Male cham being really pale for around a week

[Freyja737]

Hello everyone,
my little Nugget is currently 6months old. He was very sick May-June. When I took him to the vet I was told that he most likely won’t make it and they were not sure what was wrong with him. He had no parasites and couldn’t be diagnosed with anything. He hatched the last week of January and in May he had barely grown, because he was eating 2-6 small crickets every other day for weeks. At least he was eating lots of Terfly. I believe what helped him is putting him on a plant in the sun twice in a week for a few hours. After that bit by bit he started eating more (around 20 small crickets a day) and is currently catching up on growing. His colors also became very vibrant.
All was perfect till like a week ago when I had to take out two pots with dead plants out of his cage and took advantage of the fact he was already hiding in the other corner. Couple days after that his colors turned very pale and he’s been like this ever since. At least he keeps eating very well, but doesn’t look well. Could someone give advice on how I should proceed. Considering our sickness history I am very worried he might be getting sick again.

 

[elizaann2]

What a cutie! Hopefully if something is going on you are catching it quickly. Have you done a husbandry review? So much is tied to our husbandry it may help to do a review. In case you are open to it, I'll leave it below. Just copy and paste it in your post, the more information you can give us the better we can help you.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
• Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
• Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
• Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with, and what is the schedule?
• Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long do you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
• Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
• History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
• Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
• Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
• Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
• Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
• Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high-traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
• Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem -

 

[Freyja737]

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, hatched in January. I have him since March 11
• Handling - I handled him only a couple of times after I got him and it was necessary, but now I don’t touch him, he’s running from me
• Feeding - I feed him around 20 small crickets a day. He’s 6 months old, but because he was very sick April-June and was barely eating he needs to catch up on growing. (I even asked Ben Strand on one of his Saturday lives). I am gut loading the crickets with Repashy Bug Burger
• Supplements - I dust the crickets with Repti calcium every day and on the 15th and 30th of the month Reptivite with D3
• Watering - I have the Monsoon Multi 2. It mists every 8 hours - 7am, 3pm and 11pm for 1 min. Haven’t seen him drink lately since I’m not home much.
• Fecal Description - His urate is white and his droppings are blackish. Last couple of weeks he poops every couple/few days. Till a weeks and a half ago it was every day. He has been tested for parasites in May and June and there wasn’t any.
• History - We had a rough start since he was a gift and I wasn't at all prepared to house such a pet. He got really stressed from me having to take him out of his 1st cage, which got flooded by a dripping plant 3 times in a row. Also the first couple of weeks he had to spend without a UV light. Also like a mentioned earlier he was sick April-June.

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Cage is Reptibreeze all screen. 61x61x122cm. I covered the back and two sides with Tarpaulin.
• Lighting -1. Exo Terra Reptile dome 21cm with a Trixie 100W Basking spot lamp. 2. Reptisun Terrarium Hood T5 HO with Reptisun 5.0 UVB. Lights are on at 7:30am and go off at 7:30pm.
• Temperature - Basking spot 27-29. Cage floor ~ 21-22 . Lowest overnight temp ~20-21C which sadly I can’t get any lower even though I leave the window wide open. I have a thermo/hygrometer with a gauge
• Humidity - Day 40-50%, Night - 50-60%.
• Plants - I am using only live plants- Pothos(which is sadly dying for unknown to me reasons), Bromelia, Schefflera(just died as well), Ficus Benjamina, Spider plant
• Placement - The cage is in my living room, which is sadly a high traffic area. Whenever I walk past I try to go as further from the cage as possble and I look away so I don’t bother him, but I think it’s not working so well. The top of the cage relative to my room floor is 175cm.
• Location - I am located in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia

Current Problem - 1. He is extremely afraid of me the last days. I hold his feeding cup in a way he can see the bugs, he runs to my hand, eats, checks if I look at him and if I do he runs away, if I don’t he stays till he eats everything and then runs away, but he doesn’t allow me near him otherwise. Just looking at him makes him run for his life, let alone touch him and I never forcefully took him out or so I’m worried what would I do if we need to go to the vet. Also I have to put new plants in the cage, because 2 of the 5 died and the cage is empty-ish rn. How do I put in the new plants when I can’t take him out and he’s already scared to death ?
2. His colors are super pale as you can see on the photo under my previous message and lately he has been basking longer than what I’ve seen before.
Here’s how lovely green he was till a week and half ago and now…

 

[Freyja737]

Hey guys, same problems continue no matter what I do and now he hasn’t pooped for almost 2 weeks. Could someone share some wisdom please I’d be very grateful…

 

[Beppo]

Hey guys, same problems continue no matter what I do and now he hasn’t pooped for almost 2 weeks. Could someone share some wisdom please I’d be very grateful…

Hello and welcome! Let’s see if some experienced keepers can weigh in here @elizaann2 @Beman @MissSkittles could someone go over her husbandry and help her figure this out?

 

[Beppo]

Hello and welcome! Let’s see if some experienced keepers can weigh in here @elizaann2 @Beman @MissSkittles could someone go over her husbandry and help her figure this out?

Oops I see @elizaann2 is already helping you

 

[MissSkittles]

@elizaann2 or @Beman Could either of you help op and review husbandry. I worked last night and my bed is calling.

 

[elizaann2]

@elizaann2 or @Beman Could either of you help op and review husbandry. I worked last night and my bed is calling.

Happy to help

 

[Freyja737]

Happy to help

Well I hope in my message up I filled out everything properly. Awaiting your evaluation and thank you in advance

 

[elizaann2]

First, I apologize no one was able to get to your husbandry earlier, things have been busy here and I personally have been busy as well and it got missed. See my answers below in red. Lets see what we can do to help your little guy.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, hatched in January. I have him since March 11 He hatched January 2023? So he is now 8 months old correct?
• Handling - I handled him only a couple of times after I got him and it was necessary, but now I don’t touch him, he’s running from me. Ok great, as you probably know, chameleons are very shy lizards and handling them causes stress. They are more of a 'look at but don't touch' kind of animal. Keep doing what you are doing and only handle him when you have to.
• Feeding - I feed him around 20 small crickets a day. He’s 6 months old, but because he was very sick April-June and was barely eating he needs to catch up on growing. (I even asked Ben Strand on one of his Saturday lives). I am gut loading the crickets with Repashy Bug Burger. Have you tried other feeders? Horn worms have a lot of hydration to them and they may be able to get his digestive system moving a little bit better. Gut load is great, you can also use fresh veggies and some fruits or make your own gut load if you want to save money. (See document attached). Where do you get your crickets? Some places don't keep their bugs very clean and they have a higher risk of coming with parasites.
• Supplements - I dust the crickets with Repti calcium every day and on the 15th and 30th of the month Reptivite with D3. Just making sure, the Repti Calcium is the phosphorus free without D3 correct?
• Watering - I have the Monsoon Multi 2. It mists every 8 hours - 7am, 3pm and 11pm for 1 min. Haven’t seen him drink lately since I’m not home much. Chameleons are shy drinkers so ideally you do not want to see him drink, that would mean that he is dehydrated enough that he isn't concerned about being vulnerable when drinking. Lets see if we can adjust your hydration strategy so you don't see him drink and he is hydrated, which based off of his urates it sounds like he is. I hand mist, so I can't be sure but it seems like you ahve a lot of water going through your enclosure. Most of us mist 30 minutes before lights turn on and then again 30 minutes after lights turn off. You could add a dripper in the middle of the day to provide an extra drinking session if he needs it but ideally you want humidity higher at night which is where they get their hydration in nature. I will let @Beman speak to this because I don't have experience with automatic misters.
• Fecal Description - His urate is white and his droppings are blackish. Last couple of weeks he poops every couple/few days. Till a weeks and a half ago it was every day. He has been tested for parasites in May and June and there wasn’t any. A couple of questions: any thing in his enclosure that could cause impaction? Fake plants? Chunky dirt? Are you sure he hasn't pooped in 2 weeks? They don't always go in the same spot nor do they always poop where we will easily find it. I just deep cleaned out my panthers enclosure and found 4 poops that I was not aware was in there. Look around and see if you can find any in pots or plants or hidey places. The other thing is with his size I would consider getting 3 consecutive fecal tests, parasites don't always shed eggs so this is a good way to ensure he does not have parasites. Its expensive to do this but I knew something was wrong with my panther and because I kept testing his poop we finally caught the parasite that was causing him to be ill. It might be what is going on with you it might not.
• History - We had a rough start since he was a gift and I wasn't at all prepared to house such a pet. He got really stressed from me having to take him out of his 1st cage, which got flooded by a dripping plant 3 times in a row. Also the first couple of weeks he had to spend without a UV light. Also like a mentioned earlier he was sick April-June.

 

[elizaann2]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Cage is Reptibreeze all screen. 61x61x122cm. I covered the back and two sides with Tarpaulin. This is great!
• Lighting -1. Exo Terra Reptile dome 21cm with a Trixie 100W Basking spot lamp. 2. Reptisun Terrarium Hood T5 HO with Reptisun 5.0 UVB. Lights are on at 7:30am and go off at 7:30pm. Great! Where is your UVB placed?
• Temperature - Basking spot 27-29. Cage floor ~ 21-22 . Lowest overnight temp ~20-21C which sadly I can’t get any lower even though I leave the window wide open. I have a thermo/hygrometer with a gauge. Enclosure for your baby is a little cold. You want a gradient from 25 -22. Temps at night are fantastic, if you can get them lower, great but what you have is fine.
• Humidity - Day 40-50%, Night - 50-60%. Night hydration is low, ideally you'll want it to be 80-100%, if you live in a dry area I would consider getting a fog machine and fogging at night when you can get temps down to 22 at night. This is also an excellent way to hydrate your baby.
• Plants - I am using only live plants- Pothos(which is sadly dying for unknown to me reasons), Bromelia, Schefflera(just died as well), Ficus Benjamina, Spider plant. Do you have a plant light? Pothos are pretty hardy. Are they getting too much light? To little light? Too much water or too little water? Lets explore this more and see if we can help you here as well because if you have to keep switching out your plants that is causing stress to baby boy as well.
• Placement - The cage is in my living room, which is sadly a high traffic area. Whenever I walk past I try to go as further from the cage as possble and I look away so I don’t bother him, but I think it’s not working so well. The top of the cage relative to my room floor is 175cm. The height is great. Is there anywhere else you can move him that is not high traffic? I would strongly suggest doing this if you can.
• Location - I am located in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia

Current Problem - 1. He is extremely afraid of me the last days. I hold his feeding cup in a way he can see the bugs, he runs to my hand, eats, checks if I look at him and if I do he runs away, if I don’t he stays till he eats everything and then runs away, but he doesn’t allow me near him otherwise. Just looking at him makes him run for his life, let alone touch him and I never forcefully took him out or so I’m worried what would I do if we need to go to the vet. Also I have to put new plants in the cage, because 2 of the 5 died and the cage is empty-ish rn. How do I put in the new plants when I can’t take him out and he’s already scared to death ?
2. His colors are super pale as you can see on the photo under my previous message and lately he has been basking longer than what I’ve seen before.
Here’s how lovely green he was till a week and half ago and now…. I would consider getting a feeder run or something that you can place in his enclosure and leave there for him to eat the bugs as he wants/needs without feeling vulnerable. For example my veiled doesn't seem to be afraid of humans, I hand feed her every feeding, she eats from the cup I offer and then just keeps hanging out. My panther is terrified of me, if I hand fed him it would cause a lot of stress so I place his feeder in his enclosure and leave him alone. Just putting the feeder in his enclosure he gapes at me. If he is eating quickly and running away that tells me he is nervous. (pics attached in previous post of my feeding stations to give you some ideas)

How do you have your plants? I have mine in the double pot method so if I need to remove a plant its a quick swap out. (picture attached in previous post). You could get some fake plants to put around the outside of his enclosure to provide extra coverage that way as well.

I would strongly suggest the double pot method, it will take a minute to set up and I would suggest maybe paying attention to his body language, when he is showing you he has had enough pause for a while and give him a break. I attach mine with zip ties through corrugated plastic, you can attach them to sturdy branches in your enclosure as well.

Basking for longer makes sense if his enclosure is colder than he prefers it. Try raising his temps a bit there and let me know how that goes. I'm honestly not sure about him being so pale. I have a jacksons that goes pale when I stress him so maybe those are his stress colors? Hopefully if we can get some of this other stuff squared away he will improve.

Will you share pictures of your entire enclosure including the lights? And you are sure you have a boy correct? Can you share pics of his back feet? The one photo you have of him is just blurry enough when I zoom in that I am still not able to tell..

 

[Freyja737]

First, I apologize no one was able to get to your husbandry earlier, things have been busy here and I personally have been busy as well and it got missed. See my answers below in red. Lets see what we can do to help your little guy.

Chameleon Info:

• Your Chameleon - Veiled chameleon, male, hatched in January. I have him since March 11 He hatched January 2023? So he is now 8 months old correct?
• Handling - I handled him only a couple of times after I got him and it was necessary, but now I don’t touch him, he’s running from me. Ok great, as you probably know, chameleons are very shy lizards and handling them causes stress. They are more of a 'look at but don't touch' kind of animal. Keep doing what you are doing and only handle him when you have to.
• Feeding - I feed him around 20 small crickets a day. He’s 6 months old, but because he was very sick April-June and was barely eating he needs to catch up on growing. (I even asked Ben Strand on one of his Saturday lives). I am gut loading the crickets with Repashy Bug Burger. Have you tried other feeders? Horn worms have a lot of hydration to them and they may be able to get his digestive system moving a little bit better. Gut load is great, you can also use fresh veggies and some fruits or make your own gut load if you want to save money. (See document attached). Where do you get your crickets? Some places don't keep their bugs very clean and they have a higher risk of coming with parasites.
• Supplements - I dust the crickets with Repti calcium every day and on the 15th and 30th of the month Reptivite with D3. Just making sure, the Repti Calcium is the phosphorus free without D3 correct?
• Watering - I have the Monsoon Multi 2. It mists every 8 hours - 7am, 3pm and 11pm for 1 min. Haven’t seen him drink lately since I’m not home much. Chameleons are shy drinkers so ideally you do not want to see him drink, that would mean that he is dehydrated enough that he isn't concerned about being vulnerable when drinking. Lets see if we can adjust your hydration strategy so you don't see him drink and he is hydrated, which based off of his urates it sounds like he is. I hand mist, so I can't be sure but it seems like you ahve a lot of water going through your enclosure. Most of us mist 30 minutes before lights turn on and then again 30 minutes after lights turn off. You could add a dripper in the middle of the day to provide an extra drinking session if he needs it but ideally you want humidity higher at night which is where they get their hydration in nature. I will let @Beman speak to this because I don't have experience with automatic misters.
• Fecal Description - His urate is white and his droppings are blackish. Last couple of weeks he poops every couple/few days. Till a weeks and a half ago it was every day. He has been tested for parasites in May and June and there wasn’t any. A couple of questions: any thing in his enclosure that could cause impaction? Fake plants? Chunky dirt? Are you sure he hasn't pooped in 2 weeks? They don't always go in the same spot nor do they always poop where we will easily find it. I just deep cleaned out my panthers enclosure and found 4 poops that I was not aware was in there. Look around and see if you can find any in pots or plants or hidey places. The other thing is with his size I would consider getting 3 consecutive fecal tests, parasites don't always shed eggs so this is a good way to ensure he does not have parasites. Its expensive to do this but I knew something was wrong with my panther and because I kept testing his poop we finally caught the parasite that was causing him to be ill. It might be what is going on with you it might not.
• History - We had a rough start since he was a gift and I wasn't at all prepared to house such a pet. He got really stressed from me having to take him out of his 1st cage, which got flooded by a dripping plant 3 times in a row. Also the first couple of weeks he had to spend without a UV light. Also like a mentioned earlier he was sick April-June.

- I was told he hatched the last days of January so he’s around 7 months old. Why he’s smaller is because we had problems at the start and he was barely eating. Now he is catching up on growing and eating.
- I have tried find hornworms here in Germany, but I feel like that’s an easier task in the USA. Atm maybe he’s still a bit small to eat hornworms though not sure.
- I get his crickets from the animal shop in town. They get them delivered from one of the big firms here in Germany.
- Yes, the Repti Calcium is without D3 but I don’t know if it’s phosphorus free.
- I made him a dripper today with the distilled water bottle, but the water gathers in a puddle on the top of the screen and doesn’t drip properly. I followed the dripper tutorial from Neptune the chameleon on Youtube. Do you have a suggestion on how to make it in a better way?
- There are no fake plants in the enclosure that could cause an impaction, there is dirt though, because where I live there’s nowhere to get river rock or sth to cover the dirt.
- I looked for poo today all around and couldn’t find any. Usually the way he does it it always drops on the floor of the enclosure. Last time I found one was around August 15-16.
- When they have parasites they tend to lose apetite as far as I know? Little baby has been eating like a beast

 

[elizaann2]

- I was told he hatched the last days of January so he’s around 7 months old. Why he’s smaller is because we had problems at the start and he was barely eating. Now he is catching up on growing and eating. That totally makes sense
- I have tried find hornworms here in Germany, but I feel like that’s an easier task in the USA. Atm maybe he’s still a bit small to eat hornworms though not sure. Darn, can you get a hold of silkworms easily? Those might be a good alternative.
- I get his crickets from the animal shop in town. They get them delivered from one of the big firms here in Germany. Do you know how the crickets are kept? I unfortunately don't know how things are in Germany but there are places here in the U.S. that you just don't buy bugs from because they aren't kept in clean conditions. Just a thought.
- Yes, the Repti Calcium is without D3 but I don’t know if it’s phosphorus free. Would you mind sharing a picture of it? I might be able to tell.
- I made him a dripper today with the distilled water bottle, but the water gathers in a puddle on the top of the screen and doesn’t drip properly. I followed the dripper tutorial from Neptune the chameleon on Youtube. Do you have a suggestion on how to make it in a better way? I just tap on the screen until drops start to come through, its not a perfect method but it works ok.
- There are no fake plants in the enclosure that could cause an impaction, there is dirt though, because where I live there’s nowhere to get river rock or sth to cover the dirt. Ok good on the no fake plants. Are there big chunks in the dirt?
- I looked for poo today all around and couldn’t find any. Usually the way he does it it always drops on the floor of the enclosure. Last time I found one was around August 15-16. Hmmm...if he is eating and not pooping I would consider taking him to the vet, I know its not ideal because he is so terrified but if its been that long and he is eating often I just worry about that.
- When they have parasites they tend to lose apetite as far as I know? Little baby has been eating like a beast. They can lose their appetite, my boy didnt lose his when he had a nasty parasite so I believe it just depends.

I dunno, I haven't seen this before, I am still thinking they are his stressed colors. If you add more plants and coverage for him, I would be curious to see what his colors are after a few days.

I am going to try and share a video of my boy, he turns a light color when I stress him. This is why I am thinking its stress related.

 

[Freyja737]

Cage Info:

• Cage Type - Cage is Reptibreeze all screen. 61x61x122cm. I covered the back and two sides with Tarpaulin. This is great!
• Lighting -1. Exo Terra Reptile dome 21cm with a Trixie 100W Basking spot lamp. 2. Reptisun Terrarium Hood T5 HO with Reptisun 5.0 UVB. Lights are on at 7:30am and go off at 7:30pm. Great! Where is your UVB placed?
• Temperature - Basking spot 27-29. Cage floor ~ 21-22 . Lowest overnight temp ~20-21C which sadly I can’t get any lower even though I leave the window wide open. I have a thermo/hygrometer with a gauge. Enclosure for your baby is a little cold. You want a gradient from 25 -22. Temps at night are fantastic, if you can get them lower, great but what you have is fine.
• Humidity - Day 40-50%, Night - 50-60%. Night hydration is low, ideally you'll want it to be 80-100%, if you live in a dry area I would consider getting a fog machine and fogging at night when you can get temps down to 22 at night. This is also an excellent way to hydrate your baby.
• Plants - I am using only live plants- Pothos(which is sadly dying for unknown to me reasons), Bromelia, Schefflera(just died as well), Ficus Benjamina, Spider plant. Do you have a plant light? Pothos are pretty hardy. Are they getting too much light? To little light? Too much water or too little water? Lets explore this more and see if we can help you here as well because if you have to keep switching out your plants that is causing stress to baby boy as well.
• Placement - The cage is in my living room, which is sadly a high traffic area. Whenever I walk past I try to go as further from the cage as possble and I look away so I don’t bother him, but I think it’s not working so well. The top of the cage relative to my room floor is 175cm. The height is great. Is there anywhere else you can move him that is not high traffic? I would strongly suggest doing this if you can.
• Location - I am located in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia

Current Problem - 1. He is extremely afraid of me the last days. I hold his feeding cup in a way he can see the bugs, he runs to my hand, eats, checks if I look at him and if I do he runs away, if I don’t he stays till he eats everything and then runs away, but he doesn’t allow me near him otherwise. Just looking at him makes him run for his life, let alone touch him and I never forcefully took him out or so I’m worried what would I do if we need to go to the vet. Also I have to put new plants in the cage, because 2 of the 5 died and the cage is empty-ish rn. How do I put in the new plants when I can’t take him out and he’s already scared to death ?
2. His colors are super pale as you can see on the photo under my previous message and lately he has been basking longer than what I’ve seen before.
Here’s how lovely green he was till a week and half ago and now…. I would consider getting a feeder run or something that you can place in his enclosure and leave there for him to eat the bugs as he wants/needs without feeling vulnerable. For example my veiled doesn't seem to be afraid of humans, I hand feed her every feeding, she eats from the cup I offer and then just keeps hanging out. My panther is terrified of me, if I hand fed him it would cause a lot of stress so I place his feeder in his enclosure and leave him alone. Just putting the feeder in his enclosure he gapes at me. If he is eating quickly and running away that tells me he is nervous. (pics attached in previous post of my feeding stations to give you some ideas)

How do you have your plants? I have mine in the double pot method so if I need to remove a plant its a quick swap out. (picture attached in previous post). You could get some fake plants to put around the outside of his enclosure to provide extra coverage that way as well.

I would strongly suggest the double pot method, it will take a minute to set up and I would suggest maybe paying attention to his body language, when he is showing you he has had enough pause for a while and give him a break. I attach mine with zip ties through corrugated plastic, you can attach them to sturdy branches in your enclosure as well.

Basking for longer makes sense if his enclosure is colder than he prefers it. Try raising his temps a bit there and let me know how that goes. I'm honestly not sure about him being so pale. I have a jacksons that goes pale when I stress him so maybe those are his stress colors? Hopefully if we can get some of this other stuff squared away he will improve.

Will you share pictures of your entire enclosure including the lights? And you are sure you have a boy correct? Can you share pics of his back feet? The one photo you have of him is just blurry enough when I zoom in that I am still not able to tell..

- My UVB is on top of the enclosure.
- When you say gradient 25-22 you mean the lower part of the cage right? During the hot days I was using a 50W basking bulb. Now the summer finished here and it’s getting colder. Should I maybe try 75W or 100W ?
- I can get him a fogger now in September, but does there need to be an airflow in the cage? I mean some small ventilator to keep the air fresh
- I don’t have a plant light. The pothos started dying while I was away for 2 weeks and my bf was taking care of things. I think he forgot to water it and when I came back it was beyond saving. A bit later my Schefflera started dying too and I found some white cotton looking tiny bugs so I threw it out immediately.
- Sadly I live in a small flat and the way the rooms are there’s really nowhere else to put him.
- Could you recommend me a feeder run? Tried to find one here, but couldn’t. Usually I put his bugs in a small plastic cup. Most of the time I hold it in a way so he sees what’s in there and he comes to me and eats while cautiously looking to see if he’ll be eaten and I look away so I don’t bother him. After he’s done eating he runs away most of the time or sometimes he stays close to my hand and keeps looking at the cup. If by any chance he doesn’t want to come to the cup while I’m holding it then I hang it on the same spot.
- I am using the double pot method too. It’s really so much easier.
- I bought him a new Schefflera and a new Pothos both wonderful, but I’m not sure how it’s best to clean them and repot them. A lot of people do it differently and I’m a bit confused.
- I’m sure he’s a boy. His tarsal spurs are very noticeable and his casket is growing significantly. I will check if I have a good pic where u can see. After 2 get of the plants died the enclosure is really empty and I think that’s a huge problem.
Here are pics of his new plants, the enclosure and him while sleeping ( Idk how you’d find him though, because he’s hiding xD)

 

[elizaann2]

Ok naturally I can't catch it on camera but I do have pictures to show you.

The first photo of my boy where he is darker colors those are more his typical colors right now. The second photo I getting the left over bugs out of his enclosure at the end of the day and he was not having it, he turned this really light color and turned around to back away from me. You can see a HUGE difference. One is stressed one is not. Also just to note, the temps were roughly the same in both photos so the color change was not from heat, just stress.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not a vet, and I do not know everything. These are just my best guesses based off of the knowledge I do have and my experience.

 

[Freyja737]

Ok naturally I can't catch it on camera but I do have pictures to show you.

The first photo of my boy where he is darker colors those are more his typical colors right now. The second photo I getting the left over bugs out of his enclosure at the end of the day and he was not having it, he turned this really light color and turned around to back away from me. You can see a HUGE difference. One is stressed one is not. Also just to note, the temps were roughly the same in both photos so the color change was not from heat, just stress.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not a vet, and I do not know everything. These are just my best guesses based off of the knowledge I do have and my experience.

He’s lovely. Could you maybe show pics where he’s happy. I’d love to see his colors then.
Also, here a pic of my calcium

 

[elizaann2]

- My UVB is on top of the enclosure. Perfect! Just make sure you have a branch that is 6-8 inches below the UVB light that is running parallel to the UVB light as well. This way your little guy can choose temps to be in and still get proper UVB.
- When you say gradient 25-22 you mean the lower part of the cage right? During the hot days I was using a 50W basking bulb. Now the summer finished here and it’s getting colder. Should I maybe try 75W or 100W ? Yes, I apologize if that was confusing. You want a gradient of temps and humidity, warmer on the top, cooler on the bottom. Low humidity on the top, higher on the bottom (of course this is still within the 40-50% range)
- I can get him a fogger now in September, but does there need to be an airflow in the cage? I mean some small ventilator to keep the air fresh. If you have the bottom screen panel uncovered as well as the top enclosure, you will get what is called the chimney effect with airflow and you should be fine. My enclosures all have the window film cover on the door with the top of the enclosure open and the service panel open and my airflow has been great.
- I don’t have a plant light. The pothos started dying while I was away for 2 weeks and my bf was taking care of things. I think he forgot to water it and when I came back it was beyond saving. A bit later my Schefflera started dying too and I found some white cotton looking tiny bugs so I threw it out immediately. Dang, I'm sorry to hear that. A schefflera for sure needs a plant light to survive so I would either only use pothos in your enclosure or get a plant light.
- Sadly I live in a small flat and the way the rooms are there’s really nowhere else to put him. Darn, another idea is covering his enclosure with a sheet during more active days or if you have people over? Just if he is stressed. I do this with my panther because my husband's computer is in his room and the traffic of my husband going in that room with the computer screen stresses him so we jjust cover him up.
- Could you recommend me a feeder run? Tried to find one here, but couldn’t. Usually I put his bugs in a small plastic cup. Most of the time I hold it in a way so he sees what’s in there and he comes to me and eats while cautiously looking to see if he’ll be eaten and I look away so I don’t bother him. After he’s done eating he runs away most of the time or sometimes he stays close to my hand and keeps looking at the cup. If by any chance he doesn’t want to come to the cup while I’m holding it then I hang it on the same spot. The one is use is from sunset chameleons. I do not know of any that are sold in Germany. You can make a homemade one first to see if he likes it and then just search for one while he uses that one. I don't know if you can buy things off of Amazon or Etsy but those are some places you might be able to find one.
Here is how to make one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uewGbjzaSto
- I am using the double pot method too. It’s really so much easier.
- I bought him a new Schefflera and a new Pothos both wonderful, but I’m not sure how it’s best to clean them and repot them. A lot of people do it differently and I’m a bit confused. There are lots of ways to do this. This is how I clean my plants:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uWdIFxBfrk
- I’m sure he’s a boy. His tarsal spurs are very noticeable and his casket is growing significantly. I will check if I have a good pic where u can see. After 2 get of the plants died the enclosure is really empty and I think that’s a huge problem. Oh yes I can see the tarsal spurs easily on the last photo you shared. He is so darling I love that he is 'hiding' being a single leaf.
Here are pics of his new plants, the enclosure and him while sleeping ( Idk how you’d find him though, because he’s hiding xD).

 

[elizaann2]

He’s lovely. Could you maybe show pics where he’s happy. I’d love to see his colors then.
Also, here a pic of my calcium

Yep that one is perfect. I use that one myself. It is phosphorus free.

 

[elizaann2]

He’s lovely. Could you maybe show pics where he’s happy. I’d love to see his colors then.
Also, here a pic of my calcium

Here is another pic of my baby, as you can see not super light like that one where I was bugging him.

 

[Beman]

@Freyja737 Hi there. Sorry I was not around yesterday. My daughter starts college today so it was a crazy Sunday.

@elizaann2 gave you wonderful info.

With the monsoon can you increase the length of misting? 1 minute is not very long. I typically recommend 2-3 minutes.

You want a feeder run. Cup feeding can be great. But in addition to a feeder run. If you just made changes to his cage this could be why he is more stressed and afraid. Even removing a plant can throw them off. May I see a picture of the entire enclosure from the lights down please?

For trust building this is what I have done with all of mine. https://www.chameleonforums.com/blogs/building-trust-with-your-chameleon.2396/