Need help deciding if he's ok

Jen0413

New Member
Hi all,

My husband says I'm crazy and I have a history of being overly concerned about my animals but since Espio is our first cham I just want to make sure he's OK. I feel like his face has gotten browner over the past couple of weeks, especially along his cascade. He was all green when we got him at 3 months old and now at 6 months he seems browner. I attached some pictures of his face from this morning. He's all puffed up because he doesn't like being disturbed while basking after his breakfast. Not much of a morning chameleon... Please tell me if you think his face looks OK and I'm crazy and over worrying or if he isn't supposed to look that brown.

Also, on a side note. I've noticed he's been showing off his patterns more lately. Usually he only wears it while he's hunting crickets ( we call it his hunting pattern) but now he wears his colors while basking- although not as vibrant. Is that normal? He's not stressed when he's doing it, just chillin out and looking cool.

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon -6 month old male veiled chameleon
Handling - Once a week, sometimes twice but never for very long.
Feeding - He eats about 15 crickets every morning. They are gutloaded on Flukers gutload mix plus fruits and veggies. This week is butternut squash week.
Supplements - Calcium w/o d3 daily. Calcium w/ d3 twice a month. Reptivite twice a month.
Watering - I mist his leaves once to twice a day and we have a fogger that goes off every couple of hours.
Fecal Description -Normal brown poops with white urate. He poops about every other day.
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Cage Info:
Cage Type - Glass terrarium- I lost the packaging that had the dimensions though. I know it's about 3.5 ft tall though.
Lighting - UVB light and basking light on for aprox 12 hours each day.
Temperature - Basking temp is around 80-85. Ambient temp around 70. Nighttime temp around 65. His basking temp did get up really high about a week and a half ago, in the 90's range. I had to go buy a lower wattage bulb since the summer heat drove up the temp in the cage.
Humidity - About 70 when the fogger is running. 30-40 when it is not.
Plants - He has one live plant that I found on the plant page. I think it's called a corn plant or something? He has several fake plants, sticks, and vines in there as well.
Placement - He is on a table in a nook in the living room so that he is sheltered by traffic. He is by a window. The tabletop is about 3 ft off the ground.
Location -Fort Collins CO
 

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Also, his face looks scalier lately?? You can kind of see it in the second picture. It that normal?
 
He looks very healthy to me. It is perfectly normal for veileds to have brown and black coloration, especially on their head. As he gets older, you will certainly see him get more darker colors, and his color patterns will increase. When they are young they are all green, but he will have very noticeable patterns when an adult, even when not fired up. The scales look totally normal in both pictures as well.

At his age his basking temp should be between 85-95F. I would recommend a gradient between those temperatures so he can choose, but it should definitely not be lower than 85. If it is lower than that he may have trouble digesting.
 
Also, his face looks scalier lately?? You can kind of see it in the second picture. It that normal?

Yes, its normal. The ridges on his face and casque will look more prominent as he matures. What you do want to watch for is a growing lump or bump under the skin that appears only on one side...asymmetrical. At 6 months his hormones are kicking in, so he may be a little more touchy than he was before. Veileds can go through a "terrible teens" at about this age. Some also go through a brown color phase. Its temporary.
 
Are you 100% sure your little one is a boy?
Can you post good pics about the back feet? He just looks like my girl looked like and until she was 6 months old I thought she is a boy...
 
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