Is my female veiled chameleon stressed out in her enclosure??

Karmakarma

Karmakarma

New Member
Karmakarma said:
My female 5 month old veiled chameleon seems to be very stressed out in her enclosure all the time and she gets her patterning but as soon as she's on her cat palm plant outside of her cage, she is a light green color. Could someone let me know if there's something wrong with her enclosure? Thanks

Enclosure:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/119908408802883079/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/119908408802883128/

Patterning:

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/119908408802883066/
Click to expand...

Her cage is too small and confined and probably too low to the ground. She can see the palm right next to the cage but can't reach it. Instinct tells her the palm is safer and she keeps trying to get to it.
 
Carlton said:
Her cage is too small and confined and probably too low to the ground. She can see the palm right next to the cage but can't reach it. Instinct tells her the palm is safer and she keeps trying to get to it.
Click to expand...

Okay thank you!.. Will adjust her setting
 
This may be a dumb question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. :) I can only see one lamp in the picture. Does the lamp have a UVB bulb in it? Or is it only for heat?
 
MelissaB said:
This may be a dumb question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. :) I can only see one lamp in the picture. Does the lamp have a UVB bulb in it? Or is it only for heat?
Click to expand...

looks like a basking lamp if u look at the second pic. Hope there is a uvb also though :0
 
Maybe get a cage that can fit that palm that she fancys? and when you get your new cage it would be good if you can get a table that can have the enclosure elevated.
 
Im new to chams too so I can only give you some ideas based on short term observation and observation of other lizard species. Im not new to lizards.

It looks like it could a deep dome that could also have a MVB Mega Ray or powersun (aka uvb that gives off heat too). But good question to ask because we don't know.

If it is a powersun or megaray I'd probably prop it up so its no closer than 6 inches to the cham especially if she climbs on the screen maybe it's just too much light or heat. I'd recommend this for any lizard with those types of bulbs due to the heat it gives off. I'd recommend this anyway with most types of uvb lamps 5.0 or greater.

She does look like she could use a bigger cage for sure though based on her size i think it's time to graduate. :) Raising the lamps will bide her more space in the mean time while you get a new one.

As a beginner cham keeper...i see that at least mine is a lot like my parrots in that he likes secure perches.....floppy shady plants are great but I noticed my cham seemed more secure when I laid out the perches vines in a secure easy way for him to navigate. If he wants to go all Tarzan now he can...but at least he has those stable "branches" to be on. ;)

My cham also loves his palm and the light shade it provides so it could just be that too....but that palm looks much more stable than the shaded perch options provides in your gals cage so perhaps is a grip/perch issue and also too much heat an light.

Just my 4 cents as a new cham owner but experienced with other exotic pets such as reptiles and tropical parrots (not just 2 cent because I write novels). Hehe
 
*edit I believe it's 4 inches away for the 5.0 and 6 for the 10.0....but...the fine mesh will filter some of it out and whether you have a reflector or not affect a uvb output ;) I stand corrected.

I use the UK UV light guide too.
 
yes i would get a bigger cage and change her lighting to the tube style uva-uvb. she should have a 40 watt regular house bulb over her for heat as well =)
 
midnightgallop said:
Im new to chams too so I can only give you some ideas based on short term observation and observation of other lizard species. Im not new to lizards.

It looks like it could a deep dome that could also have a MVB Mega Ray or powersun (aka uvb that gives off heat too). But good question to ask because we don't know.

If it is a powersun or megaray I'd probably prop it up so its no closer than 6 inches to the cham especially if she climbs on the screen maybe it's just too much light or heat. I'd recommend this for any lizard with those types of bulbs due to the heat it gives off. I'd recommend this anyway with most types of uvb lamps 5.0 or greater.

She does look like she could use a bigger cage for sure though based on her size i think it's time to graduate. :) Raising the lamps will bide her more space in the mean time while you get a new one.

As a beginner cham keeper...i see that at least mine is a lot like my parrots in that he likes secure perches.....floppy shady plants are great but I noticed my cham seemed more secure when I laid out the perches vines in a secure easy way for him to navigate. If he wants to go all Tarzan now he can...but at least he has those stable "branches" to be on. ;)

My cham also loves his palm and the light shade it provides so it could just be that too....but that palm looks much more stable than the shaded perch options provides in your gals cage so perhaps is a grip/perch issue and also too much heat an light.

Just my 4 cents as a new cham owner but experienced with other exotic pets such as reptiles and tropical parrots (not just 2 cent because I write novels). Hehe
Click to expand...

It is a reptisun lightbulb 5.0 UVB, 13 Watts :)
 
It should brine but is their a basking bulb. There is also a lot of debate over whether or not a tube is better than a coil so some one may chime in on that. A 24"x24"x48" is really in need at this point, that cage is to small.
 
midnightgallop said:
Im new to chams too so I can only give you some ideas based on short term observation and observation of other lizard species. Im not new to lizards.

It looks like it could a deep dome that could also have a MVB Mega Ray or powersun (aka uvb that gives off heat too). But good question to ask because we don't know.

If it is a powersun or megaray I'd probably prop it up so its no closer than 6 inches to the cham especially if she climbs on the screen maybe it's just too much light or heat. I'd recommend this for any lizard with those types of bulbs due to the heat it gives off. I'd recommend this anyway with most types of uvb lamps 5.0 or greater.

She does look like she could use a bigger cage for sure though based on her size i think it's time to graduate. :) Raising the lamps will bide her more space in the mean time while you get a new one.

As a beginner cham keeper...i see that at least mine is a lot like my parrots in that he likes secure perches.....floppy shady plants are great but I noticed my cham seemed more secure when I laid out the perches vines in a secure easy way for him to navigate. If he wants to go all Tarzan now he can...but at least he has those stable "branches" to be on. ;)

My cham also loves his palm and the light shade it provides so it could just be that too....but that palm looks much more stable than the shaded perch options provides in your gals cage so perhaps is a grip/perch issue and also too much heat an light.

Just my 4 cents as a new cham owner but experienced with other exotic pets such as reptiles and tropical parrots (not just 2 cent because I write novels). Hehe
Click to expand...

Should a 5.0 UVB bulb be okay? 13 watts
 
qdude46 said:
It should brine but is their a basking bulb. There is also a lot of debate over whether or not a tube is better than a coil so some one may chime in on that. A 24"x24"x48" is really in need at this point, that cage is to small.
Click to expand...

No there is no basking light... We had a basking light and another light bulb together at one point, but the woman at PetSmart said that it would be too hot for my chameleon, so we just have the one 5.0 UVB, but it doesn't seem hot at all. I even touched the light bulb once and it wasn't even that hot
 
Your UVB bulb is fine for now. I've used the same bulb before for UVB, without any issues. But you need to find out what the temperatures in the enclosure are. Your female veiled needs a basking temperature, at one spot in the cage usually the highest perch, of 85 degrees.

Here is a really good care sheet that explains how to take care of Veiled Chameleons:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
 
Yes at this point it's probably the temps. A 5.0 uvb bulb is good.

There used to.be a controversy over compact uvb due to eye damage but i've heard they fixed that problem with most of them and a lot of people here seem to have good success with them

:) follow the care sheet Melissa posted it is very helpful.
 
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