New veiled chameleon owner need some advice!

[Rangoo123]

Hi everyone,
Bought a baby veiled chameleon yesterday called Rango and she seems to be quite happy in her new home.
She doesn't like coming out of her enclosure but seems like she likes to be handles by us as she falls asleep on our hands especially at night when it's dark.
We are a little worried as she doesn't seem to be eating and we haven't seen her drink at all. We have a small Exo terra waterfall in her enclosure but doesn't seem to be going in the water at all.
We really want her to settle in her new home and enjoy being handled.
If anyone got any advice or facts that will help us and Rango please leave a message it will be of great help
Lauren

 

[Kate]

Hi welcome to the forum. Congrats on your new baby. Since you only got her yesterday I wouldn't start worrying yet. Has she got lots of leaves for her to hide in? Do you spray her leaves so she can drink? She will take a few weeks to settle so I would advise that you leave her be to get used to her new home. Personally I wouldn't use a waterfall. I have used them but they are very difficult to keep clean. Are your feeders small enough for her? No bigger than the space between her eyes? Love to see a pic.

 

[Kath44]

Hi and welcome to the forum. She is probably still settling in and may eat when you're not looking or in a few days. Keep offering food, in a cup or free ranging them. She may be used to one way rather than the other.
I'd get rid of the waterfall too, she may not recognise it as a source to drink from. They can also harbour bacteria if not cleaned regularly and thoroughly. Do you mist? That will help her to drink and keep the humidity up. Allow for enclosure to dry out fully in between mistings. A dripper is useful too. Again, a lot of chams drink when they're not being watched. Check her urates to see if she's drinking.
Check out the caresheets on the forum, you'll find them invaluable.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/

Jannb also gas a great blog on keeping veileds.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

Kath.

 

[deathdealer91]

Have you tried bluebottle flies? you can get them off of https://www.rainbowmealworms.net or a few other sites.

 

[Rangoo123]

Thanks everybody for the replies.
We want to keep the waterfall as she seems to love it and is on it a lot of the time. We are going to be cleaning it weekly and the whole cage monthly.
We bought small locus but they all seem to be bigger than the distance between her eyes, so does that mean she won't try to eat them because they too big. We have also been putting in some mealworms in a bowl with a little bit of carrot to keep them alive.
We don't have a dripper or mister yet but will get one with the new vivarium tonight but we do spray the leaves about 2-3 times a day.
What do you mean check her urates, what is that? We have been trying to look to see if she is pooing but we don't know what we are looking for really :/
Thanks you all for the advice and links. Will read up on them all
We are going to be picking up a baby male panther chameleon on 27th April and was wondering if we could keep them in the same viv for now until they grow out of it or would it be better to keep them separate straight away?

 

[Rangoo123]

This is baby Rango having a little nap on my thumb lol looks so cute!!

 

[carol5208]

There is a good chance she will poo in the waterfall and you may find dead feeders rotting in there also that drown. Cleaning once a week will not suffice, especially if she is drinking from it. That will grow bacteria on them, as all water features do, so that is why they are not recommended. If you insist on keeping, I would be cleaning it out daily, especially if there is feces or dead insects in it.

 

[carol5208]

The urate is her pee. Her pee and poo come in one solid piece and have two parts. The dark part is the poop and the white part is the pee. Ideally the pee part should be white, but sometimes it will turn orange or yellow if they are not getting enough hydration. Also chameleons never sleep during the day, so if she is doing that, that could be a sign of something that is wrong.

 

[Kate]

Chams are solitary creatures so best kept apart. The two you will have will be different species. If you do decide to house them together while babies ( under 4 months) then you need to watch for aggression, dominance and whether they are thriving. Often the dominant one will take all the food and intimidate the weaker one for light and heat.

 

[Rangoo123]

Ok thanks for the advice about the waterfall. I have just cleaned it out now and there isn't any dead food or any urate. I know I've only had her 2 days but I'm still worried!
Rango is only sleeping at around 8 onwards when it's dark so is that ok or should I get some veterinarian advice?
Was wondering whether I could have her and also a 2 month old panther in the same cage for a few months until they start maturing as I know they are not very good with other chameleons?
Will be picking him up on 27th April.
I think the locus are too big for her to eat aswell but she doesn't seem to be eating the mealworms so what shall I do?
Is there any tricks to taming a chameleon and making them want to come out of their cages?
Thanks again everyone your helping me a lot

 

[Rangoo123]

Chams are solitary creatures so best kept apart. The two you will have will be different species. If you do decide to house them together while babies ( under 4 months) then you need to watch for aggression, dominance and whether they are thriving. Often the dominant one will take all the food and intimidate the weaker one for light and heat.

Ok thank you for the advice we are picking up another vivarium tonight so will probably just house them apart. I don't want either of them getting unwell, not eating etc so will keep them apart.
Thanks