Observation and habits

Merry Christmas everyone!

Just wondering how many of you closely observe your chams behaviours?
do you notice their habits? I thought id post a few observations of my 4week veiled over the last 8 days.

He chooses a spot about halfway between floor and ceiling to sleep and goes there and curls up his tail about 10 mins before lights out, same time everyday.

when the lights/heating come on in the morning, after 5 mins or so, he heads to his (favorite?) perch at the basking spot just under the ceiling. He will bask there for roughly 1 hr after which he goes immeadiately to the lowest branch in the enclosure, right near the floor, where he goes to the toilet.
(I dont know why he always does that near the floor, never in the branches)

From then on he heads back up and begins eating. This is the same everyday.

Occasionally I catch him yawn and extend his 'beard' for a few seconds, perhaps hes about to shed or its when ive accidently alarmed him?

I havent actually observed him drink droplets since the day I bought him home, though hes well hydrated and his #2 are normal, brown/white.
I mist several times a day and twice a day seta slow melting icecube under the heatlight that drips down over leaves etcinto a screened resevoir.

Do they only drink directly infrequently? His food is well gutloaded with fresh greens and veg daily so perhaps they contain enough moisture?
Id like to see him drinking again for peace of mind. it was also intresting to watch.

I watch my chams daily for hours. I clean, mist 3X, feed, talk and just check them out. I have a male veiled that does about the same thing. He has a little sleeping spot about in the middle of the cage where he nestles in the leaves. I'm sure he feels safe there. When he wakes up he goes to his basking spot under the bulb. He doesn't go down to poop though, he poops in his basking spot. When he sees me open the cage with my cup in hand he watches me put his bowl on his feeding shelf and comes down when I'm not looking. Sound familiar?? LOL

jojackson said:

Merry Christmas everyone!

Just wondering how many of you closely observe your chams behaviours?
do you notice their habits? I thought id post a few observations of my 4week veiled over the last 8 days.

He chooses a spot about halfway between floor and ceiling to sleep and goes there and curls up his tail about 10 mins before lights out, same time everyday.

when the lights/heating come on in the morning, after 5 mins or so, he heads to his (favorite?) perch at the basking spot just under the ceiling. He will bask there for roughly 1 hr after which he goes immeadiately to the lowest branch in the enclosure, right near the floor, where he goes to the toilet.
(I dont know why he always does that near the floor, never in the branches)

From then on he heads back up and begins eating. This is the same everyday.

Occasionally I catch him yawn and extend his 'beard' for a few seconds, perhaps hes about to shed or its when ive accidently alarmed him?

I havent actually observed him drink droplets since the day I bought him home, though hes well hydrated and his #2 are normal, brown/white.
I mist several times a day and twice a day seta slow melting icecube under the heatlight that drips down over leaves etcinto a screened resevoir.

Do they only drink directly infrequently? His food is well gutloaded with fresh greens and veg daily so perhaps they contain enough moisture?
Id like to see him drinking again for peace of mind. it was also intresting to watch.

Click to expand...

Seems to have a good routine down. as long as he keeps it up your on the right track.

I see mine drink every day in the morning and occasionally in the early evening. There is one shy one that prefers to drink when he thinks I am not paying attention, the others drink openly. I use drippers, which they and I prefer to misting as a hydration source. Melting icecubes are not recommended because the water is still quite cold - they prefer warm water.

jojackson,

Chameleons are creatures that will develop a pattern to their behaviors, each slightly different than the next. You sound like you are doing a good job observing your chameleons habits and ensuring that no odd behaviors signifying illness are noticed. I do the same. My Veiled Chameleon started off 5 weeks ago a little larger than yours, about 4-5 inches long. She is now about 8 inches long with tail extended.

The gular extension you noticed as the chameleon pushes its tongue into the throat area is a normal trait that chameleons use to signify threat, stress, prey hunting activity, or yawning. You might also hear the animal hiss when it does so as mine does occasionally for no apparent reason. My thinking is that, as you indicated, the chameleon might be getting ready to shed at those times and is flexing its body. Mine also tends to flatten herself and produce threat coloration when someone gets too close when she is near shedding time. Other times she is quite docil and remains a light green unless hunting.

I wished mine were more fastidious about body waste like yours. Mine goes wherever she wants, making it a hunting game to clean her cage up properly. She does have a favorite hunting spot in one corner of the cage where crickets run to when they are first placed inside. She also recognizes the feeding cup as the place that mealworms hang out.

So long as the chameleon's droppings are firm and colored brown/white, do not smell overpowering, and are coated with watery mucus, your chameleon probably is getting enough water and is not suffering intestinal illness.

Mine also likes to bask in the window light from the window she is located near. She will move to catch sun rays in preference to the heat lamp and florescent lights at the top of her cage.

Chameleons do not drink too often from what I have noticed. When very thirsty they will move quickly to lap up or shoot out their tongues at water drops when they are offered. Otherwise, when not thirsty, they will just wait for food to drop in. They will get plenty of moisture from gut loaded crickets and mealworms. Mine also loves apple and carrot bits. She gets plenty of moisture from those items along with the vitamins they provide.

One strange set of behaviors mine has are sleeping habits. Mine likes to change her sleeping place each night, trying different poses and perches. Once I noticed her perched on top of the flat, broken end of a twig with her tail curled around the twig below her, her hind feet gripping the vertical twig, and her front legs hanging down each side of the twig with her body draped over the top and her head hanging down. I thought she had died in that pose until I saw she was breathing and conked out deeply asleep. If I see that pose again I will try to catch a picture of it as it was quite funny looking.

Keep up the good work and Merry Christmas.

Thanks for your responses everyone. Mutanthybrid, I did witness him using his tongue to 'zap' water droplets this morning! At first I thought he'd mistaken falling/rolling droplets for insects, but he 'zapped' several from different places , I think it was deliberate.

H20

I have a large bottle of clean drinking water, a small catch (a rock like drinking bowl) and good timing. When my cham is near the top of his cage a pour water through the mesh into the bowl. His favorite perch is right by the stream of water i pour in and he just chugs it down.