New baby chameleon, age and sex?

[jman828]

Hello,

I recently got a veiled chameleon after doing a great amount of research. The place where I bought him said you cannot tell the sex until they are 6 months of age. I knew this was false because of the spurs, so I have checked several times, but sometimes it looks like they are there and then sometimes not. s/he is so small I think it might just be hard to see, so I'm looking for a second opinion. Also any guesses on age? I just got him about 2.5 weeks ago. Thank you!

 

[carol5208]

That has to be a female. I do not see any spurs whatsoever in the pics you provided. The male chameleons have bars and the females do not. Yours kinda has bars, but also female patterning as well. Also has a small casque and no spurs, so I say female. She looks very skinny. I know you just got her. Is she eating ok for you? I hope you set the pet store straight and told them they can be sexed before 6 months and can basicallybe sexed out of the egg. I gave the employees at petco a little lesson on how to sex Veilds and they had no idea. Alot of pet stores have no business selling animals they know nothing about.

 

[jman828]

That has to be a female. I do not see any spurs whatsoever in the pics you provided. The male chameleons have bars and the females do not. Yours kinda has bars, but also female patterning as well. Also has a small casque and no spurs, so I say female. She looks very skinny. I know you just got her. Is she eating ok for you? I hope you set the pet store straight and told them they can be sexed before 6 months and can basicallybe sexed out of the egg. I gave the employees at petco a little lesson on how to sex Veilds and they had no idea. Alot of pet stores have no business selling animals they know nothing about.

Okay, I figured so. Guess I need to change to a female name, good thing I didn't "officially" name yet lol. I did my research on females before even getting a chameleon (which I thought was male.) I will be preparing an egg laying box ASAP. Any guess on the age? And how long it'll be until she lays?
And for eating, all is well. I've been feeding gutloaded, dusted crickets, about 6-10 medium sized daily. Is that good, or should it be more? Thanks for the help!

 

[zsazsa85]

Hi there,

I would say give her as many crix as many she eats. The amount depends on the crickets's size too. (Make sure they are the right size!)
You said you read about them before you bought her, so I assume you know the dusting and what and how much...
I can't really see how big she is, so I don't want to guess her age. They can lay start to lay eggs from when they are 4 months old! Every chameleon is different, but you'll see when she has eggs. If you are concerned about anything, come here and don't hesitate to ask!
Do you have enough foliage for her to hide?
Good luck to her!

 

[jman828]

Hi there,

I would say give her as many crix as many she eats. The amount depends on the crickets's size too. (Make sure they are the right size!)
You said you read about them before you bought her, so I assume you know the dusting and what and how much...
I can't really see how big she is, so I don't want to guess her age. They can lay start to lay eggs from when they are 4 months old! Every chameleon is different, but you'll see when she has eggs. If you are concerned about anything, come here and don't hesitate to ask!
Do you have enough foliage for her to hide?
Good luck to her!

Okay, yeah the age might be hard, maybe I could get more photos. She's pretty small so I don't imagine she's too old, but anybody's guess here would likely be better than mine. As for dusting, absolutely, that is all good. There is a lot of foliage, mixture of plants, branches and such. Anybody have other guesses on age at all? Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[jman828]

Any ideas on age, anyone?

 

[zlew]

The age is hard since there's nothing to compare her to, and also because she's looks underweight and possibly dehydrated. If you hold her out on a ruler, or your finger, so we can get a sense of how big she is, it will be easier.
also, in some of the pics, I see she is up near the top. She is WAY too close to that lamp. Either lift the lamp or lower the branches. There is a burn risk.

Make sure you let her pig out on all the food she wants

 

[jman828]

The age is hard since there's nothing to compare her to, and also because she's looks underweight and possibly dehydrated. If you hold her out on a ruler, or your finger, so we can get a sense of how big she is, it will be easier.
also, in some of the pics, I see she is up near the top. She is WAY too close to that lamp. Either lift the lamp or lower the branches. There is a burn risk.

Make sure you let her pig out on all the food she wants

From her head to where the tail begins, she is about the length of a credit card (so roughly 3.5"). If you need pictures I can try and get more, but lights are out at the moment. I don't think dehydration is a problem. The urate is very white, so that is fine right? And I have now begun feeding more, so hopefully within a short time, weight will be better. Let me know if any more info could help. Thanks again.

 

[zlew]

She's probably around 3-4 months old.

 

[jman828]

She's probably around 3-4 months old.

Perfect, thank you . Answered all my questions.