Is this a color of being too hot, stressed or impending shed?

[midnightgallop]

Hi All,
New here. I got my chameleon a few days ago so I'm expecting it to be stressed. However, since I'm new to ownership and this is a young one. I will be setting up my friends computer later so that I can use the search function on this site (can't use it on my phone).

And also I was looking for that "cage temps etc" information you guys require but my phone as I said cut search on this site and it makes it hard to navigate. I will do that tonight I promise. I can post pictures though! That's easy. I will probably schedule a vet visit with the herp vet here and have a fecal test done too.

Here he is (I took the fake bendy vines out because he left quite a big healthy poop on it this am and I was cleaning them). He goes from greenish to pink/lavender, some brown and now this pale color. Is this color a sign of impending shed,illness or being too hot?

 

[carol5208]

It could be due to an upcoming shed or if they are too hot they can turn lighter in color. It looks like you have a female from the patterns. Does "he" have little bumps on the back of his back heels? If so, male; if not, female.

 

[midnightgallop]

Found it and I finally was able to get it to copy and paste it. Phew.


Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, age unknown. Got him 3 days ago.
Handling - just when I was looking at him to buy and then put him in his cage.
Feeding - phoenix worms in a dish, crix guoaded with collard greens, mealies in a dish and small dubia in a dish. Offered at least two of each roughly except the crickets who wander around (only 4 of those at a time).

Supplements - rep Cal with d3, rep cal.vitamin, and rep cal no d3 all phosphorous free. I dusted 2 days in a row with the do and then I was going to do the regular calcium 3 days and vitamins for 2.

Watering - Fogger and I Spray his plants a few times a day. Have not seen him drink.

Fecal Description - brown, white urates, adequate urine. The perfect well formed poop really. Can't ask for much better.

History - he is alert and I've seen him eat. He is K ways looking around. I just noticed his color change this evening.

Cage Info: small repti breeze screen cage.

Lighting - 12 hours on and 12 off. Zoomed reptisun 5.0 t5 22 inch and a 45 watt heat bulb (my house gets cold). I think I'm going to raise these off the screen as I worry about it being too close.

Temperature - ambient temp is 75 (65 to 70 at night). Lowest is 70 and highest is 88 or so. I use a temp gun.
Humidity - Fogger and spray. I have to get a digital hydrometer tonight.

Plants - live plants: umbrella plant and pothos.

Placement -on my glass desk next to wall and window (I have baseboard heating running next to the window).

Location - Massachusetts

Current Problem - Pale color. I wanted to know if the color in this picture is normal, a sign if he is a too hot, too stressed, or impending shed. The vet will tell me if he is I'll of course but feel free to chime in.

 

[midnightgallop]

It could be due to an upcoming shed or if they are too hot they can turn lighter in color. It looks like you have a female from the patterns. Does "he" have little bumps on the back of his back heels? If so, male; if not, female.

Thanks for the response. I found the form....it took me forever to fill out but glad I finally found it and that it finally let me copy and paste.

Yes he does have the bumps on his back feet I thought he was a female at first too.

 

[laurie]

This is mostly a guess based on color, but I think he is getting ready to shed.

 

[Carlton]

If he's ready to shed it can happen pretty fast as he's young and growing fast. That loose skin will start to crack and pull away from joints and more flexible areas of the skin quite soon if it's going to.

A couple of little signs it actually is from overheating would be the cham gaping, staying lower in the cage out of the light, and never settling down to sleep. Chams need a temp drop at night. Also, when the cham starts to cool down and sleep its color should change and the patterns are more distinct. If this isn't happening at all, I'd say he's about to shed.

 

[midnightgallop]

This is mostly a guess based on color, but I think he is getting ready to shed.

Thanks. He does look more dry right now. I've been misting his cage a little extra.

 

[midnightgallop]

If he's ready to shed it can happen pretty fast as he's young and growing fast. That loose skin will start to crack and pull away from joints and more flexible areas of the skin quite soon if it's going to.

A couple of little signs it actually is from overheating would be the cham gaping, staying lower in the cage out of the light, and never settling down to sleep. Chams need a temp drop at night. Also, when the cham starts to cool down and sleep its color should change and the patterns are more distinct. If this isn't happening at all, I'd say he's about to shed.

Thanks for responding. The signs of over heating are especially helpful. He hasn't gaped once.

He turned his pale green color for a tiny bit earlier with the yellow spines getting brighter on his back...then he ate a phoenix worm, then went to what seems to be his favorite perching area on the umbrella tree plant. He then he went back to that muted color in the picture. Now he is brown with more pattern showing.

Just as I went to check on him again he was climbing on the top of the screen. He has been sleeping in one spot every night so far (not that I've had him for long). And he hasn't venture to the bottom. He stays about mid range usually. I was surprised to actually see him up so high just now.

He does look dryer in spots despite more misting. So far so good I guess? I didnt think he wpuld be shedding this soon. But it kinda sounds like and looks like stress or a shed to me. I will see how he acts tonight when his lights go out and keep monitoring him to see if he does that "restless" behavior. Thanks guys!

 

[midnightgallop]

Ok he definitely slept in one spot last night. He did get slightly more pale green and got those white streaks he gets\his spines brightened up a smidge, but not much other pattern. Now he is back to drab again hanging out in his usual basking spot. Temp last night was 62.

 

[midnightgallop]

Update

Just wanted to say thank you everyone and I'm not sure about the shed, but he is active, eating and pooping normal. Yesterday I lowered the ambient temp in the room a bit during the day maybe that helped or maybe it is stress. No shed yet. Last night he turned a very dark green as he was sleeping. Very deep rich color I've not seen him turn before and he stayed in the same spot again all night.

 

[Guaca mole]

I am having a similar problem and didnt want to start a new thread about this. I think my lil guy is going through exact the same thing. He is a more drab color tonight with grey spots on him. I have noticed that the skin on his legs (around his leg joints where it is bendy) is split and cracking. I have a humidifier for him (well both of us) and ran it all last night. I wasnt sure if he is maybe too humidified now?
Currently he is laying under his basking light sort of sideways on his vine (new thing) and the Reptisun 5.0 UVB light is on for 12 hours per day. He ate good today when he woke up. I have had him for 3 weeks now and is an excellent eater/drinker and peep/pooper (Yes, I call it peep instead of pee!)
How often do chameleons shed? I bought a bottle of Zilla "Tropical Mist" to help with shedding. Is this good to use or would something else be better? Personally I do not like the smell of it (it stinks like stale cigarette smoke) but if it is helpful to him I will keep using it.
Should I keep running the humidifier or will that make his shedding worse?
Is there an optimal humidity percentage to keep their cage at when they are shedding?

 

[Juanita2014]

Pale Green

I think my Juanita is going through the same thing, I've noticed for the last few days she looks pale green most of the time. you can really tell from this picture I put together. the bottom was taken 2 weeks ago and the top this past wednesday. Should I take her to the vet?
BTW, she's active, eating and pooping/peeing normal. her main diet is crickets and mealworms 2x a week, I dust the crickets with calcium about 3x a week and have a dripper going all day and mist 3 to 4x a day.

 

[LuvMyDexter]

Hi All,
New here. I got my chameleon a few days ago so I'm expecting it to be stressed. However, since I'm new to ownership and this is a young one. I will be setting up my friends computer later so that I can use the search function on this site (can't use it on my phone).

And also I was looking for that "cage temps etc" information you guys require but my phone as I said cut search on this site and it makes it hard to navigate. I will do that tonight I promise. I can post pictures though! That's easy. I will probably schedule a vet visit with the herp vet here and have a fecal test done too.

Here he is (I took the fake bendy vines out because he left quite a big healthy poop on it this am and I was cleaning them). He goes from greenish to pink/lavender, some brown and now this pale color. Is this color a sign of impending shed,illness or being too hot?

so im still pretty new at this too. but my cham started to turn this exact color when it was just him and my boyfriend in the room. i thought it was cause he was angry or something was wrong. but it turns out he started shedding 2 days after i posted asking if this was normal for him to do. so keep your eyes out i bet he will shed within the next few days. and so far his shedding process seems to be going fast and easy. He only has his feet left to shed and its been only 2 days. my cham is just a little bit bigger then yours. hope this could be of help.

 

[Alanalouisa]

This is what my panther chameleon looked like right before he started to shed. The next day he went through it and by night he was done. I kept the fogger up on his enclosure to help with the process as well.

I wanted to know how often a juvenile chameleon sheds? He shed two weeks ago, and now he's been going this pale in color again, so is he going to go through this again? Already? He went back to being grumpy again the past couple days as well.
Thanks!

 

[kplatvoet]

I don't know how often a veiled sheds as I don't have one but my panther shed 4 times in two months when he was younger - my flapneck has shed twice in the two months I've had her - The Jackson not so much - they loose the skin in different time frames also - panther is more of a poof and it's done -
As they get older they aren't growing as quickly and the shedding slows down some -