I know you've replied to these 1000 times but i have pictures!!!(frantic noob ?s)

[MollyGreen]

I am extremely thankful to anyone who replies!
I recently got a new veiled chameleon.
- I got it from a pet store, yes i know shame on me, but i had no idea what i was getting into and now that ive invested my rent money and entire life savings theres no going back
-The store had "male" on the tag of the "aquarium"(i bet that word makes everyone here cringe )
-I cant seem to find any indication, (ie. spur on hind legs), that this is indeed a male
- i went back to ask for the age, breeders number ect. and a female associate refered to "it" (as of now) as a HER

Q1: male or female?
(i will name it Molly ifs its a girl, and SPAC(star treck) if it is a boy)


The day i bought "it" i placed it in a 10 gal "aquarium" with the setup me and the "knowledgable sales person" designed. Only to get online and find this to be a MAJOR "no-no". So, since i go to an engineering school me and my boyfriend took out some hammers and built an "enclosure". 4 feet wide in the front, 2.5 feet to the back, and 6 feet in height (*dramatic music*.. o yes! ). It includes the following:

A) Lighting: 1x(150W basking light), 1x(50W basking light-oppisite corner), 1 UVA flourencent light(100w) and 1x(26w) UVB light, as well as 2 infared lights for night (which i dont use bc it keeps "it" up) all "EXO_TERRA" brand
+ timer for consistancy

B)Folliage: around 36-42 feet of plastic ivy, 3 different size bendable vines(30-36 feet), suspended driftwood for perches, real hibiscus plant (my mother has vouched for >1 year without pesicides/chemicals)

C)Water: 2 drip systems-(one an IV bag, the other a milk jug with a hole in the bottom), manual mister(2+ times a day)....
real quick-Q2: Why is the hydrometer at 42% humidity? Besides misting more, how can i increase that?

D)Substrate: there is non, only a huge outdoor rubber mat

E)Temperature Gradient is as follows: 81-83 in upper left corner,95 basking spots, 77-79 in upper right corner, 73 degrees at height of 3 feet

F) Food-

i. Large crickets-gutloaded wt kale, squash,alfalfa sprouts, fulkners calc gutload, peas, ect. and lightly dusted with the usual "repto-cal Calciulm d3"
(everyother day)

ii) Superworms-2 or 3, at most 4 , it varies from day to day
(gutloaded with kal, and collard greens and ect)

iii)waxworm-i bought them but my boyfriend wont let me feed them to "it" on the account that we heard they were like candy and unhealthy

Now that you have most of all the background information:

When i first got "it", it was a brighter color,more active, and faster/less cautious moving around.

Q3:Why does my chameleon look so...sick and malnutritioned and dark?
(see picture)

Q4: I never recieved an approximation of its age, the petstore said its about 8 inches....(im assuming head to tail) could someone give me an estimate of when i should stop feeding it "as much as it will eat"

Q5: Does it look dehydrated?(its been shedding for 3 weeks)
It poops and pees everyday and nothing seems abnormal

Q6: I havent held it yet, i make sure i dont glance at it in the eyes or turn my head to it, and i try to keep a distance of 2-3 feet between me and the cage...Will it become aggressive? How do i check for grip, and health without stressing it?

Q7: Could it be dark because it is cold/hot?

If there is anyway that i can improve upon the current standings please tell me, i will do ANYTHING for this animal.

 

[MollyGreen]

More Pictures

Here are some more picture of the "enclosure" and Spac/molly

 

[MollyGreen]

And just in case u guys didnt get enought of the backfoot

I gave it a "mist shower" after these, it helped a little.

Also, yeah, thats duck tape in the cage.It is a preliminary safety step i took before i moved "it" in. I didnt want "it" to hurt itself climbing on the cage, although it doesnt climb the actual cage ever.

 

[Chamero]

Hey, and welcome to the "chameleon world". There is lots to learn, and I am no where close to it all, but like me, hope you will find it just as interesting.
To the cham tho..... He looks to me like a she. In those first two pics I don't see any spurs on the back feet, but I cant really tell because its blurry. The setup and stuff looks good, and the temp gradients sound good also. The one thing you need to make sure of is that he has full access to the UVB lighting. So, even when he is basking, where he spends most of the time, he will also receive UVB. Chams cant differentiate between our man made UVB and normal lights, so he may be going to the normal light, wondering why its not giving him any UVB; slowly lowering his immune system and leaving him in the state he is in now. This was the problem with my cham just a few weeks ago so now I'm on a mission to let everyone know of this simple fix. (compliments of Weldon)
About the superworms. These have a backwards prosperous/calcium ratio so always need to be dusted with calcium. They are also higher in fat so should be used less than, lets say crickets. Anyway, good luck and just let your cham do his thing for a while. Their lives are much slower paced then ours and people often stress em out just by rushing them.
Oh.... and I think its funny that you don't look him/her in the eyes. I do the same thing and think that the eye contact may contribute to a lot of peoples stress issues. No data to back up the claim, but I still dont make too much eye contact. I think were getting closer though, and hte eye contact is getting longer.... tear*...
Good luck.

 

[Justin Carl]

I am extremely thankful to anyone who replies!
I recently got a new veiled chameleon.
- I got it from a pet store, yes i know shame on me, but i had no idea what i was getting into and now that ive invested my rent money and entire life savings theres no going back
-The store had "male" on the tag of the "aquarium"(i bet that word makes everyone here cringe )
-I cant seem to find any indication, (ie. spur on hind legs), that this is indeed a male
- i went back to ask for the age, breeders number ect. and a female associate refered to "it" (as of now) as a HER

Q1: male or female? looks to be a female
(i will name it Molly ifs its a girl, and SPAC(star treck) if it is a boy)


The day i bought "it" i placed it in a 10 gal "aquarium" with the setup me and the "knowledgable sales person" designed. Only to get online and find this to be a MAJOR "no-no". So, since i go to an engineering school me and my boyfriend took out some hammers and built an "enclosure". 4 feet wide in the front, 2.5 feet to the back, and 6 feet in height (*dramatic music*.. o yes! ). It includes the following:

A) Lighting: 1x(150W basking light), 1x(50W basking light-oppisite corner), 1 UVA flourencent light(100w) and 1x(26w) UVB light, as well as 2 infared lights for night (which i dont use bc it keeps "it" up) all "EXO_TERRA" brand
+ timer for consistancy no night lights unless your house gets below 55
B)Folliage: around 36-42 feet of plastic ivy, 3 different size bendable vines(30-36 feet), suspended driftwood for perches, real hibiscus plant (my mother has vouched for >1 year without pesicides/chemicals) the more real plants the better. they supply oxygen, water beads better, and veileds will eat plant material.

C)Water: 2 drip systems-(one an IV bag, the other a milk jug with a hole in the bottom), manual mister(2+ times a day)....
real quick-Q2: Why is the hydrometer at 42% humidity? Besides misting more, how can i increase that? i would try misting more.D)Substrate: there is non, only a huge outdoor rubber mat. GOOD

E)Temperature Gradient is as follows: 81-83 in upper left corner,95 basking spots, 77-79 in upper right corner, 73 degrees at height of 3 feet. sounds great

F) Food-

i. Large crickets-gutloaded wt kale, squash,alfalfa sprouts, fulkners calc gutload, peas, ect. and lightly dusted with the usual "repto-cal Calciulm d3"
(everyother day) need more viatmins. Rep-Cal herptivite twice a week. i use a T-rex chamelon formula twice a week. also use calcium w/o D3 rotate the two

ii) Superworms-2 or 3, at most 4 , it varies from day to day
(gutloaded with kal, and collard greens and ect)

iii)waxworm-i bought them but my boyfriend wont let me feed them to "it" on the account that we heard they were like candy and unhealthy. every feeder is good. each supplies something different(nutrition)Now that you have most of all the background information:

When i first got "it", it was a brighter color,more active, and faster/less cautious moving around.

Q3:Why does my chameleon look so...sick and malnutritioned and dark?
(see picture)looks to be fine. when they are young the are very green. they will change color(dark) to help bask.

Q4: I never recieved an approximation of its age, the petstore said its about 8 inches....(im assuming head to tail) could someone give me an estimate of when i should stop feeding it "as much as it will eat" i would say 4-6 months

Q5: Does it look dehydrated?(its been shedding for 3 weeks)
It poops and pees everyday and nothing seems abnormal. looks good

Q6: I havent held it yet, i make sure i dont glance at it in the eyes or turn my head to it, and i try to keep a distance of 2-3 feet between me and the cage...Will it become aggressive? How do i check for grip, and health without stressing it? its better not to hold them. veileds are aggressive tho.Q7: Could it be dark because it is cold/hot? yesIf there is anyway that i can improve upon the current standings please tell me, i will do ANYTHING for this animal.

Great job! cage may be a litle big tho.

 

[dodolah]

see my response in red

I am extremely thankful to anyone who replies!
I recently got a new veiled chameleon.
Q1: male or female?
look on the heel of its back leg (if there is a tiny pimple, it's a "he"
the picture that you show is great if only they are in focus.
all of the heel pictures are blurry

4 feet wide in the front, 2.5 feet to the back, and 6 feet in height (*dramatic music*.. o yes! ). It includes the following:
for a baby, the cage is quite huge. you can save that cage when he reached 5 to 6 months old. He looked about 3 months olds in my opinion (this is a pure guess, each chameleon's growth is a bit different). A best enclosure for baby (until he's 5 months old is 24"LX24H"X12W"

A) Lighting: you have a lot of basking lamp.. in which i don't
think necessary.
Use 75 watt zoo med basking spot lamp (UVA) and reptiSUN 5.0 TUBE
(UVB). Notice i caps the sun and the tube. People keep making
mistake even after being told what to buy. they end up buying
reptiglo 5.0 or reptisun 5.0 compact. Both are not good

B)Folliage: Hibiscus is great. Add more live plants if possible
and you can take away the fake plants. Vine is good.

C)Water: 2 drip systems-(one an IV bag, the other a milk jug with a hole in the bottom), manual mister(2+ times a day)....
real quick-Q2: Why is the hydrometer at 42% humidity? Besides misting more, how can i increase that?
good water care. Increase humidity by adding more
live plants

D)Substrate: there is non, only a huge outdoor rubber mat
just a bare hard plastic panel is sufficient. Substrate is bad

E)Temperature Gradient is as follows: 81-83 in upper left corner,95 basking spots, 77-79 in upper right corner, 73 degrees at height of 3 feet
a good rule, have the basking spot to be around 87 to low 90s. where everywhere else around low 70s
at night temp should drop 10 degrees.. but no lower than 50s, ideally the night temp should be within low 60s

F) Food-

i. Large crickets-gutloaded wt kale, squash,alfalfa sprouts, fulkners calc gutload, peas, ect. and lightly dusted with the usual "repto-cal Calciulm d3"
(everyother day)
general rule, the cricket you gave should not be longer than the width of its head. any longer than that you'll risk impaction.
my rule of supplementing for babies:
1. herptivite MTH
2. Repcal w/ d3 TF
3. MinerAll 0 WSat


ii) Superworms-2 or 3, at most 4 , it varies from day to day
(gutloaded with kal, and collard greens and ect)
good

iii)waxworm-i bought them but my boyfriend wont let me feed them to "it" on the account that we heard they were like candy and unhealthy
your BF is right on track. waxworm should be a treat only basis

Now that you have most of all the background information:

When i first got "it", it was a brighter color,more active, and faster/less cautious moving around.

Q3:Why does my chameleon look so...sick and malnutritioned and dark?
(see picture)
i don't exactly see what you are talking about. he looked fine in your pics

Q4: I never recieved an approximation of its age, the petstore said its about 8 inches....(im assuming head to tail) could someone give me an estimate of when i should stop feeding it "as much as it will eat"
if i have to guess... i am guessing around 3 to 4 months old.

Q5: Does it look dehydrated?(its been shedding for 3 weeks)
It poops and pees everyday and nothing seems abnormal
nope...

Q6: I havent held it yet, i make sure i dont glance at it in the eyes or turn my head to it, and i try to keep a distance of 2-3 feet between me and the cage...Will it become aggressive? How do i check for grip, and health without stressing it?
get used to it. veiled are generally aggressive and pissy. she'll get used to you overtime, especially knowing that you carries yummy food everytime you come to the cage

Q7: Could it be dark because it is cold/hot?
most likely because it's cold or because it is stressed.

Hope that helps

 

[Justin Carl]

dodlah if it was a female which that is what it seems to me. would she be older. 4-6 months. male 3-4 months. my female is much smaller and slower to grow.

 

[dodolah]

dodlah if it was a female which that is what it seems to me. would she be older. 4-6 months. male 3-4 months. my female is much smaller and slower to grow.

if it was a female... but the post was not sure of it yet..
But mostly we kind of hovering around 4 months old..
So, If i have to guess... i say he/she is around that age.

but, guessing the age of a chameleon is a tricky game..
There are too many things put into the equation..
for instance, my first chameleon (RIP- about 11 years ago) is quite small and petite for his age.
While my current cham is literally a giant baby.

 

[Justin Carl]

very very true. well i guess its like short and tall and big and small people. genes!

 

[MollyGreen]

Thank you all so much!

However, there are a few more questions now there is a hint that it...she is a female.
Q1: I've head more than 5 crickets for an female could be potentially hazardous to her, due to eggs?
Q2: I have a huge pan of sand for her when its about that time, Some say that even this substrate could be bad.Is that so?

A few more things:
To improve the UVB situation, should i move the light, add another and subtract a basking light, ect?
Are tube UVB lights better than a UVB bulb?
Im a little confused because of the huge grey area between baby,juvinille,and sub-adult.
She seems to be fine eating the crickets, i was told 8 large crickets a day or around 1 cricket per inch of body. However, ive experimented with just how much she will consume and the most i dare fed her once, (i say dare because it scared me how much of a pig she was) 12 crickets,3 superworms,4 mealworms.
I have heard that mealworms arent the best choice of feeder worm because of the chitin.

Thank you so much for all of your help, i really appreciate you taking the time to lend some knowledge.

 

[dodolah]

see my response in red

Thank you all so much!

However, there are a few more questions now there is a hint that it...she is a female.
Q1: I've head more than 5 crickets for an female could be potentially hazardous to her, due to eggs?
this area can be better explained by a senior member in this forum. Her id name is Kinyonga. She is amazingly experienced in controlling egg production by regulating her chameleon's diet

Q2: I have a huge pan of sand for her when its about that time, Some say that even this substrate could be bad.Is that so?
from what i heard, you need a bucket of mixed soil (enough for her to dig a tunnel to lay her egg. You'll put it inside the enclosure as soon as she's showing sign of being gravid

A few more things:
To improve the UVB situation, should i move the light, add another and subtract a basking light, ect?
i say subtract your basking light. you have so many of them. Perhaps that's why you have difficulty maintaining the humidity

Are tube UVB lights better than a UVB bulb?
there has been report that compact bulb fluorescent cause photo kerato conjuntivitis to your chameleon

Im a little confused because of the huge grey area between baby,juvinille,and sub-adult.
She seems to be fine eating the crickets, i was told 8 large crickets a day or around 1 cricket per inch of body. However, ive experimented with just how much she will consume and the most i dare fed her once, (i say dare because it scared me how much of a pig she was) 12 crickets,3 superworms,4 mealworms.
I have heard that mealworms arent the best choice of feeder worm because of the chitin.

see... i believe your cham is about the same as mine. He also eats like pig (i'm guessing your chameleon is still a baby. that'll explain the appetite and the small size. 12 crix for a baby a day is perfectly normal. mine eats 25! he worries me so much be4, i take him to a vet and he find nothing wrong.. the vet, the breeder, and I come to a conclusion that he just loves eating. Have you ever met someone who eat like crazy but stay skinny all the time? well... that's the human type of my chameleon.

my choice of feeder is Silk worm! they are wonderful and far more nutritious than crickets.
I alternate 3 feeders: Cricket, Silk Worm, and house flies (I'm about to introduce Phoenix worm to the equation). I don't feed him mealworm. Just so u know, in my opinion, they are not good to be your cham's staple


Thank you so much for all of your help, i really appreciate you taking the time to lend some knowledge.
hope that helps

 

[dectr6]

Just want to say that out of all of the newbies that come across these pages, you seem to have your stuff together. I think you really did your homework and your cham will be the better for it. One question...Are you already attached to this chameleon? You might want to consider taking it back if they have a male you can trade it for. It sure would be alot easier on you and your learning curve. Most cham owners, including me, wouldn't consider getting a female until we had a year or two under our belt. Their supplementation demands can be very tricky. If your already attached, which I'll bet your are, then dig in and start researching and asking questions. I'm sure you can do it!!. Good luck and keep us posted. David

 

[Scotty]

Just want to say that out of all of the newbies that come across these pages, you seem to have your stuff together. I think you really did your homework and your cham will be the better for it. One question...Are you already attached to this chameleon? You might want to consider taking it back if they have a male you can trade it for. It sure would be alot easier on you and your learning curve. Most cham owners, including me, wouldn't consider getting a female until we had a year or two under our belt. Their supplementation demands can be very tricky. If your already attached, which I'll bet your are, then dig in and start researching and asking questions. I'm sure you can do it!!. Good luck and keep us posted. David

Yeah, I agree David, pretty switched on...Good luck, I was going to chime in but the other boys handled it quite well...lol
This is the best site and the nicest people you'll find on a site, welcome to the community and keep us all posted on the progress.
I think it's Molly from the pics as well!
Cheers
Scott.

 

[Marc10edora]

Looks like you are off to a good start. I guess the next step could be to find a large live plant to put in there. A large Ficus or Umbrella tree would work great. It would also help hold the humidity. Try to find one that can cover more than half the cage. Walmart usually sells some cheap ones. But you have to clean it down with soapy water and change the soil with a topsoil (supersoil brand). Another way to maintain humidity is to ad a humidifier to the cage. I've seen people rig piping from the humidifier that leads to the cage. Make sure you use a cool mist humidifier. Hot mist will build up too much bacteria and you will have to clean it out more frequently. I also use the red night lights when it is cold. But I think I will switch them out for the ceramic heat bulbs. A good night time drop in temp would be around 65-70*F. Also remember that when a cham is about to shed, they will be less active and eat a little less. Just make sure to keep good humidity levels in order to help them through the process. 50% humidity is good.

PS.
Also here is another great site for info, in case you haven't heard
www.chameleonnews.com

 

[MollyGreen]

Thank you all again. I have had it for about 3 weeks now and i guess you could say i am a little attached, especially when i see it sleeping it that adorable position. So, here is the shopping list for today...

TUBE UVB bulb(preferably zoomed)
Vitamin supplement(preferably zoocal, zoomed)
fiscus or umbrella tree and some topsoil
look at humidifier
go to the remaining 3 petstores in search of silk worms,roaches,ect.

P.s.
I have some wood left from the building of the current cage. My xmas break is in 3 days so i will begin production on a cage that is 3 feet in front, 2.5 feet to the back and 4 feet tall? I will add a ring on top for a curtain so if she needs privacy for egg laying and sleeping its there. Also, a light box on top for clamping lights. Finally, a drainage style bottom for a timed mist system. Any ideas on what else i could add that would help cleaning, feeding, ect?

 

[dectr6]

On your UV tube, just make sure it's a repti-sun 5.0. The pet shop may tell you they ha-e something that's the same thing but don't listen to them. The repti-sun is a known and proven product. Good luck, David

 

[MollyGreen]

OK so i'm back and i bought $80 worth of folliage...including some huge ficus plants perfect for my huge enclosure-also i have expert gardener organic soil to repot the plants, at the petstore i bought a zoomed repti-sun bulb that has a warning about UV rays which makes me feel a little more confident in its ability to do its job. Also, i bought zoomed reptile vitamins and zoomed clorine remover for water. I removed the 150W basking light before going to the stores and when i came back i was happy to see Molly near the top of the cage, bright green and climbing. Thanks for the advice, i can already see improvements.

(sorry for the lack of organization and legibility)

 

[Marc10edora]

A good thing to know is that the silk plants and vines at walmart work good too in the cage and they are much less than the ones at the pet stores. I have no experience with the zoomed vitamins. Alot of other users, including, me use rep cal brand. I got the one with D3 and the one with pure calcium. Also I use rep cal multivitamins. What ever you choose, make sure it is phosphorus free.