Veiled Chameleon restless behavior/screenclimbing towards UVB strip

[yungzerk]

Hey guys,

This behavior has started up again, the screen climbing.

I’m trying to rearrange branches to see if that helped.

Is there any reason why he may have started feeling restless again without many changes to temp/humidity/diet?

The one thing of note that had changed is that top pothos isn’t doing too well, I think I over watered it. Had to prune a lot of dead growth. Possible just from loss of coverage? What confuses me is he still has bushy areas of foliage to go to even if he did loose some cover.

My guy screen climbs although his setup is in perfect condition, he’s done it since he was a baby. If he can’t burn himself with the basking light on top then I don’t really see it as a big issue. Once he starts getting bigger and gaining more weight he will probably stop as screen climbing, for bigger and older chams it’s more of a worry cause they could break a nail or two with how much weight they’re putting on their feet to screen climb, but this is just my own personal experience!

 

[yungzerk]

My guy screen climbs although his setup is in perfect condition, he’s done it since he was a baby. If he can’t burn himself with the basking light on top then I don’t really see it as a big issue. Once he starts getting bigger and gaining more weight he will probably stop as screen climbing, for bigger and older chams it’s more of a worry cause they could break a nail or two with how much weight they’re putting on their feet to screen climb, but this is just my own personal experience!View attachment 355273View attachment 355274View attachment 355275View attachment 355276

I’d also like to note that if you’re veiled is reaching his teen phase, I’ve noticed they do a lot of patrolling and walking around as if they’re looking for a girlfriend

 

[IrohtheVeiled]

What concerns me in Irohs case is it’s like he’s trying to move beyond his enclosure. He’s also climbing down, but he doesn’t appear to be sick and there’s no indication that he is.

 

[IrohtheVeiled]

The sound of the nails on the mesh though, that’s hard to deal with in a living room setting.

Here’s what his cage looks like currently:

 

[yungzerk]

What concerns me in Irohs case is it’s like he’s trying to move beyond his enclosure. He’s also climbing down, but he doesn’t appear to be sick and there’s no indication that he is.

As long as you took the advice of others on the forums I don’t necessarily see this as an issue especially if he doesn’t show any signs of sickness, I would just keep a close eye! My guy had a phase where he would go up and down the screen cage and when I would open it he would try to climb out as if he wanted to say hi but then would puff up and hiss at me, chameleons can be weird!

 

[Beman]

Hey guys,

This behavior has started up again, the screen climbing.

I’m trying to rearrange branches to see if that helped.

Is there any reason why he may have started feeling restless again without many changes to temp/humidity/diet?

The one thing of note that had changed is that top pothos isn’t doing too well, I think I over watered it. Had to prune a lot of dead growth. Possible just from loss of coverage? What confuses me is he still has bushy areas of foliage to go to even if he did loose some cover.

So one thing about veileds that I have noticed is they tend to be a little more restless. With males you will see this when they want to mate as well. They will climb screens non stop. Make sure you have a few branch options at basking level. Make sure one is parallel to the UVB fixture as well.

Things in the room such as mirrors or changes from what they are used to seeing can cause them to be more restless as well.

 

[IrohtheVeiled]

So one thing about veileds that I have noticed is they tend to be a little more restless. With males you will see this when they want to mate as well. They will climb screens non stop. Make sure you have a few branch options at basking level. Make sure one is parallel to the UVB fixture as well.

Things in the room such as mirrors or changes from what they are used to seeing can cause them to be more restless as well.

Yeah I’m in the process of trying to rearrange his branches to make it so he has more options.

What I found odd is it seems like it’s reactive to us being present in the room and him wanting to come out, whenever we’re gone and come back he’s just chilling we linger around his cage he’ll get antsy.

I was thinking of leaving 3 of his night time privacy covers up during the day but I don’t know how this will impact temp and humidity

 

[MissSkittles]

I’ll find my males all over the place as they are doing their routine patrols. They’ll be on the bottom, checking everything and then when I look again they’re back up top or walking the screen. Right now all are a bit more active than their usual and I think it’s probably nature telling them it’s time to find a pretty girl and pass on their genes. One of my girls seems to be receptive too and is more active.

 

[IrohtheVeiled]

I’ll find my males all over the place as they are doing their routine patrols. They’ll be on the bottom, checking everything and then when I look again they’re back up top or walking the screen. Right now all are a bit more active than their usual and I think it’s probably nature telling them it’s time to find a pretty girl and pass on their genes. One of my girls seems to be receptive too and is more active.

Yeah I get it I just wish I could make it less of an issue of him maybe hurting himself by breaking a nail or something of that sort. If I wanted to throw lattice on the sides I’d have to literally take apart the whole cage. If anything if I can’t stop him from patrolling I’d like to make it a bit safer and maybe find a way to make the sounds of nail on mesh less disruptive.

Maybe the changing seasons plays into it a bit. I’ve been seeing how the warmer weather increased humidity impacts irohs temps and humidity levels to see if that is the case.

 

[Beman]

I had to convert to an all hybrid set up for Beman. At 2 years old he was still trying to screen climb the front screen and fell from it. Last year I had to drop his basking level down so he could not try to access the top screen of the cage because at 5 years old he still was restless and trying to climb the top. Even with perfect husbandry and enclosure set up they will want out and want to wander. The issue with these behaviors though is breaking nails or falls. Beman has dealt with both. I would recommend a cage redo so he can not get directly on the screen like the lattice @MissSkittles was talking about. You could also use 20 gauge marine grade vinyl for the door of the cage. you just rescreen it with this. Then they can not actively climb the side walls or the door but still have full airflow if that is a concern.

 

[IrohtheVeiled]

I had to convert to an all hybrid set up for Beman. At 2 years old he was still trying to screen climb the front screen and fell from it. Last year I had to drop his basking level down so he could not try to access the top screen of the cage because at 5 years old he still was restless and trying to climb the top. Even with perfect husbandry and enclosure set up they will want out and want to wander. The issue with these behaviors though is breaking nails or falls. Beman has dealt with both. I would recommend a cage redo so he can not get directly on the screen like the lattice @MissSkittles was talking about. You could also use 20 gauge marine grade vinyl for the door of the cage. you just rescreen it with this. Then they can not actively climb the side walls or the door but still have full airflow if that is a concern.

Just to see if it was something in the room causing him to do this I left his curtains up on 3 cage walls today, and sure enough he has not been restless. Not sure what in the living room causes him anxiety, very well could be me and my partner in the room.

 

[Beman]

Just to see if it was something in the room causing him to do this I left his curtains up on 3 cage walls today, and sure enough he has not been restless. Not sure what in the living room causes him anxiety, very well could be me and my partner in the room.

Could be... I find solid sides and back very helpful. You could simply go to home depo and get corrugated plastic sheets. These are very easy to cut to size then attach to the side and back of cage leaving the front open. This would be better than fabric with the moisture.

 

[IrohtheVeiled]

Could be... I find solid sides and back very helpful. You could simply go to home depo and get corrugated plastic sheets. These are very easy to cut to size then attach to the side and back of cage leaving the front open. This would be better than fabric with the moisture.

You think I could attach them to the outside of the cage so it doesn’t mess with my dragon ledges I’m using for the branch network?

 

[MissSkittles]

You think I could attach them to the outside of the cage so it doesn’t mess with my dragon ledges I’m using for the branch network?

I just use fabric shower curtain with a blue sky print. I use thin wires to attach the preexisting holes of the curtain to the top of the enclosure.

 

[Beman]

You think I could attach them to the outside of the cage so it doesn’t mess with my dragon ledges I’m using for the branch network?

Yes you could. The dragon ledge should sit flat to the screen on the outside. You can use Velcro/command strips on the outside cage frame and then the plastic sheets. This also allows for you to be able to pull them off an on if needed.