Seeing if everything is normal.

Here's a rundown.
I recently aquired a male veiled chameleon (Karma). approx. 4 months old. basically i rescued him from a pet store. What they were feeding him while they were in his care was this. non gut loaded plain crickets. 3-4 per day. that's it.

the light they said they were using was the one they suggested i purchase. (uvb light) it was with a kit for bearded dragons, 12x12x30 tank and such is what i purchased. Knowing it was going to take another 2-3 days for me to get my reptibreeze for him i had to take it because they weren't going to hold him any longer. and now i feel like a jerk for it. But anyways, it says on the box 50 uvb and me being stupid i thought it said 5.0 on top of the fact that they pulled that one out and said it was what i needed. already knowing the tank was going to upset him (i feel terrible for) i decided to splurge and get the nice setup for while he had to stay in it (or so i thought) and the heat bulb was a standard 150 watt that would keep him basking at 90 degrees (which im pretty sure is what they like, correct me if im wrong please).

only had him in my care for a few days and withing these few days i've been vvery paranoid as to make sure he's been okay. been misting 3-4 times a day. since it's a take it seems to not stay humid for him. he eats 3-4 crickets per day so far (rep cal calcium no d3 as of yet, but i do have multivitamins and calcium with d3) Going on a sun up sun down schedule for his lights. try not to handle him too much but i do take him into the shower with warm water and let him hang out in the "splash zone" to get him with good misting and keep the bathroom at a 50 humidity and 80 degrees. and i do this for around a half hour a day.
just today he started acting odd, and i've been creeping on the forums for good information so im getting really concerned for him. He's had little black specs on his face, crest and legs since i got him and now he has some on his tail. Right before our shower mist session today i went to get him and he was a dark brown color and hadn't moved for an hour. assuming he's not cold as he was basking i assumed he was extremely unhappy and i figured that maybe he knew the shower session was an hour late but i rechecked all of his bulbs and noticed, finally, that the uvb bulb may be WAY too strong for him.
i freaked out a little but tried to stay calm for his sake, didn't wanna freak him out too.
now the black spot near his crest is darker and the specs are worrying me that he was burned severely at the pet store. posting pics of him and sorry for the long post just worried hes in pain.

edit: first pic is about 20 minutes after shower session and second two are during. i don't know why his crest in the front gets so black. never seen it. and now it's been about an hour and it's even darker. gets darker all the time and lightens up only when in the bathroom hes also been sluggish today aside from shower
 

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Are you talking about the small black spots on his crest? My veiled Rebel has them also. I'll try to post a picture that shows them.

Hope these are good enough for you to see his black spots..

Virginia

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Honestly they look like stress spots. Could still just be from shock of a new environment or change in the routine he was already used to.

After getting a new reptile you really should just leave them be for a few weeks. Its ok to check on them and handle them for a few minutes a day but besides that they really just need to settle in.

With the feeding. 4-5 crickets is way too low. Slowly start increasing the amount. Not all at once though. It could make him sick or lead to impaction. Basically his stomach needs slowly stretched back out.

Finally if you are still using the 150 watt I would personally get rid of it. That kind of wattage is more for monitors and desert reptiles. Drop it down to a 60 watt and have branches going up to it. When he needs warmth he will go by it.
 
The chameleon does NOT look stressed.

I would for the most part disregard the post above. In fact, your boy looks comfortable around you. And for the most part, I would maybe let him get used to his enclosure and new environment, but it seems as if he is fine.
 
The chameleon does NOT look stressed.

I would for the most part disregard the post above. In fact, your boy looks comfortable around you. And for the most part, I would maybe let him get used to his enclosure and new environment, but it seems as if he is fine.
you just made my day. hes been stuck in a tank i've been so worried. just spent 300 dollars on stuff for his new reptibreeze, which seems great, and decor. he plays on it for now but nothing is in it. and all that new stuff shows up tomorrow. along with all the new cricket food for him to start eating a little healthier diet of those critters.
as far as the post above yours goes. they said to slowly bring him up to more crickets per day. how many would you say would suffice? also he just slapped his tongue against my shirt like 3 times... is that normal?
 
I kinda freaked out the first time I saw the black spots on Rebel too. (look back at my old posts...I freaked out A LOT...lol) I also worried when his crest started getting a little grey which I read is normal. Br prepared to freak out a lot. Rebels ankles look swollen....is the top of his crest bent? Do his legs look too skinny....I have asked some pretty silly questions but the great thing about this forum is that the majority of the members really love chameleons and want everyone who has questions to learn from them. Keep posting pictures of your new boy..:D

Hope I have been helpful,
Virginia
 
yes v. you answered quickly an efficiently. and karma does have a curve in his crest but i assumed it was normal. i just hate to see how sad he is in a tank but as soon as he's used to his new awesome set up imma post some more don't worry :)
 
I would take all the original Bearded Dragon setup back for a refund. If you are good at misting enough, or get an automatic mister, the shower is not needed, and will reduce unnecessary handling.
Your boy is more than 4 months old me thinks...:rolleyes:

Nick
 
they said he'd be fine in that but not believing them as soon as i saw how unhappy he was i ordered a new setup entirely. got the cage today and the rest comes tomorrow. he does seem to love his showers with me though ;P
but i completely agree. saving up for a few more toys right now. til then i'll mist him with a bottle thingy.
 
It doesn't look like he likes his own reflection :p but besides that he looks pretty good. My chameleon gets marks just like that when he's a bit p.o'd, usually the more dark they are, and the more he has, the more p.o'd he is. They're not burn marks though.

Look forward to more pictures of his setup!

You'll find this forum very friendly and informative! :D I would know next to nothing about chameleons if it weren't for the awesome people here!
 
they told me he was 4 months but then again they knew little on how to take care of him properly it seems. i trust this forum much more than them. do you think he's fully grown already?
 
supplies

Your Reptibreeze will be greatly appreciated by him. It was not a waste of money. Physically read the writing on your uvb bulb. Make sure it does in fact say 5.0. If they had a beardie setup, it well may be a 10.0. Also, take back the other cage. For you, it was not a deception 'rent and return deal'.
 
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