Looks abnormal

[dkillian90]

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, female, about 6 months. I have owned her for 2 months.
Handling - Once a month for cleaning purposes only
Feeding - Crickets 10-12 a day. Gut-loaded with turnip greens
Supplements - flukers calcium and d3 every other feed
Watering - I have a pump spray mister every mist. I also have a lil dripper watering system that runs for 4 hours or so. Whenever I see the humidity really low I live in Arizona and it drops to 20% fast maybe every hour or so? I sometimes see her drink but not often?
Fecal Description - The fecal matter looks pretty good solid around the size of a large cricket body with white to slightly yellow urate. This chameleon has not been tested for parasites that I know of.
History -I bought her from petsmart theres no other history than that
Cage Info:
Cage Type - I have a repti breeze screen 20''H 16'' W 16'' L
Lighting - Exo-terra both lights repti-glo 13W 5.0 uvb and a 60W sun-glo neodymium day bulb with a 6 inch basking spot. Both bulbs for 10- 12 hours a day.
Temperature - Temps range from a 90 degree bask to 75-80 at lowest point. lowest temp at night is 70? Bask is measured with basic thermometer not a strip, stuck to the inside of cage. I do not have a 2nd thermometer for low point of cage I need to get one but my hygrometer is mid way up on basking side of cage.
Humidity - My humidity levels range from 20-70 after mist its about 65-70 during the day its 20-40 when it dries out. With a hand pump mister A pothos plant and a lil dripper system. I have a Hygrometer Half way up the cage on the basking side.
Plants - Pothos just 1 it takes up the whole cage and 2 fake plants
Placement - On top of the dresser near my door maybe 3 feet up. I have a ceiling fan in the room no vents and its a semi traffic area. Top of the cage is about 6 feet up.
Location - Peoria, Arizona United States

Current Problem - I love my chameleon and I have never had one before so I just want to double check a few things and make sure im on the right track she has a brown dried out looking spine, veil and eyebrows but just on the edge it looks like and outline. To me her tail looks well rounded and her eyes don't look sunk in but im not the best at knowing what to look for she hisses at me if I come near her but only if cage is open other times she jus moves away. I know that chameleons are best looked at than handled but there has to be a way for her to lighten up I have tried hand feeding her she just moves away if I hold her or move something I give her a wax worm or 2 but not often more as a treat.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Only thing I can see missing is some kind of branch or dowel works, for her to climb on. Move up and down inside cage, without climbing the screen. Apologies, if I'm wrong, and you have walking highways inside the cage.

 

[Kate]

Welcome to the forum.
Supplements - flukers calcium and d3 every other feed
You might want to look at your supplements. Ideally your feeders need to be dusted lightly with plain calcium without d3 every feed and calcium with d3 and a multivitamin once a fortnight.

 

[Lovereps]

Welcome to the forum!
This forum is a great resource for cham owners, as many people here have solid knowledge of good cham care.

You do have a lot of things right with her care.
What is not so good (though you were probably told to do it as you do) is the supplement dusting.
Calcium without D3 should be used at every feeding,
a multivitamin once every 2 weeks,
and calcium with D3 once every 2 weeks.
Too much D3 is actually bad for chams but some D3 is needed. Same with the multivitamin.
Calcium without any D3 or phosphorus is essential to use most frequently.
The schedule listed above is typically one to keep a cham healthy.

The other things to change are to add more variety to her diet and add a bit more variety to the feeders' "gutload" diet.

She would surely appreciate a bit more humidity,too.
Many people use a humidifier to increase the humidity in their cham's room, since it can be very difficult to keep her air moist when the room is bone dry.
Adding plastic sheeting to 2 or 3 sides can help, as can adding more plants.
As SSimsswiSS mentioned, she would benefit from a horizontal vine or two to stand on.

An excellent Veiled cham care guide is this one, written by the forum moderators:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

There are other pages in that section of the forum with more info and info on other types of chams, as well.

Most of my chams are terrified of me but some chams do get more trusting of you over time--especially if they learn to associate you with food.

 

[dkillian90]

a few more pics

I knew my humidity was a problem I will look into getting a fogger for her I have a few more pics of my setup and her color this morn I definitely need new calcium supplement but what do you think is up with her brown out line. I see the hygrometer drop to 20% some times but the cage still looks damp so I wonder if i'm getting an accurate reading what do you suggest I try different.

 

[Video Master]

I would say definitely need more places to climb around on. Also starting giving a daily calcium without the D3. The D3 should be twice a month and also a multivitamin twice a month.

Here is the care sheet for a veiled: https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

The yellow in the urate means the cham is dehydrated.

 

[Ahtee]

Hey there I would suggest having a horizontal or diagonal branch kinda below the basking area,between 6 inches or more from the basking light instead of having her stand on the leaves of the plant while she wants to bask. She looks rather dark so she might not be getting enough heat and trying to warm up by being darker. Hope this helps! Looked at ur pics again and I 4got to mention she looked dark only in the first few pics

 

[dkillian90]

I saran wrapped the sides and back of cage leaving the front and top open, hopefully that will retain the humidity longer till I can get a humidifier for her i will arrange the vine in front to run along the backside so she can perch under the basking bulb more efficiently. I will definitely get a better calcium supplement as for the dark color she's off and on with that color, I have a 60W basking bulb is that hot enough?

 

[Lovereps]

Actually, 90 degrees for a female is a little on the hot side.
85 would be better for her age and sex--as per the caresheets here:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

An infrared digital thermometer, like the ones sold on Amazon or at Home Depot and Lowes are what many people use for accurate readings of a basking spot.
Ones like this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017L9Q9C/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Adding some variety to her diet is always a good idea.
Some feeders are naturally higher in some nutrients than others and using a few types of insects, plus feedding them nutritious food, helps to ensure that your cham gets what she needs to be healthy.
Silkworms, hornworms, Dubias, Phoenix worms and even some superworms from time to time can make her diet more nutritious.
Here is one reliable source:
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/

It may be that she has been too dry and is having trouble shedding old skin or maybe it is related to either a lack of vitamins or to the excessive D3.
Once everything is as it should be, she should get back to better colors and normal shedding.

You can mist her with warm water in a spray bottle to help loosen any retained shed skin. Chams seem to respond better to the misting when you start at the tail end.
The plastic will certainly help retain humidity BUT you don't want her cage to be wet and damp all the time.
Things should dry out in between mistings.
Here are more good details on this:
https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/water/
The humidity gauge could be broken or maybe it is that dry in the basking spot but A/C does dry air out and AZ isn't exactly know for humid air anyway .
Some of the analog gauges are accurate but others are way off.
A cheap digital hygrometer can be useful:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013BKDO8/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

FWIW, I have this calcium powder:
http://www.amazon.com/Rep-Cal-Calci...&sr=8-11&keywords=calcium+powder+for+reptiles
and
these vitamins:
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...-vitamins/-/zoo-med-reptivite-without-d3-2oz/
(Reptivite also makes the same multivitamin formula with D3--so you need to read the bottle before buying, if you choose this brand)

Plus I have the calcium powder with D3

I'm sure you'll get everything tuned in to where it should be and your cham will be better for it.
I'd say she'll love you but my chams are pretty much just nervous wimps.

For hand feeding, believe it or not, it seems to help when you hold out the food and don't look at her or at the bug.

 

[dkillian90]

to lovereps

Thanks a lot for all your knowledge I just got back from Sedona I was on my honeymoon, I will get started on this right away as soon as things change ill post pics and show everyone the results

 

[dkillian90]

new cage arrangement

I have made some changes to the cage tell me what u guys think she's a little stressed but she seems to like the perches I have made let me know.

 

[Ahtee]

That looks good! She loves her new basking spot doesn't she

 

[pssh]

It looks better now. Also, she is getting to the age where she can start to produce infertile eggs. Be sure to get a laying bin set up for her and also look into the specific care of females. Egg laying can be prevented or lessened (smaller clutches that are more infrequent) with careful food monitoring and temperature control. Keep her basking spot around 82-85 and maybe start to think about feeding her every other day.

 

[Julija]

Hello there!

Your cage definitely looks nicer now! though I would still advise to add some more branches in the vertical plane and maybe another plant, so that she has more place to hide - being exposed all the time might be a bit stressful for her.

Otherwise I just wanted to link you to these two great resources:

first of all, there is this wonderful educational video about setting up a laying bin, made by one of the forum members: https://www.chameleonforums.com/laying-bin-set-up-educational-video-77225/

and second is a blog-post that might very well help you on the way to making friends with your chameleon: https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/psychobunny/746-taming-chameleon.html
And remember - slow movements and patience are extremely important! also, if in any doubt - ask here on the forums, it is always better to be save than sorry, and people here are very friendly and have lots of knowledge about chams!

Best of luck,
Julija