TheDOMINATOR
New Member
Hello all. I have a 5-6 month old male veiled I purchased a couple months ago, from one of the sponsors here. Today he's been showing very unusual behavior. Lately, the weather starting to get colder, he's been sticking in or near his basking area with occasional excursions to the cooler side of his cage (a screen 16x16x24) and the middle regions where the fairly dense foliage from two coleus plants is. He's usually pretty active, and displays very vibrant greens and yellows, except for when he's basking, during which he stays brown.
Today, however, is a different story. I fed him his normal 8-10 crickets dusted with a mixture of calcium (no d3) and DinoFuel and left him alone for a while. A couple hours later, which at this point was about an hour ago, I went in to spray the cage -- very lightly -- with a deodorizer solution (from Healthy Habitats) that is all natural and safe to use while animals are still in their cages. I do this about once every two weeks and again, I spray very delicately.
So anyway, I walk away for about fifteen minutes and then walk in to check on him and he's just sitting on a vine near the very front of the cage, motionless, both eyes locked on me. I moved my head to the right then to the left a little, and his head followed me. It was like a bizarre staredown. And he was the darkest brown, black even, I've ever seen him. Usually he shies right away from me but I put out my hand to about two inches from his face...and he didn't budge. Which is so weird and completely unlike him.
Eventually I took out my phone and held it up to him to take a picture, and he still didn't budge at first, but then without warning jumped in a flash and fell to the bottom of the cage! He appears to be ok, he landed on his feet, but still, it was weird. I later realized it was probably because of the apple on my phone which shows a perfect reflection. Probably freaked the poor guy out.
Anyway, does anyone have a similar story or any suggestions as to what just happened? Or is this actually normal? One last detail is that today I successfully hand fed him for the first time ever, but before the picture taking fiasco I held out another insect and he didn't respond.
Any ideas? Here's a pic. Thank you.
Today, however, is a different story. I fed him his normal 8-10 crickets dusted with a mixture of calcium (no d3) and DinoFuel and left him alone for a while. A couple hours later, which at this point was about an hour ago, I went in to spray the cage -- very lightly -- with a deodorizer solution (from Healthy Habitats) that is all natural and safe to use while animals are still in their cages. I do this about once every two weeks and again, I spray very delicately.
So anyway, I walk away for about fifteen minutes and then walk in to check on him and he's just sitting on a vine near the very front of the cage, motionless, both eyes locked on me. I moved my head to the right then to the left a little, and his head followed me. It was like a bizarre staredown. And he was the darkest brown, black even, I've ever seen him. Usually he shies right away from me but I put out my hand to about two inches from his face...and he didn't budge. Which is so weird and completely unlike him.
Eventually I took out my phone and held it up to him to take a picture, and he still didn't budge at first, but then without warning jumped in a flash and fell to the bottom of the cage! He appears to be ok, he landed on his feet, but still, it was weird. I later realized it was probably because of the apple on my phone which shows a perfect reflection. Probably freaked the poor guy out.
Anyway, does anyone have a similar story or any suggestions as to what just happened? Or is this actually normal? One last detail is that today I successfully hand fed him for the first time ever, but before the picture taking fiasco I held out another insect and he didn't respond.
Any ideas? Here's a pic. Thank you.
if your super concerned- take him to your vet and get him checked out. That's the easiest way to get assurance.
