Humidity Levels+Behavior

[Veildz]

I recently purchased a year old male veiled chameleon and I can't seem to keep the humidity at much more than 50ish%. Is that a high enough level? Also, I've had him for a couple of days and he has been pretty calm but today he was just sitting under his basking light when he suddenly got up, really intensified his colors and began moving around all over the cage and climbing the sides of the screen. He has done this a couple times now and then he will sit again. Is this normal? Sorry about the quality of the pictures I tried to get his colors, and I know the corner doesnt have enough plants I am getting some but the rest of the cage has lots of places to go.

 

[Alexander1]

I recently purchased a year old male veiled chameleon and I can't seem to keep the humidity at much more than 50ish%. Is that a high enough level? Also, I've had him for a couple of days and he has been pretty calm but today he was just sitting under his basking light when he suddenly got up, really intensified his colors and began moving around all over the cage and climbing the sides of the screen. He has done this a couple times now and then he will sit again. Is this normal? Sorry about the quality of the pictures I tried to get his colors, and I know the corner doesnt have enough plants I am getting some but the rest of the cage has lots of places to go.View attachment 146031 View attachment 146032

Veileds are not as sensitive to humidity levels as tropical and montane species, 50% hundity is not too bad, keep him hidrated and he should be fine. Range should be at around40%-70% humidity. As for him roaming his cage, could be from a lot of reasons, my veiled does the same.

 

[Meg4433]

My Panther roams his cage. He likes to be out though. Lol

 

[Carlton]

It sounds as if he's starting to explore his new territory. When a cham first arrives they tend not to show their personality and can often seem quiet at first, if they are a bit overwhelmed by all the changes. When a cham is actively patrolling or exploring their coloration does brighten up. Color change is a response to stress, and a moderate level of "good stress" can occur when they are moving around checking their turf.

 

[NyxLink]

My male veiled translucent usually flares up all nice and bright and mucks about his cage, he will climb up and down the front until I open it and let him climb out on to me , this is before he does his little look to see if the coast is clear and blink a bazzillion times likes he's a cute puppy dog

 

[Scottishbloke]

My year-old Veiled spends all day climbing around, going from top to bottom, then back up, down, and walks around on the bottom etc. He also loves to come out and use my head and shoulders as a climbing wall or as a perch etc. I heard that male chams have a "horny teenager" phase when young and are very active, but chill out later and don't move around as much. I try to mist 2x a day; I have a Monsoon but haven't installed it yet. Apparently the trick is to use demineralized water so it doesn't clog. To avoid problems, I taped laminated waterproof fish tank background film to the back and sides of his enclosure to keep spray water off walls etc, and a heavy duty drainage tray to collect the excess. Keep misting the enclosure, and your Veiled should do fine.

 

[ChameLIonLover]

My year-old Veiled spends all day climbing around, going from top to bottom, then back up, down, and walks around on the bottom etc. He also loves to come out and use my head and shoulders as a climbing wall or as a perch etc. I heard that male chams have a "horny teenager" phase when young and are very active, but chill out later and don't move around as much. I try to mist 2x a day; I have a Monsoon but haven't installed it yet. Apparently the trick is to use demineralized water so it doesn't clog. To avoid problems, I taped laminated waterproof fish tank background film to the back and sides of his enclosure to keep spray water off walls etc, and a heavy duty drainage tray to collect the excess. Keep misting the enclosure, and your Veiled should do fine.

Hi, you've used a laminated fish tank background film to keep mist from escaping the enclosure? Have you found that it helps to keep humidity in at all? Maybe my hygrometer is off, but humidity is always lower than it should be it seems like.

 

[Scottishbloke]

I have to admit I don't use a hygrometer much like I should, but in my own experience the enclosure does seem to take a fair bit longer to dry out when 3 sides are covered, and the cage bottom is also wet. An all mesh screen cage like a Reptibreeze is in my opinion hard to keep humid! I thoroughly soak the entire cage until it's dripping wet, and I have live pothos plants in there to help keep humidity up. The newspaper on the floor to keep poop off the drilled plastic panel also soaks up a lot of water and slowly dries again, contributing to humidity, and my fake rock background has a very grainy surface that holds moisture quite well too. Lastly, I have a dripper going slowly for hours, often 24/7 'cos I forget to shut it off, and the surface of the catchment container I have sitting below it will slowly evaporate water too. All these together seem to be working for my cham, he is very active and eats like a champ.