Why is my chameleon so dark??

[kenziesullivan_]

Hello, I had gotten my male baby veiled chameleon about 2 and a half days ago and he seems to be dark all the time and barley ever light, i have no idea why we have a thermometer for humidity and heat and also another one for the bottom. I have tried not to mess with him because i want him to get used to his new home but when we do stick our hand in there to put his crickets in there he acts very scared. the top on the mesh cage is 88 with a humidity of 55 and towards the bottom it is 71. he is very active and walks around a lot, we put a hibiscus plant in there with him and a tree we are trying to get all the fake plants out so we only have one left. For watering I mist about 2-3 times a day for about a minute or two we also have the dripper plant. We feed him crickets and we has just got some mule worms and calcium worms, for vitamins we use “Repti Calcium without D3” what other vita would you recommend?

We use a mesh cage with the “reptisun T5 HO terrarium hood” 15 watt and a basking light. I live in Florida so its pretty humid here do you think if i brought the cage outside that would be better for him?

 

[Fchamel]

Hello! I'd recommend you get your husbandry reviewed by a professional. I will tag them to help. @Beman @MissSkittles @kinyonga

 

[Fchamel]

If I could give any advice I would say that he doesn't have enough foliage. I saw some fake plants in there. Veilds eat plants, so if he were to eat the plastic plant, that is very dangerous. Take those out, and get some taller plants. Another thing you could do is decorate the outside of the enclosure with fake plants to give him some privacy.

 

[Beman]

Hello, I had gotten my male baby veiled chameleon about 2 and a half days ago and he seems to be dark all the time and barley ever light, i have no idea why we have a thermometer for humidity and heat and also another one for the bottom. I have tried not to mess with him because i want him to get used to his new home but when we do stick our hand in there to put his crickets in there he acts very scared. the top on the mesh cage is 88 with a humidity of 55 and towards the bottom it is 71. he is very active and walks around a lot, we put a hibiscus plant in there with him and a tree we are trying to get all the fake plants out so we only have one left. For watering I mist about 2-3 times a day for about a minute or two we also have the dripper plant. We feed him crickets and we has just got some mule worms and calcium worms, for vitamins we use “Repti Calcium without D3” what other vita would you recommend?

We use a mesh cage with the “reptisun T5 HO terrarium hood” 15 watt and a basking light. I live in Florida so its pretty humid here do you think if i brought the cage outside that would be better for him? View attachment 280987View attachment 280988View attachment 280989View attachment 280990View attachment 280991View attachment 280994View attachment 280993

The baby can not get close enough to the lighting for heat and UVB. You need to have horizontal branches. Which T5HO bulb did you get the 5.0 or the 10.0?

The pump in the bottom needs to be removed. This is a bacteria breeding ground.

Start reading through this husbandry program it will give you a ton of info on proper set up. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

 

[kenziesullivan_]

The baby can not get close enough to the lighting for heat and UVB. You need to have horizontal branches. Which T5HO bulb did you get the 5.0 or the 10.0?

The pump in the bottom needs to be removed. This is a bacteria breeding ground.

Start reading through this husbandry program it will give you a ton of info on proper set up. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

5.0..and okay so i dont need the dripper plant then? because thats what it was for i could just mist it more and im adding branches today! Thank you so much for your help.. if i take away the pump and add more tree his color wont be dark anymore? Ive been researching so so much but it see a number of different things

 

[kenziesullivan_]

The baby can not get close enough to the lighting for heat and UVB. You need to have horizontal branches. Which T5HO bulb did you get the 5.0 or the 10.0?

The pump in the bottom needs to be removed. This is a bacteria breeding ground.

Start reading through this husbandry program it will give you a ton of info on proper set up. https://chameleonacademy.com/chameleon-husbandry-program-getting-started-with-chameleons/

also since he is a baby should i wait about a week before trying to hand feed him and handle him?

 

[Beman]

also since he is a baby should i wait about a week before trying to hand feed him and handle him?

Personally I wait to handle until you can hand feed without issue. I do not start hand feeding until they have adjusted to their enclosures. I would make all the needed enclosure changes first. which UVB bulb did you buy? the 5.0 or 10.0

 

[kenziesullivan_]

5.0..and okay so i dont need the dripper plant then? because thats what it was for i could just mist it more and im adding branches today! Thank you so much for your help.. if i take away the pump and add more tree his color wont be dark anymore? Ive been researching so so much but it see a number of different things

@Beman

 

[Beman]

@Beman

Sorry I missed that post. So with the 5.0 T5HO you want the closest branch to be 9 inches below it. you would not want the leaking plant with the automated dripper. They get nasty. Misting will be just fine.

IME I would base the darker colors off not getting the correct basking temps and UVB.

 

[kenziesullivan_]

Sorry I missed that post. So with the 5.0 T5HO you want the closest branch to be 9 inches below it. you would not want the leaking plant with the automated dripper. They get nasty. Misting will be just fine.

IME I would base the darker colors off not getting the correct basking temps and UVB.

okay thank you so so much! im going to post an updated picture when i get home from work i got another plant and some branches!