5 week old veiled chameleon (first time owner)

Nicoleeurrutia

New Member
Hello,

First time chameleon owner here! I would like any helpful feedback and tips that can be given. I have a 5 week old veiled chameleon. I believe she is a female. I have her in a Zilla small enclosure right now, 18 L x 12 W x 20 H (will post pictures) since she is so tiny. She was eating fruit flies but they would just get out of the mesh enclosure and end up all over my room. So I decided to start feeding her small mealworms and xs crickets. She eats the mealworms perfectly fine. I’ve noticed that she turns really really black when in her enclosure when the lamps are on (the pictures don’t do it justice but I’ll attempt to upload a picture to the thread whenever I see her really dark). This has been concerning me. At night, when lights are off she is perfectly fine and a nice green color. At the moment the temperature at the highest basking spot is 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I was using a blue daylight 100watts at the beginning but I quickly realized that was way too high so I decided to get a 40 watt one instead, which is being used now. Also, I have a t5 5.0 UVB light. I’ve read that veiled chameleons tend to turn dark colors when absorbing the heat. I am hoping this is the case. Her poop and urine are fine, just the urine seems to be just a bit orangey as well (will attempt to upload pictures later on because I already cleaned her poop). I’ve read this is due to possible dehydration, she has a dripper and I mist her enclosure. I’ve had her for about a week now, I just want to make sure everything is perfectly fine to ensure for a good and healthy long life for her :) therefore, please kindly let me know if something I am doing is incorrect or any helpful tips and tricks will be greatly appreciated !

have an awesome day!
 

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They turn "dark" when they receive a large amount of sunlight. I would be very careful about that basking light, I wouldnt put one in until around 5 months old if cage temps are in the mid 70's. I would also raise the UVB bulb up 3-6" since "if" the cham is a screen crawler, directly below the bulb will be tanning bed levels of UVB.

I would also limit the meal worms to once a week. They are perfectly fine, but you do not want to get a worm addict and end up with hunger strikes if she decides she only wants meal worms.


Other than that the cage setup looks pretty good. A little spartan for places to hide for a 5 month old, but she is so dinky even a leaf would do.


Lastly i would list the gut load and how you are handling calcium/d3/vitamins and the frequency.
 
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