Vincent has been acting really strange.

[Orcawhale]

Vincent is a male veiled chameleon, he's about 9 months old and he's been acting rather strange. The first thing I noticed was the fact that he was "prowling" the bottom of his cage. Head down as if he was looking for something. He is not a female, I am absolutely certain due to the spurs on his hind feet. The next thing is that he was extremely bold and for the first time crawled out of his cage at his first opportunity. After that he's been spending the past week attempting to claw his way out, and prowling his cage. He has fallen many times in the process. Thankfully his cage is very dense so he has caught himself every time that I know of. He is still in his 18x18x36 cage, but his 24x24x48 will be arriving on Monday, his basking is about 88˚, I have ordered his 100 watt bulb as well, so that should bring it up to about 95. He has all the necessities, he's been living and growing quite well over the course of the past year. The last thing is that every time I put him in his ficus tree (and this is only as of the past 2 weeks) he goes straight to the bottom and starts trying to eat the dirt. I feed him very well, about 7-14 crickets a day dusted with calcium without d3 every day and with d3 once a month + Multivitamins once a month. This could all be very well connected to the fact that he has completely outgrown his cage, and if thats the case still wondering why the heck my chameleon is eating dirt. Thank you guys so much!

 

[Lathis]

Hahahahaha, stop worrying! At 9 months, Vincent is a handsome young man on the hunt for ladies! He's at the age where he is establishing his own territory, which includes expanding it and defending it from invaders. He'll be adventurous and moody. Assuming all your care is correct, there is nothing to worry about and it's totally normal. He will appreciate the extra space of this bigger cage, but still let him freerange if he can do it safely. You may have to fashion a "baby gate" to keep him from wandering where he's not supposed to. I've seen photos where members use a ring of rigid plastic sheet that can't be climbed around the free range area. If I can track those down, I'll add the link.

 

[Orcawhale]

Hahahahaha, stop worrying! At 9 months, Vincent is a handsome young man on the hunt for ladies! He's at the age where he is establishing his own territory, which includes expanding it and defending it from invaders. He'll be adventurous and moody. Assuming all your care is correct, there is nothing to worry about and it's totally normal. He will appreciate the extra space of this bigger cage, but still let him freerange if he can do it safely. You may have to fashion a "baby gate" to keep him from wandering where he's not supposed to. I've seen photos where members use a ring of rigid plastic sheet that can't be climbed around the free range area. If I can track those down, I'll add the link.

Ah alright, thank you. This little man's my life, so its hard not to worry.

 

[Orcawhale]

Hahahahaha, stop worrying! At 9 months, Vincent is a handsome young man on the hunt for ladies! He's at the age where he is establishing his own territory, which includes expanding it and defending it from invaders. He'll be adventurous and moody. Assuming all your care is correct, there is nothing to worry about and it's totally normal. He will appreciate the extra space of this bigger cage, but still let him freerange if he can do it safely. You may have to fashion a "baby gate" to keep him from wandering where he's not supposed to. I've seen photos where members use a ring of rigid plastic sheet that can't be climbed around the free range area. If I can track those down, I'll add the link.

Also, has any of your chameleons ever eaten dirt? Because I'm currently attempting to keep him away from it and he wont stop trying.

 

[Lathis]

Ah alright, thank you. This little man's my life, so its hard not to worry.

If you're not worrying, you're not doing it right!

 

[Lathis]

Here's what I was thinking! It comes from Olimpia's great blog Much Ado About Chameleons.

http://www.muchadoaboutchameleons.com/2013/05/free-ranging-risks-and-benefits.html

 

[Shilohpsu]

Vincent is a male veiled chameleon, he's about 9 months old and he's been acting rather strange. The first thing I noticed was the fact that he was "prowling" the bottom of his cage. Head down as if he was looking for something. He is not a female, I am absolutely certain due to the spurs on his hind feet. The next thing is that he was extremely bold and for the first time crawled out of his cage at his first opportunity. After that he's been spending the past week attempting to claw his way out, and prowling his cage. He has fallen many times in the process. Thankfully his cage is very dense so he has caught himself every time that I know of. He is still in his 18x18x36 cage, but his 24x24x48 will be arriving on Monday, his basking is about 88˚, I have ordered his 100 watt bulb as well, so that should bring it up to about 95. He has all the necessities, he's been living and growing quite well over the course of the past year. The last thing is that every time I put him in his ficus tree (and this is only as of the past 2 weeks) he goes straight to the bottom and starts trying to eat the dirt. I feed him very well, about 7-14 crickets a day dusted with calcium without d3 every day and with d3 once a month + Multivitamins once a month. This could all be very well connected to the fact that he has completely outgrown his cage, and if thats the case still wondering why the heck my chameleon is eating dirt. Thank you guys so much!View attachment 162118 View attachment 162119 View attachment 162120 View attachment 162121 View attachment 162122

My male veiled also walks along the bottom of his cage and paces from side to side. Whenever I see him doing that, I know that he wants out (it happened more and more as he got older). So whenever my wife and I are home, we normally let him out and he'll go exploring for hours. He lived in a 16x16x30 for the first 5 months. I thought that he paced around and wanted out because he was outgrowing his cage (which he was), so I got him the XL 24x24x48. Guess what? He still paced around and wanted out. He's exploring right now at one of his favorite spots by the glass sliding door.

 

[Orcawhale]

My male veiled also walks along the bottom of his cage and paces from side to side. Whenever I see him doing that, I know that he wants out (it happened more and more as he got older). So whenever my wife and I are home, we normally let him out and he'll go exploring for hours. He lived in a 16x16x30 for the first 5 months. I thought that he paced around and wanted out because he was outgrowing his cage (which he was), so I got him the XL 24x24x48. Guess what? He still paced around and wanted out. He's exploring right now at one of his favorite spots by the glass sliding door.
View attachment 162125

Ah, I'm so glad . He's very handsome! I'll start letting Vincent explore more than I have, I've always kept him in his free range tree..I suppose I'm being that protective parent, and I need to let him go where he wants I'm gonna cham proof my room right now!

 

[Shilohpsu]

Ah, I'm so glad . He's very handsome! I'll start letting Vincent explore more than I have, I've always kept him in his free range tree..I suppose I'm being that protective parent, and I need to let him go where he wants I'm gonna cham proof my room right now!

Just be careful! We don't have any cats, dogs, or anything that could harm him. He will also surprise us from time to time and explore a new spot, instead of just going to one of his favorites. It took me a few minutes to find him when he crawled up into the car, instead of hiding under it. He ended up staying there for a couple hours and subsequently took a nap - turned really light green and curled his tail.

 

[Orcawhale]

Just be careful! We don't have any cats, dogs, or anything that could harm him. He will also surprise us from time to time and explore a new spot, instead of just going to one of his favorites. It took me a few minutes to find him when he crawled up into the car, instead of hiding under it. He ended up staying there for a couple hours and subsequently took a nap - turned really light green and curled his tail.
View attachment 162128

Oh wow, yeah, the problem isn't other animals, but I've got 4 younger siblings running around the house. But I think it would be really interesting to see what he thinks of my room. It just make me nervous because he ends up trying to grab plastic or smooth stuff that his claws just slip right off of and falling. He also seems to beline it straight underneath my bed, and i don't want him climbing up into it and stuff. He's also been eating dirt. So who knows what the heck he'll try next...

 

[brownie64]

Also, has any of your chameleons ever eaten dirt? Because I'm currently attempting to keep him away from it and he wont stop trying.

Put large enough river stones in your pots that he won't be able to get them in his mouth. You should stop him from eating dirt because this could cause impaction.

 

[Orcawhale]

Put large enough river stones in your pots that he won't be able to get them in his mouth. You should stop him from eating dirt because this could cause impaction.

Do you think crickets would crawl under the stones?

 

[BKO Overdrive]

My female vield would eat dirt, what i did was i bought fake leaves that zoo med sells, and i ripped and cut it into pieces and shoved them into the dirt at the bottom, so she still goes there to get some but there blocked by to many leaves. IF you have a wide area of dirt, stones would work better

 

[brownie64]

Do you think crickets would crawl under the stones?

Yah it's possible, but they can hide in the plants anyway. I really haven't noticed an issue per se.

 

[JGuinan007]

Just be careful! We don't have any cats, dogs, or anything that could harm him. He will also surprise us from time to time and explore a new spot, instead of just going to one of his favorites. It took me a few minutes to find him when he crawled up into the car, instead of hiding under it. He ended up staying there for a couple hours and subsequently took a nap - turned really light green and curled his tail.
View attachment 162128

That is a huge chameleon or a really small car?

 

[Shilohpsu]

That is a huge chameleon or a really small car?

A 16" male veiled chameleon behind the tire of an electric "power wheels" kids car. I never really thought of the picture like that until I read your post!