Veiled Colors...

[cwilfinger]

I have a 3-4 month old male veiled Cham. that I purchased from a reptile swamp about 2 weeks ago. He was brown in color when I got him, and has basically stayed that color ever since. Occasionally he will turn green (very, very rarely and only when he is next to a green leaf)) and one time when my son stuck his hand in the cage he turned a beautiful color of blue and yellow stripped. Is this his true color (brown)? Or should he be green like most pics of veiled that I have seen?

Cage is an all screened 4' x 2' x 2'
Basking lamp on outside of cage - zoo med spot lamp 50w
basking site temp 91.2f
Temp at bottom of cage is 84f
uvb bulb is a reptisun 5.0

Feeding crickets everyday alternating between Herptivite and Jurassi-Cal Calcuim supplement (no D3)

misting cage 4-6 times a day.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

I have a 3-4 month old male veiled Cham. that I purchased from a reptile swamp about 2 weeks ago. He was brown in color when I got him, and has basically stayed that color ever since. Occasionally he will turn green (very, very rarely and only when he is next to a green leaf)) and one time when my son stuck his hand in the cage he turned a beautiful color of blue and yellow stripped. Is this his true color (brown)? Or should he be green like most pics of veiled that I have seen?

Cage is an all screened 4' x 2' x 2'
Basking lamp on outside of cage - zoo med spot lamp 50w
basking site temp 91.2f
Temp at bottom of cage is 84f
uvb bulb is a reptisun 5.0

Feeding crickets everyday alternating between Herptivite and Jurassi-Cal Calcuim supplement (no D3)

misting cage 4-6 times a day.

Give him some time. Males usually fully color up by the time they reach a year old. At six months you should start seeing more color. Females tend to be the typical green you see in pics., but not always.

 

[dodolah]

I have a 3-4 month old male veiled Cham. that I purchased from a reptile swamp about 2 weeks ago. He was brown in color when I got him, and has basically stayed that color ever since. Occasionally he will turn green (very, very rarely and only when he is next to a green leaf)) and one time when my son stuck his hand in the cage he turned a beautiful color of blue and yellow stripped. Is this his true color (brown)? Or should he be green like most pics of veiled that I have seen?

Cage is an all screened 4' x 2' x 2'
Basking lamp on outside of cage - zoo med spot lamp 50w
basking site temp 91.2f
Temp at bottom of cage is 84f
uvb bulb is a reptisun 5.0

Feeding crickets everyday alternating between Herptivite and Jurassi-Cal Calcuim supplement (no D3)

misting cage 4-6 times a day.

take a pic of his whole cage please and post it here.
I suspect that he is stressed out on something.

 

[cwilfinger]

Thanks. I was not sure if he was being stressed out or not. I have read in several places (not on this site - yet) that the darker colors - the browns and blacks - means that they are stressed out. I was hoping that, that was not the case. I try to keep out of the cage as much as possible and when I do go into the cage (misting and feeding) I try to stay away from him as much as possiable (to keep the stress level down).

 

[cwilfinger]

Here's a pic of his cage

 

[dodolah]

hi cwil,
I got an opinion..

How sure are you of his age?

For a 3 months old, that 24 24 48 cage is a bit too much.
for the next 3 months of his life, you might want to let him roam in smaller cage (18 18 36 or 24 12 24 are good sizes). It will be easier for him to hunt for his food.

Another thing i observed is after you move him to the smaller cage, give him a place to hides with many foliage.
Balance is the key here. You want some area to be surrounded with foliages that can give him some security in case he wants to hide, and you need some area with space for him to stretch and bask.

 

[Kat77]

It is pretty natural for him to be stressed out. He just moved into a totally new home and sees totally differnt faces. Just give him some time. Darker colors are generally indicative of stress, but chameleons do not change color with their surroundings (ie. he will not turn green next to a green leaf).

The best thing that you can do is keep away from him completely unless you need to feed, mist or clean his cage and handle him as little as possible. You may even want to wait a couple of weeks before handling him at all, to reduce stress on him and let him get to know and get used to his new territory.

Edit: And I also agree with Dodolah. That cage is PERFECT for him in a few months and I wouldn't change a thing about it, except to get more foliage (Ficus and Umbrella trees are safe, and veileds like to munch on their foliage, so please get some live, safe plants for him) but, right now, the size of that cage could be a big stressor. I would recommend something quite a bit smaller, or to cup feed him.

 

[cwilfinger]

That is a great idea, however, money is being diverted to put a new roof on the house and daughters graduation party (hubby will not let me buy a smaller cage at the moment). I purchased this cage so I would not have to spend money further down the line to upgrade.
He is located in the main part of the house, maybe I could place him in the computer room. He will still have people around (adults) but not the constant TV and kids being in the same room. Do you think that that would help?

 

[cwilfinger]

How sure are you of his age?

I am very sure, I have been watching this paticular breeder for several months. And I have watched this little guy and his other siblings grow for several months. They were born at the end of March of this year.

 

[Kat77]

Well if you aren't able to get a smaller enclosure, I would recommend cup feedind him, if you aren't already. That way he wont be struggling to keep up with his food. That should reduce some of the stress on him.
I just moved my five month old panther into a 30x30x48 enclosure and I still worry whether he is getting enough to eat, so I started cup feeding him. At 3 months, you will need to cup feed in a cage that size.

 

[stucoady]

I'm intrigued why so many people say that you should use a small cage for a very young Cham so they can find food ect easily etc but in the wild this is not the case and yet they still survive? Do you think that we might be a bit over protective. I know people on other forums who use a larger viv with their young and have not experience any problems?

 

[Kat77]

I'm intrigued why so many people say that you should use a small cage for a very young Cham so they can find food ect easily etc but in the wild this is not the case and yet they still survive? Do you think that we might be a bit over protective. I know people on other forums who use a larger viv with their young and have not experience any problems?

In the wild, actually, I don't think the survival rate is NEARLY as high as it is in captivity for baby chameleons. I'm not sure what the statistic is, but I imagine that many fewer baby chams make it to adulthood.
It may be overprotective, but when you pay so much and make an investment in an animal, you want the best, most stress free situation for it.

It is up to the keeper, and I'm sure you're right, not many babies probably starve to death in captivity, but as they say, it is better to be safe than sorry. Not to mention, I didn't say that they couldn't use a large enclosure, it would just be better to cup feed if a larger enclosure is used.

 

[DESERT DAVE]

maybe partition the cage you have now ? cup feeding works but if you hand feed i have found they get spoiled and overweight.

 

[cwilfinger]

The crickets like to climb up the screens and he can reach them pretty easily. He does do quite a bit of hunting for them during the day.
I have moved him into the computer room. We will see if he starts to go lighter colors in a few days time.

 

[stucoady]

On some of the UK forums, there are arguments that by just placing the insects, such as locusts, straight into the gage rather than cup or hand feeding, is more of a natural and healthy way to feed as it encourages their instinct to hunt. When I had my young Yemen, i originally had him housed in the largest of the Exo terra glass vivs, so i guess it was a small enclosure, where i would feed him by placing the insects on the bottom of the viv. The insects head up wards and it was a delight watching him hunt down his food. He never showed any dark colours and always appeared stress free (sorry about spelling but I'm tired)

 

[spatulars]

I agree with stucoady, no chameleon of any age will "complain" for having "too much space." In the wild, the area of hunting would be so large that it might be hard for them to find food, but it would not be hard for a young veiled to hunt for food in a 4 foot tall cage. I have a lot of faith in the fact that young chameleons are born as specialized hunters whose instincts are to range for food. That being said, while my chameleon is happy to hunt, I think cup/hand feeding is the best thing for them. They won't get their tongues stuck on branches or leaves and you can monitor exactly how much they eat. For your baby, it might be the best thing. I was also under the impression that browns are the more normal basking color for veileds, whereas the bright greens/yellows are shown only under excitement/stimulation. This little guy should settle in fine in his cage, no worries about modifications or spending extra money. Does he have a lot of privacy?

Good stationary feeder cup that should attract his attention:
http://www.chameleonnews.com/new/?page=article&id=79

*Sorry, I didn't read that he hunts fine. If so, that's great. My cham did too. He should calm down in a couple of days, perhaps up to a week.

 

[Kat77]

On some of the UK forums, there are arguments that by just placing the insects, such as locusts, straight into the gage rather than cup or hand feeding, is more of a natural and healthy way to feed as it encourages their instinct to hunt. When I had my young Yemen, i originally had him housed in the largest of the Exo terra glass vivs, so i guess it was a small enclosure, where i would feed him by placing the insects on the bottom of the viv. The insects head up wards and it was a delight watching him hunt down his food. He never showed any dark colours and always appeared stress free (sorry about spelling but I'm tired)

I said to cup feed for the time that he is small and in such a large enclosure, not forever. I agree that the stimulation is good for them.

 

[stucoady]

Wow like those feeders. I was using a bird feeder/cup but found it only gathered water from the misting. With regards to the colours, I have read different views on this so I really can not comment although the only time my cham goes dark is when i take him out of his viv to bask on a plant on the windowsil - perhaps this is because he is trying to absord more heat from the sun that is not always avaliable unlike his basking spot in the viv (hope that made sense lol)

 

[stucoady]

That's cool Kat77, always wanting to learn alternative ways of doing things. I have a Sirama Panther coming soon so for the amount I'm paying for it i want the best for him.

 

[spatulars]

I thought at first they were green all the time, and then I saw a picture of a male whose fired colors I had seen before, and he was brown to my surprise. I guess they're all individuals.