Age of a chameleon?

iGodzilla

Member
Hi new to the forum I was just wondering how can one tell the age of a chameleon? I got mine several months ago they didn’t knw the age went to the pet shop yesterday and saw a much much smaller chameleon asked how old it was they said they usually get them in at about 3-4 month old but mine is huge compared to the one I saw so I just wanted to knw if there was any way of telling the age of one by it’s size
 

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She’s at about 5 inches now
Well I am not going to guess on her age because I could be way off lol. But I would recommend you filling out this form in detail and taking pics of your entire enclosure including lighting. The reason why I am suggesting this is that I see a few things that are concerning in the pics.
1. She is gapping. Which would indicate that she is too hot or possible RI going on. She is also right on her bulb which is a burn risk.
2. Looks like you have a double dome lighting fixture. If so you are running a compact UVB bulb which is not good.
If you fill out the form we can give you feedback on your husbandry in case their are areas that need to be addressed :)
Chameleon Info:

  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
 
Cham Info:
1. Veiled,Female , I’m going to guess about 6-7 months and I’ve had her since oct. 4th 2018
2. I try to Handel her but she’s aggressive so I barely do
3. I feed her crickets about 7 at a time with zoomed calcium powder they also have calcium quencher and high calcium cricket diet, I also give her super worms and sometimes a horn worm and her schedule is every afternoon
4.waterin I try to water her when the leaves dry up I don’t have a automatic mister and yes i see her drink
5.her poop is dark brown and sometimes white combined
6.no other info about my Cham her cage is somewhere where she won’t be cold because it’s a mesh cage and I gernealy keep my house really want she’s also in the dining room which is the room wiht the least amount of foot traffic and noise/ children chaos
 
Cage info:
1.screen cage and dimensions are 29” in height
15” in width and 16” deep
2. Zoomed lighting uv and heat lamp combo and at night I have a night lamp or sometimes leave it off so it can get a bit cooler since my house stays really warm
3.humidity is almost always around 45-50 and climbs when I mist her and the lamp range I need to adjust I want to get the hook that takes it off the screen too
4. Plants I have fake plants from PetSmart
5. The cage is placed in my dining room with minimal foot traffic and noise
6. I live in Connecticut
 
Any information to make sure Godzilla lives as long as possible is helpful in open to learning more and fixing what ever has to fixed I appreciate any feed back thank you
 
Well I am not going to guess on her age because I could be way off lol. But I would recommend you filling out this form in detail and taking pics of your entire enclosure including lighting. The reason why I am suggesting this is that I see a few things that are concerning in the pics.
1. She is gapping. Which would indicate that she is too hot or possible RI going on. She is also right on her bulb which is a burn risk.
2. Looks like you have a double dome lighting fixture. If so you are running a compact UVB bulb which is not good.
If you fill out the form we can give you feedback on your husbandry in case their are areas that need to be addressed :)
Chameleon Info:

  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
Here you go answered all the questions thank you
 
So feeding her in the morning would be best so she has all day to bask and digest.
She should be fed a bit more then what she is getting. I am thinking she is right around 5-6 months... But that is just a guess and even the amount of food given can make them smaller then their age.
This is from the care sheet and here is the link to it https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
Juveniles 3-6 months of age: 10-12 small crickets daily
Juveniles 6-12 months of age: 10-12 medium crickets every other day
Adults over 12 months of age: 7-10 medium-large crickets every other day
What type of calcium are you using and does it show if it has D3 or not?
With hand spraying do you also have a little dripper going so she has access to water all the time? Hand spraying you will need to do misting sessions no shorter then 2 minutes.
Cage could be larger... You will need to set up a lay box for her. They do have eggs even when not bred.
Lighting needs to be changed asap. Need to get a T5 or T8 linear UVB fixture with a 5.0 bulb. The compact one you have will do nothing for her.
You will need a hydrometer to know your humidity levels and thermostat to know what your ambient and basking temps are. Basking temp is extremely important.
From Care sheet:
Temperature:
Baby/juvenile (<9 months): ambient 72-80F (22-26C), basking 85F (29C)
Adult females: ambient 75-80F (23-26C), basking 85F (29C)
Add live plants not only will she love these but it will help with humidity. Pothos are really easy to care for and they like munching on the leaves.
Ok lets stop here lol
 
So feeding her in the morning would be best so she has all day to bask and digest.
She should be fed a bit more then what she is getting. I am thinking she is right around 5-6 months... But that is just a guess and even the amount of food given can make them smaller then their age.
This is from the care sheet and here is the link to it https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
Juveniles 3-6 months of age: 10-12 small crickets daily
Juveniles 6-12 months of age: 10-12 medium crickets every other day
Adults over 12 months of age: 7-10 medium-large crickets every other day
What type of calcium are you using and does it show if it has D3 or not?
With hand spraying do you also have a little dripper going so she has access to water all the time? Hand spraying you will need to do misting sessions no shorter then 2 minutes.
Cage could be larger... You will need to set up a lay box for her. They do have eggs even when not bred.
Lighting needs to be changed asap. Need to get a T5 or T8 linear UVB fixture with a 5.0 bulb. The compact one you have will do nothing for her.
You will need a hydrometer to know your humidity levels and thermostat to know what your ambient and basking temps are. Basking temp is extremely important.
From Care sheet:
Temperature:
Baby/juvenile (<9 months): ambient 72-80F (22-26C), basking 85F (29C)
Adult females: ambient 75-80F (23-26C), basking 85F (29C)
Add live plants not only will she love these but it will help with humidity. Pothos are really easy to care for and they like munching on the leaves.
Ok lets stop here lol
The calcium is d3 and yes I will be putting in a lay box very soon and I have a water bowl she drinks from I change it constantly and I have the humidity meter and thermostat combination and lighting I will for sure be ordering the one you suggested
 
The calcium is d3 and yes I will be putting in a lay box very soon and I have a water bowl she drinks from I change it constantly and I have the humidity meter and thermostat combination and lighting I will for sure be ordering the one you suggested
Feeding her in the AM is a bit difficult I go to work at 2 am and don’t come home till after 3
 
The calcium is d3 and yes I will be putting in a lay box very soon and I have a water bowl she drinks from I change it constantly and I have the humidity meter and thermostat combination and lighting I will for sure be ordering the one you suggested
Ok Calcium... if it does say with D3 this is really important. It should only be given every 2 weeks. Multivitamins are given every two weeks as well. Calcium without D3 is can be given at every feeding. Lighting upgrade as soon as possible.
Read through this entire care sheet it will give you a ton of really important info https://www.chameleonforums.com/care/caresheets/veiled/
 
Feeding her in the AM is a bit difficult I go to work at 2 am and don’t come home till after 3
Ok what is your lighting schedule right now? And you mentioned a heat light at night is this a ceramic bulb or does it produce light? Veileds can do a temp drop at night to 50 F. And the temp drop is actually beneficial for them to have. So if your house is not lower then 50 then dont use a night heat source.
 
Toss the water bowl. They are not a good source for water. Chameleons actually do not drink from them. Will build up bacteria. Since you are gone most of the day I would recommend a automister like the mist king. But if this is not in the budget right now get a little dripper and set it on top of the cage. feed the tube through the top screen and put it on a light drip. Have it dripping on leaves. It is important for her to have a constant source of water.
 
Ok what is your lighting schedule right now? And you mentioned a heat light at night is this a ceramic bulb or does it produce light? Veileds can do a temp drop at night to 50 F. And the temp drop is actually beneficial for them to have. So if your house is not lower then 50 then dont use a night heat source.
I actually stopped using the night lamp for that reason so she can be a little cooler af night and the bulbs are on form about 8 am to around 7:30-8pm
 
I actually stopped using the night lamp for that reason so she can be a little cooler af night and the bulbs are on form about 8 am to around 7:30-8pm
Ok well that is good so lights on and off for 12 hours a day. Nothing at night. They need total darkness to rest. So you are gonna be stuck feeding when you get home for work because of your hours but if lights go out at 8pm then that gives a decent amount of time for basking.
So just look over all the feed back and start making changes as soon as you can. 1st have to do thing is to change is lighting.
 
Well I am not going to guess on her age because I could be way off lol. But I would recommend you filling out this form in detail and taking pics of your entire enclosure including lighting. The reason why I am suggesting this is that I see a few things that are concerning in the pics.
1. She is gapping. Which would indicate that she is too hot or possible RI going on. She is also right on her bulb which is a burn risk.
2. Looks like you have a double dome lighting fixture. If so you are running a compact UVB bulb which is not good.
If you fill out the form we can give you feedback on your husbandry in case their are areas that need to be addressed :)
Chameleon Info:

  • Your Chameleon - The species, sex, and age of your chameleon. How long has it been in your care?
  • Handling - How often do you handle your chameleon?
  • Feeding - What are you feeding your cham? What amount? What is the schedule? How are you gut-loading your feeders?
  • Supplements - What brand and type of calcium and vitamin products are you dusting your feeders with and what is the schedule?
  • Watering - What kind of watering technique do you use? How often and how long to you mist? Do you see your chameleon drinking?
  • Fecal Description - Briefly note colors and consistency from recent droppings. Has this chameleon ever been tested for parasites?
  • History - Any previous information about your cham that might be useful to others when trying to help you.

Cage Info:

  • Cage Type - Describe your cage (Glass, Screen, Combo?) What are the dimensions?
  • Lighting - What brand, model, and types of lighting are you using? What is your daily lighting schedule?
  • Temperature - What temp range have you created (cage floor to basking spot)? Lowest overnight temp? How do you measure these temps?
  • Humidity - What are your humidity levels? How are you creating and maintaining these levels? What do you use to measure humidity?
  • Plants - Are you using live plants? If so, what kind?
  • Placement - Where is your cage located? Is it near any fans, air vents, or high traffic areas? At what height is the top of the cage relative to your room floor?
  • Location - Where are you geographically located?

Current Problem - The current problem you are concerned about.

--------------

Please Note:

  1. The more details you provide the better and more accurate help you will receive.
  2. Photos can be very helpful.
Hi everyone! My husband and I are also new Cham owners and we would love to hear your opinions on our set up, as well as her overall health and wellness. The more information we can soak up, the better for our little Kali girl! We are new at this, so please no rude comments, just constructive criticism ;)
Chameleon Info:
1. We have a female Veiled chameleon who has been in our care for 4 days now. We do not know her age, so I am hoping with some pictures you all will be able to help me get a good estimate.
2. We have been handling her every day. I know this is not recommended, however handling was something I was going to ask for advice about as well. After reading through many forum posts, I am very torn between wanting to "tame" her, and wanting to respect that she does not enjoy being handled and only make contact with her when feeding, misting, and cleaning the cage. Currently, we are able to get her out by slowly nudging her to climb onto our hand. She does not enjoy this, however once she is out she is completely fine. She will perch herself on our hands and we will watch her slowly turn from a dark greenish color with black spots to a light green color. What are your opinions on this?
3. We are currently feeding her dusted crickets and superworms. We typically put 5-6 superworms and 10-12 dusted crickets in her cage before we leave for work in the morning around 7:00am. We also put a little salad of kale, collard greens, and raspberries in a dish at the bottom of the cage for her to nibble on. We also gutload the crickets with collard greens and kale.
4. We are using Repti Calcium and Reptivite to dust the crickets right before we put them into Kali's cage.
5. With watering, we are currently spraying down her cage 4-5 times a day. One of those times, we spray Kali for a good 5 minutes to help with hydration and help her clean her eyes (because we read thats a thing). We just ordered a reptile fogger on Amazon so hopefully that will make things a little easier. I think she is drinking because once we are finished spraying her she opens her mouth.
6. She has pooped once a day so far, and her poops are always dark brown. Her pee is mostly white with a little bit of pale to medium yellow. Some posts say just white is normal, some say a little bit of yellow is okay as long as its not orange, so what are your opinions?
7. We got her from a PetSmart so I'm sure she didn't have the best start in life. She was in a little plexiglass cage and she got too big for it so they moved her to the back into a bigger mesh cage. The guy there said she had been at PetSmart for about a month.
Cage Info:
1. The cage we currently have her in is a mesh Zoo Med Repti Breeze size medium (16x16x30). As she gets bigger, my husband wants to build her a half plexiglass, half mesh enclosure so what are your opinions on that?
2. We are using the lighting that came with the "Zoo Med Repti Breeze Chameleon Kit." It is a Zoo Med Tropical UVB & Heat Lighting Kit (see the picture included). She gets light from 7:00am-8:30pm -ish and then dark all night.
3. We have a digital thermometer that is on the outside of the cage about 3/4 of the way up. The temperature ranges from 74-78 during the day (the temperature in the house never goes below 70) and 60-65 at night.
4. Humidity levels stay between 52 and 58. It is hard to keep the humidity in the screen cage, however once we get the fogger from Amazon I think it will help. We have the digital hygrometer that came with the kit on top of her cage on the outside. Should it be inside the cage, or does it not matter?
5. We just put a live ficus in her cage which has already helped increase the humidity. We also have fake bushes and branches for her to climb on/hide in.
6. Her cage is currently on top of a filing cabinet. The distance from the top of her cage to the floor in the room is about 5ft. We also closed the vent in the room she is in so that it doesn't blow directly on her when the AC is on. We were thinking of putting her cage next to the window since it gets a lot of direct sunlight. Would this be a good idea, or not? She would be getting direct sunlight all day.
7. Geographically we are located in Southern California, so it's mostly hot especially now that it's Summer. Summer temps can get up to 115 while winter temps can get down to 40, but like I mentioned above, the temperature in our house never goes below 70.
Current Problem:
My husband and I have done lots of research on owning a chameleon, however we are still very new at this so any and all information is greatly appreciated. We really just want to make sure that we are doing everything we are supposed to, to ensure our chameleon lives a long and healthy life! Like I mentioned above, we would like to get a good guesstimate of her age, we are torn between "taming" her and leaving her alone (the guy at PetSmart said right now she is used to being handled so even though she doesn't enjoy it, she will tolerate it, but if we don't take her out for a long time and then we go to try and take her out again she will be very mean and aggressive which we do not want), we want to make sure everything we are currently doing is right, and if there is anything we aren't doing or anything else we should be aware of please please please let us know so we can be the best parents to Kali! Thank you all so much :)
58285879731__1BD5D058-89FA-499E-BAFF-836E9F9FD06B.fullsizerender.jpg IMG_0416.JPG IMG_5109.JPG
 
Hi everyone! My husband and I are also new Cham owners and we would love to hear your opinions on our set up, as well as her overall health and wellness. The more information we can soak up, the better for our little Kali girl! We are new at this, so please no rude comments, just constructive criticism ;)
Chameleon Info:
1. We have a female Veiled chameleon who has been in our care for 4 days now. We do not know her age, so I am hoping with some pictures you all will be able to help me get a good estimate.
2. We have been handling her every day. I know this is not recommended, however handling was something I was going to ask for advice about as well. After reading through many forum posts, I am very torn between wanting to "tame" her, and wanting to respect that she does not enjoy being handled and only make contact with her when feeding, misting, and cleaning the cage. Currently, we are able to get her out by slowly nudging her to climb onto our hand. She does not enjoy this, however once she is out she is completely fine. She will perch herself on our hands and we will watch her slowly turn from a dark greenish color with black spots to a light green color. What are your opinions on this?
3. We are currently feeding her dusted crickets and superworms. We typically put 5-6 superworms and 10-12 dusted crickets in her cage before we leave for work in the morning around 7:00am. We also put a little salad of kale, collard greens, and raspberries in a dish at the bottom of the cage for her to nibble on. We also gutload the crickets with collard greens and kale.
4. We are using Repti Calcium and Reptivite to dust the crickets right before we put them into Kali's cage.
5. With watering, we are currently spraying down her cage 4-5 times a day. One of those times, we spray Kali for a good 5 minutes to help with hydration and help her clean her eyes (because we read thats a thing). We just ordered a reptile fogger on Amazon so hopefully that will make things a little easier. I think she is drinking because once we are finished spraying her she opens her mouth.
6. She has pooped once a day so far, and her poops are always dark brown. Her pee is mostly white with a little bit of pale to medium yellow. Some posts say just white is normal, some say a little bit of yellow is okay as long as its not orange, so what are your opinions?
7. We got her from a PetSmart so I'm sure she didn't have the best start in life. She was in a little plexiglass cage and she got too big for it so they moved her to the back into a bigger mesh cage. The guy there said she had been at PetSmart for about a month.
Cage Info:
1. The cage we currently have her in is a mesh Zoo Med Repti Breeze size medium (16x16x30). As she gets bigger, my husband wants to build her a half plexiglass, half mesh enclosure so what are your opinions on that?
2. We are using the lighting that came with the "Zoo Med Repti Breeze Chameleon Kit." It is a Zoo Med Tropical UVB & Heat Lighting Kit (see the picture included). She gets light from 7:00am-8:30pm -ish and then dark all night.
3. We have a digital thermometer that is on the outside of the cage about 3/4 of the way up. The temperature ranges from 74-78 during the day (the temperature in the house never goes below 70) and 60-65 at night.
4. Humidity levels stay between 52 and 58. It is hard to keep the humidity in the screen cage, however once we get the fogger from Amazon I think it will help. We have the digital hygrometer that came with the kit on top of her cage on the outside. Should it be inside the cage, or does it not matter?
5. We just put a live ficus in her cage which has already helped increase the humidity. We also have fake bushes and branches for her to climb on/hide in.
6. Her cage is currently on top of a filing cabinet. The distance from the top of her cage to the floor in the room is about 5ft. We also closed the vent in the room she is in so that it doesn't blow directly on her when the AC is on. We were thinking of putting her cage next to the window since it gets a lot of direct sunlight. Would this be a good idea, or not? She would be getting direct sunlight all day.
7. Geographically we are located in Southern California, so it's mostly hot especially now that it's Summer. Summer temps can get up to 115 while winter temps can get down to 40, but like I mentioned above, the temperature in our house never goes below 70.
Current Problem:
My husband and I have done lots of research on owning a chameleon, however we are still very new at this so any and all information is greatly appreciated. We really just want to make sure that we are doing everything we are supposed to, to ensure our chameleon lives a long and healthy life! Like I mentioned above, we would like to get a good guesstimate of her age, we are torn between "taming" her and leaving her alone (the guy at PetSmart said right now she is used to being handled so even though she doesn't enjoy it, she will tolerate it, but if we don't take her out for a long time and then we go to try and take her out again she will be very mean and aggressive which we do not want), we want to make sure everything we are currently doing is right, and if there is anything we aren't doing or anything else we should be aware of please please please let us know so we can be the best parents to Kali! Thank you all so much :)
View attachment 237311View attachment 237312View attachment 237313
Hi there you will need to start your own thread. Go here. https://www.chameleonforums.com/forums/health-clinic.7/
Click post thread then copy past all this info you included here to your thread. Otherwise this becomes very confusing for those of us trying to offer advice because it gets mixed up with the original poster.
 
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