New Veiled~ Help in guessing age?

[nosybecham]

Brand new to the Cham world, I couldn't help but fall in love with this girl for Christmas (from Petsmart) Found this forum and doing all I can to learn about her needs... and yes, she will be getting a "screen enclosure" with live plants this month also as I know that is important.

Here are some pics from beginning to now.. the 1st pic is right after I got her and the last were taken yesterday. The guy told me when sold she was supposed to be about 5 mths old.........................? Isn't she too tiny for that? She is now about 6 inches from snout to tip of tail.

Can we guess her approximate age as I would love to know how old my girl is? She is a healthy sleeper & eater too, also eating from my hand.

Shortly after her arrival:

A mth or two ago:

Today:

 

[jannb]

Congrats on your first cham and welcome to the forums! As you may know chameleons need allot of special care to stay healthy. Not only a screened cage but proper UVB lighting and all the correct supplements. Where do you live? I would find your closest chameleon vet and get a check up and fecal and get to know my vet BEFORE you have a problem.

Below are a couple good links that will help you get off to a good start. Jann

http://raisingkittytheveiledchamele...-max=2008-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=11

http://raisingkittytheveiledchameleon.blogspot.com/2007/12/keeping-female-veiled.html

 

[nosybecham]

Thanks Jannb for the welcome and the links.... I will definately check into them. From day one, I have made sure that she has the lighting and suppliments that she is supposed to have and I am going to redo her cage.

Great idea with the vet! Thank you.... I will see who we have in the area... Oh, I live in Washington State.

Any guess on how old she might be with raising yours? If he was right, she would be about 7 mths...isn't she too small for that?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

5 to 7 months old is my guess.

-Brad

 

[jannb]

Here's a pic of Camille when I first got her at 4 1/2 months old. Your little one looks about the same.......maybe smaller......it's hard to tell from the pics.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Size will depend on the care up to this point .... if she was housed with several others, she will be smaller.
Prepare for amazing growth now that she is solo and someone is focusing on her needs alone.

-Brad

 

[graydon]

Are you sure you have proper lighting? Is your uvb light a tube or coil?

 

[nosybecham]

Thank you so much Jann and Brad for helping with her age also. I am really excited to see her growth process!

Graydon, I think I have proper lighting... She has the daily 5.0 UVB Tropical Repti Sun (coil) I was told is crucial.. Also the full spectrum Daylight Blue bulb from Zoo Med for basking....?

 

[jannb]

Where do you live? Normally, a basking light is not neccessary for a female unless you are in a cold climate or it's very cold in your house. Also get that coil light out now. It causes eye problems which can lead to blindness. Get the Reptisun5.0 tube style blub asap and I would not use the coil at all any more......no light at all for a few days would be better than the coil.

 

[thealissa]

I know Brad is pretty knowledgeable on Veileds, but...

I would say your little one is about 3 months old. By 6-7 months a veiled has more color as well as a larger veil, from what I've experienced with my two.

 

[nosybecham]

Oh my goodness...........I just freaked!! Needless to say, they are "tube" style and not coil. I thought it was as I knew fancy bulb and I had just bought what everyone told me. So WHEW................we are good.

Our house is always freezing so I have the daylight bulb. What should the hottest temp be in her cage......... 80? She would freeze if I left her without a heat bulb at all.

thealissa, I was thinking they were bigger and more colorful by that age also. Brad said 5-7 mths and Jannb showed Camille at 4 1/2.............as I've had her for 3 mths I am thinking she is along the lines of 5 mths...?

 

[Brad Ramsey]

I know Brad is pretty knowledgeable on Veileds, but...

I would say your little one is about 3 months old. By 6-7 months a veiled has more color as well as a larger veil, from what I've experienced with my two.

I have seen 5 month old veileds that are not even 3 inches tip to tip.
Again it depends on how they are cared for in those first few months.
Hundreds of veiled chameleons have come through or been hatched at this house and I have yet to be able to guess with any amount of certainty the age of an animal that I did not hatch.
I had a small clutch last year that were all about 6" total length at 6 to 7 months old.
It was really fantastic! They were so healthy and strong. Nothing wrong with growing them slower.

-Brad

 

[Matt1851]

ya same here im saying 2 - 3 months. Brad you have helped me out alot as well but she looks a bit younger in my opinion :\ and yes coil bulbs = no good. 18" 15 watt Reptisun 5.0 (tube im guessing is what you might see it as) UVB bulb is what im using and im sure is what alot of people are using

 

[supermrchameleon]

Very pretty! I am glad to see you taking good care of her. I have a male about the same size and he is 6 months but I have no idea if girls are smaller of not. Congrats!

 

[kthhwtt]

heres a thread of my Veiled Presley, hes just around 4 months
https://www.chameleonforums.com/pictures-presley-37837/

 

[Brad Ramsey]

ya same here im saying 2 - 3 months. Brad you have helped me out alot as well but she looks a bit younger in my opinion :\ and yes coil bulbs = no good. 18" 15 watt Reptisun 5.0 (tube im guessing is what you might see it as) UVB bulb is what im using and im sure is what alot of people are using

The 2 to 3 month old veileds that I just shipped out were about three inches tip to tip.
The op says this animal is 6".
Just an educated guess.

-Brad

 

[AReptile]

Hmm my veiled which if the pet store people I purchased her from were correct her age is about to be 5 months old in a couple of days and she is around the size of the OP's veiled.

 

[ChamNoob]

my veiled which if im correct is almost 4 month old now and she is 6-7 inches from nose to tip of tail

 

[jojothefirst]

i would guess at 4 months but that is a pure guess.

And can people stop saying things like "if its a coil bulb get it out now!" and "coil bulbs WILL cause blindness".

This is very misleading.

The truth is coil bulbs made by certain company(s) did cause eye problems for a period. They now claim that the problem is fixed. Dont no if that is true mind.
There are other companys who make coil bulbs that havent had the problem.
So people should be saying its better to use liner to be safe or check up the make of the coil instead of scaring new cham owners.

 

[nosybecham]

I really appreciate everyone posting... this is very informative and also neat to hear about your chameleons and sizing as well. I'm thinking 5 or 6 mths with what I'm hearing..? Just don't feel she was 5 mths when I got her, but more like 2 or 3.. Another nice thing about buying from a breeder with information.