Why is my Veiled brown all day?

[ThisNewCham]

Is it normal for a Veiled to remain brown all day, and then turn a nice green when he's sleeping? He is new, I've had him for 4 days now, and I would think tht he would be used to his surroundings by now? I put some pictures below, apologies for the quality.

 

[mika]

What are the temps in the enclosure?

Mine usually turns brown when he's cold or when he's trying to soak up the sun.

When he's soaking up the sun, one side which the sun is hitting is brown and the other side is green.

 

[Justin Carl]

That is just how Veiled chameleons are.
Chameleons, Veileds mostly, will stay much darker because they are basking.
Dark colors better absorb that sun/light bulbs energy to warm up and digest food.
Veileds will almost always be dark during the day, unless they are placed in a very dense cage and are very high up.
If you would like to own a chameleon that is always beautiful looking, even when it's not sleeping I'd look into a panther.
The reason chameleons look so much brighter when they are sleeping is because they use contractions to control what pigments are shown in the cells.
When a chameleon is sleeping it cant consciously control what colors are being shown.
This why chameleons look the most spectacular(color wise) when they are sleeping of died.
The 3 types of pigment cells called malanophores, guanophores/iridophores, and and iridophores.
Malanphores are the deepest of the 3 cells and contain black pigment.
Guanophores/iridophores and in the middle contain blue pigment.
Xanthophores are the second outermost and have yellow.
Each layer of cells contains different colors and the outermost layer is actually clear.
This link goes into much more detail.
http://chameleonnews.com/?page=article&id=5

My guy pissed with normal colors:

 

[dj special k]

Yeah, my 1.5 yr old male veiled is almost always brown in the day time. He only shows colors when he's sleeping, when i'm watering him (sometimes), when I'm handling him to transfer him to an outdoor cage... other than that, he's brown...

 

[ThisNewCham]

The temp is 80F, which is about 28-29C

 

[mika]

80F (Basking spot?) if so, temps sound good for a baby or juvie. Just give him more time to adjust.

Each chameleon is different. I remember when I first got mine, he would turn brown to almost black on & off but it would not stay that way all day.

He just does it when he's trying to get more heat then he'd turn a nice green or darker green color again.

Oh by the way, yes both chameleons that I have turn a nice green color when they're sleeping with their tails all curled up.

 

[CarolenRunsen]

My veiled is the opposite. Is always green during the day and turns a mixture of green and almost black while she is sleepin. Should i be worried at all??

 

[mika]

When I first got my veiled, I was worried too because he would turn really dark almost black so I started a thread and filled out this form:

Cage Info:
Cage Type - What kind of cage are you using? What is the size?
Lighting - What kind of lighting are you using? How long do you keep the lights on during the day?
Temperature - What temperature range have you created? Basking spot temp? What is the temperature at night?
Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels?
Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
Location - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas?

Chameleon Info:
Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon.
Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What kind of schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
Supplements - What are you dusting your feeders with and what kind of schedule do you use?
Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings.
History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.
Current Problem - The current problem that you are concerned about.

Pictures can really help as well.

* I asked people how my setup was and told them about the colors *

In my opinion, if you have the right setup, temps, everything and the cham is eating good, feces look good, nothing stressing them like another cham that they can see or another reptile they can see, then you're fine..

Maybe some other cham owners can give their opinions as well.

 

[dodolah]

My veiled is the opposite. Is always green during the day and turns a mixture of green and almost black while she is sleepin. Should i be worried at all??

Hi Carolen,
I found that a bit weird and against their very nature.
During sleeping, chameleon does not use energy for their cromatophore cells.
Therefore, they always revert to their brightest color when they fell asleep.
check this excerpt from Dr. Ferguson:

The behavior (movement, repositioning expansion etc.) of chromatophores (pigment bearing skin cells) is an energy dependent process. At night chameleons simply shut down the active process, chromatophore pigments contract, and the animal lightens. Because their natural nocturnal predators are not dependent on color vision, there has been no natural selection for them to maintain the active process while they sleep, just for them to save energy. We are new "color-vision" predators that exploit the conspicuousness that results when they are sleeping. Rest assured that should we be around long enough to exert significant natural selection, nocturnal cryptic coloration will possibly evolve in those exploited species (1000 to10, 000 generations or so down the line).

Are you sure the chameleon is sleeping at all?

 

[mika]

Are you sure the chameleon is sleeping at all?

Maybe the chameleon has his eyes closed but is not sleeping.

Like I tell my boss "I'm not sleeping, just resting my eyes"

 

[dodolah]

Maybe the chameleon has his eyes closed but is not sleeping.

Like I tell my boss "I'm not sleeping, just resting my eyes"

In that case, I think she should be worried.
Closing eyes for a long time (but not sleeping) is a sign of something is wrong.

 

[Miss becky]

when i first fot my male yemen he was a v dark green now hes a lil older and got more markings and very's in colour he normally stays dark in the day but changes alot and he is allways a really strong bright green wen he sleeps

 

[CarolenRunsen]

I'm pretty sure she is, but I will definatly have to take more notice, her eyes are usually open when we turn off/ then turn on the lights, but definatly looks like she is sleepy. I will have to take an extra look at her when i go to bed to make sure she is sleepin.

 

[mika]

Dodolah, I was just kidding..

This is what I've noticed in my chams when they sleep..

The male is laid back but he can't sleep with the lights on so when I turn it off it looks like he's sleeping.. I turn it back on and his eyes would open and he'd look at me but he would be the same color. What I mean is, when I wake him up by turning the lights on, his at rest color would be the same even though he has his eyes open. (i dunno if I'm making sense here)

The female on the other hand I got traumatized, she hisses bites etc.. Well to get to the point, she'll go to bed and close her eyes (she has that nice green color), she would then for some reason know I'm watching her and open her eyes a little, her colors would become green with very, very dark green and would close her eyes again but the colors will remain for a while then it reverts back to the light green color..

Anywayz, all i'm sayin is my chams are light sleepers and eventhough they're eyes are closed it doesn't mean that they're sleeping all the time (they don't close their eyes during the day, just after lights go out at 8 pm).

 

[mika]

The behavior (movement, repositioning expansion etc.) of chromatophores (pigment bearing skin cells) is an energy dependent process. At night chameleons simply shut down the active process, chromatophore pigments contract, and the animal lightens. Because their natural nocturnal predators are not dependent on color vision, there has been no natural selection for them to maintain the active process while they sleep, just for them to save energy. We are new "color-vision" predators that exploit the conspicuousness that results when they are sleeping. Rest assured that should we be around long enough to exert significant natural selection, nocturnal cryptic coloration will possibly evolve in those exploited species (1000 to10, 000 generations or so down the line).

I wonder at what point does the "shut down of the active process begins"?

Is it when they close their eyes when the lights turn off?

Is it when they are in deep sleep?

I know when I turn off the lights it doesn't mean my chams are asleep because when I turn on the lights after a few hours, they open their eyes.

I do know that they go into a deep sleep because there are times when I would turn on the lights and they would not open their eyes at all.

 

[dodolah]

usually after he's really asleep.
You can usually tell, they almost glow in the dark (hyperbole here).

 

[Miss becky]

my cham is like that sounds silly but its like i can even tell when he wants to go sleep i have a routine for his night time now hes right near my window n can look out so very late afternoon i will open my blind then i'll turn my room light off n then wen its dark out side his lights go off he sleeps in the same spot every night basicly in the same position and 5mins after light out he will be fast asleep glowing bright green n i'll turn my room light on to check him n that doesnt even bother him and then when i wake up in the morning he'l already be awake and waiting for his morning routine lol

 

[Rango64]

New time owner here rango was bright green when i got him now he is a dull color my cage is a screen cage i feed him crickets with the powder on them also givehim horn worms and meal worms also mist him multiple times a day basking spot is 80 and the rest of cage is 70-75 depends where it is at he is in a quiet room. I am wondering if he is stressed or getting ready to shed? 2 pictures were a week ago two are from today. Also humidity is always at 50-60%

 

[Prince of Duval]

This thread is 12 years old. I don’t think you will hear from the OP.

 

[janjan20]

New time owner here rango was bright green when i got him now he is a dull color my cage is a screen cage i feed him crickets with the powder on them also givehim horn worms and meal worms also mist him multiple times a day basking spot is 80 and the rest of cage is 70-75 depends where it is at he is in a quiet room. I am wondering if he is stressed or getting ready to shed? 2 pictures were a week ago two are from today. Also humidity is always at 50-60%

I would start your own thread so more ppl can see it.