why is my chameleon digging?

[MichelleAndrea]

My 2 month old male chameleon is digging and i have no idea why. any ideas?

 

[Julirs]

What are you temps like? They will sometimes dig if it is too hot. WHat is he digging in? You should not have substrate in your cage.

 

[MichelleAndrea]

its 85-90 and i have substrate.. whats wrong with substrate?

 

[Julirs]

If your cham is only 2 months old, you should have a basking spot no higher than 80. Substrate is not suggested as it can cause impaction and death. Can you fill out the how to ask for help form and we can help make sure all is OK?

 

[MichelleAndrea]

Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, male, i've had for 5 days
Handling - rarely, and if i do hold him its only for like 3 minutes
Feeding - i feed him dusted crickets. 10-15 a day. and in the morning and when i come back from school.
Supplements - flukers calcium with d3
Watering - i mist and its like 5-10 times a day. its hard to keep the humidity levels above 50. i almost never see him drink water but im pretty sure he does..
Fecal Description - its white? i think to be honest i dont even know what it looks like.
History - none
Cage Info:
Cage Type - its glass. ill post a picture
Lighting - i use uvb light and leave it on until i come back home from school which is at like 2:30 and i leave the basking light on until like 4 pm. on from the time i wake up. and thats it.
Temperature - 75 -85 during the day and 70-75 at night
Humidity - above fifty percent. i measure using the hygrometer i think its called.
Plants - the fake ones that came with the exo terra
Placement - its practically on the floor, in my room which is really quiet and calm
Location - nc

 

[Elizadolots]

If you put real plants in there, you'll find it easier to keep your humidity up. If your cage is big enough to put a potted plant on the bottom, then use a terracotta pot for your real plant. That will do amazing things for your humidity.

Is this a "baby cage" or what you plan to keep him in as an adult?

 

[Julirs]

Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, male, i've had for 5 days
Handling - rarely, and if i do hold him its only for like 3 minutes
Feeding - i feed him dusted crickets. 10-15 a day. and in the morning and when i come back from school.
Supplements - flukers calcium with d3
Watering - i mist and its like 5-10 times a day. its hard to keep the humidity levels above 50. i almost never see him drink water but im pretty sure he does..
Fecal Description - its white? i think to be honest i dont even know what it looks like.
History - none
Cage Info:
Cage Type - its glass. ill post a picture
Lighting - i use uvb light and leave it on until i come back home from school which is at like 2:30 and i leave the basking light on until like 4 pm. on from the time i wake up. and thats it.
Temperature - 75 -85 during the day and 70-75 at night
Humidity - above fifty percent. i measure using the hygrometer i think its called.
Plants - the fake ones that came with the exo terra
Placement - its practically on the floor, in my room which is really quiet and calm
Location - nc

First of all, are you positive it is a male Veiled? If so, you do realize that within a few months you will need to get a larger cage. Male Veileds get quite large and will need a cage that is 2X2x4 feet tall. What are you measuring temps with? If it is an analog thermometer (the round one with a dial) they are junk for measuring an accurate basking spot-so you need a digital thermometer with a probe. You lights should be on 12 hours a day both at the same time and your basking spot (one corner of the cage) should be about 80, the rest of the cage should be room temp or low 70's. What kind of UVB and what wattage basking spot do you have? If it is the small exotera tank (12X12x18) a 40 watt bulb should be OK, any stronger and you are cooking your cham and that could explain the digging. Also-compact UVB bulbs are considered dangerous and can cause eye issues. Your cham needs darkness at night, and it is fine for the temps to fall into the 60's at night. You need to get a calcium without D3 that you will use 5-6 timed a week to lighly dust the feeders. The one with D3 should be used 2-3 times monthly. Too much D3 can harm your cham. Also, if you are misting that much, your substrate could be getting wet and moldy. Again-no substrate is best. And as stated live plants will help with humidity. Misting 2-3 times daily until the plants get nice and drippy will be fine. You do not want to mix dirty standing water and/or moldy substrate with heat or you will end up with a cham with a respiratory infection.

 

[Amanda1801]

Are you sure it's male? Could you take a photo of his back legs/feet from the back and post them?

 

[Itwas]

michelle did you make any of the changes advised in your previous topic? Im just wondering as everything seems exactly the same even though people offered some very good advice?

 

[Dez and Delilah]

Your Chameleon - veiled chameleon, male, i've had for 5 days
Handling - rarely, and if i do hold him its only for like 3 minutes
Feeding - i feed him dusted crickets. 10-15 a day. and in the morning and when i come back from school.What are you gutloading with? Crickets need to be gutloaded as well as dusted
Supplements - flukers calcium with d3 You should be dusting with mostly plain calcium, alternating between calcium with d3 and a vitamin supplement. There are a tonne of threads on supplementation schedules if you do a search through the forum.
Watering - i mist and its like 5-10 times a day. its hard to keep the humidity levels above 50. i almost never see him drink water but im pretty sure he does..
Fecal Description - its white? i think to be honest i dont even know what it looks like.
History - none
Cage Info:
Cage Type - its glass. ill post a picture
Lighting - i use uvb light and leave it on until i come back home from school which is at like 2:30 and i leave the basking light on until like 4 pm. on from the time i wake up. and thats it. Chameleons require a 12 hour photo-period. 12 hours with the lights on and 12 with them off. It's easy and beneficial if you get a light timer.
Temperature - 75 -85 during the day and 70-75 at night
Humidity - above fifty percent. i measure using the hygrometer i think its called.
Plants - the fake ones that came with the exo terra Live plants help a lot with humidity if that's an issue for you
Placement - its practically on the floor, in my room which is really quiet and calm Chameleons prefer being higher up. Is there something else you could put the cage on that would be above eye level?
Location - nc

 

[MichelleAndrea]

michelle did you make any of the changes advised in your previous topic? Im just wondering as everything seems exactly the same even though people offered some very good advice?

yes i did haha, i just didnt want to te retype it again. my bad. uhm, i turn off all the lights when it goes to sleep and i keep it on for only 12 hours as told and yeah.

 

[MichelleAndrea]

michelle did you make any of the changes advised in your previous topic? Im just wondering as everything seems exactly the same even though people offered some very good advice?

yes i did haha, i just didnt want to te retype it again. my bad. uhm, i turn off all the lights when he goes to sleep and i keep it on for only 12 hours as told and i'm misting the cage less

 

[MichelleAndrea]

First of all, are you positive it is a male Veiled? If so, you do realize that within a few months you will need to get a larger cage. Male Veileds get quite large and will need a cage that is 2X2x4 feet tall. What are you measuring temps with? If it is an analog thermometer (the round one with a dial) they are junk for measuring an accurate basking spot-so you need a digital thermometer with a probe. You lights should be on 12 hours a day both at the same time and your basking spot (one corner of the cage) should be about 80, the rest of the cage should be room temp or low 70's. What kind of UVB and what wattage basking spot do you have? If it is the small exotera tank (12X12x18) a 40 watt bulb should be OK, any stronger and you are cooking your cham and that could explain the digging. Also-compact UVB bulbs are considered dangerous and can cause eye issues. Your cham needs darkness at night, and it is fine for the temps to fall into the 60's at night. You need to get a calcium without D3 that you will use 5-6 timed a week to lighly dust the feeders. The one with D3 should be used 2-3 times monthly. Too much D3 can harm your cham. Also, if you are misting that much, your substrate could be getting wet and moldy. Again-no substrate is best. And as stated live plants will help with humidity. Misting 2-3 times daily until the plants get nice and drippy will be fine. You do not want to mix dirty standing water and/or moldy substrate with heat or you will end up with a cham with a respiratory infection.

yes i'm 100% sure its a boy. and yes i do realize that, once he gets bigger im getting him a screen one. to be honest i dont really know what my uvb is. i threw away the box, ill go check at the petstore tomorrow. and yeahh, my basking is 100 watt. and its like a foot away from his cage. thats probably why he is digging. should i turn it off? and question, what does a chameleon look like when theyre getting burned? just curious. once i clean his cage i'll get rid of the susbstrade. what am i sepposed to use instead of that? sorry if i sound really dumb right now, i dont have much experience with chameleons. and ok will do thank you

 

[sevarious]

check at the pet store for a dome lamp with a dimmer switch. when my lucy acts like she is really hot, i just turn that down half way. also, keep an eye on your temps.