Rockrobert30
New Member
•Your Chameleon- 3-4 month female veiled chameleon named Annabelle, she was a gift from the girlfriend. I've owned many reptiles (anoles,bearded dragon, iguana ect) but first chameleon and have always wanted one. Amazing personality.
•Handling- She is handled briefly 10-20min once a day for feeding. Food regularly escapes her enclosure. Until i build another one she is brought to a large tote with a perch and small ficus and she eats there.
•Feeding- Varies from day to day. While in her enclosure she eats 1-3 crickets. When i bring her out once a day in her feeding tote she pigs out on 3-6 small crickets, 1-2 roaches, and green horned worms are her favorite. Each day is different. Some days she eats a couple green horned worms and a few cricket, and some she just eats 5-9 crickets. Crickets are gut loaded and what i gut load them with changes week to week.
•Supplements- standard lightly coated crickets with calcium w/o d3 and with d3 once a week. Reptivitiman twice a month... only have had her about a month.
•Watering- automatic mister using a single nozzle now. Sprays every 8 hours for 16 seconds plus hand spray with a quality mister 2-3 times a day. Paranoid with the automister. Don't want it blasting her all the time so i prefer doing it by hand so i know it was done thoroughly. The auto misting system is more of a fall back if I'm gone all day and there is something there keeping it from completely drying out.
•History- she was a gift and was bought from petco which worries me, I'm not a fan of there practices especially with reptiles that actually requires know how and patience. The people there are relatively clueless on there needs.
•Enclosure- 18" wide 48" tall round screened enclosure.
•Lighting- 75 watt halogen heat lamp for basking on a dimmable switch. I take temperature measurements daily( very very paranoid of harming her) . 26w cfl 5.0 uvb
•Temperature- day time bottom temp 72°-76° basking spot 81°-87. Night temps 60°-68°.. using digital meter with thermistor.
•Humidity- 40% on a dry day- never higher than 60%. Occasionally drops to low and gets in the 30% range.
•Placement- bedroom on top of a round table 18" off the floor. Near a window that's covered with light proof curtains early morning and evening and opened in the afternoon for sun.
•Location- Upstate New York...... winters are super cold and inside is very dry. Summer will be wonderful for her as it is near subtropical.
So I've only Annabelle about a month, she was a gift from my girlfriend. She had bought her over 2 weeks prior to giving me her. When i first got her she was a very nice bright green. Now she has this white grey blotchy color all over. She does have a light bruising on her eye, employee claimed she was a bit bullied by the other chameleons and she was bit in the face. I built her a nice large screened enclosure with only live plants ranging from 4 foot tall schellflera and small ficus and pothos. She eats plenty, drinks water from her dripper daily. She is very active and has an absolutely adorable and funny personality. I take her put every day and bring her to a tote and put variety of food in there and she goes to town. She'll eat while she is in my hand and she'll take food from my hand. She has only once ever showed aggression or agitation and that was the first day i moved her and she was rightly pissed. But she climbs right onto my hand coming out of her cage and her "feeding arena" without needing to do anything. Sometimes it feels like she wants to get out and explore. Many times I've attempted to put her in her enclosure and she'll turn around and climb back up my arm. One night it took almost 20 min to get her back in her enclosure. I refuse to grab on her or be forceful in anyway so sometimes things take awhile hahaha. She does one odd thing that I've never heard of them doing. After she eats she'll walk to the side of her tote closest to me and she'll reach up for me on her hind legs. I've been clear across the room and I'll turn around and she'll be done eating reaching straight up with nothing above her at all. Sorry for the long post but I'm quite concerned about her colors. As well as the white blotchy colors on some parts it looks shiny. I figured at first she was about to shed but nothing has happened and she hasn't shed since i got her she is gaining weight quickly. I weigh her once a week to monitor her growth. The pictures i added are 15 minutes before her bed time. Wanted to get clear pics of her sides, plus one i took showing what she does absolutely everytime she is done eating. I try not to handle her to close to bed because she will in fact fall sleep on me . Sometimes refusing to get off my hand. During the day is very active and loves to explore when i take her out.
•Handling- She is handled briefly 10-20min once a day for feeding. Food regularly escapes her enclosure. Until i build another one she is brought to a large tote with a perch and small ficus and she eats there.
•Feeding- Varies from day to day. While in her enclosure she eats 1-3 crickets. When i bring her out once a day in her feeding tote she pigs out on 3-6 small crickets, 1-2 roaches, and green horned worms are her favorite. Each day is different. Some days she eats a couple green horned worms and a few cricket, and some she just eats 5-9 crickets. Crickets are gut loaded and what i gut load them with changes week to week.
•Supplements- standard lightly coated crickets with calcium w/o d3 and with d3 once a week. Reptivitiman twice a month... only have had her about a month.
•Watering- automatic mister using a single nozzle now. Sprays every 8 hours for 16 seconds plus hand spray with a quality mister 2-3 times a day. Paranoid with the automister. Don't want it blasting her all the time so i prefer doing it by hand so i know it was done thoroughly. The auto misting system is more of a fall back if I'm gone all day and there is something there keeping it from completely drying out.
•History- she was a gift and was bought from petco which worries me, I'm not a fan of there practices especially with reptiles that actually requires know how and patience. The people there are relatively clueless on there needs.
•Enclosure- 18" wide 48" tall round screened enclosure.
•Lighting- 75 watt halogen heat lamp for basking on a dimmable switch. I take temperature measurements daily( very very paranoid of harming her) . 26w cfl 5.0 uvb
•Temperature- day time bottom temp 72°-76° basking spot 81°-87. Night temps 60°-68°.. using digital meter with thermistor.
•Humidity- 40% on a dry day- never higher than 60%. Occasionally drops to low and gets in the 30% range.
•Placement- bedroom on top of a round table 18" off the floor. Near a window that's covered with light proof curtains early morning and evening and opened in the afternoon for sun.
•Location- Upstate New York...... winters are super cold and inside is very dry. Summer will be wonderful for her as it is near subtropical.
So I've only Annabelle about a month, she was a gift from my girlfriend. She had bought her over 2 weeks prior to giving me her. When i first got her she was a very nice bright green. Now she has this white grey blotchy color all over. She does have a light bruising on her eye, employee claimed she was a bit bullied by the other chameleons and she was bit in the face. I built her a nice large screened enclosure with only live plants ranging from 4 foot tall schellflera and small ficus and pothos. She eats plenty, drinks water from her dripper daily. She is very active and has an absolutely adorable and funny personality. I take her put every day and bring her to a tote and put variety of food in there and she goes to town. She'll eat while she is in my hand and she'll take food from my hand. She has only once ever showed aggression or agitation and that was the first day i moved her and she was rightly pissed. But she climbs right onto my hand coming out of her cage and her "feeding arena" without needing to do anything. Sometimes it feels like she wants to get out and explore. Many times I've attempted to put her in her enclosure and she'll turn around and climb back up my arm. One night it took almost 20 min to get her back in her enclosure. I refuse to grab on her or be forceful in anyway so sometimes things take awhile hahaha. She does one odd thing that I've never heard of them doing. After she eats she'll walk to the side of her tote closest to me and she'll reach up for me on her hind legs. I've been clear across the room and I'll turn around and she'll be done eating reaching straight up with nothing above her at all. Sorry for the long post but I'm quite concerned about her colors. As well as the white blotchy colors on some parts it looks shiny. I figured at first she was about to shed but nothing has happened and she hasn't shed since i got her she is gaining weight quickly. I weigh her once a week to monitor her growth. The pictures i added are 15 minutes before her bed time. Wanted to get clear pics of her sides, plus one i took showing what she does absolutely everytime she is done eating. I try not to handle her to close to bed because she will in fact fall sleep on me . Sometimes refusing to get off my hand. During the day is very active and loves to explore when i take her out.