery...

As far as his cage goes, we have a 2ft tall 2ft wide screen cage. We have several fake plants and vines for him up high and a few down low. I mist the cage with warm water 3-4 times a day and we have a Flukers mini dripper system dripping on one of the vines. But I've yet to see him drink. How can I monitor that? I was also told he himself needs to be misted which I've done, but he doesn't seem to like it and get angry and tries to hide. I've been feeding him small crickets that I've been feeding Flukers Orange Cubes because I was told that help with his nutrition as well. We have a 60watt heat bulb that we leave on all day and night and a 50watt UV bulb we turn on for approx 12hrs during the day. We have yet to get a temp gauge, but I will be sure to do that ASAP! Also our AC in our apt is never set below 75.

As I mentioned, we found on the floor at Walmart(hence the redbox in the picture) so we really had no idea what we were doing. But I'll definitely be sure to read all the links you guys have posted. Thanks so much!

 

[ISA my Veiled]

As far as his cage goes, we have a 2ft tall 2ft wide screen cage. We have several fake plants and vines for him up high and a few down low. I mist the cage with warm water 3-4 times a day and we have a Flukers mini dripper system dripping on one of the vines. But I've yet to see him drink. How can I monitor that? I was also told he himself needs to be misted which I've done, but he doesn't seem to like it and get angry and tries to hide. I've been feeding him small crickets that I've been feeding Flukers Orange Cubes because I was told that help with his nutrition as well. We have a 60watt heat bulb that we leave on all day and night and a 50watt UV bulb we turn on for approx 12hrs during the day. We have yet to get a temp gauge, but I will be sure to do that ASAP! Also our AC in our apt is never set below 75.

As I mentioned, we found on the floor at Walmart(hence the redbox in the picture) so we really had no idea what we were doing. But I'll definitely be sure to read all the links you guys have posted. Thanks so much!

To monitor his drinking you don't exactly have to see him drink. I do not see my chameleon drink a ton, but I always check the urates on their droppings, if it is white he is well hydrated and is doing fine. If is yellow or has an orangish tint then you may have a dehydrated chameleon. Another thing do not spray him with the bottle lol especially if you are not warming the water first, because lets be honest, who loves to be sprayed with cold water, not me! Next I would ditch the orange cubes and give your cricekts a better gut load because those cubes suck lol no offense of course but there are so many other things that are better. I will post a link to Sandra's gutloading blog for you so that you can take a look at your options, it is crazy how many things there are lol

 

[ISA my Veiled]

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/sandrachameleon/75-feeder-nutrition-gutloading.html

Here is one of many of Sandra's blogs, take a gander at this it has helped me a ton