New Chameleon Owner

[mika]

Hi everybody, I was wondering if I could get some comments/suggestions/opinions.

I'd like to know if some of the below things are normal. I've never owned a chameleon before but I've had beardies for about 4 years now. I still have the first beardies I bought, but chameleons are totally different from them.

I ordered the book from Linda Davidson but it hasn't arrived. That should answer a lot of my questions hopefully.

The chameleon was a gift to me last Christmas Eve. Just the chameleon itself. No enclosure, nothing.

I was totally unprepared for it. I've always wanted one but did not get one because I've read a little about them and haven't researched their requirements totally. I've been reading and reading the forums and searching the internet as well.

In the meantime, I'd like to know if these things are normal because I want to avoid any potential problems as much as possible.


Cage Info:

Cage Type - Screen Cage. 36"H, 18"L, 17"D.

Lighting - Reptisun fluorescent tube 5.0, 18 inches that goes across the top of the enclosure. I keep it on from 8 to 8pm. I sun him most days when it is warm from 1 to 4pm.

Temperature - Basking spot is 80-85F. Temps at night from 65-71F.

Humidity - I try to keep it at 40-70%. When I sun him it drops to 20%. I have a humidifier attached to the enclosure with pvc pipes. He will start using it tomorrow. It will run for an hour 3x a day.

Plants - Live ficus and pothos.

Location - It's on a dresser in my bedroom.

Chameleon Info:

Your Chameleon - Veiled Chameleon, Male, 7 weeks old.

Feeding - Crickets, Phoenix Worms, Mostly Fruit Flies. Silkworms will start tomorrow when i get my shipment. I feed him as much as he will eat. There's no schedule. When he finishes the food, I give him some more. I gutload using cricketfood.com's gutload, veggies and orange slices.

Supplements - RepCal with D3, Herptivite. I'm in the process of purchasing MineralAll 0. I dust every other day. I still have to do my research on the supplement scheduling.

Watering - I mist more than 4 times a day with a pressure sprayer. I see my chameleon drink sometimes. I also have a Big Dripper.

Fecal Description - Brown/Black with white and a tinge of yellow/orange

History - None that I know of

Current Problem - Are these behaviors normal?

This is him:

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj147/mik1576/My First Chameleon/2008-01-09/DSC05209.jpg

Questions:

Do they get this dark sunning and under the basking spot?

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj147/mik1576/My First Chameleon/2008-01-12/DSC05255.jpg

Why doesn't he move to the shade?

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj147/mik1576/My First Chameleon/2008-01-12/DSC05258.jpg

I set up a humidifier today with pvc pipes. I turned it on and he was stressed from it the whole time. Is this normal?

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj147/mik1576/My First Chameleon/2008-01-14/cham_misting.jpg

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj147/mik1576/My First Chameleon/2008-01-14/DSC05287.jpg

Enclosure:

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/jj147/mik1576/My First Chameleon/2008-01-14/enclosure.jpg

I'm in the process of working on the drainage as well.

Does he look healthy? He looks skinny to me.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks! I'll keep reading too.

 

[Julirs]

Your set up looks great-temps are fine. He looks like a normal baby. His eyes look fine but you don't want to see too much yellow/orange in poop as that means dehydration. Research dusting/supplementation schedule, you will need Repal w/out D3 also. How long is he? Pics are deceiving-if he is a baby 7 weeks the cage you have him in may be too big.

 

[mika]

Your set up looks great-temps are fine. He looks like a normal baby. His eyes look fine but you don't want to see too much yellow/orange in poop as that means dehydration. Research dusting/supplementation schedule, you will need Repal w/out D3 also. How long is he? Pics are deceiving-if he is a baby 7 weeks the cage you have him in may be too big.

I think he's about 2 inches without the tail. When I went to the pet shop on 1/2/07 the person that sold the chameleon to my husband said it was 5 weeks old then.

I have a smaller enclosure that they sold me which is 2 ft high but the opening is only on the top and it's a glass bottom. I can't believe they even sold me that thing that's why I changed it. It was so hard to clean.

What worries me are his colors. He seems to be stressed all the time. I don't even handle him. I just put his food in and mist him. The only time I would take him outside is to give him showers and he seems to get stressed by that too.

 

[mika]

Should I get all supplements WITHOUT D3? I've read some of the threads that say D3? I'm confused?

 

[Julirs]

Yep-he is a baby. You can try partitioning off his cage somehow to make it less tall, although I started out my 2 month old in a 16X16X30 just fine. Unless he is black all of the time, I wouldn't worry. Babies get stressed easily, he shoud be green some of the time, and when they hunt at this age they get spotty, but he looks good in the pics. You need Calcum with and without D3.

 

[Julirs]

He is a little too small for showers.

 

[mika]

Yep-he is a baby. You can try partitioning off his cage somehow to make it less tall, although I started out my 2 month old in a 16X16X30 just fine. Unless he is black all of the time, I wouldn't worry. Babies get stressed easily, he shoud be green some of the time, and when they hunt at this age they get spotty, but he looks good in the pics. You need Calcum with and without D3.

Whew.. thanks a bunch!.. cuz when he's stressed it stresses me out too. I was thinking everything I did for him is just constantly stressing him out..

I see pics of others sunning their chameleons and they don't turn black like that..

I will do something about making the cage shorter and since I'm ordering stuff online, I'll also get the calcium w/out the D3 too.

I'm just not used to chameleons. Beardies are much easier I think. They eat everything and they don't require humidity measurements.

I've been reading the forums, chameleon news and putting the advice you guys give me to work so hopefully my chameleon grows up healthy. It's also less expensive to avoid the problems anyway

 

[mika]

He is a little too small for showers.

Oh shoot! He is??? What size or age should he be? I was giving him showers to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated? I thought showers were for all ages?

 

[Julirs]

I would wait until 4/5 months. Showering with a nice light mist in his cage would be fine for now. He prob was stressed by that.

 

[Kent67]

I see pics of others sunning their chameleons and they don't turn black like that..

Chameleons turn dark to better absorb the heat, kinda like wearing a black shirt on a hot day. He'll likely hold that color until he's the temp he wants to be at, change to normal color but bask a bit longer, then move on. Don't let the chameleon stress you

 

[mika]

I would wait until 4/5 months. Showering with a nice light mist in his cage would be fine for now. He prob was stressed by that.

Ok gotcha.. No showers until he's 4/5 months.. Thanks muchos!

 

[mika]

Do you guys know of a link or a site that I can look at to explain some of the colors & behaviors that they exhibit or is it just through experience?

Cuz when I started the humidifier going today. He kept opening and closing his mouth.

A website that explains some of the behaviors of veileds or chameleons in general would be great.

 

[Kent67]

I would best describe it as an intuition thing, I haven't seen any sites that really explain youngster's behavior. So, look at it this way, your baby veiled does not have the same dart away and escape possibility that say baby beardies do. Because of his limited physical capabilities and tiny size, most stuff that moves scares him. Now, babies and adults alike experience things in the wild that scare them, such as hawks and snakes. They have defensive reactions to try to appear as if they would not be worth the fight it would take to eat them since they can't run away. That is what you will usually see when you get too close, put in food, clean the cage, etc. Some get used to your presence, some don't. The important thing though is how much your interaction affects him. If he doesn't eat and drink, something's wrong and it needs to be fixed. Animals that size will usually defecate at least once a day, if not more. Look for poops if he won't eat with you watching. Again, use your best judgement. If you sense that something is wrong, keep asking questions and we'll get it solved. For now, forgot to mention it before, but he looks fine. The sun is a great, free resource for your chameleon here. Take advantage!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Yeah ... wait on the showers.
Mist his body once in awhile ... but not his face at this age.
Everything looks really good.
Good job on getting so much right .. right off the bat!
Check the supplements article here for my dusting schedule:

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad

 

[mika]

Yeah ... wait on the showers.
Mist his body once in awhile ... but not his face at this age.
Everything looks really good.
Good job on getting so much right .. right off the bat!
Check the supplements article here for my dusting schedule:

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/

-Brad

Hi, I checked out your supplementing & dusting article. I have a question. If I get Vitamin Gel Caps is there a certain dosage or milligram I need to buy?

I need to also read more on the showers and misting cuz I'm not doing that part right.. hehehe

 

[mika]

His eyes look fine but you don't want to see too much yellow/orange in poop as that means dehydration.

I don't see much yellow/orange in his poop. He'd usually poop one that's brown/black with white then at the end a tinge of yellow/orange then he'd poop another one later on that's just brown/black.

 

[mika]

The important thing though is how much your interaction affects him. If he doesn't eat and drink, something's wrong and it needs to be fixed. Animals that size will usually defecate at least once a day, if not more. Look for poops if he won't eat with you watching. Again, use your best judgement. If you sense that something is wrong, keep asking questions and we'll get it solved. For now, forgot to mention it before, but he looks fine. The sun is a great, free resource for your chameleon here. Take advantage!

Kewl.. just what I wanted to hear. I do see him eat & sometimes I see him drink and he poops normally.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Hi, I checked out your supplementing & dusting article. I have a question. If I get Vitamin Gel Caps is there a certain dosage or milligram I need to buy?

I need to also read more on the showers and misting cuz I'm not doing that part right.. hehehe

Vitamin A gelcap:
lowest iu you can find ... but that's not as critical as making sure that drop is tiny and only doing it twice a month.

-Brad

 

[mika]

Thanks much everybody for all your help! Will get right on it..