Need help !! New owner

[Chronic25]

So I bought my veiled Chameleon "male" at petco about 2 weeks ago and I got him a zilla tank 18x12 and he looks like he's about 2 1/2 months old or 3 months can't tell but when I got him he looked nice and green almost like a lime green color now his like a dark green and some times like a dark blackish green color is he stressed ??? He just started doing that I Handel him about 15-20 mins a day but I haven't lately bc he looks stressed and the last time I tryed to take him out he hissed n got big n try to bite me his never done that idk what I'm doing wrong I been feeding him crickets s/m and I also feed him horn worms every now and then but I dust all his foods I give him about 4-5 crickets twice a day and he seems to eat them I just wanna b sure I'm feeding him right and I mist his tank when his humidity goes down to 30% I try to keep it around 50-70% and his temp always stays around 70-85 in that range and I knoticed when I mist his tank the humidity goes up for a while then it goes down kinda fast sometimes tho and I knoticed his tank collects a lot of water at the bottom and I take the water out so it doesn't stay there n rot the substrate and I have like 3 plants in there but it seems like them plant aren't getting much light they look droopy ( ficus ) i turn of the lights n heat lamp at 7:30ish - 8pm he has a mini dope with a 5.0 zilla UVB and he's using a LED white heat lamp it came with about 50w
I just wanna know if I'm doing something wrong or what I'm doing right I don't wanna kill him or make him stressed out I want him as happy as he can be, so please let me know thanks

Ps he also goes down to the ground and try's to dig I feel like he's trying to escape!? Idk if that's normal

 

[alphakenc]

I guess this is the same thread from the other one, hopfully u find ur answer in this forum,maybe someone else will chime in and give u a better answer than mine good luck.

 

[Big Gulp]

What is the basking temp? Are you sure it's a male? Can you take a pic of the enclosure?

 

[Chronic25]

What is the basking temp? Are you sure it's a male? Can you take a pic of the enclosure?

Yeah he is a male he has a little toe thing behind his back feet and his basking spot is around 85-90

 

[FancyRaptor]

Check out the resources tab at the top. There is a wealth of awesome information there. Also for coming from Petco he looks decent. On the handling question I would let him settle in before trying to handle him. There is a chance he never will deal with being handled so he may just be a pet to be watched. Most don't like handling or even put up with it. Just be patient.

 

[FancyRaptor]

Also remove the substrate. If he accidentally eats it while catching a cricket (Which will happen) then it can cause impaction. Replace it with either nothing, paper towels, Repticarpet (or similar material). I personally use Repticarpet because it looks nice and is easy to clean and not too expensive.

 

[EarlMT]

On another note you might want to add a few more branches for climbing around the whole area of the enclosure.

 

[Big Gulp]

Yeah, he definitely need more branches/vines to climb. Also, more foliage.

 

[Chronic25]

Thanks I did exactly that

 

[FancyRaptor]

Thanks I did exactly that

Do you want to post another picture of your cage so we can see it now?

 

[Bmart]

post a picture with the whole enclosure. Your Cham looks nice, i would block off some sides of the cages and see if that keep the humidity up. i used corrugated plastic sheets to block off two sides and it helped. i used velcro along the frame and it held up, never falling off. at this young of an age, you don't want to stress them out so much with the handling. Every now and then open his cage and just hang around him. give it time, he will eventually warm up to you. patience is key

 

[Bekkageary]

Can anyone help me??? My Cham is aggressive and doesn't like to be held. It's been impossible to clean in there laity because he will puff up and hiss even when I look at him. Can I take him out when he is asleep to clean the terrarium?

 

[Bmart]

Can anyone help me??? My Cham is aggressive and doesn't like to be held. It's been impossible to clean in there laity because he will puff up and hiss even when I look at him. Can I take him out when he is asleep to clean the terrarium?

try not to disturb them when they are sleeping. how old is your cham? what i used to do is hold out a wax worm or a smaller horned worm and use it to lure him out. works every time. if you're afraid he might lunge try using a stick that he can grab on to and try pulling him away from the enclosure carefully, watch their tails as they use it t grab on to branches

 

[Chameleon Crazy Chick]

Friendly Tips:

• Remove the Substrate- could cause impaction
• LEAVE HIM ALONE. You just got him, right? two weeks ago. That isn't a lot of time. You need to leave the cham be, and give him time to adjust. I started handling mine at around the 4 week mark, and I've never had him hiss at me. That may be what's causing him stress; the fact that you come and "kidnap" him away from his house every day. (just looking at it from the cham perspective)
• You should only feed him something that's body length is almost the same as the width between his eyeballs. Medium may be a bit much.
• Fiscus need time to dry out between watering, otherwise they tend to look "droopy" like you described.
• Are you using supplements? Those are NECESSARY TO EVERY CHAMELEON OWNER. If you are not, you need to get Calcium WITH D3, Calcium WITHOUT D3, and a MULTIVITAMIN. IF you don't feel like spending the money to buy all three, you can buy an ALL IN ONE calcium thingy.
• In order to better remove the water from the bottom of the cage, create a drainage system. Just use the search bar.

This should be good. If i missed anything, then please mention it. Thanks.